GENESIS 1:26-27 - THEN GOD SAID, "LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, ACCORDING TO OUR LIKENESS; AND LET THEM RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE SKY AND OVER THE CATTLE AND OVER ALL THE EARTH, AND OVER EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPS ON THE EARTH." GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM; MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM.
• ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, MANKIND IS DISTINCT AMONG ALL LIFE ON EARTH, IN THAT WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
• AS THE GODHEAD HAS THREE PARTS -- FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT -- SO MAN HAS THREE PARTS -- BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT.
• LAST WEEK WE BEGAN OUR SERIES ON THE DIMENSIONS OF YOU WITH “YOUR SOUL”.
• WE SAID THE SOUL IS THE PART OF MAN THAT MAKES US ALIVE.
• WE ALL KNOW THAT THE BODY IS THE SHELL, THE REPOSITORY THAT CONTAINS OUR SOULS AND SPIRITS.
• THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT ALL THREE, BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT MAKE UP WHAT MAN IS ON EARTH.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 - NOW MAY THE GOD OF PEACE HIMSELF SANCTIFY YOU ENTIRELY; AND MAY YOUR SPIRIT(MIND) AND SOUL AND BODY BE PRESERVED COMPLETE, WITHOUT BLAME AT THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
• THE BODY OF MAN IS THE WAY THAT WE LOOK ON THE OUTSIDE.
• THE BODY MAKES US ANIMATE CREATURES - ABLE TO DO THINGS.
• ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE PHYSICAL WORLD.
• THE SOUL OF MAN GIVES US LIFE, THE ABILITY TO THINK AND REASON.
• THE SOUL PLACES US ABOVE ALL LIFE ON EARTH.
• IT ENABLES US TO EXPERIENCE THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.
• THE SPIRIT OF MAN IS OUR NATURE – THE KIND OF PERSONS WE REALLY ARE.
• INFLUENCED BY OUR GENETIC MAKE-UP, OUR ENVIRONMENT AND EXPERIENCES,
• OUR SPIRITS ARE THE WAYS WE THINK AND REASON.
• THIS MORNING – THE DIMENSIONS OF YOU PART 2 – YOUR SPIRIT.
• BUT BEFORE WE START THAT PART OF THE LESSON, LET’S PRAY.
• THINK FOR A MINUTE ON THE MANY SPIRITS OR NATURES PEOPLE CAN HAVE.
• SOME PEOPLE ARE SWEET. SOME ARE MEAN. SOME ARE CURIOUS.
• OTHERS ARE PLAYFUL, SERIOUS OR REALLY SINCERE.
• THOSE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE SPIRITS OF MEN.
• OUR SPIRIT MAY OR MAY NOT BE KNOWN TO THE WORLD, WE CAN ACTS ALL THOSE WAYS AND REALLY NOT BE THEM AT ALL.
• BUT THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO US KNOW OUR TRUE SPIRIT.
• THEY SEE IT OR HAVE SEEN IT ON A REGULAR BASIS,
• THESE BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS HAVE BEEN WITH US MOST OF OUR LIVES.
• THAT’S NOT SAYING THAT WE CAN’T CHANGE THE WAY WE INTERACT WITH THE WORLD.
• BUT THE SWEET PEOPLE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SWEET. THE CURIOUS, ALWAYS CURIOUS, THE COMPASSIONATE, ALWAYS COMPASSIONATE.
• THROUGH THE YEARS THEY CAN MELLOW IN THEIR SWEETNESS. THEY CAN GROW IN THEIR CURIOSITY. WE CAN MATURE IN OUR COMPASSION.
• OR, THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE, THEY CAN LOSE THOSE QUALITIES.
• THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, JESUS SPIRIT REMAINED CONSTANT. HERE HE IS AS A BOY OF 12 –
LUKE 2:46-49 – THEN, AFTER THREE DAYS THEY FOUND HIM IN THE TEMPLE, SITTING IN THE MIDST OF THE TEACHERS, BOTH LISTENING TO THEM AND ASKING THEM QUESTIONS. AND ALL WHO HEARD HIM WERE AMAZED AT HIS UNDERSTANDING AND HIS ANSWERS. WHEN THEY SAW HIM, THEY WERE ASTONISHED; AND HIS MOTHER SAID TO HIM, “SON, WHY HAVE YOU TREATED US THIS WAY? BEHOLD, YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN ANXIOUSLY LOOKING FOR YOU.” AND HE SAID TO THEM, “WHY IS IT THAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR ME? DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT I HAD TO BE IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE?”
• AS A MAN IN HIS THIRTIES…
JOHN 4:34 - JESUS SAID TO THEM, “MY FOOD IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME AND TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK.”
• IN THE LAST DAYS OF HIS LIFE…
JOHN 17:6 - “I HAVE MANIFESTED YOUR NAME TO THE MEN WHOM YOU GAVE ME OUT OF THE WORLD; THEY WERE YOURS AND YOU GAVE THEM TO ME, AND THEY HAVE KEPT YOUR WORD.”
• JESUS WAS CERTAINLY MORE FOCUSED THAN WE ARE BUT WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO IT, WE MAY HAVE MATURED AND GROWN UP,
• BUT MOST OF US ARE STILL THE SAME PEOPLE INSIDE THAT WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN, THAT IS OUR SPIRIT.
• THE SPIRIT OF MAN HAS BEEN CREATED BY GOD.
JOB 32:8 – THERE IS A SPIRIT IN MAN AND THE BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY GIVES HIM UNDERSTANDING.
• THE SPIRIT OF MAN BELONGS TO GOD.
ECCLESIASTES 12:7 – SPEAKING OF DEATH - THEN THE DUST WILL RETURN TO THE EARTH AS IT WAS AND THE SPIRIT WILL RETURN TO GOD WHO GAVE IT.
• THE BEST THING ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF MAN IS THAT GOD CAN CONTROL IT.
• HE WANTS TO CONTROL IT.
• AS A CHILD, GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER COULD BE FOUND OBSERVING NATURE.
• HE SPENT HOURS IN THE FOREST AROUND HIS HOME LOOKING AT FLOWERS, PLANTS AND TREES.
• HIS CURIOUS SPIRIT MOTIVATED HIM TO WALK 10 MILES TO A SCHOOL THAT WOULD EDUCATE BLACK CHILDREN.
• WHEN HE WAS ACCEPTED TO A COLLEGE, HE WAS DENIED ADMITTANCE WHEN THEY FOUND OUT HE WAS BLACK.
• SO INSTEAD OF ATTENDING CLASSES, HE HOMESTEADED A CLAIM, WHERE HE CONDUCTED EXPERIMENTS AND COMPILED A GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION.
• HE BECAME A WORLD-CLASS EXPERT IN BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.
• HE DEVELOPED 500 USES FOR THE PEANUT, SWEET POTATO, SOYBEAN AND PECAN.
• WORLD LEADERS SOUGHT HIS ADVICE.
• THOMAS EDISON OFFERED HIM $100,000 A YEAR AND A STATE OF THE ART LAB, BUT CARVER REFUSED.
• HENRY FORD OFFERED HIM ENORMOUS RESOURCES TO DO RESEARCH FOR HIS COMPANY.
• CARVER POSSESSED A CURIOUS, HUMBLE AND QUIET SPIRIT, WHICH GOD HAD GIVEN HIM AND CARVER HAD MAINTAINED.
• THE SECRET? - HE WOULD BEGIN EACH DAY WITH PRAYER THAT GOD WOULD REVEAL SECRETS TO HIM ABOUT PLANTS AND VEGETABLES.
• HE PRAYED, “MR. CREATOR, SHOW ME THE SECRETS OF YOUR UNIVERSE.”
• SINCE IT IS GIVEN BY GOD, YOUR SPIRIT, WHEN YOU ALLOW GOD TO CONTROL IT, CAN LEAD YOU TO THE LIFE HE DESIRES FOR YOU.
PROVERBS 20:27 – THE SPIRIT OF A MAN IS THE LAMP OF THE LORD, SEARCHING ALL THE INNER DEPTHS OF THE HEART.
• THINK ABOUT IT; THE INNER DEPTHS OF THE HEART IS WHERE SIN CAN DO THE MOST DAMAGE.
• WE ALL KNOW OUR OWN THOUGHTS GOOD OR BAD.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:11-16 - FOR WHO KNOWS A PERSON’S THOUGHTS EXCEPT THEIR OWN SPIRIT WITHIN THEM? IN THE SAME WAY NO ONE KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF GOD EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF GOD. WHAT WE HAVE RECEIVED IS NOT THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD, BUT THE SPIRIT WHO IS FROM GOD, SO THAT WE MAY UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD HAS FREELY GIVEN US. THIS IS WHAT WE SPEAK, NOT IN WORDS TAUGHT US BY HUMAN WISDOM BUT IN WORDS TAUGHT BY THE SPIRIT, EXPLAINING SPIRITUAL REALITIES WITH SPIRIT-TAUGHT WORDS. THE PERSON WITHOUT THE SPIRIT DOES NOT ACCEPT THE THINGS THAT COME FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD BUT CONSIDERS THEM FOOLISHNESS AND CANNOT UNDERSTAND THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE DISCERNED ONLY THROUGH THE SPIRIT. THE PERSON WITH THE SPIRIT MAKES JUDGMENTS ABOUT ALL THINGS, BUT SUCH A PERSON IS NOT SUBJECT TO MERELY HUMAN JUDGMENTS, FOR, “WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD SO AS TO INSTRUCT HIM?” BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.
• THE BIBLE SAYS WE POSSESS A SPIRIT WE ARE BORN WITH BUT CAN RECEIVE A NEW SPIRIT, A NEW MIND IN CHRIST.
• THE NATURAL MAN’S SPIRIT OPERATES IN THE WORLD ASKING, “HOW CAN I USE MY POWERS AND ABILITIES TO ADVANCE MYSELF?”
• “HOW CAN I USE THE POWER OF MY SPIRIT. THE POWER OF ME?’
• “HOW CAN I CHARM, PERSUADE, PUSH, TALK, POKE FUN, QUESTION, THE WORLD OR THE PEOPLE IN IT TO GET WHAT I WANT AND NEED.”
• DOESN’T MAKE ME MEAN NECESSARILY – JUST FOCUSED ON MYSELF.
• THE MIND OF CHRIST, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, THE NATURE OF CHRIST, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT THAT CHANGES THAT POINT OF VIEW.
• VERSE 14 AGAIN – THE PERSON WITHOUT THE SPIRIT DOES NOT ACCEPT THE THINGS THAT COME FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD BUT CONSIDERS THEM FOOLISHNESS AND CANNOT UNDERSTAND THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE DISCERNED ONLY THROUGH THE SPIRIT.
• WHEN WE REALIZE HOW MUCH OUR SPIRIT NEEDS GOD AND HIS SPIRIT AND COME TO HIM FOR THAT NOURISHMENT, WE WILL E BLESSED.
MATTHEW 5:3 - “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.”
• THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US GOD’S PERSPECTIVE OF LIFE.
• THE MIND OF CHRIST, GROWING IN THE NATURE AND SPIRIT OF CHRIST ENABLES THE WONDERFUL ATTRIBUTES OF OURSELVES TO EXPAND.
• THE HOLY SPIRIT ALSO REDUCES THE EFFECT OF THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF OUR SPIRITS.
• ENABLING US TO LIVE THE LIFE OF GOD.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:17-20 - BUT WHOEVER IS UNITED WITH THE LORD IS ONE WITH HIM IN SPIRIT. FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY. ALL OTHER SINS A PERSON COMMITS ARE OUTSIDE THE BODY, BUT WHOEVER SINS SEXUALLY, SINS AGAINST THEIR OWN BODY. DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOUR BODIES ARE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS IN YOU, WHOM YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD? YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN; YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE. THEREFORE, HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODIES.
• THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THE USABLE ATTRIBUTES OF SELF ARE SUPER CHARGED.
• THEY CAN BECOME DIVINE ASSETS.
• THINK ABOUT IT; THE PATIENT PEOPLE CAN BE WONDERFUL, PATIENT COUNSELORS LIKE JESUS.
• THE BOLD PEOPLE CAN HAVE THE CROSS-CONQUERING COURAGE OF CHRIST.
• THE CURIOUS PEOPLE CAN HAVE THEIR INTERESTS EXPANDED AND REWARDED.
• LIKE JESUS THEY CAN DRAW KNOWLEDGE FROM THE FATHER.
• THE WISE BECOME WISER AS THEY GAIN HIS WISDOM AND PERSPECTIVE.
• THE COMPASSIONATE CAN SERVE THE MANY WHO NEED IT.
• AND INSTEAD OF WANING AND DYING, THE SPIRIT OF MAN, WHEN IT IS SUBMITTED TO AND USED BY GOD, CAN GET STRONGER AND STRONGER.
• THE BIBLE SAYS MOSES WAS ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED, HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM, NOR HIS VIGOR ABATED.
• THINK OF THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY OF MEN WE KNOW LIKE BROTHER CLIFF COFFEE WHO REMAIN SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY VIGOROUS TO THE END OF THEIR LIVES.
• PAUL WROTE OF HIS GRUELING SERVICE AND THE BLESSING OF THE RENEWAL OF HIS SPIRIT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18 - THEREFORE WE DO NOT LOSE HEART. THOUGH OUTWARDLY WE ARE WASTING AWAY, YET INWARDLY WE ARE BEING RENEWED DAY BY DAY. FOR OUR LIGHT AND MOMENTARY TROUBLES ARE ACHIEVING FOR US AN ETERNAL GLORY THAT FAR OUTWEIGHS THEM ALL. SO, WE FIX OUR EYES NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN, BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN, SINCE WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY, BUT WHAT IS UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.
• THE SPIRIT OF A MAN JOINED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD IS THE PERSON THAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE.
• HE GAVE YOU A HUMAN NATURE A SPIRIT, SHAPED AND INFLUENCED BY THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE,
• YOUR SPIRIT IS WHO YOU ARE. THE INNER MAN – YOUR PERSONALITY.
• AGGRESSIVE, BOLD, CONTENTIOUS, CONSIDERATE, A LEADER, A FOLLOWER, LOYAL, PENSIVE, SWEET, TENACIOUS. WHAT IS YOUR SPIRIT LIKE?
• WHO ARE YOU REALLY? YOU CAN BE ALL YOU. ALL ABOUT YOUR SPIRIT. GOOD AND BAD.
• ALL ABOUT USING YOUR ABILITY, PERSONALITY RESOURCES OF MIND, AND SKILL TO ADVANCE YOURSELF.
• OR, YOUR NATURE, YOUR SPIRIT CAN BE JOINED WITH GOD.
• HE KNOWS YOU. HE MADE YOU TO WORK WITH HIM IN EFFECTING THE WORLD HE MADE FOR YOU TO LIVE IN.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 - NOW MAY THE GOD OF PEACE HIMSELF SANCTIFY YOU ENTIRELY; AND MAY YOUR SPIRIT AND SOUL AND BODY BE PRESERVED COMPLETE, WITHOUT BLAME AT THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. FAITHFUL IS HE WHO CALLS YOU, AND HE ALSO WILL BRING IT TO PASS.
• A WIDELY RESPECTED MAN KNOWN AS “UNCLE JOHNSON” DIED IN
• SOME HAVE SPECULATED THAT HIS LONGEVITY COULD BE CREDITED IN PART TO THE CHEERFUL OUTLOOK THAT CHARACTERIZED HIS LIFE.
• ONE DAY WHILE AT WORK IN HIS GARDEN, HE WAS SINGING SONGS OF PRAISE TO GOD. HIS PREACHER, WHO WAS PASSING BY, LOOKED OVER THE FENCE AND SAID,
• “UNCLE JOHNSON, YOU SEEM VERY HAPPY TODAY.”
• “YES, I WAS JUST THINKING,” SAID THE OLD MAN.
• “THINKING ABOUT WHAT?” ASKED THE PREACHER
• “OH, I WAS JUST THINKING THAT IF THE CRUMBS OF JOY THAT FALL FROM THE MASTER’S TABLE IN THIS WORLD ARE SO GOOD, WHAT WILL THE GREAT LOAF IN GLORY BE LIKE! I TELL YOU, SIR, THERE WILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE AND SOME TO SPARE UP THERE.”
• GOD WILL REWARD THE SPIRIT OF A PERSON WHO ALLOWS THEIR SPIRIT TO BE CONTROLLED BY HIS.
• WHAT WILL YOUR SPIRIT ALLOW HIM TO DO THROUGH YOU?
