Inner man - outer man.

intro

At the begging of scripture God tells us a great deal about how He made us.

Genesis 1:27 AV

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

What that all entail is beyond the scope of this message but suffice to say: As God himself is a trinity - we are also a kind of trinity: God created us with 3 parts: The Spirit, the Soul and the body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 AV

23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When sin entered the world something terrible happened to the spirit of mankind: It died.

Genesis 2:17 AV

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Did Adam and Eve’s body die? No.

Did they suddenly become imbeciles and forget how to talk? No.

But did they loose fellowship with God and be cast out? Yes.

The death of mankind spirit is absolutely tragic because it was through our spirit that we communicated and fellowship with God.

After all: God himself is a spirit being.

John 4:24 AV

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

It is this dead spirit that the bible speaks about in verses like:

Ephesians 2:1 AV

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

The result is clear: Humanity is an incomplete being.

The Body and soul (m ind) are still alive and functioning, but without a living spirit - all is lost.

Let me try and show you how each part works:

The Body.

The body is not evil, the body is numeral - is is a gift from God.

Its not just a meat puppet ether. Its the most complicated thing in the known universe.

Over 100 chemicals are currently flowing through your body right now.

330 billion cells will die and replaced by brand new ones before you go to sleep tonight.

90 billion Hurons will fire in your brain before sunset.

Our bodies are far more than just coverings.

We actually are very familiar with living creatures who only have bodies.

Animals.

Animals are pure body creatures. They don’t have souls or spirits like we do.

So animals function on a burly chemical and instinctive level.

A lion does not feel sorry for a baby buck - it will instantly chase down and kill it.

My rat will not think twice about mating with another rate, dipole that he has a girlfriend in his cage.

In fact he will not think at all: Her pheromones will trigger an instinctive chemical response and they will mate together.

Simple as that.

Now, understand, that our human bodies are just as instinctive and chemically dependant as animal bodies.

We Dopamine, serotonin, testosterone, estrogen - therse are all chemical hormones that can radically change and influence how a person feels, acts, speaks and behaves.

But human being are NOT animals: Despite what every single secular textbook says.

In addition to bodies we also have a soul.

And the soul or the mind is the seat of our will and our conscience.

And this makes us very different from the purely body creatures like animals.

Our will and our conscience enables us to THINK and EVALUATE our bodily urges and instincts.

If I go to the animal farm and get hungry, I don’t pull out a knife and kill a sheep.

If I was a body creature I would: take a lion to the animal farm and see what happens.

But I don’t, Im not subject to my chemical urges.

I rather to to the shop and buy a mutton curry.

Murderrrrrrr

An unsaved person, has both a busy and a soul.

They can think about right and wrong.

They can choose acts of kindness.

They can make decisions.

All things like that.

BUT, they cannot engage or reach out to God.

They cannot understand spiritual truths.

1 Corinthians 2:14 AV

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

However what they do have is a conscience.

Romans 1:20 AV

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God can draw a lost person, through conviction to Jesus Christ.

John 16:8 AV

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

When this happens and the person surrenders to Jesus Christ.

The miracle of the second birth takes place.

And part of that miracle is the resurrection of their once dead spirit.

He does this by sending the Holy Spirit to live within us.

Ezekiel 37:14 AV

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

1 John 5:12 AV

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

This new spirit life within each of God’s children is called by a special name is scripture:

Ephesians 3:16 AV

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Its called the inner-man.

It is the inner-man who fellohips with God.

It is the inner-man who gets prompted and moved by the holy Spirit.

AND

It is in this inner0-man that the Holy Spirit gives us our daily strength and power to live in victory.

Ephesians 3:16 AV

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

This daily strengthening with power is what enables the christian to be more than a conquerer.

Each day that goes by, your body and mental faculties are decaying.

Each day your bodies get weaker.

You know all those 300 billion cells that are being replaced? That blood, bone marrow, muscle tissue - all that except 1 organ: The brain. You dont replace brain cells you only loose them.

The brain cells you had when you were 25 are the most you will ever have and from your 25th birthday, you have been losing brain cells: 10 000 nuron a day.

So your mental facalties, your body, all subject to decay.

But your spirit is not!

In fcat God say:

2 Corinthians 4:16 AV

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

The outward man - your body and mind, are perishing.

But the strength we need to live for Jesus.

The strength we need to live in victory.

The strength we need to resist the devil

The strength we need to fulfill our duties as husband, wives, parents.

All this strength is not from our bodies or intelect - its supernaturally supplies to us, as our inner-man is renewed day by day in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah 4:6 AV

6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Your victory is not in the might of your arm or in the power of your mind.

It is by the Spirit of God as he strengthens you with migh each in your inner-man.

Conclusion:

Have you submitted your inner-man to the Holy Spirit?

Does God control your inner-man?

Are you led by the Spirit?

Are you tired from striving in your own strength?

Are you tired of constantly batteling stress and worry in your mind/soul?

Its time to realise that as a born again christian you are complete in Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:10 AV

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

You are back to the way God origionally created us.