\”The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.\”Proverbs 20:27 KJV
There are treasures hidden within you. These are abilities, peculiarities, and strengths that have been given to you for a purpose. When God finished the work of creation, He said, \”…it was very good…\” (Genesis 1:31). Everything you need for life and godliness has been given to you on account of the goodness of his creation and especially the excellence of his new creation (regeneration). Genesis 1:26-28, Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3.
Sin is basically an interruption that God foresaw even before creation, therefore, everything that God put in man is for a purpose and it is relevant today. However, that relevance depends on your alignment to God\’s purpose and programme. Trying to relate to God in a native way that assumes no problem of sin is the age-long problem that confronts the 21st century man. Any likelihood of connection to God without coming into the new creation, which settles the sin problem, is a deception that familiar spirits, and eventually the prince of darkness (the devil) himself, will maximize.
The New Testament reveals to us that God\’s work in redemption was not an after thought that abruptly interrupted the plan of God. Therefore, according to the appropriate order of God, there was Predestination (God\’s foreknowledge of all things) before Creation (beginning of the created order), and then the New Creation (restored mankind). The New Creation brought a restoration to the \”interruption\” of sin. I will be not be dealing with this at this time, except to ask you to read a few scriptures below:
Ephesians 1:4, Jeremiah 1:5, Genesis 1:27, 2 Corinthians 5:17Predestination\”According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love\”\”Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.Creation\”…God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.\”New Creation\”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.\” NKJV
Now, let me introduce the subject matter:
Man is tripartite, that means. three in one. You are a spirit, and that spirit is hidden within a soul, and that soul is inwardly fixed in a body. Your soul is inside your body, and your spirit is within your soul. We are not elaborating yet. We are only establishing key points for you to grasp.
It is with your body that you are conscious of the world around you. It is with your soul that you are conscious of yourself, your own personality, your feelings, preferences and decisions within any given context or scenario. It is with your spirit that you are conscious of God, that you can contact God.
This is why salvation is not a mere religious concept for unintelligent people. Without reconciling with God, your spirit can still be active, but it is dead to (and disconnected from) God, and therefore, it is open to anything that is against God (which is the devil) to occupy it and direct it.
Let\’s look at our opening scripture again: \”The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.\” Without salvation your spirit will miss this great privilege of revelation. Your spirit is meant to be a tool in the hand of God to help you search throughout your soul, to locate all the treasures He had deposited in you. God is the one searching, but He uses your spirit as the torch to identify the resources He had kept within your soul. I hope you can figure out that the search is not for God to make a discovery about you, rather it is for you to discover yourself.
Three challenges arise.
One, will you reconcile with God so that He can enlighten your spirit? Two, will you allow God\’s light that He kindles in your spirit to supersede the light of human knowledge? Three, will you be willing to own and accept all treasures discovered and settle down to transform them from raw materials to refined tools of purpose?
NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The Scripture quotation on the featured image is from the Recovery Version of Living Streams Ministry
Picture credit: agodman.com
