Part 3 - The “Spirit of Man”

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Mystery of Man & His Search.

Now we will consider the “Spirit of Man” in our study of “The Mystery of Man & His Search.”

We must understand that basically, man is a ‘spirit-being’ encased in a physical body and having a human experience.

In order to fathom ‘the mystery of man,’ we must go beyond the physical realm, and also beyond man’s inward soul’s psychological self … to man’s “innermost” being of the “spirit of man.” The key to solving the mystery of man’ is this unique third organ of our being, which the Bible calls “the spirit of man within him.”

“…  saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth The Spirit of Man Within Him.” (Zech. 12:1)

From the above verse we should note man’s centrality in God’s creation since God here ranks the formation of “the spirit of man only after creation “the heavens” and “the earth” under which and upon which man dwells in his human life. From this alone we can assume that the “spirit of man” is fundamental to God’s Purpose and Plan for man in God’s Creation.

The “spirit of man” is the third and most vital part of an individual person since the “spirit [Gk. pneuma, breath]” that Adam received of God’s ‘breath/Spirit’ at his creation energized and animated Adam’s human life in every way. God’s one breath into Adam deposited the “spirit of man” into Adam/ Thereby Adam became fully alive by his spirit, which stimulated his soul and animated his body.

“And the Lord God formed man [physically] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Hebrew, ruach, spirit] of life; and [simultaneously] man became a living soul [Hebrew neshamah, soul].” (Genesis 2:7)

Hidden and obscured, there is this third organ, man’s “spirit” with its unique faculties located deepest within man, deeper than his soul’s mind. The “spirit of man” has remained a mystery to most people throughout all the ages, but Daniel gives us its precise location.

 “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst [middle] of my body….” (Daniel 7:15)

While our decaying and dying physical body is “outer the metaphysical  soul is the inward man,” but the spirit of manis innermost” – at his core.

“For which cause we faint not; but though our Outward Man [of the body] perish, yet the Inward man [of the soul] is [to be] renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

“May He [the Lord] grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the Inner man [of the soul] BY the Spirit [of God Himself indwelling your Innermost being, your ‘spirit of man’…]. (Ephesians 3:16 (AMP, with emphasis added)

This understanding thus leads us to the Source and the Answer to every seeker’s search forreality, truth, and satisfaction that will yield rest for the troubled soul.

By our self we could never find it. We could sit for hours in the sun, shade or darkness to meditate, ponder, clear our mind of every thought, try to recollect the past, consider the future, concentrate, open up, try to be enlightened, but still we wouldn’t find it. That’s because the key to man is deeper than our physical senses and soul senses.

Thus, man is Tri-part in his make-up of spirit, soul and body. Paul as the “Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), confirms this;

“I (Paul) pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless...” (1 Thes. 5:23)

Note in this verse (above) the order of spirit and soul and body,” suggesting that which is foremost in the arrangement of man’s being is his “spirit of man” which is the receptacle to receive Christ’s resurrected “Spirit of life.”

There is great misconception about the distinction between the soul being of a man and the “spirit of manin the world today. It is especially confused in the world of denominational religion. The Bible makes clear that there is a very great difference in the purpose and function of the soul of man and that of the spirit of man

“The spirit of man is the candle [light] of the LORD, searching all the ‘inward parts’ of the belly [i.e., the inward man of the soul].” (Proverbs 20:27, KJV with emphasis added)

I’ve already said the “spirit of man” is hid deep in man. We can liken this to the physical life-giving ‘marrow,’ as the source of the physical life-blood that is twice hidden, 1) by flesh, and 2) by the outer bone. There is hid within the body and deeper than the soul of man that deeper third part of man’s being, it is the human “spirit of man.” The human spirit is so close to the soul, so encased by the soul, that it is often mistaken for the soul. Yet, it is not the soul… it is “the spirit of man.”

Job 32:8 “But there is a spirit in man:” …

Zechariah 12:1b “God who formeth…the spirit of man within him…”

Hebrews 4:12 “[The word of God] dividing asunder of soul and spirit …”

So, what is it that drives us from within?

As stated earlier, again and again comes the inner yearning, a restlessness driven by a hunger for fulfillment. It is a desire that emanates from our UNFULFILLED HUMAN ‘Spirit of Man,’ gnawing at us, desiring to be filled, ‘completed.’

You see man was created with an ‘incomplete’ “spirit of man.” It is intended to be the precise receptacle for being joined to the resurrected “Spirit if life in Christ Jesus.” So long as “the spirit of man” remains incomplete there will be this dissatisfaction, generating the desire and hunger to be satisfied.