By Thomas Denegre
Reading from Genesis 3
Spies are the most dangerous people as they can possess the secret knowledge to win wars or destroy nations. Just as equal, God
warns us in the Book of Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected
knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Jesus also warned us that “the
thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to bring life, and
bring it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Our Lord so much
desires us to have an abundant life because “the truth (Jesus) will set
you free,” (John 8:32) from oppression, self-imprisonment, despair,
falsehoods, and self-destruction.
Are you
ready to accept knowledge to save you, and give you the victories in life you desire?
Considering this hidden knowledge, I learned the fall of man
was due to his lack of knowledge in his strengths, his weaknesses, and the
wiles of the enemy. As a former U.S.
Navy Commander and pilot we were required to study “The Art of War” by Sun
Tzu. Written over 2,000 years ago, the
military strategist stated, “If you know the enemy and know yourself,
you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not
the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither
the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” So, lets begin by learning more about
our own self to enable more victories in our life.
In the
beginning God said, said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness.” (Gen 1:26). We know God has three attributes Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit. In the same way,
man was given three attributes; spirit, soul, and body. For the Apostle Paul states, “May God
himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit,
soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Thes 5:23)
The spirit,
soul, and body of man contain their own attributes. One must understand how
these attributes work together along with their given priorities; otherwise we
are doomed. When God breathe life into
Adam, he gave him spirit and life. Man’s spirit is eternal (yes, we are eternal
entities) and designed to be in life-union with God. Our spirit has three attributes; communion,
intuition, and conscience. In addition, our soul has three attributes; mind,
will, and emotions.
When Adam
walked with God, he was walking spirit-to-spirit with Him. Adam lived in a
state of innocence whereby his spirit controlled his soul and body for he knew
no shame when he was naked. Then the
fall of man occurred. “So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate.” (Gen 3:6) Letting down their defenses,
pride (self-centeredness) entered Adam and Eve which enabled their body and
soul to dominate their spirit. They ran away from God as the death of their
spiritual relationship with God brought fear and shame. Sadly, they entered that lying business of
political correctness by claiming to be victims and blaming someone else for
their own responsibilities. Some things never change.
Today we are
fortunate because we can have our sins forgiven when we run to the Lord with repentance
and humility. Thankfully, our savior Jesus the Christ gave us this grace from
Calvary.
Today’s
world is no different, we see the enemy attacking our spirit, soul and body to
severe our spiritual relationship with God.
If our spirit is not in life union with Jesus (John 15) then our lack of
knowledge (Hosea 4:6) will doom us to a sinners’ life. Here are just few ways
the enemy can attack us.
·
Take
this beauty cream and you’ll look ten years younger (vanity)
·
She
is so much prettier than I am (envy)
·
I
can’t take my eyes off that person at the gym (lust)
·
I
make my decisions based on my conscious views and not by the Word of God
(rebellion)
·
If
they stand that way politically, then they must be evil (anger)
·
I
want my pound of flesh. I want my
revenge. (unforgiveness)
·
By
my title, (vice president, elite college graduate, doctor, software programmer)
I am better than you (pride)
·
I
trust my bank account not God (greed)
·
So,
I weigh 300 pounds. Food is my comfort
(gluttony)
·
Hey,
I deserve to live on welfare all my life. It’s not my fault. (sloth)
The natural
order of life is for us to walk in life union with God and have His words live
powerfully within our mind and spirit (John 15:7). By this manner, our spirit will
control our soul which then controls our body and not vice versa. By living in the spirit, we can be assured of our victories through Jesus our Lord.
Paul the
Apostle states this very well; “For those who live according to
the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live
according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Rom. 8:5-6)
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16) “But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal.5:22-25)
MAN’S SPIRITUAL
ATTRIBUTES
·
INTUITION – Knowledge from the Holy Spirit - 1
Cor 2:11
·
COMMUNION Worship in the spirit - John 4:24
·
CONSCIENCE – Cleanses our consciences Heb – 9:14
MAN’S
SOUL ATTRIBUTES
·
EMOTION
- The believer and
emotion – Matt 22; Affection – Ps 42:1; Desire – Psalm 73:25; A life of feeling
– 2 Cor 5:7; The life of faith – Rom 1:17
·
MIND
- The mind a
battlefield – 2 Cor 10:5; The vulnerabilities of a passive mind – 2 Cor 11:3; The
way of deliverance – Col 3: 9; The laws of the mind - Rom 8:6
·
WILL - A believer’s will – Luke 22:42; Passivity
and its dangers – 2 Tim 1:7; The believer’s mistake – Hosea 4:6; The path to
freedom – John 8:32
MAN’S BODY ATTRIBUTES
·
BODY - The believer and his body – 1 Cor
6:13; Sickness – Matt 8:17; God as the life of the body – John 10:10; Overcoming
death – John 11:25-26
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