The Spirit of Man

Something is missing. Something is obviously missing. Everybody knows it. Some try to find it in physical pleasures. Some give themselves to education, hoping to find the answer, while most plod along day by day merely holding themselves together. But within, the questioning remains. Like a tune that cannot be forgotten it comes again and again - the feeling that there must be more to life than this. As you relax, try to sleep, the feeling returns - something is missing.

What is man?

Man is a mystery. Although we know more about him now than ever before, we understand him less. What is man? Of what is he composed? To most philosophers, psychologists, and theologians, man is not so simple. He is regarded as an entity of a dual nature, having at least the physical and metaphysical - the biological and psychological - components. This is the common understanding of the nature of man. Yet still in the light of this understanding, we remain powerless to quench the feeling of inner emptiness. So man remains a mystery. From where does this feeling come? In order to fathom the mystery of man, you must go beyond the physical and the psychological to find the missing key.

The Body is a Dead End

Everyone is aware of his own body. It is tangible, temporal, and lends itself to scientific investigation. If you were to ask a chemist, "What is man?" he might produce an analysis chart and point out to you conclusively that man is so much percent water, nitrogen, carbon, and various other elements. He would be correct according to his field of research. Yet he would have been referring only to the physical part of man's being, in nature identical to the elements of the earth.

Genesis 2:7 Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground ...
Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, coming into the world, He says ... a body you have prepared for Me.

Since the beginning of history, man has sought to be free from the imprisonment of his body. He has tried to find new ways of pleasing his overworked senses, only to find that it all has been done before - nothing satisfies. And although he has managed to prolong biological life, still every man comes to the point where he has to admit that the body is a dead end. There is no key there.

What About the Soul?

If you were to ask a psychologist about man, he might point out that besides your body, you have a more inward, hidden composition. You have a mind - a thinking organ; you have emotions - the faculty of inner feeling, capable of loving, hating, being depressed and elated. He might also point out that you have a will, a faculty for making decisions. He would in this manner show that you are not a mere physical being, but a psychological being as well. In short, you are a living, thinking, feeling, deciding entity - not mere animated dust, but a real live person, having a unique and distinctive personality. This, he would say, is YOU. Your real self, he would explain, is your inner self, your psychological self, while your body is just the outward shell of your being.

1 Corinthians 15:45 ... The first man, Adam, became a living soul ...
1 Thessalonians 5:23 ... and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame ...

Actually, according to the right meaning of the word, this psychological part is just the soul of man. Psyche comes from the Greek word meaning "soul." Psychology is the study of the soul. The three faculties of mind, will and emotion comprise the personality and are merely the components of the human soul. There is much misconception of the distinction between the soul and the spirit in the world today, especially in the religious world.

The last two centuries of human history have seen the spectacular rise of the soul's powers. The great minds have contributed an abundance of thought. The great wills have produced an abundance of decisive action in government and culture. Without a doubt, the soul has soared to its zenith in the past decade - yet in spite of man's great accomplishments, the sense of inner emptiness remains. We can conquer the moon, but still, within ourselves there remains some uncharted territory - man's highest thoughts are forgotten, his deepest emotions quickly fade, his most adamant determination falters. Within the soul of man, the search for the key ends in frustration.

The Spirit - The Third Part of Man's Being

Hidden and obscured, there is a faculty deep within man that has remained a mystery throughout all the ages. It is the unknown object of every seeker's search for reality. It is the end of the inward search. It is deeper than your mentality or your understanding. By yourself you could never find it. You could meditate - but never find it. You could sit under a tree, sit for hours in the sun or shade, ponder, clear your mind of every thought, recollect, concentrate - open up to whatever forces are available, be enlightened, whatever ... still you'd never find it.

It is deeper than the soul. Just as the life-giving marrow is hidden within the bone, hidden within the soul is the human spirit. It is so close to the soul and so encased by the soul that it is often mistaken for the soul, but it is not the soul! It is the spirit!

Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man ...
Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah...
Hebrews 4:12 ... dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow ...

All roads to this deepest part of your being have been cut off ... all roads but one. Only God can get you there.

Again and again comes the inner yearning, the restlessness, the spirit's hunger for reality. The spirit was made to contain God Himself, to be filled with God. Man is never satisfied because this deepest part still remains to be filled. Indeed, the very function of a man is to be filled with the life of God. For this purpose he was created with a spirit, an organ meant specifically to contain God. The mind may be able to think, but only spirit is able to contact God.

God is a Spirit (John 4:24). Just like the air enveloping you, He is so available and so willing to fill the void that was made especially for Him. He is the Holy Spirit and you have a human spirit - these two were made to go together - in you. To be born again is to receive the Holy Spirit into your human spirit.

John 3:6 ... that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit ...

To take God into you is very easy. Through His death on the cross, Christ shed His blood and accomplished a perfect redemption for us. All problems between us and God have been fully solved. All there is left to do is to receive Him! In resurrection Christ is so available and ready to come into us. Just open your heart to Him in a simple way. By calling upon His rich name you will touch God Himself. The living Christ will come into your spirit. Deep within something new will come to birth - something you have never experienced before. The joy! The fullness! The satisfaction! Your whole life will be changed ... now around a new center. You will become the normal man, one who is filled with God in his spirit. You will have found the key to unlock the mystery of man. Now nothing is missing. You have come to the end of the inward search.

The Lord be with your spirit. (2 Timothy 4:22)

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