1 ***FROM THE NATURAL MAN TO THE SPIRITUAL MAN***... Dark to Light... THE SPIRITUAL MAN BORN OF GOD! Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (in the flesh). John 3:6-7 For, the first man is 'of the earth'; the second man is the 'Lord from heaven', and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. AND OF THE TWO IS MADE ONE NEW MAN The Spiritual Man, born of GOD as to SPIRIT! Son of Man (flesh), Son of God (Spirit). But now in Christ Jesus, we who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ! For he is our peace, who hath made both (Himself and us) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us (enmity); Having abolished in his flesh the enmity (Note: what is abolished is the enmity IN the flesh, not the flesh itself!), even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, (flesh and Spirit) so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Eph 2:13-16 And to this end the creation of man begins The candle of the Lord: The first Adam man is 'formed' of the dust of the ground by the Lord God. He is of the earth, earthy (collectively mankind) and bears the image of the earthy (not the heavenly)! God breathed the breath of life into this 'formed' creature and he became a living soul of flesh! The 'life' within his flesh is the spirit (nature) of this natural, earthy man and is 'The candle of the Lord'! This first natural man, though having been given dominion over all the earth and every creeping thing, has come to find himself under the dominion of sin in his earthly form and subject therefore to the law of sin and death. Even to this day every new baby is 'born' of water by and through the flesh of the first natural man. The child is born into the dominion of death through sin, as the law of sin and death hath reigned throughout the history of the 'creation of man', even unto this present age of gross darkness in the world.
2 PRAISE BE TO GOD THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE MATTER! And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness Gen 1:26, and, again, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa 55:11 BY THE CANDLE OF THE LORD COMES LIGHT! The spirit of man (life within the natural flesh man) is the candle of the Lord! We can receive this as a wonderful promise of hope towards salvation, in that in Him was life and the life was the 'light' of men! For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. Ps 18:28 AND, the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, also formeth the spirit of man within him. Zech 12:1 FORMING THE SPIRIT WITHIN THE NATURAL MAN We each witness our 'first' man's natural spirit (nature) begin to be changed in form as the Lord 'lights' the candle within our internal earthly darkness, which light (life of Christ) begins a process of searching all our inward parts. For in the natural man's spirit (void of a change of form) the marvelous workings of the Lord thy God can never be known. A Change Within: Something stirs within something is being changed! What is happening? A flicker of Light within has begun the process of searching the inward parts! Oh, my! I see a man within! My spirit has always been in agreement with him in all his ways, for he is my husband. We have endured through both good and evil, and have reigned in the glory of our flesh. We have ruled together as King and Queen! But something else is happening...i am being mysteriously drawn by 'Another Spirit' not my own...not even of this world! I hear a 'voice' from within saying unto me 'The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I the Lord Jesus speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life. Verily I say unto you that no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him'... This 'drawing' by The Father has begun to form within me a curious desire to 'know' the Lord Jesus whom the Father has sent.
3 Yet, I find the spirit of my flesh lusts against the Spirit of Christ...Even so, I do not close my ears...i begin to listen more intently. Will He speak again? From glory to glory...by the increasing Light of the candle my darkness is enlightened enough so as to enable me to identify the man within my flesh. He is the 'man of sin'! This is the one I have been in marital agreement with??? I am horrified! For the first time I see myself as wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked! Who shall deliver me from the body of this sure death? I cry out for liberty, for I know that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty! I hear the Lord speak, Follow Me... I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! Increasing glory...and the ever increasing Light becomes a Consuming Fire! I begin to be given to taste of the fruits of the Spirit of the Lord and diligently seek Him. Yet I cannot seem to rightly divide the works of my flesh, that which is good from that which is evil. It is my mind...it's carnal! It is my heart...it's hardened! It's sin and iniquity in my flesh! I cry out unto the Lord Jesus, my Saviour, who shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom! THE APPEARANCE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! The Lord Jesus appears to me within His Temple (my body) and quickly overturns the tables! He instructs me to remove all matter of enmity and make not The Father's House an house of merchandise. I begin to seek the strength of the Lord continuously...glory to glory to glory! The Spirit of Christ has made residence within, and through His grace and mercy He gives me strength to bind the strong man of the house! I weep with joy and praise His name! I hear Him call me a child of the Day! What is happening? I begin to discern correctly and rightly divide. The Great Physician hast given me a new heart, ears to hear, and even begins to open my eyes! The Light of the candle becomes brighter and brighter, even unto a Consuming Fire at His coming! I long for Him...to see His Face...to KNOW HIM! I look only to Him. my double-mindedness is perishing and I am becoming single of eye (Life only) and quickened (made alive) by the Brightness of His Coming and the Spirit of His Mouth. The law of sin and death hath now waxed old and begins to pass away but behold! even as I see it 'go' I am receiving a New Law... The LAW of LIFE in Christ Jesus; The New Covenant in His blood (through the Cross)! I am being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord! I present my body as a 'living sacrifice' unto the LORD, that I may be clothed of the New Man, born of The Spirit of God, which after God is created and formed in righteousness and true holiness unto the express spiritual image of the Son of Man, Son
4 of God, the Lord Jesus Christ! Even now I find myself in travail, my hands on my loins, awaiting the hour of birthing! Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.1 Cor 15:46 WORSHIP GOD: FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY! Surely, we have long been in the wilderness of the natural man (as is common to all men), being even amongst wild beasts! Yet, by God's grace is the life (spirit) within us formed and quickened to overcome the world and the spirit of the world, through receiving and believing the testimony of Christ Jesus as the SPIRIT of prophecy (the Spirit we are to be, the Spirit of God). This prophecy is being brought to fulfillment in THIS 'DAY' (no more night)! Therefore, we are able to begin to see the prophecy 'go' because it (the Testimony of Jesus) is the Spirit of the Eternal Father in-working within until we be fully born of God! We know this is a process, and no man knows the appointed time for the completion of this birthing. However, we can know that when we are fully born of God, we will no longer see the 'prophecy'...we will BE the prophecy fulfilled as 'this same Jesus which God hath raised from the dead! We will be a completed creation in Christ, our flesh being birthed again, not of water, but of the Spirit of GOD, through Christ, to become the WORD and Testimony of Christ Jesus for the creation! IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE FOR GOD IS LOVE! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 How much thought do we give to Love? We, naturally, think about our 'loved' ones as being family and friends, pets and ice cream! Yet, do we contemplate the Love of God? Can we? How about the Love of Christ in God, or the Love of God in Christ, or the Love of Christ and the Father in us? Can we really 'know it'? Hmmmm...what if I were to tell you that we are becoming the very LOVE OF GOD, (for GOD IS LOVE), through CHRIST, in OUR FLESH? Now, I speak not of love within our flesh though it had separate works from our flesh, but I speak of our flesh as ONE with the SPIRIT OF LOVE, a marriage making of the two One New Man (LOVE as GOD is LOVE). For it is the Lord Jesus Christ who, through the Eternal Spirit, is changing our vile bodies unto His glorious body by the Brightness of His Coming and the Spirit of His Mouth. And, is He not able to subdue in us all things unto Himself?
5 Our first 'natural man', being born of water (wherein sin in our members worketh unto death) passes away as we are born of The Spirit of God in our flesh. God is Spirit, and God is Love, therefore God's Spirit is Love. To make of the two (flesh and Spirit) One New Man is to make that MAN in the image and likeness of God in a flesh body in the creation as the Son of God, and GOD IS LOVE! The WORD IS LOVE! This is what we are becoming and is that which is soon to be seen in the creation through the ushering in of The Kingdom of God! The Kingdom of God is Love; Love will Reign! THE MANY-MEMBERED BODY OF CHRIST As the many-membered body of Christ Jesus, we are coming to KNOW HIM by being made spiritually conformable to His death (abolishing enmity in the flesh) through the fellowship of his sufferings (Cross). We are becoming AS HE IS, witnessed within by the power of His Resurrection; being ourselves raised from amongst the dead (Law of sin and death) unto Life (Law of Life Eternal). Let us finish this race with confidence, laying aside every weight and the sin that attempts to beset us... forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are now just before us. I pray we each remain diligent in pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, that as many as (are to) be (made) perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing (we) be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto (us). Phil 3:14-15 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Luke 8:17 Yes beloved, our conversation is now (forevermore) in the heavens; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Phil 3:20-21 Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Amen and Amen... Peace Be to All in the Love of Christ, Penny Dobson 7/8/2015