In the first section we have been talking about the new environment that God wants us to live in. In this section, I want to start by talk about what we are – body, mind and spirit – and how that make-up fits in to our relationship with God. The focus at the end of the day is on what God wants us to become – but understanding what we are now is a useful starting point.
We are “spirit first”
One of the more radical concepts that I would propose is that we are primarily spiritual beings. We have three parts to our makeup – body, soul and spirit. This in itself may not appear particularly radical – we as Christians are pretty much on board with the fact that this is our make-up. 
Where things do start to get radical is with the concept that the spirit part of us should be the most dominant and all-encompassing part. And it is this recognition that is key to relocating from the natural realm to the spirit.
This recognition will only start to take place when we begin to perceive and understand that we live in a spiritual world, and the physical world is just a temporary and moderately small part of our real world.
Defining our parts
Whilst we understand the “body” part, the definitions surrounding our mind and spirit tend to blur.
Broadly speaking, our mind includes our intellect, our emotions and our personality. It also encompasses our will – our ability to choose.
The bible seems to make clear that a human being can’t live without a spirit, whereas as spirit can exist without a body - which means that our spirit seems to be the most important part of our being.
Genesis 25:8 - Then Abraham's spirit was released, and he died at a good (ample, full) old age, an old man, satisfied and satiated, and was gathered to his people.
Genesis 25:17 - And Ishmael lived 137 years; then his spirit left him, and he died and was gathered to his kindred
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.
Whilst we give at least some credence to the fact that we have a spiritual side, if we were to be entirely honest we would probably admit that we don’t think about ourselves as being “spiritual” beings. We can see the physical being, and we interact primarily as physical beings, and we have plenty of exposure to intellect and emotions, but the spirit part of us doesn’t get much attention.
It’s not something to be ignored – in fact (and I’ll come to this) I propose that our spirits don’t simply inhabit our bodies, buried somewhere in our chest like a little shiny object that will be released when our body dies. Instead, it’s God’s intention that our bodies and minds are just resources that He has provided to our spirits whilst we “straddle” the natural and spiritual environments. Put another way, our body and mind is “plugged into” our spirit, rather than the other way around.
Perhaps a little extreme, but what I am trying to communicate is the fact that the bigger part of us is our spirit – it needs to be the dominant, active, influential part of our make-up.
The problem is that the body and mind parts of us have a lot of influence when we place little attention on our spirits – for instance, we get “tired and emotional”. This body that we get to live in and the intellect that drives it along creates issues – the demand for food, sleep, comfort, entertainment, affection, etc. The spirit part of us doesn’t have these issues – the needs that I have mentioned are not important to our spirit.
Our spirit is “switched on” and active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no “down time”. This would imply that we as spirits are constantly aware of what is happening around us – it is not a dormant and disinterested part of our make-up. The spirit part of us is highly responsive to the spiritual realm – the problem generally is that we permit our bodies and minds to suppress our spiritual being by placing more attention on physical and emotional feedback.
So, if we are primarily spiritual beings (with 24x7x365 awareness) and God is the same, there appears to be no reason why we cannot be in constant relationship and communication with God, and living in a spiritual environment, 24 hours a day. If we aren’t experiencing this, the only logical conclusion is that we are allowing our bodies and minds to “call the shots”.
Mark 14:38 Keep awake and watch and pray [constantly], that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
When Jesus told the disciples in the garden to “keep awake” He wasn’t talking about physically staying awake – what He was saying was to become spiritual beings. The flesh (the body and mind) is weak – it gives into the natural realm in a flash, and of course it does because that’s where it belongs! It requires a decision on our part to go down a path of “awakening”.
Mexican Stand-Off
Are you getting the impression that there seems to be a big gap between the natural (body/mind) part of us and the spirit part of us? Absolutely! Whilst the diagram above seems to indicate that our body and mind co-exist with our spirit, it appears to be an uneasy alliance – in fact, it’s seems like it’s a “Mexican Stand-Off” where there is a strategic deadlock or impasse between our natural and spiritual parts, in which no part can act in a way that ensures victory over the other. There is a conflict here – an incompatibility between our natural and spiritual parts that can never be resolved.
Paul understood the conflict that exists, and talked about it in Romans 7:14-25 where he said that even he, as a very mature and powerful Christian, battled the conflicting demands of his mind, body and spirit. Paul says in verse 23 that he had two sets of “laws” raging in his being – the law of God that his spirit wanted to follow, but the conflicting law of his natural being.
Galatians 6:5 For every person will have to bear (be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [ little] load [of oppressive faults].
So is it a stand-off? I don’t think it’s intended to be, because that would suggest a stalemate in which neither our spirit or our body/mind wins out. I think the intention is that our body and mind lose the high ground they currently occupy – that is, our body/mind backs down from the fight and submits to our spirit’s desires.
Not only is this not a stand-off, but our spirit needs to start some “gun play” – aggressively and purposefully driving our body and mind from their position of strength to a position of submission. I am quick to add that we cannot do this on our own- we need God’s help – and this is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit is so important to us. We will always have a load of faults that we will carry with us – it’s really a matter of which part of our being has the upper hand.
I am quick to add that your spirit needs some “ammunition” – and this is why soaking yourself in the bible is absolutely crucial. God can bring back to your heart the things that you’ve read (even if you can’t recall exactly the words used) so that you’ve got God’s position on a situation. You can’t know what God thinks about a situation if you haven’t taken the time to investigate it. Don’t take any short-cuts here – devotionals are great, sermons are useful, but you’ve got to “load up” yourself with the bible.
What I’ve found useful is a four-part “attack plan”:
- When an inappropriate attitude (and you can use any attitude you happen to have in your cupboard) starts to roll around in my mind, I immediately “label” it – I recognise that I’m thinking something that’s not right, and label it “WRONG!”
- I then mentally “grab” the thought and come clean with God – basically, I acknowledge to God that I’m thinking something that isn’t right, and that I know that I’m doing it.
- I then remind myself of Galatians 6 – I’ve still got a lot of “natural me” floating around, and so at the moment it’s inevitable that I’m going to think things that aren’t right.
- Having grabbed the thought, I push it to one side and remind myself what God thinks of the situation. I know that thought is still there, and I realise I still have some “attitude”, but I also practice letting the “bigger” part of me have the upper hand – the part of me that want to know what God thinks, and wants to see things the way that God sees them.
Why can’t we just forget about the natural realm?
When I talk about this whole relocation concept, I don’t mean that we forget about the world around us and become some sort of exclusive group that hides away behind closed doors, having nothing to do with our environment or the people in it. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth – we need to be out in our communities because that’s where we undertake and complete the purpose that God intends for us.
Philippians 1:21-26 For me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain [the gain of the glory of eternity]. If, however, it is to be life in the flesh and I am to live on here, that means fruitful service for me; so I can say nothing as to my personal preference [I cannot choose], but I am hard pressed between the two. My yearning desire is to depart (to be free of this world, to set forth) and be with Christ, for that is far, far better; but to remain in my body is more needful and essential for your sake. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and stay by you all, to promote your progress and joy in believing, so that in me you may have abundant cause for exultation and glorying in Christ Jesus, through my coming to you again.
Paul was hanging out to get to heaven and be with God, but at the same time he understood that there were things for him to do here – and he wanted to finish what he had started.
Is this a hard transition?
The relocation thing seems hard at the outset, and it would be completely dishonest of me to say that I have been finding the transition (or even the concept of relocation) in any way easy. This transition from the natural to spiritual thinking seems to be more an issue of determination and commitment. Paul the apostle didn’t just become a spiritual man and then it was all down hill – in 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said that he died daily – that he died to self every day of his life. It was a constant process for Paul because, whilst he was alive and had a body and a mind which would always be tied to the natural realm, he needed to be disciplined to keep those natural elements of his being in check. Paul was bright guy – highly trained, very intellectual, self-confident, upwardly mobile, and not the least bit stupid – so I’m sure this would have been a hard process for him.
Can we just decide to change and expect to make it happen?
Unfortunately we can’t, mainly because our body and mind seem to have an incredible amount of influence over us. Our own personal determination and will just won’t cut it. There is only one way that we can change, and that’s by giving God some space in our lives – and there is only so much space. And God knows that – which is why in this manifesto I’ll be discussing the ongoing role that the Holy Spirit undertakes in helping us with the “tight squeeze” I mentioned as one of the early changes. The role of the Spirit is ongoing because, like Paul, whilst we are tied to a body and mind, we will always be hooked into and dealing with the natural realm.
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