THE son of God is a spiritual man. The spiritual man devotes his entire life to being governed by the Spirit of God.
Spiritual = pneumatikos = a spiritual being.
There is a new move from religion to spirituality in the world today.
The spiritual man is led by the Holy Spirit. The context in which the Holy Spirit functions is called the Word of God. This sets our spirituality apart from that which is prevalent in the world today.
The Word is the very element that constitutes the Heavens and the Earth. For any individual to say, “I am spiritual”, he must be able to live in the environment of the Spirit. He must be totally dependent upon the Lord.
• To be a spiritual man is to be a son of God according to Rom. 8:12-17.
Reception of Christ gives us the privileged opportunity to become children of God. Children = teknon = we become a legal member of God’s family. Not a physical operation, but a spiritual operation. Being a legal member of God’s family does not mean you enjoy all the privileges of that family. There is a process towards this. The divide is whether we choose to live by our own law or by the law of God. The critical issue is “being led by the Spirit”.
LED = ago = to be carried; being captured by the Spirit of God; coming under the absolute dominance of the Spirit of God. Come under the absolute domain of the sovereign leadership of the Holy Spirit. We have to redefine the ministry and function of the Holy Spirit.
There are two types of man on the earth: the spiritual and the natural man. This does not mean the natural is simply a sinful man (neither are we saying the natural is not sinful). We must not create a dichotomous view of the natural and the spiritual. Natural things does not necessarily refer to sinful things: 1 Cor. 15:45-50.
Verse 45 : The word ‘became’ implies a process. A man does not become a son at birth. The original intent of ‘wife’ was to produce sons to preserve the name of the family. God’s bride is to capture His seed and preserve His image and likeness on the earth.
Adam disconnected from his ‘spiritual’ character. You will never study the corporate without understanding the root. Judah, the province in Israel was first Judah, the tribe, which was first Judah, a man. From the individual to the tribe – and the land is called Judah. The anointing that was on the individual infected and influenced a whole group and ultimately, the land.
When Adam sins, the whole environment becomes ‘adamic’. What is in the ‘head’ will be in the ‘hem’. Adam embodies the entire human race which chose to operate from the soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. In our church we have these two categories of people. Some soulish people are religiously connected and are even compliant by all observations; and yet there are some who are spiritual, operating by a different order.
1 Cor. 15:47: The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
Verse 47 : However, the spiritual is not first. Soul = Psuchikos.
To be heavenly you do not have to leave the planet. To be spiritual you do not have to leave the body. Consider Paul carried into the third heaven – he said that he was not certain whether he left his body or not. Our bodies should be able to engage all of heaven and all of earth. If all of God could reside in Christ, then He can reside in all of us.
1 Cor 15:48: As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
This is the dualistic tension between ‘son of God’ and ‘son of man’. We are amphibious – we can engage the heavens and the earth.
1 Cor.15:50: Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
We have to redefine the kingdom of God as well. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that comes to rule in the midst of Babylon. We have had the ‘west’ feed us with kingdom theology – based on capitalism – and we have reduced it to materialism. The Kingdom does not come by observation. It is the internal operation within us. You do not give to get. You give simply to obey.
You will ‘get’ – but it is not your objective.
The New Covenant concluded with the death of Jesus. The last man that announced the Kingdom in the Old Covenant was John the Baptist. When you are son, you have a quiet restful confidence in your Father’s love and provision. When Moses asked God for His name, God responded ‘I am that I am’ = I want to choose how I want to exist; I become who I desire to become in whatever situation. God wants to ‘become’ in Moses to the people. God wants to become the son in us. He is the first born IN many brothers. This word carries the connotations of absolute final rest. It is as a seed deposited in your heart and grows until all of Him becomes all of you.
The critical factor is obedience.
The believer in the New Covenant is described as spiritual. The heavens is the resource centre of our earthly realm. It gives you spiritual food.
“Give us today our daily bread” – ‘daily’ = implies Him feeding us with the substance that constitutes Him. When God feeds you with all of Him – then we raid the heavens.
Each son is to function in a manner compliant with the heavenly order: 1 Cor 2:6-3:2.
A spiritual man is a mature man. He is able to unlock the hidden mysteries of God. We are stepping out of the bubble of chronology into a sea of immortality. The Spirit searches the deep things of God. The natural man is an infant in Christ. (Deur Christo Nel)