The Natural And The Spiritual
The body is sown in
corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
And so it is written,
"The first man Adam became a living being."
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
However, the spiritual is not first,
but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
The first man was of the
earth, made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
As was the man of dust,
so also are those who are made of dust;
and as is the heavenly Man,
so also are those who are heavenly.
And as we have borne the
image of the man of dust,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (1 Cor.
15:42-49)
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of
the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
Man was formed from the dust of the ground. The dust of the ground
is natural. But God breathed the breath of life into man, and gave
him His Spirit. Thus, man became a spiritual being. The spiritual is
not first, but the natural is. The spiritual comes after the
natural. We have borne not only the image of the man of dust but
also the image of the heavenly Man, Jesus Christ our Lord!
When we look closely at the
teachings of Jesus, we will be amazed to find that Jesus used the
natural to explain the spiritual. Some examples are:
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Things Of Nature
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Scriptural References
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The Sower and the Seeds
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Matthew 13:3-9; Mark
4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8
|
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The Grain of Wheat
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John 12:24
|
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The Wheat and the Tares
|
Matthew 13:24-30
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The Net
|
Matthew 13:47-50
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The Growing Seed
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Mark 4:26-29
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The Mustard Seed
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Matthew 13:31-32; Mark
4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19
|
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The Leaven
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Matthew 13:33; Luke
13:20-21
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The Budding Fig Tree
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Matthew 24:32; Mark
13:28; Luke 21:29-31
|
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The Barren Fig Tree
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Luke 13:6-9
|
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The Birds of the Air
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Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24
|
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The Flowers of the Field
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Matthew 6:28-30; Luke
12:27
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The Vultures & the
Carcass
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Matthew 24:28; Luke
17:37
|
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The Tree and its Fruits
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Matthew 7:16; Luke
6:43-45
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The Weather Signs
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Matthew 16:2-3; Luke
12:54-56
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A Lamp and its light
|
Luke 11:33
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The Shut Door
|
Luke 13:24-30
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The Doorkeeper
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Mark 13:33-37
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A Faithful and Wise
Servant
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Matthew 24:42-51; Luke
12:42-48.
|
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The Persistent Neighbor
|
Luke 11:5-8
|
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The Son's Request
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Matthew 7:9-11; Luke
11:11-13
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The Judge and the Widow
|
Luke 18:1-8
|
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The Pharisee and the
Publican
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Luke 18:9-14
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Master and Servant
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Luke 17:7-10
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The Waiting Servants
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Mark 13:33-37; Luke
12:35-38
|
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The Laborers in the
Vineyard
|
Matthew 20:1-16
|
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The Talents
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Matthew 25:14-30; Luke
19:12-27
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The Lamp
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Matthew 5:14-16; Mark
4:21; Luke 8:16
|
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The City Set on a Hill
|
Matthew 5:14
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The Lamp of the Body
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Matthew 6:22; Luke
11:34-36
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The Wineskins
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Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22;
Luke 5:36-39
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The Dishonest Steward
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Luke 16:1-12
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The Unforgiving Servant
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Matthew 18:23-35
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The Rich Fool
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Luke 12:16-21
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The Wicked Vinedressers
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Matthew 21:33-41; Mark
12:1-9; Luke 20:9-16
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The Two Builders
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Matthew 7:24-27; Luke
6:47-49
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The Two Debtors
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Luke 7:41-43
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The Hidden Treasure
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Matthew 13:44
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The Pearl of Great Price
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Matthew 13:45-46
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The Arrogant Guest
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Luke 14:7-11
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The Bridegroom's Friend
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John 3:29
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The Bridegroom's
Attendants
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Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19;
Luke 5:34
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The Bride's Friends or
Ten Virgins
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Matthew 25:1-13
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The Tower Builder
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Luke 14:28-30
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The Wedding Feast
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Matthew 22:1-14; Luke
14:16-24
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The Wedding Garment
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Matthew 22:11-14
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The Rich Man and Lazarus
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Luke 16:19-31
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The Good Samaritan
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Luke 10:30-37
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The Prodigal Son
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Luke 15:11-32
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The Two Sons
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Matthew 21:28-32
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The Lost Coin
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Luke 15:8-10
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The Lost Sheep
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Matthew 18:12-14; Luke
15:4-7
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The Good Shepherd
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John 10:1-18
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The Doctor and the Sick
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Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17;
Luke 5: 31
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The Sheep and the Goats
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Matthew 25:32
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Jesus knew that the only
dividing line between the natural and the spiritual is that of His
Spirit, the Breath of Life. This dividing line is not about church
or Christian programs and activities! It is about whether we have
the Spirit of God or not. With the Spirit of God, a king could be
called a man after His own heart as in the case of King David.
Without the Spirit of God, a church could be declared as a dead
church like the Church in Sardis (Rev. 3:1). In fact, many churches
in Europe have become mosques, restaurants or shopping malls. The
only difference is having the Spirit of God or not. Being
spiritually alive or spiritually dead!
But God has revealed them to
us through His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things,
yes, the deep things of God.
For what man knows the things of a man
except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so no one knows the
things of God
except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit Who is from God,
that we might know the things
that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak,
not in words
which man's wisdom teaches
but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man does not
receive
the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual
judges all things,
yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
For "who has known the mind of the LORD
that he may instruct Him?"
But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:10-16)
We are
both natural and spiritual beings. We need natural food, and we also
need spiritual food. One without the other is incomplete. When God
gave us His Holy Spirit, we become spiritually alive! And the Holy
Spirit is our Teacher. He will teach us all things! We know about
these things because God has sent His Spirit to tell us. His Spirit
searches out and shows us all of God's deepest secrets.
No one can really know what
anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person
himself. And no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit.
God has actually given us His Spirit to tell us about the wonderful
gifts of grace and blessings that God has given us.
The Holy Spirit will help us to
understand and explain spiritual truths even by looking at the
natural. We are inspired by the Holy Spirit living within us. He
will bestow us with wisdom from above. And we do not use mere words
of human wisdom and knowledge.
Before a man receives Christ, he
is just a natural man. But he is spiritually dead. He cannot
understand and accept the teachings of God, which the Holy Spirit
teaches us. They will sound foolish to him because only those who
have the Holy Spirit within them can understand what the Holy Spirit
means. Others just can't take them in. But the man who has received
the Spirit of God has become spiritually alive. He will have insight
into spiritual things, just like Jesus Christ our Lord! He will have
the very thoughts and mind of Christ. By looking at the natural, the
spiritual man will also be able to explain the spiritual.
As we have the Holy Spirit, we must bear the fruit of
the Holy Spirit (Galatians
5:22-23), namely:
-
love
-
joy
-
peace
-
longsuffering
-
kindness
-
goodness
-
faithfulness
-
gentleness
-
self-control
We must begin to
see God outside the walls of the church. Let's stop playing the
religious game of acting spiritual! Being spiritual means having the
Spirit of God and bearing spiritual fruit, and not just going
through the motion of doing Christian activities.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day,
'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,
cast out demons in Your name,
and done many wonders in Your name?'
"And then I will declare to them,
'I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:21-23)
We must be able to
bring our spirituality into our homes, into our schools, into our
working places, into our factories, into the shopping malls, into
the gardens and parks, into the streets, into the highways, into the
subways - into everywhere and everything!
God creates everything! The
earth is the LORD's, and everything in it! Yes, the world, and
everyone who live in it! We must let them know that the
vacuum in their hearts can only be filled by the Spirit of God. When
they do so, they will become spiritually alive! They too will have
the Holy Spirit living within them! They too will praise and worship
the LORD!
Let everything that has breath praise the
LORD.
Praise the LORD! (Psalm 150:6)
Written on:
16 March 2006