Intro
1. Bored or frustrated, launching
prayers into space, not knowing whether God hears or
will respond? Meaningless? Wonder if anybody's
out there?
2. Accustomed to 2-way conversations
with human beings; why can't you dialog with
God? You can.
3. Purpose of this study: help
you develop your listening skills, recognize God speaking.
4. Series topics include: where
thoughts come from, how to prepare your mind, activating
your spirit, recognizing God’s voice.
5. Today, confirm that every one
of us is equipped to hear God, dialog with him.
Prerequisites for this study
1. Basic working knowledge of
the Bible.
2. Submitted to the Bible — must
be a Christian; accept Bible as God's Word, absolute
standard for all things.
3. Submitted to local church —
accountable, teachable.
4. Suggestion: bring paper &
pen with you to each class; take notes, some class exercises
require writing.
Important to understand how God created us; helps us dialog with God
more effectively
Dichotomy Model of Man — “Binary” or “Two-fold” Model
1. The traditional view of human
nature
a. we have two parts: outer man or body, inner man or soul
b. when a person accepts Jesus as Savior, God gives them his
Spirit and this is the
divine part
of man
c. therefore, only Christians have body, soul and spirit; “human
spirit” is
synonymous with
“Holy Spirit” in us; traditional view
2. Since we cannot dissect a person’s
non-physical part, we can only theorize about such
matters based on our interpretation of scripture.
3. As you know, there are lots
of interpretations of scripture.
4. I believe, as others have through
history, that a more accurate model of human nature
consists of three parts, rather than two.
Warning:
1. What I am about to present
to you is controversial; it has been debated by church
theologians and scholars since the first century.
Clearly state: the model I am about to
present to you is my theory based on my understanding/interpretation
of scripture; it is
not necessarily the doctrine of our church.
2. I present this model to you
because I believe it has great potential for helping you
understand what the Bible says about your
nature, and for helping you hear and
recognize God’s voice.
3. I discussed this with our Pastor
and he did express some concern about how this
concept might be misused, so I want to be
very careful how I present this to you.
Triune Model of Man (my theory)
1. Man has three distinct parts
to his nature, corresponding to the three stages of creation
in Genesis 1; Genesis uses "create" three
significant times (Hebrew bara, primarily: to
create out of nothing, to make without using
pre-existing material).
a. Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth."
i. first stage of creation was physical existence. God created
physical
existence out of nothing (Hebrew bara)
ii. from physical existence, God made the sky, seas and dry land,
plants,
heavenly bodies.
iii. "made" (Hebrew asah, not bara): reshaped existing material to form
something new.
iv. so first stage of creation was physical existence (first use
of bara).
b. Gen 1:21 "So God created the great creatures of the sea
and every living and
moving thing
with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every
winged bird
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."
i. second stage of creation was cognition; conscious awareness,
included
animate creatures. Conscious of own existence & of environment, could
learn, control actions to respond to environment.
ii. use of bara suggests God also created conscious existence out
of
nothing. God did not form conscious awareness from physical matter.
iii. in addition to physical existence, these creatures also had consciousness,
intelligence.
iv. after the sea and air creatures, God made land creatures.
v. no new creation needed; physical bodies, conscious awareness
c. Gen 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he
created him;
male and female he created them."
i. third stage of creation was human spirit.
ii. use of bara suggests God created man’s third level of existence
out of
nothing
iii. it was this level that gave man God’s image, made him unique in
physical creation.
iv. man's three-part nature:
(1) man has physical existence (first stage of creation): “physical
body.” The least significant part of your being.
(2) man has conscious awareness (second stage): “mind/psyche.”
More highly developed than animals — conscious awareness,
intellect, rational thought, emotion, decisiveness; all at higher
level than animals.
(3) man has something that gives him God's image (third stage):
“spirit.” Possibly subconscious thought, character, will.
d. I think is very significant: Genesis 1 uses bara 3 times,
each corresponding to a
new stage of
creation, different part of man’s existence
e. What are some dangers/problems inherent in Triune Model?
i. People might believe their spirit has power & authority
described in
scripture.
ii. Response: God is the source of power and authority; whatever
we have
God has delegated to us to use for his purposes — his power, his
authority, his business, his kingdom.
f. What are some benefits of Triune Model?
i. Better understanding of how God equipped you, how he interacts
with
you, what he expects of you.
ii. Analogy: If you didn’t know you had fingers on your hands, you
couldn’t use hands effectively; you’d use them as extensions of your
arms.
iii. If you’re not aware of your spirit, you’d use it as an extension of
your
mind; very ineffective.
2. Man is superior to animals,
just as animals are superior to plants & dirt.
a. animals learn, can figure things out, get excited and fearful.
Some even
communicate
with humans (one monkey uses sign language to communicate
with its trainer)
b. dogs respond to verbal commands.
c. dolphins work in cooperation with humans, trained by humans
to perform
specific tasks
d. this is all psyche or mind — conscious awareness, intellect,
rational thought,
emotion, decisiveness
e. Have you ever seen animals express emotions?
i. Your dog gets happy when you come home or take it for a
walk; or
fearful when it does something it knows it shouldn’t.
ii. Fish in aquarium get excited when owner approaches tank with
food.
f. Man has this in common with animals, is considered part
of animal kingdom
(remember your
Biology?)
g. Highly-developed psyche distinguishes man from animals.
3. Most people live an animal-level
existence:
a. Preoccupied with their physical & mental existence.
b. Consumed with activities of life — eating, sleeping, working,
shopping,
hobbies, possessions,
etc.
c. Basically is animal-level existence; only body & mind.
4. But man was created in God's
image
a. God is spirit, not flesh & bone.
b. Man is the only physical creature that has spirit; primary
feature that gives man
God’s image;
God is Trinity, man has three parts.
i. God gave you a body, a mind, a spirit; he expects you to
use all of them.
ii. You will be most effective when you have them work together on
same
task — unity, integrity. This is God’s design.
iii. This course can help you do that so you can dialog effectively with
God.
iv. To do so, must distinguish between your spirit & mind/psyche.
5. Dichotomy Model may be accurate
functional model of unbeliever
a. “Soul” represents mind and dysfunctional spirit (spirit
exists but operates with
absolute minimal
effectiveness, controlled by sinful nature). Person is
spiritually
“dead”; spiritually dormant, not spiritually non-existent.
b. At salvation, person is “born again”
i. Holy Spirit injects life into human spirit and it comes
alive, begins to
operate as God designed it.
ii. Holy Spirit does not substitute for human spirit
iii. Note: this is “born again” or spiritual rebirth; resuscitation.
c. Salvation is spiritual experience; first step in redemption
(not recreation).
Human Spirit
1. Every human has a spirit, regardless
of their spiritual condition (my theory)
a. Lk 1:47 "... my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
b. Lk 8:55 "Her spirit returned and at once she stood up."
c. Man is unique in physical creation — the only creature with
a spirit
d. If we ignore human spirit, could conclude people are only
highly-developed
animals; this
is the dominant theory in our culture, and I strongly reject it.
2. Human spirit is distinct from
God's Spirit
a. Rom 8:16 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God's
children."
b. At salvation, you come into relationship with the Holy Spirit,
he lives “in” you,
your spirits
interact.
i. May be similar to marriage between humans; two become one:
united in
purpose, distinct in identity.
ii. Somehow your spirit and Holy Spirit work so closely together
that as
you mature spiritually, the distinction becomes increasingly irrelevant.
iii. Suggests that spiritual growth leads to greater effectiveness, more
of
God’s power flowing through you; emphasize: God’s power.
iv. Your sinful nature wants you to believe: you can do what you
want;
that’s wrong, not how God’s kingdom works.
c. The purpose of this study is to help you recognize when
God's Spirit
communicates
with your spirit.
d. Key point: God communicates with you spirit-to-spirit.
3. Concept is foreign to Western
culture
a. Most people in Western culture don't realize they have spirit;
emphasize psyche:
very rational
in their thinking, stress education/intellect, emphasize feelings
b. A few recognize their spirits, but become mystical.
c. One of goals of this study: help you understand your three-part
nature and learn
to function
as God intended
Class Exercise
1. Close eyes and form mental
image of your 3-part nature — spirit, mind, body. Hold
that image for a minute.
2. Mind keeps jumping around —
thinks about what’s going on around you, plans for this
afternoon, dinner; wants to pray.
3. Mind must remain active, so
we give it something productive to do, let it help, but keep
it settled down and focused.
Additional Notes:
1. Primary function of psyche:
evaluate inputs, decide how to respond. Critical role; don’t
try to stop it.
2. Problem: accustomed to being
in charge, dominating; result of sin’s perversion.
3. Transforming your mind very
important; must submit your psyche to your spirit