As I began reading/studying John’s Gospel, I read verse 9 and a light came on that made a connection with Proverbs 20:27 in our pic.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. John 1:6-9
Jesus the light enlightens every man. Does that mean that the candle within man has been lit because Jesus has come into the world? I use the word candle as that is how the KJV puts it. The candle/lamp of the Lord searches every part of man to light up the truth about Christ.
In the notes of my Bible it says that the spirit of man can also refer to the breath of man. I go back to the beginning where I read that God breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. This is the spirit of life, as without our spirit our bodies die. Death is when our spirit leaves our body.
The life-giving spirit is given to us by God. Think about it, that is why the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. A thought; The lamp in man is dark, not lit until we become born of the Spirit. Then it is lit up! Proverbs was written before any idea of being born of the Spirit was written by John.
Then the spirit of man cannot be unlit then his body would be dead as the spirit has left the body; Then the spirit of a dead man could not be the lamp of the Lord. It is the spirit of the living men that are the lamp of the Lord.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
Something to think about! We are made in the image of God. We are a triune being as is God. We are not just a body with a soul; we have a spirit too. Do you think that our spirit does what God’s Spirit does, searches the depths of our being , just as The Spirit of God searches the depths of God?
If this is so, what is our spirit searching for? Could it be for truth? What truth can man’s spirit discover within us? Somewhere deep inside every person there is the truth of God. deep inside every person we know that there is a God of creation, who longs for a relationship with us. Our spirit knows our deepest thoughts and longings. Everyone knows that there is something more to life than what we have or live out!
Proverbs tells us that our spirit is the lamp of the Lord that searches our innermost being. Some find a kind of truth and settle for that. But it does not fulfil the inner longings of the heart of us. That is because it is the learned truth of the world, not the revealed truth of the Spirit. As Paul writes, God revealed the things that God has prepared for us who love Him.
There are hidden things within us that need to be searched out. As Christians, the Holy Spirit aids our own spirit to seek out the hidden things of God that are within us. The ‘All truth’, that Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit leading us into.
but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
We of ourselves cannot begin to understand the depths of what our Father God has prepared for us. We need to allow our spirits freedom to search out these hidden things of God that are deep within us. This becomes easier to us with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that we can do with our minds. Our minds can at the best of times be unstable.
It is our spirits not our minds that are the lamp of the Lord, that search us. All that God has prepared for us who love Him; is so much more than salvation for a future glory of eternal life. We have eternal life in the now,in this life. There are many promises of God to us in this life not just for our future in our glorified future eternity.
God has planned for us to have an abundant, fullness of life in the here and now. There are those who will deny this as false prosperity teaching. If that was all it is that I am teaching then, it is false. God’s message to Israel was a message of prosperity. That was God’s plan for them and for us. He says in the Psalms, ‘Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness, and He will give the Desires of our hearts.’ Not the desires of our minds, but of our hearts.
The promise to Abraham was a blessing of prosperity in every way. The father of many nations, of which we are his children of the promise, we who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. Gal 3:7 When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, what was it that the servant said to Rebekah’s family? God has greatly blessed Abraham my master so that he has become rich with flocks and herds and silver and gold…… Abraham did not realise the ultimate blessing/promise of God to him in his lifetime. The redemption for the whole world, for people of many nations.
For those who reject prosperity as a part of the Gospel, they are blinded by worldly reality. For many are the promises of God, the blessings of God. They are far greater than we can begin to imagine. All that He has prepared for us includes blessings in this life as well as in eternity. Paul says that God will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory; not according to what we think. Our minds cannot understand what God has planned for us, but our spirits can.
The Holy Spirit can reveal the hidden things of God’s blessing to us. They are not the riches of the world. Getting what we want according to the way the world says we should prosper. It is Heavenly riches that come through trusting our Father God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 1 Corinthians 12
Our spirits are the lamp of the Lord. As christians we have the added guidance of the Holy Spirit,that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. This kind of indicates that some of these things are not so obvious to our minds of flesh, the thoughts are from our spirits transferred to our spirits through the Holy Spirit.
In other words the Holy Spirit enlightens our spirit to those things that God has freely given to us. Things that help us in this life as well as the eternal life on the new earth, and before that in Heaven, and on this earth during the millennium reign of Christ.
Our spirits truly are the lamp of the Lord as His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15
Be Blessed
Charlie
FREEDOM IN CHRIST 