Through the scriptures, we understand that the spirit is the epicenter of man; without the spirit, we cannot speak of a living being. Before the Holy Spirit regenerates a believer, a person’s spirit is inoperative. The activation of the spirit of man depends on the Spirit of God, who gives life; as long as there is no contact between these two elements, this part of man will not come to life. Paul wrote:

“But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” (Rom. 8:10)

For Christ to make your spirit alive through His righteousness, it must first be dead to God, rendered unjust and inoperative in its functioning. God’s desire is to influence the life of man, and according to the order of creation (Spirit-Soul-Body), the spirit of man is the anchoring point that the Lord must possess so that the soul and body may reflect His reign.

During His discussion with Nicodemus, Jesus demonstrated that a man must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God, implying a renewal of the spirit. However, this new spirit is different from the spirit of man—a greater Spirit, a Spirit of transformation capable of influencing the spirit of man and justifying it, giving access to the greatest of all kingdoms, the kingdom of God.

God is an eternal Spirit. He has communicated this same nature to all human beings. This is what makes us all eternal creatures. However, some will have their spirit regenerated by the Spirit of God for eternal life, while others will continue in eternal death, their spirit having not been made alive by Christ.

Clearly, eternal life goes beyond mere “eternal” immortality; it is a life that has been connected to the very Person of God. “The spirit that was received in the beginning (at creation) is not the life of God that we receive at the moment of our regeneration. The life we receive at the moment of our regeneration is the life of God Himself; it is the life represented by the tree of life. This spirit of man (received at creation) is eternal, but it does not have eternal life.”

In His relationship with man, God has always desired to have contact with His creation, and as we observe in the scriptures, the Garden of Eden was the place where He met man. After the unfortunate event of the fall, man lost the relationship he had with God; it became difficult for him to be close to God, to speak with Him.

Through the new covenant, God reveals Himself to man in another way, in another form—that of Jesus Christ—and through Him, we receive the life of God. By accepting Christ and confessing with our mouths that He is our Savior and Lord, we also receive His Spirit, and consequently, the spirit of man becomes the place where we meet God once saved and regenerated.

It is in this place that He has come to dwell and make us alive to God; alive (conscious) to spiritual things and dead to the world and sin. Through the new birth, our spirit becomes a point of contact through which God acts, and for the kingdom of God to become tangible in a man’s life, His reign begins in the spirit of man through the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit operates from the spirit of man, and in this way, He becomes one with the man’s spirit . Thus, our spirit becomes a secret place, a garden similar to Eden, where we can meet God, where we communicate with Him; a place of transformation where we fully know Him.

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” 1 Corinthians 6:17

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

From these few verses, we can conclude that everything begins in the spirit; when God wants to touch a man, He begins with his spirit; when He wants to heal a man, He first restores his spirit; when He wants to strengthen a man, He first strengthens his spirit; when He wants to impart knowledge and wisdom to a man, He breathes it into his spirit…

This text is an excerpt from the book “The Faith That Never Fails: Living Tangible Faith“ written by Emmanuel MENIE.

We invite you to read the following article, “HOW TO MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF GOD?“