So Much More: Moving Beyond Kingdom Principles to Kingdom Power (26 page)

This is where all of us find ourselves naturally; that is why this is called the natural man. Unless or until the Holy Spirit comes upon us to draw us into a relationship with Jesus, we do not even consider spiritual things.

Inside of all of our lives there are all these different elements that comprise our personal lives. We might be in a marriage or have a family, a career, friendships, and so forth, all inside the life of this natural man.

The circles represent these different areas of relationships, interests, and activities that comprise the life of the natural man. So when it comes to this natural man, who is calling the shots in all of their relationships, interests, and activities? What’s the filter through which life decisions are made? Who’s sitting the throne? “Self” is sitting on the throne. Jesus is not in this person’s life. He is on the outside, not involved at all, so there is really no other option through which to filter decisions than to filter them through self.

Thus when the natural man needs to make a career decision, he really has only one filter through which to process the decision: What’s in it for me? How much money will I make? Will it make me happy? The same scenario is played out over and over again with every decision, relationship, or activity of this person’s life. So, we would say this natural man lives a self-directed life.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and death came because of sin, what was the death that came? Obviously, we immediately think of physical death, and that would be correct; but that didn’t happen immediately. But the very moment Adam and Eve sinned, their spirit died. The spirit is that part of man that was created to connect with and relate to God. That is why, unless we are born again, unless the Holy Spirit infuses our spirit and brings new life, there is no way to enter the kingdom of God because we cannot connect with and relate to Him. The natural man is born into a sinful world and he only has one birth, a physical birth. He has not experienced the second birth, being born again of the spirit. That is where every single one of us starts out. We are born as a natural person. Schools may inform us and the government may reform us but only Christ through the new birth can transform us, and this person has not yet been transformed, they have not yet been born again. This natural man may be a business person, a professor, a police officer, a banker, a good person, or a purely evil natural person, but Christ is on the outside of this person’s life and there is no relationship with Him.

As we consider the kingdom, we need to ask, which kingdom is the natural man a part of? There are only two options. There are only two kingdoms are in this world. We are naturally born into the kingdom of darkness, or Satan’s kingdom. The natural person is not only spiritually dead because they have not been born again, but remember what it said in 1 Corinthians 2:14 “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” (
NKJV
, emphasis added). In our natural state we cannot understand the things of God. They seem like foolishness to us because we are living in the kingdom of darkness. The Bible tells us that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Cor. 4:4), this natural man, so we cannot know God. Without a work of the Holy Spirit prompting our spirit and drawing us to God, and without ultimately that infusion of the Holy Spirit that brings about a new birth, we cannot know God and the whole God thing seems like foolishness. The idea of being a sinner and needing a Savior seems ridiculous. We think, “I’m a good person. Why do I need a Savior?” The idea of living eternally somewhere doesn’t make any sense at all. The natural man, the man who has not been infused by the Spirit of God and had his spirit brought back to life through the new birth so he can connect with and relate to the things of God, will never understand the things of God. He is blind to them. They seem like foolishness to the natural man.

This is why it is absolutely foolish to witness to someone and try to tell them about the things of Christ without inviting the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts. You aren’t going to simply debate or lecture someone into the kingdom of God. The only way someone’s eyes can be opened and they can begin to see the things of God is by a work of the Holy Spirit on their hearts. He has to open our spiritual eyes before we can see the things of God. So it’s much more important to pray than to lecture. It’s much more important to invite the Spirit to open the door of someone’s heart than to try to beat the door down. It doesn’t work. The natural man cannot know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned.

T
HE
S
PIRITUAL
M
AN

But Paul doesn’t stop there. He goes on: “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 L
ORD
that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:15–16,
NKJV
).

So the second type of man, or person, we see is the spiritual man.

If the natural person is someone who simply does what comes naturally, then we could say the spiritual man is a person who does what comes supernaturally. This is the person who has completely surrendered to Jesus as Savior and Lord. He has been empowered by the Holy Spirit and walks in full kingdom power because he is intimately connected with King who is calling the shots in his life.

In the life of the spiritual man, Christ is no longer on the outside of this person’s life. The cross, representing Jesus, has been brought inside the circle of the spiritual man’s life and is firmly planted on the throne of their life.

How did Christ get from the outside of this formerly natural man’s life to the inside and make this person a spiritual person? The Spirit worked to open this person’s heart to receive Christ as Savior and open their blind eyes so they could spiritually see those things that previously seemed like foolishness. When they received Jesus they were born again. That’s what it means to be a Christian. Being a Christian is not about merely believing a set of beliefs or ideals. It is about receiving Someone, the person of Christ, into your heart. It’s about a new life, a divine invasion into the heart of a person.

If you notice, “self” has been moved off of the throne and is at the foot of the throne yielding self’s will to Christ’s will.

What about those circles that represent the interests and relationships that comprise the spiritual man’s life? Every career decision, every marriage decision, every parenting decision, all those day-to-day interests that drive this person’s life are submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ. They are filtered through the lens of submission to the King because He is on the throne. And notice that these circles are in order because self-will is submitted to Christ’s will.

When the spiritual man was born again, they were born into the kingdom of God. So they have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. They are living under the rule and reign of God today. They are living a life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. They are preaching the message of the kingdom and doing the ministry of the kingdom by taking authority over the works of the enemy. They understand their role and responsibility as ambassadors working to advance His kingdom.