OUR SPIRIT
We are like a small transistor radio. Within, there is a receiver. Without this receiver, the radio would be useless. The receiver must function properly, and it must be tuned in to the right station. Then it can transmit the radio waves to us as music. Some young people walk along the street with their radio next to their ear, listening to music which may be coming from far away. Are they only imagining they hear music? Can real music really be coming out of the air? They are really hearing real music, because their receiver is tuned in to the radio waves in the air.
Our receiver is our spirit. If it is functioning properly and is tuned in to the right station, we can receive the heavenly waves! Without a spirit we are as useless as a radio without a receiver.
In God’s eyes, the spirit is as great as the heavens and the earth. They are ranked together in Zechariah 12:1, where the Lord is described as the One who “stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.”
Man is the highest of all the created beings. Because of his spirit, he is as important as the heavens and as the earth.
Do you think the heavens are more important than your spirit? Many religions stress the heavens as man’s ultimate destination. God, however, is not all that satisfied with the heavens! In Isaiah 66 He describes the heavens as His throne and the earth as His footstool. Then He goes on to ask, “Where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (vv. 1-2). God’s resting place is not in heaven, but in the spirit of the one who is poor and contrite. You may want to go to heaven, but God wants to enter into your spirit. The most heaven can be is God’s throne. It cannot be His resting place.
The heavens exist for the earth. Without the rain, sunshine, and air of heaven the things on earth could not survive. As we know from space exploration, there is no air on the moon. It is a lifeless, desolate place, where not even germs can exist! The earth, in contrast, is full of life because of the supply from the heavens. The meat we eat is available because the heavens sustain the life of the cattle, sheep, and chickens. The vegetables and grains that supply us with nourishment also owe their existence to the water, sunlight, and air from heaven.
Heaven sustains the earth that it may, in turn, sustain man. Plants, animals, water, air, and sunshine are all for the purpose of providing for man’s need.
What makes man so important that he is the focal point of the creation of the heavens and the earth? It is that man has a spirit created by God so that God could become one with him. God has no interest in becoming one with cows! The angels are not for this either. Only man has a vessel within which can receive and contain God.
If you think about this in a scientific, scholarly way, you will tell me it is superstitious to talk of a God who cannot be seen or touched. Where is He, you will want to know. Let me say, the question is not whether God exists; it is whether the receiver in you is functioning. You cannot know God if your receiver is out of order, anymore than you can hear the music that is in the air if your radio receiver is not working. The more you use your mind to analyze God, the farther away He seems to be. Turn away from your mind, and take care of your conscience, which is part of your spirit. If you give heed to your conscience, you will repent and confess your sins. This is the way to adjust your receiver and let in the heavenly music! Your spirit will touch God, and He will come in.
Formerly our spirit was without life. When God comes in, our spirit becomes alive and has another life added to it. This life is God Himself. He as the Spirit mingles with our spirit, and the two spirits become one.
(Life Messages, Vol. 2 (#42-75), Chapter 34, by Witness Lee)
