I'll try in this article to answer a very crucial question bothering the hearts of most people across the world today about what in man is the real man. Why it is often said today that man is a spirit that has a soul and dwells in a body. Many people are still not sure about what constitutes the real man. In this article, I'll be digging deep into the Scriptures to find an acceptable answer to that important question: What is the real man? If you're interested to find an answer to that question, then you must be part of the next phase. So, let's go straight into it.
I believe the first place to unravel the real man is in the book of Genesis, and I will be reading Genesis chapter 1:26-28. See what the Bible says:
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Have dominion! It's important to understand that that Genesis chapter 1 from verse 26-28, was revealing to us the intention of God, the plan of God. The plan of God was very specific. God said He would create a man in His own image and likeness, and that man would have dominion over every other thing He has created on this earth. That we may understand how God eventually created that man, the book of Genesis chapter 2 from verse 5 began to help us to appreciate the importance and the role that man was expected to play when that man comes on board. Genesis chapter 2:5 & 7. The Bible says:
“…before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
New King James Version concludes with: “Man became a living being.” KJV concludes with “and man became a living soul.” What we are looking at in this session is: What is the real man? Obviously, we are aware that man is a spirit being. But we also understand that man has a soul. And then we believe that man lives in a body. Now, when we look at these three, could one be more real than the other? Could the other ones just be a kind of support for the real one? Could there be one important thing among these three that God really relates with, that God really reckons with as far as man is concerned? That's the crux of the matter in this article. But again, verse five of Genesis two made us to realize that the reason why God didn't send rain upon the earth wasn't because God didn't have enough of rain. But because God didn't have any man. What could we deduce from that?
Now, man was required for rain to be on the earth. In fact, God said “let man have dominion over the earth and everything that creeps on the earth.” He said there was no man in Genesis 2:5 to till the ground. So, a man has that responsibility to till the ground, to cultivate the ground and to use the ground. However, we must appreciate this. If anyone will cultivate, if anyone will till the ground, such a person requires the ability to do it, not a magical ability, but the real ability to do it. In that Genesis chapter 2:7, the Bible says “God formed man of the dust of the ground.” So, every time we think about man, there is that part of man that is formed. And the Bible says, “it is formed from the dust of the ground.”
Now each time we look at man again, we should remember that there is that part of man that came from God, the Bible says, “And God breathed into the nostril of man…”, the formed nostril of man; “…the breath of life…” The breath of life did not originate on the earth, and did not come from the earth. God didn't draw it from the things He had created. The Bible says: “And God breathed into the nostrils of man, the breath of life…” So. The breath of life came actually from God. So that is the God components in the man that God had formed. So, if you remove God component from that man that God has formed, then you wouldn't have a complete man. So, what complete every man, whether the man is aware of it or not aware of it is a part of God, a portion of God that is released into the formed body of the man. And the Bible says just as the breath of life came into the formed body, man became a living being, or living soul.
So, for those of us that really wants to look at these three components of man, we can find the spirit, we can find the soul, we can find the body, in that same verse of Genesis chapter two verse seven. However, the question is still: What is the real man? Is the real man the spirit, or the real man the soul, or the real man the body? We want to know so that we can put a proper perspective to that part of us that we consider to be real. There is a place I would like us to go to very quickly in the book of Psalm chapter eight and we'll read from verse four to verse eight. The Bible says:
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
What is man that You are mindful of him? That is the question that David raised when he was meditating about how special he considered himself as a man to be on the earth. He felt God has given him dominion over the things that God has created as a man. The question is: What is man? to gain more perspective on what man is, let's quickly go to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and I will lead from verse 5-7. See what the Bible says:
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
That was about Jesus who came to do the will of God as a man. However, look at how He put it. He said: “A body you have prepared for me.” So, you know, it is impossible for a body to say God has produced a body for the body, no. So, it has to be something different from the body. He said: a body you have prepared for me…” There was this me about Christ that required a body in Jesus for Him to fulfill His purpose on the earth. In fact, the reality, and we must not forget; is that Christ didn't begin at Nazareth, Christ had actually been with God in the heavens, but Christ needed to come to the earth as a man, and for that to be done; Christ needed to be born and to be born, He needed a body. Do you understand that?
So, God knew that the one who needed to die for the sins of all men needed to be a man. And for Him to be a man, even though He is Christ, He is Spirit, He needed a body. So, when Christ enters the body, what happens is that the soul will emerge from that interaction. So, we begin to talk about soul whenever spirit takes over a body. So, when the spirit does not enter a body, we might not talk about the soul because I've realized that every spirit that God created, every spirit that God creates has a soul. The soul is not peculiar to mankind, is not peculiar to men and women to male and female. Every spirit has a soul. When the spirit came into the formed body, the soul emerged.
Remember again in that Genesis chapter two verse seven that we read earlier, look at how the Bible put the incidents that led to the emergence of man. The Bible says: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” So that breath of life that came from God, you could call it the Spirit of God. Now, the Spirit of God came into the formed body of man, and man became a living being. Another version says: A living soul. So, when you are talking about the soul, you are talking about a being, you are talking about a creature that lives, a creature that functions, a creature that exists. It is an entity that has a mind, a will, and an emotion of itself.
So, when you're talking about the soul of man, you're talking about that part of man that emerged as a result of the spirit entering the body of man. So, you don't have a soul in the body when the spirit departs. So, every time you talk about the soul of man, it is because the spirit is in the man. And when we are talking about a man, basically, we're talking about a spirit being that has a body. What separates every other creature of God from us is because we have a body and we are spirit beings. You see when you read about Lucifer in the book of Isaiah chapter 14 verse 16, look at how the Bible puts it so that you understand what is going on. It says:
“Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms…”
Now if the Bible is calling Lucifer, man, are you expecting him to be a man just like you and I? Let me tell you what is going to happen. You are going to find a spirit that has a body, the body doesn't have to be exactly like your body and my body, but it has a body. It is with that body that it manifests on the earth. A spirit on this earth without a body is limited. Don't forget how God said it: “Let us make man in our image.” And God was not trying to name like Peter, James, John to what He is creating, God was describing what He is creating, this is the picture we will make, he is a man. And why is he a man? Because he is going to be made from the dust of the ground, and the Spirit of God is going to be infused, is going to be imputed into that formed body. And that is why it's going to be a man, a spirit that has a soul and lives in the body. He's going to be a spirit in the body. And once that takes place, he is going to have the ability to dominate on the earth.
Now, that is what many other spirits lack, the ability to dominate on the earth simply because they don't have body. Now when you see a man that is possessed by a demon, by an unclean spirit, by a fallen angel, now what's going on is that that spirit, that demon that fallen angel; is seeking for opportunity to dominate. If you can remove bodies from demons, from angels that are fallen from heaven, then you would have spirits who are weak in exercising authority over the earth. That's the truth. So, if you really want to answer that question, what is the real man? Guess what! The real man is the spirit in the body. If you separate that spirit from the body, what will be left will not be relevant on the earth.
If a man is going to be relevant to fulfill the purpose of God on the earth, that man requires his spirit to be in his body. It is the spirit in the body that is recognized, that is authoritative, that has authority, that has the ability to manifest the will of God, to demonstrate the power of God. If you find a spirit that does not have a body, then I tell you that you have a spirit that is in a strange place that can be cast out. In fact, whenever Jesus found any spirit, in any human, that is any spirit that is overwhelming the spirit of another man in the body of man. Every time Jesus met such, Jesus would cast them out. The truth is a spirit, a demon is not expected to be in a man's body in a human's body. The truth is, if you find a spirit that is not the spirit of a man dwelling in another man, you have the authority to cast out that spirit.
So, the real man is the man who has the spirit in him. You see, when you have a body that is lifeless, that is, that is void of spirit, a body that the human spirit is not in, it is not a man. You cannot call a body that is just lying down lifeless on the ground to be a man. So, it is not the body that defines the man, yet the man requires the body. Yet, the man who is spirit requires the body. So, if you want to be asking: What is the real man! What is the real man!! I'm going to tell you that the real man is the spirit that is in the body. Every time a spirit is in the body, you are going to have a soul. The soul is the personality of the spirit, the soul is the mind of the spirit, the soul is the emotion of the spirit, the soul is the will of the spirit. So, every time a body has a spirit, it is going to come up with a soul.
Now this is what happens: When God made man, and subsequently the children of men, there is expected in every man, every formed body a spirit of that man. Now, the spirit of that man is expected to have a personality, and that is the soul of the spirit. And you mustn't forget that every time people die, they do not retain the soul in their bodies, the soul accompanies the spirit out of the body. So, whenever you're talking about the soul, you are really talking about the personality of the spirit. And I don't want you to miss this. So basically, even though you can say man is broken into three parts, man is principally the spirit in a body. And when the spirit interacts with the body, when the spirit expresses itself in the body, what you have is a soul that is being manifested. And when all is said and done, the soul will accompany the spirit back to where it came from, from the Lord.
So, in case you're asking yourself, what is the real man that you may know what to give attention to, that you may know what to commit your effort, that you may know what to grow, what to invest in. I beg to submit that the real man is the spirit in the body. Don’t give too much emphasis on the body and you neglect the spirit. What you're going to have in the long run is an over bloated body that has an under-manifested, under-developed spirit. And you're going to have a very weak soul, a very defeated soul, a soul that is oppressed. If you want to really invest in yourself, I will advise that you invest in your spirit. Invest in your spirit and you must invest in your body. What Apostle Paul said he does is that he disciplines himself, he puts his body under so that after he has preached to other people, even he himself will not be a castaway.
You see the real man is the spirit in the body. Your body is important. Your spirit is equally important. You cannot take one and neglect the other. You cannot neglect the other and neglect one, you must carry the two together. But when all is said and done, your body is going to be left behind when you are done with the assignment that God gives you on the earth. You see, without that body of yours, you are irrelevant on the earth. The spirit in that body is what gives ability to your body. He makes your body to do. The Bible says: “It is the Spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing…” So, you need the life of the spirit.
Don't forget God released into the body the breath of life. There is life of the Spirit. When that life comes into the body, what you will have eventually is s soul that is at work, a soul that moves, a soul that does this and that, a soul that speaks. That is why the Bible says the soul that sins shall dies. When you talk about the soul that sins shall die, you won't see the soul physically, because the soul is the person of the spirit. It is the character of the spirit. It is the attitude of the spirit. It is the personality of the spirit. So, if you want to help your soul, then you must help your spirit. When you invest in your spirit, you are investing in your soul. When you teach your spirit, you are teaching your soul, when you guard your spirit, you are guarding your soul.
If you want to help yourself, help your body, help your soul, help your spirit. Subject your body under your spirit. The real man is the sprit in man. And when I say the spirit in man, I mean the spirit in the body of man. So don't get lost trying to find yourself. Guess what, you are in that body. That body that is reading this article right now, you are in it. The spirit is in it. I want you to invest in that spirit. I want you to grow that spirit. I want you to develop that spirit. Remember, every time your spirit interacts on this earth through your body, you are going to be having a soul, you are going to be having a will, you are going to be having an emotion, you're going to be having the mind. And every time you give emphasis to your spirit, you are also giving emphasis to your soul.
Don't forget, the soul and the spirit will ultimately leave the body whenever a man is done with the assignment that God has given him on the earth. This is here I will be stopping in this particular article. I believe in subsequent episodes on this channel, I will be digging deeper into some of these things. And I believe the Holy Spirit will be helping our understanding to really know the truth. Remember, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Till the next time I bring you another interesting article on this same page, I want you to keep investing in yourself, knowing very well that the real you is your spirit. And as long as you invest in your spirit, you're going to have a soul that is well matured, well developed, and able to move the body into actions, into pursuit into your fulfillment.
My name is Gboyega Adedeji and it's been a great joy connecting with you in this article. Till the next time, I want you to stay strong in your spirit and have a healthy body. God bless you.
