The Inner Man Series: Lesson 3 The Restoration of the Inner Man

The Restoration of the Inner Man

Introduction

In our last lesson we looked at the results of the fall and its effect on our inner man. We saw that our spirit was cut off from God and was dead. We saw that our understanding was darkened and that we now interpret reality through the eyes of the soul based on our partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which results in a deformed perspective.

The Lampstand of the Soul

Jesus spoke of the eyes as the lamp of the body filling it with light; but, He also said that the light filling us could be darkness.

"The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23 NASB)

"Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." (Luke 11:35-36 NASB)

In our first lesson we related our inner man to the part of the tabernacle that was the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies and the outer court corresponding to our physical body. Continuing with this picture we can relate what Jesus said about light to aspects of the tabernacle. The outer court corresponding to our body was illuminated by natural light. The Holy Place corresponding to our soul was illuminated by the seven branched lampstand. The Holy of Holies corresponding to our spirit had no light but was illuminated only by the presence of God.

Within our inner man we have a spiritual lampstand with seven branches corresponding to the lampstand of the tabernacle. In our fallen condition this lampstand is lit by the darkness of the flesh operating under sin and illuminates our being with “dark light”. In the restoration of our inner man the lampstand undergoes a process whereby the dark light is replaced by the True Light of Christ Jesus—the seven-fold spirit of God.

This restoration process is not automatic but requires our participation. It follows the pattern that Jesus spoke to those who have believed Him.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 NASB)

The process begins with a desire to follow Him and then we must deny our old man, the flesh, and our self-interest and take up our cross which is obedience to the Lord even to losing our life. This is exemplified by the replacing of the light in our lampstand. Let's illustrate this with a couple of diagrams.

First we'll illustrate our condition without Christ.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Ephesians 2:1-3 NASB)

Before Christ—lit by the light of the Kingdom of Darkness—Dark Light

1 = Children of wrath (central branch)

2 = Desires of the flesh

3 = Desires of the mind

4 = Course of this world

5 = Course of Prince of the power of the air

6 = Trespasses and sins

7 = Lusts of the flesh

The central light is the primary one from which the others flow [Zechariah 4:2; 12] . Each light on the left branches has a corresponding balance light of the same nature on the right branches. For example: the number two light, desires of the flesh, is balanced by the number three light, desires of the mind. This type of correlation continues with each pair.

Now, let's diagram the lampstand after coming to know the Lord and yielding to His process of restoration.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2 NASB)

This verse shows the six components that constitute the Spirit of the Lord and each of these is listed as corresponding pairs which balance each other.

NOTE: the book of Revelation has several references to the seven-fold spirit of God:

Rev_1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

Rev_3:1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Rev_4:5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

Rev_5:6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

The Spirit of God, the Light of the Lord, is composed of seven spirits but we only see and speak of one. Just like natural light is one but when it passes through a prism, it displays the seven colors of the rainbow, so is the Holy Spirit.

Now for our diagram

The coming of the light of the Kingdom of God: After Christ—lit by light of the 7 fold Spirit of God—Light and Life

1 = The Spirit of the Lord (central branch)

2 = Spirit of Wisdom

3 = Spirit of Understanding

4 = Spirit of Counsel

5 = Spirit of Strength

6 = Spirit of Knowledge

7 = Spirit of Fear of the Lord

Notice that there is a type of correspondence as each aspect of the Spirit of the Lord replaces the fleshly version. For example: lights two and three of our old nature, desires of the flesh and desires of the mind are replaced with the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The light from the inner man lampstand illuminates our entire being resulting in motives, attitudes, and mindsets that affect our daily walk.

James describes the result of “dark light” and its effects.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (James 3:14-16 NASB)

James also describes the result of True Light and its effects.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:17 NASB)

We can but both of these into a chart and see how they relate to the lampstand

	Wisdom NOT from Above	Wisdom FROM Above
1	Jealousy/Strife	Pure
2	Selfish Ambition	Peaceable
3	Disorder/Confusion	Gentle
4	Every Evil Thing	Reasonable
5	Earthly/Temporary	Full of Mercy
6	Natural/Sensual	Full of Good Fruits
7	Demonic	Unwavering Without Hypocrisy

The manifestation or the result of the working of the two types of light in us is dramatically different as shown by table displayed above. The outworking of this process produces in us both a change of behavior and a change of character.

Man was created in the image of God, which was marred by the fall and the entrance of sin. This process as shown above restores the image of Christ in us.