Marv Wiseman

The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 3)

      The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit - Part 3 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Our Lord Jesus Christ, in telling the Samaritan Woman at the well in John, chapter 4, that God is Spirit, clearly established the concept of spirit or non-materiality.  Other passages, like James 2, inform us that the body without the spirit is dead, and Paul the apostle reminds us of our spirit component by asking, “What man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man, which is in him?”  I Corinthians 2.  Add to these compelling passages that verify the spirit part of our nature the encounter Christ had with Satan himself. Continue reading “The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 3)” →

Marv Wiseman

 The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

It has already been suggested that the composition of the human spirit includes numerous intangibles…intangible, immaterial, non-physical, but very real nonetheless.  The list included, but is not limited to, the human volition, intellect, personality, emotions, temperament, creativity, conscious, norms and standards, imagination, memory, and such like, all very real and all very invisible, and, thus, unobservable. Continue reading ” The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We have described the immaterial, that is, the non-physical aspect of the human spirit, as that which animates and sustains our physical body.  While the spirit if not subject to observation, and no scientific laboratory has ever observed it, the Bible really makes an undeniable case for it, as referenced many times in both the Old and New Testaments.  We already noted its surfacing the first time in Genesis 2, when God imparted the spirit as the breath of life into Adam’s just-created but not yet alive body. Continue reading “The Biblical Validation of the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

It has been noted that the presence and activity of the human spirit, which all humans possess, is essential to life itself.  The spirit animates and energizes the physical body.  It also works in tandem with the physical brain.   Though no one has ever seen such a working, logic compels us to surmise it does, unless we can discover a more plausible scenario.  The great difficulty with spirit and brain cooperation is centered upon our inability to establish this connection, or bridge, between the physical and the non-physical.  Continue reading “The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

With a subject matter like the purpose and function of the human spirit, we have no place to go for information apart from the Bible.  But, as always, it’s adequate.  Not that the Bible’s answers satisfy all our curious questions, but God, the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible, has seen to it that the record reveals adequate information for our purposes.  It’s part of the sufficiency of Scripture.  So, precisely, what is it that our human spirit does? Continue reading “The Purpose and Function of the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 4) 

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 4 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Under present consideration on Christianity Clarified is the most important and complex component of your personhood.  It is little understood and under-appreciated.  Yet, its importance cannot be overestimated.   Why is that?  It’s because this component is going to go right on living after your physical body dies.  Given this reality, we ought to pay very close attention to this immaterial aspect of our being. Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 4) “ →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 3)

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 3 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

First Corinthians 2 asks the rhetorical question, “What man knoweth the things of a man except the spirit of a man, which is in him?” It appears that the human knowledge, which we call “intellect”, is bound to or located in this non-physical part of our being called the “human spirit”.  The passage is certainly saying the human spirit knows things about the man in whom it is.  Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 3)” →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The non-physical composition of a human being is surely the most complex and mysterious of one’s personhood.  Even though there yet remains much about our physical self we don’t understand, our non-physical self is simply mind-boggling.  We know so little about us that it ought to evoke a profound humility.  Just what it is that makes us tick truly does defy comprehension, at least in many areas of our being.  Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The human spirit, possessed by every human being, is that immaterial part of our being that is as real as our physical body.  And, make no mistake about it, every human person possesses a human spirit.  It’s a principle ingredient necessary to humanity.  Even if a person declares himself to be very unspiritual or disinterested in things of the spirit, no matter, he can deny it, but he cannot escape it.  He has a human spirit. Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 5)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 5 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Scripture has revealed repeatedly that humans possess an immaterial part of our being called the “spirit”.  This is the human spirit, not to be confused with the Holy Spirit.  But, from whence cometh this human spirit?  If we all have one, how did we get it?  When did we get it?  What does it do?  And, what does it consist of? Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 5)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 4)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 4 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Compared to a human being’s spirituality, our physicality is almost simple in its being.  Well, no, that’s not really true.  Matter of fact, there is nothing classified as simple regarding any aspect of our being.  Yet, comparatively speaking, we do comprehend a lot more about our physical being than we do our spiritual, and the reason should be intuitively obvious.  Virtually everything about our physical selves can be dissected, weighted, observed, x-rayed, and analyzed while we’re alive, and after we’re dead.  The human spirit, however, does not lend itself to understanding via any of those avenues.  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 4)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 3)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 3 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The creation account of Adam’s spirit was very much a physical matter; that is, the manner in which his spirit was imparted to him.  The Genesis 2 text says that “God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.”  He was already a body because God had made him one out of the dust of the ground, but he was an inanimate body until God animated him with the breath of life.  It appeared that Adam was all put together, however God did that, and was all ready to go to begin life. Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 3)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

In examining the creation account of Adam in Genesis 2, one is struck by the distinction made between his creation and that of animals.  Of Adam alone, it is said that “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became of living soul.”  There is no indication that God breathed into the nostrils of an ox or a dog, but He did so for man.  The text says Adam received special attention from the Creator God not enjoyed by other biological species.  In fact, all throughout Scripture, the fact of man being special, superior, to all other created beings is obvious.  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The Genesis text in chapter 2 is very forthright.  God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.  The “soul” constitutes the totality of our personhood.  It appears the soul is part physical in our body and part non-physical in our spirit.  Spirit plus body comprises the soul.  A distinction between them is made in the Magnificate of Mary in Luke 1.  Upon hearing the angel Gabriel tell her she was to be the mother of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and Savior of mankind, the virgin Mary exclaimed, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

Adam Was Created by God 

      Adam was Created by God - BARA - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We have noted that Adam was made by God, and the Hebrew word “yatsar” conveys the idea of something made from pre-existing materials.  Adam was so made, according to Genesis 2, and the pre-existing material was the earth itself.  But something else about Adam needs to be noted: He was created as well as made.  So, what’s the difference?  His being made utilized pre-existing materials, but his being created did not.  An entirely different Hebrew word is used for created…“bara”.  This implies that there were no pre-existing materials, but something about Adam was created, or brought into existence for him, that did not exist previously.  Continue reading “Adam Was Created by God “ →

Marv Wiseman

Adam Was Made by God 

      Adam was Made by God - YATSAR - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Nothing that God has made so defies understanding, at least in the depth we would like, as man himself.  A human being remains the very most complex and mysterious of all the works of God.  It’s humbling to admit it, but it is undeniably true that that which most perplexes us is the very species of our own being.  And, this incredible complexity was all resident in the first of the human species God ever made…the man, Adam.  Was there, in fact, such a being as the historical Adam, the first man as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2?  Continue reading “Adam Was Made by God “ →

Marv Wiseman

Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 2)

      Spirit-God Created Matter - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

As strange as it seems and sounds, it is non-the-less true.  Spirit created matter, or it might be said that non-matter created matter.  That is a stretch, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that nothing created something.  When it is said that non-matter created matter it is not to say nothing created something but, rather, Spirit created something.  Spirit is non-material, but Spirit is not “nothing”.  Spirit is simply not physical.  Continue reading “Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 1)

      Spirit-God Created Matter - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We know that God is Spirit because Scripture reveals it generally and Christ asserted it specifically in John 4, when He declared God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  But this is still a mind-bending concept, isn’t it?  Consider, spirit does not occupy time and space.  In eternity, there is no matter, no substance, and no time, nor is there any need for such.  All we can say of the eternal spirit is what Isaiah stated in his 57th that God inhabits eternity.  Continue reading “Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

God is Spirit

      God is Spirit - Pr. Marv Wiseman

God is Spirit, but what is that?  And how do we know God is Spirit.  We know because it’s declared by revelation.  Jesus Christ Himself said so.  He disclosed this to the woman at the well in Samaria in John, chapter 4.  Jesus meant that God is not physical but that He is non-physical, immaterial.  God is not made of physical stuff as our bodies comprised of flesh and bone.  Continue reading “God is Spirit” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of It All… Creation Week 

      The Origin of It All - Creation Week - Pr. Marv Wiseman

No matter how you describe it, the origin of the first human being sounds to our modern minds very extraordinary, perhaps improbable to many, and, to some, even impossible.  There is, however, nothing impossible or improbable about it if one is willing to embrace divine revelation and the account given in Genesis 1.  But, if not, little recourse is left except the Darwinian hypothesis of biological evolution.  Continue reading “The Origin of It All… Creation Week “ →