Greetings,
All human beings have a three-part makeup in their ability to fulfill their human purpose. Human beings are made of spirit, soul, and body. The spirit of man is the source of their power, the soul is the throne of their human administration, and their physical lives are the place that the authority of who they are becomes known to others. This three-part reality is true for all people. The spirit of the world leads those in the world. People in the world have a mindset that inspires them to live for themselves. People with a mindset of the world find their life in themselves, they make decisions in life for themselves, and they do all that they do in life for some measure of success unto themselves. They grasp for power hoping to create a life that appears to have some form of influence. They fail to realize that the motivation of their hearts is the spirit of the devil. He is a dragon, a devourer and a destroyer of the lives of men. Those in the world are like leopards, in that they seek to feast on the flesh of others in order to be powerful. Rather then leading others to bring life to them, they seek to have others serve them so they will be powerful. They are like a leopard in that they stalk in their search to take advantage of others in order to fulfill their own personal desires in life. Their mode of operation is like the walk of a bear. They are possessive and aggressive in their own way. They walk according to their own desires, agendas, and vision in life. They seek to create a testimony in their own lifetime that is about them. The aggressive ways inspire them to promote themselves in intimidating others in this world. They live, and move, and have their being in themselves. This is the spirit of the world. It is a testimony of the carnality of man and it is not a testimony to the true authority of life that God desires to release through all people to the world.
Revelation 13:2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
The beast of the sea is nothing more or less than the spirit of the world. This verse in Revelation reveals the three-part makeup of humanity. Every human person has a source of power, a throne of operation, and an authority of expression. The power of every human being can only truly be fulfilled by the power of Christ’s Spirit within the spirit of every man. When our spirits are one with the Holy Spirit we become filled with life for our purpose in all things. We receive a prosperous spirit so that we might see an abundance of life that floods our own souls. Our souls are the throne of the administration of our lives and our souls seek the power of a motivation of the spirit. In the world our souls become subject to spirits that are outside the boundaries of our true identity, but when we have Christ within us, we are led by the power of Christ’s Spirit within us. It is only by the power of Christ’s Spirit within us that we can be empowered to live in the true identity given to us by God. We need the life of God within us to facilitate the life of God through us. Our souls are the bridge between our spirits and our physical lives so we can live as spiritual people. Our lives are meant to be a testimony of God’s work. That work is unique to our own creation in Him. The motivation given to us by our Father is meant to be administered by our portion of ministry as the body of Christ. The power to fulfill all that we are is given by the life of the Holy Spirit within us.
True authority is a testimony of life. God has called us all to be a part of a living body known as the body of Christ. That body is not a place we go to in order to escape from the world. That body is the corporate place of our abiding so we can become fruitful and effective in bringing life to one another and to the world. We must be spiritual people in all things. We must not be ignorant of being spiritual beings of authority.
1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
The word ‘gifts’ is not in the original Greek text above. Many have presented that this chapter of 1 Corinthians is about spiritual gifts, but it is really about being spiritual in our power, ministry, and work of God in life. It is being spiritual in the power, throne, and authority of our lives. When we were in the world we had a drive, a focus, and an aim of purpose. It was self-focused, self-concise, and self-driven, but it was a life that was led. In this Scripture Paul was exhorting the Church to be empowered by Christ’s Spirit, walk in a ministry of Christ’s Spirit, and fulfill a testimony of Christ’s Spirit at work through an authority of life in this world. Paul was addressing gifts (power), ministry (administration), and works (testimonies of life to the world).
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
In all of these things we must be spiritual people. True authority is our ability to bring life to others. We do this by the power of the Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and as a part of a work of God in this world. This is the power, throne, and authority of our lives.
This chapter of 1 Corinthians reveals nine charismas that express the power of the Holy Spirit. Those charismas are expressions of the power of God’s Spirit to our own human spirit in order for us to be those who give life to others through the authority of our lives. In order to be spiritual we must first be empowered in our spirits by the charisma of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
We see in the verses that the Holy Spirit manifests with the power of words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. I believe that each of us receives the Holy Spirit in our lives in order that we might have the power of Christ’s life to administrate Christ’s life to others through the uniqueness of each of our being and for the fullness of our authority of life to others. Any of the charisma of the Holy Spirit can manifest through us, but the Holy Spirit will work with each of us according to the uniqueness of our motivational gifting and our membership ministry in the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:12-26). I believe that the charisma of the Spirit is meant to empower us as human beings, not as workers of religious activities. We need the supernatural realities of the Holy Spirit within us in order to live with the power of Christ’s life in all that we are and do. Many who say they are Christians have decided that these things are optional, but I believe they are essential to the spiritual makeup of our lives as redeemed humanity with the power of Christ within us. Without them we lack the power for the full administration of Christ in our lives. Paul continues to address ministries and works in this chapter, but the first ingredient to being spiritual people fulfilling the authority of our lives is to embrace the power of Christ within us.
I will continue with this in my next week’s blog. We must each find our unique place of authority in life.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
