Restoration of the Inner Man

The lesson below is an excerpt of a teaching from Art Nelson at Lifestream Teaching Ministries.  I thought it would complement what I have been discussing about restoration very well.  Click here for the entire article. 

 

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)

 

Click here to read entire article.