Sunday, June 28, 2009
Lion of Judah Worship Center

The Three States of Man

Today we are going to take a look at the three states of man as outlined in The Word!! We are not speaking about Cro-Magnon man; Neanderthal man; nor any other anthropological designation. What does the Word of the Living God say about man?

Today we hear much discussion about ecumenical fellowship in the religious community. Unfortunately when that happens we must omit the Name of Jesus in our dialogue because it upsets people. Now city council meetings and other public gatherings that open with an invocation must present a neutered philosophical rendering that is generic. What does that have to do with the three states of man. Glad you asked! Because that same body of belief says, "Well we are all God's children, we just approach Him from different angles and call Him by different names. Jesus said., "....I am the way, the door, no man comes to the Father except through me..."

To better understand who we are let us look at three types of man, or the three states of man. First is the natural man. This man is not known of God, he does not know God, cannot understand the things of God. He has never changed kingdoms from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Generically we could call him a child of God, since in the beginning God created... But technically he is not in the kingdom of God. Romans 8:9...."Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" verse 14, "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God". The natural man is in the state that Jesus came to redeem mankind from and restore them to fellowship with the Father, having satisfied the demands of justice and offering up His own body on the tree that the sin nature we inherited no longer has any authority to hold us in bondage. Romans 8:15, "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again, that you should fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father. There are clearly two different types of men on the earth, those who pay allegiance to God the Father through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who is not one of several ways to the Father, but the only Way! "....No man comes to the Father except through me"...

See I Cor. 2:14 for more about the natural man, and the state of that man. Also while you are in that 8th chapter of Romans read verses 6-8. Sin is a slave-master, cruel, and demanding. We inherited the sin nature from satan when he became the spiritual parent of mankind. The natural man lives according to the soulish appetites. II Cor. 6:14 Do not be yoked with unbelievers!!! When you yoke yourself with an unbeliever and then wonder why all hell is breaking loose, it is because there are two kingdoms represented in that relationship!

The second state of man is the carnal man, the word carnal has its genesis in carnivore, carnivorous- fleshly, meaty. This individual has accepted Jesus as savior, but has never grown, he/she is still a babe twenty, thirty years down the road. They simply took out an insurance policy to avoid hell, but continues to live life as a natural man. They can only handle the milk of the Word, I Cor. 3:1-3; they are controlled by the flesh, I Peter 2:2, still walking in envy, jealousy, strife...these are signs of carnality in believers. Strife is a door-opener for satan, READ Ezek. 33:31, the carnal man has no deep affection; Ezek. 33:32 he/she is of sentimental hearing; no deep roots, Mark 4:16-17; no good foundation, Luke 6:49; inability to receive deeper message, John 6:66. See also Hebrews 5:11-13. A natural man is not carnal, he has no allegiance to God, to be carnal one has made the first step but stopped and stayed in the wilderness. They are calling every ministry in the world asking for prayer, has so many prayer cloths they could make a quilt, and constantly complaining about life. Never taking the time to eat God's Word, but knowing every character in As the World Turns, This is a sad commentary, because there is so much God has planned for us, and to live as the heathen live is a slap in the face of Jesus who remembers the time he spent in hades defeating powers, principalities etc... When he looks at His hands he remembers the stripes that he took for our healing, deliverance, peace...Oh yes, church of the Living God He remembers!!!

Now let us look at the last state of man: This is the spiritual man, one who has cut his teeth on the Word of God, one whom satan fears, by the way, does the demons know your name? They knew Paul's name, and Jesus' name, but do they know your name, because you are confronting them in the Name and authority of Jesus, setting the captives free, binding up the broken-hearted, enabling the lame to walk... Not enabling them in their weakness, but imparting the strength of heaven that is ours through Jesus. See Heb. 5:14; Prov. 24:5-6; Ps. 102:13; and Ps. 101:6 for more on the attitude of the spiritual man. He loves God, serves Him, and his affection is more than skin-deep! He constantly communicates with God though praise, worship and meditation of The Word. He lives in the promise land where all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yes! And in Him amen!

Don't you want to go there?!!! The way has already been obtained,.... draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you; resist the devil and he will flee...Peter tells us.

Oh by the way, when you offer a generic prayer, and you leave with a headache; it's because the empty words returned and bounced off your head!!!! In the Name of Jesus, We have the victory!!!!

Rev. E.C. Dowdy, senior pastor
Lion of Judah Worship Centers