"NATURAL vs. SPIRITUAL MAN!"

1 Corinthians 2:12-3:1                      (ESV)
"12 Now we have received NOT the spirit of the world, but the SPIRIT who is from GOD, that we might understand the things freely given us by GOD.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the SPIRIT, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The NATURAL person does NOT accept the things of the SPIRIT of GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
16 "For who has understood the mind of the LORD so as to instruct HIM?" But we have the mind of CHRIST.
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in CHRIST."



Mankind seems to be captivated by this physical (or natural) world we live in, the here and now, which is what the "natural man" is wired to do.  The "natural man" does NOT accept the things of the SPIRIT of GOD and often ridicule the SPIRIT man because the SPIRIT man sees things the "natural man" thinks (and believes) are folly.  The SPIRIT man is akin to an alien in "this world", as he operates on "words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the SPIRIT"!

The premise of not being able to "see" where and how things are happening is not something that is so far fetched, when you think about it.  When I was a child in the 1960's one of my earliest childhood possessions was a transistor radio.  A person can't see the radio waves being transmitted, nor can they feel them, but they are real just the same!  There are some who can hear what is being broadcast by a radio station, and there are some who can't pick up the signal.  Some have better "reception", while some, who are usually far away from the transmitter, can barely pick up the signal and tell what is being broadcast.

The message being sent by the Apostle Paul in the scripture above is strikingly similar. Some people can't pick up the signal being transmitted by the SPIRIT at all, for they don't have a receiver to pick up Spiritual signals.  Some people are so far away from the Holy SPIRIT and have to be addressed in extraordinary means. Some are relatively close to the transmitter and can get a signal loud and clear.  Just because the signal can't be received by all doesn't mean anything us wrong with the transmitter, it may indicate not all have adequate receivers.  1 Corinthians 2:14 says " The NATURAL person does NOT accept the things of the SPIRIT of GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."  Can you see the similarities now?

The SPIRIT OF GOD lives within those who have invited HIM to be LORD of their life.  The "natural man" has yet to invite HIM into their life.  They think the things of the Spiritual man is foolish, or "folly"!  Some are a part of the family, but their relationship is so disconnected that they find it uncomfortable to communicate with their loved ONE.  To use the transistor radio analogy, they won't even turn their radio on!  My desire is to be so IN TUNE with the SPIRIT that HE comes in LOUD and CLEAR in my life!