Humanity is born with an inner man and outer man (aka Flesh and Spirit) as well as an internal void that desires to be filled.
All of humanity recognizes that there is a void in the human hearts and we seek to fill the void with things that continually fail to deliver what they promise.
When we put our trust and hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are saved by His grace and God the Holy Spirit comes to live within us and unites with man's spirit while also filling the void that all of humanity was born with.
As a Christian grows in their love of Jesus, trust in Jesus and worship of Jesus, the Holy Spirit within us continues to grow and mold us more into the image of Jesus. This is the process of progressive sanctification.
Throughout our life, God the Holy Spirit continues to grow more and more, and actually begins to overcome our outer man (aka our flesh) which begins to transform our emotions, feelings, actions, desires, etc. This is the process of a believer in Christ, growing in holiness.
Although we are saved by grace, we are still surrounded by a shell of flesh that is holding the Spirit captive. While we feed our flesh through pursuing idols, it thickens and makes it more difficult for God the Holy Spirit to permeate through us. However, God promises to grow us and mold us into His image, but the thicker our flesh is, the more painful our growth will be. And the means in which God will mold us into his image and permeate his Spirit through us; is Brokenness. Therefore, God delights in aligning our worlds in order to touch us ever so slightly, in order to break us ever so significantly. Brokenness is the way of blessing and the only means in which the Spirit is able to permeate through us.
Psalm
34:18
The
Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm
51:17
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, you will not despise.
For more on this, read "The Release of the Spirit" by Watchman Nee.
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