Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!
  • Welcome to Talk Jesus Christian Forums

    Celebrating 20 Years!

    A bible based, Jesus Christ centered community.

    Register Log In

Things Are First Spiritual Before They Are Physical

Frank Broom

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2021
Messages
88
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

1.)A lot of times the tendency is that people put all their attention and focus on what's happening in this physical realm. It's interesting that he tells us not to focus on this physical realm, after all that's where the problem is. But, notice there is another realm and he tells us to put our focus on that realm and not this one. Because, he has understanding about something. Jesus said something in Matthew 7:17,18: 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Notice, he makes a distinction between the tree and the fruit of the tree. According to the condition of the tree will be the condition of the fruit. So, the fruit is only a representation or manifestation of the root. So, what happens underground(unseen) determines what you see above ground(seen). Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. So, what you do see was made from things you can't see. The physical/ material realm is a product of the spirit realm. That's why he tells us not to put our focus on what's seen, because what you can see is only the product or manifestation of something you can't see.

2.)For something to be done physically something first has to be done spiritually. Just a small example: all of you that read this article, you logged into your computer, you choose Free Republic Website, and this article. All that took place in the inner man(spirit) and without those things taking place spiritually you would not be here physically. Notice, what Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-20: 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. What is Jesus saying, you can only see a man do things physically because of what is happening (spiritually) in his heart. So, again you only see physically because of what's happening in the spiritual. Man is spirit, he has a body/flesh, but man is spiritual. So, you see on the physical level only because of what's done on a spiritual level. Your flesh is in this physical realm, but you(spirit) are in another realm. You are in the realm of those things not seen. That's important because in 1 Corinthians 1:26-28: 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. Keep in mind you only see physically because of what's done spiritually. So, if it's not done on a spiritual level you can't see it physically. Because, the physical realm is only a manifestation of the spiritual.

3.)Remember, Hebrews 11:3 the physical was made by the spiritual (God is a spirit). And Hebrews 1:3 says, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. So, the physical is upheld by the spiritual. And we just saw God uses the spiritual to change the physical. So, the spiritual is the source of this physical realm. The material world does not function on it's own it is dependent on the spiritual world. Just look at yourself, your body(physical) can't do anything without you (spiritual). Your body will cease to function without the spirit. Without the spiritual there would be no physical. So, the spiritual can exist without the physical, but the physical can not exist without the spiritual. The spiritual realm is where everything originates from. God is a spirit, He made all materials so without him there would be no materials. So, everything has spiritual roots, because that's where it originates from. Who made that car, that cell phone, those clothes? Man. Well, man is spirit, so someone (spiritual) made that thing(physical). So, you are only seeing physically because something was done spiritually. Because, the physical realm is only a manifestation or fruit of the spiritual realm.

4.)In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus said: 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Notice, what is food, drink, and clothes physical needs, but he said don't seek physical needs. He said seek the kingdom of God which is spiritual. And what is the kingdom of God like, Mark 4:26-28: 26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. And we know that the seed is the word of God. So, I have a way of receiving from God(from the spiritual) into this physical/material realm regardless of what's happening in this physical realm. Get this, things come from the spiritual(unseen) into the physical/ material(seen) realm. See, if you look to this physical realm to meet your need then when there's a shortage you will always be in need.

5.)Understand this, nothing originates in this material realm, nothing. If you can see it, feel it, taste it, or touch it then it's only fruit. And that fruit in this realm is connected to a root in the spirit realm. That's why he says not to put your focus on what's seen, because it's only fruit. What he's saying is stop dealing with fruit and deal with the root. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:). If you are going to walk by faith you are going to have to see on another level than this natural realm. Notice, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen. So, that's seeing on a higher level. That word look means to regard, consider, take heed/ in other words what you give your attention to or focus on. Like Abraham in Genesis 17:4,5: As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. But, when God said that in Romans 4:19 it says his body was dead. So, God told him he was a father of many nations while his body was in a contrary condition. But, look at what it says Abraham did-And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old.

6.)Abraham didn't consider(put his focus on) what was seen, he put his focus on the unseen(a father of many nations have I made thee). God used something that was unseen(spiritual) to get rid of something that was seen(physical). If you are going to walk by faith you are going to have to make decisions contrary to your flesh and your natural thinking.
1 Kings 17:8-16
8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

7.)Notice, she had to make decisions totally contrary to her flesh and her natural thinking. Natural thinking would have thought this man expect me to give him my last meal, he must be crazy. But, she couldn't go by that. When God does something in the spiritual it doesn't just manifest because it's done in the spiritual. You have to act on it. And a lot of times people get excited about a word from God, but never act on it. You have to apply it to yourself. But, notice something was done unseen first. And even though it may have seemed impossible according to the natural, remember you only see physically because of what's been done spiritually. So, if it has been done spiritually then it's possible to see it physically. But, you have to do it God's way. In 2 Kings 5 there was a man named Naaman he was a captain in the Syrian army and he was a leper so the king sent him to the man of God to get healed verses 9-14:

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? (No, because it's done in the spirit that Jordon is where you have to dip) So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

8.)Now, how are you going to try to tell God how you have to be healed. Now, he could have tried those other rivers, but nothing would have happened. Why? Because Jordon was the set place. Just like back in 1 Kings 17:1-6:

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

Notice, I have commanded the ravens to feed you there, that was the set place. Had he gone somewhere else he would have missed out. And I think a lot of people missed out on what God had for them because they were not at that "there place".
They thought they could go anywhere and get the results. No, your results are waiting on you at your "there place." And it's not until you get to the place that has been set that you will see things happen. Because, you only see physically what has been done spiritually.

9.)What you look at is important because we speak according to what we see and you have to watch what you speak. In Romans 4:17 it says, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. People say well that's God, ya, but Ephesians 5:1 says, AMP Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. Didn't God tell Abraham to call things that be not as though they were. In Joel 3:10 didn't God tell them, " Let the weak say I am strong." People don't understand it when you call things that be not as though they were they think you are denying circumstances. No, I'm simply saying what I am seeing. The thing is we're seeing on two different levels. And because they don't see something physically they think you're strange. No, I'm operating out of my spirit and you are operating out of your flesh. Notice, what the word calls Jesus in John 1:14, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

10.)The word made flesh, so if no one spoke the word he would not have shown up. He was a living, breathing manifestation of the word. And too many people are looking for things that they haven't spoken. God gives the word, but it has to be spoken. God works with and through his word. Titus 1:3 reads, But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching. Don't let the word preaching fool you, it simply means to proclaim or speak out. Why is it important that you speak, because God has already established some things and one is Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. So, your words produce fruit another word for fruit is manifestation. And God can't break his word. In Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. He's the one that established that and He can't break it. That's why He hates complaining, because as long as you talk present circumstances He has nothing to work with to help you. He has to leave you there. That's what happened to the children of Israel in Numbers 14:1-10:

14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.

Notice, God's response in Numbers 14:27-30:

27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.

30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

11.)Notice, (number one) everybody ate the fruit of their lips. (Number two)everybody spoke according to how they saw things. And (number three) God left them where they were because of what they spoke. Everyone got it how they saw it because they said it according to how they saw it. So, it's important how you see things. Because, how you see it is how you will speak it. And your words produce fruit. So, you have to be watchful of how you speak. Which means you are going to have to see higher than this natural realm. Things happen spiritually first. So, things might not look like what God has said, but things are working spiritually first and they manifest physically. So, you can't go by how things look physically. That's why he said look at the things not seen(spiritual). So, even though things seem one way in this physical/seen realm things are working in the unseen realm. And if you don't give up the unseen thing will come into the seen realm. So, don't just put up with things you have access to another realm to produce different fruit. You see, the word must be applied, acted on. Until then it's just words to you. It must be applied first, first action then manifestation, but action is first. But, it first starts with how you see things. So, how do you see it, by the natural or by God's word. See it as the word says it not your eyes. Notice, Paul said this realm is temporal (changeable), but the spirit realm is eternal (everlasting). The physical real changes the spiritual realm doesn't.
 
Except in the case of human bodies.

1Cor 15:44; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1Cor 15:45; So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1Cor 15:46; However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
1Cor 15:47; The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
 
Back
Top