【Day 1】The Education of the Spirit Is the Most Important One
Zach. 12:1b Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.
As far as God’s scriptures and God’s plan are concerned, spiritual education is the most important. When God originally created man, it was for the human spirit to govern the human soul, and the human soul to govern the human body. God’s intention is to fill man’s soul through his spirit, and then to saturate his body, so that the whole man – spirit, soul, and body can manifest God and represent God. This is the purpose of God’s original creation of man. Therefore, it can be said that the spirit of man is the most important part of a person.
As Zechariah 12:1 clearly reveals, our God is the LORD who stretches forth the heavens, who lays the foundations of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him. Therefore, in God’s concept, the spirit of man is as important as or even more important than heaven and earth. God created the heavens for the sake of the earth and the earth for the sake of man. He specifically created a spirit in man so that man can reach God, receive God, worship God, live God, represent God, and accomplish God’s will. If man does not have a spirit, he cannot reach God, accept God, and worship God. Or if man’s spirit does not work; or if man’s spirit is obliterated, or if man’s spirit cannot perform its proper function, man cannot live out God, represent God, and fulfill God’s will. Therefore, we need to look at the most important part of whole-person education – the education of the spirit – according to God’s perspective.
What are the functions of the human spirit? The spirit has three functions: the first is conscience. To cultivate a child’s right human nature is to make his conscience functional and moral. The second function is fellowship. Man will worship God, will have fellowship with God, and will come and go with God; this is the fellowship function of the human spirit. The third function of the human spirit is intuition; people will get feelings or inspiration directly from God. Many people make their final decisions not by analysis, but by intuition. Therefore, spiritual education is needed to educate people’s conscience, intuition, and fellowship, to inspire and develop these three functions of the human spirit.
Just as people have an aptitude for music, and an appreciation for beauty, children have an innate “sense of God”, that is, they have a feeling that they want to know Him, and desire to worship Him. The sense of God is innate; just like people are born with a sense of joy and beauty. Everyone has a sense of God, wants to know God, and wants to worship God. Imagine how old a child is when he begins to worship God. Does the Bible say when a child begins to worship God? 1 Sam. 1:24 says, “And when she had weaned the child, she took him up with her. … And when the child was little, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.” Hannah sent Samuel to the house of God after Samuel had been weaned. Verse 28 says, “So I also lent the child to the LORD; he was on loan to the LORD all the days of his life. So they worshiped the LORD there.” This is a very clear verse that speaks explicitly about the weaned child that went into the house of God and worshiped the LORD there.
It is written in Psalms 8:2 “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To stop the enemy and the avenger.” The Lord Jesus also quoted this verse, “Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings You have perfected praise’?” We need to teach babies and suckling children to sing hymns without waiting until they are older; singing hymns of praise to God is worship to God.
Therefore, the first thing we need to know is that all people have a sense of God; every child is born with an ability to know God. When God created man, He created a spirit for him, and put the “sense of God” in his spirit, so that his spirit would have the sense of God.