Eternity in Man’s Heart/The Tripartite Nature I’d like to take a second and break down a few biblical terms based on their use throughout the scriptures, and then add them back up into a (hopefully) coherent thought. My conclusion will be for you to read your bible, and that the Bible draws a clear trichotomous picture in regard to the composition of man. “For He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to the end.” - Ecclesiastes 3:11 Eternity - ‘Owlam - Forever - Everlasting - Perpetual - Ancient/Of Old/Longest Time - Without Passing - Never Moving/Never Shifting/Never Removed/Never Ending - Enduring Always - Eternal “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” - Proverbs 4:23 Source - Towtsa’ah - Flowing out of - Boundary - Going out of - Border - Exit “What comes out of a person is what defiles him, for from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts.." ^13d098 - Mark 7:20-21a Comes Out - Ekporeuomai - Flow Out Of (As in a river) - To Come Forth - To Proceed - Flowing out of From Within - Esothen - From That Which Is Inside - From the Soul To try and summarize that string of verses, there is something in us that our good and evil, dying and living intentions and thoughts pour from. A deeper thing that translates itself into our actions and emotions. It is said to be in our “heart”, and that our heart serves as a type of gateway or door to the eternity within us and allows that eternity a window to influence our everyday life. “Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but when it is bad, your whole body is also full of darkness." - Luke 11:34 It seems to me that Jesus is deliberately saying this backwards in a parabolic manner. The eye shines with light as long as the body is full of light. Think of it as a flashlight. You don’t say that a flashlight’s bulb is its power source, but the batteries that provide it with a different kind of light, electricity. In this case, we see that we shine with a visible light being our character and works, while internally, we are powered by the never ending power source of the Holy Spirit.  “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” - 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 In this case once again, instead of thinking of a jar full of gold coins, think of us as flashlights emitting the light that is the glory of Christ. Well, I’m not telling you how to read your bible, but stay with me for a bit. From my reading around this idea, I have summed it up into an (absolutely) oversimplified process. It goes something like this when it comes to the outward flowing of man’s intentions to his actions:  (Intentions)   (Thoughts/Emotions)   (Words/Works) Eternity ---> Heart ---> Body ---> Action ![[Flow From Eternity to Reality in Man.canvas]] In the same way we pour out from our “eternity”, we are also told to guard it, which leads me to believe that while we pour out from this eternity, we also let things into it, which can be detrimental or beneficial to our spiritual health. That receiving process seems to go something like this: Good Works/The Word ---> Eye/Ear ---> Heart ---> Eternity ![[Flow into the Eternity of Man's Heart.canvas]] You probably noticed that I added a word here. That is due to a verse in mark with a very similar sentiment to Luke 11, which is clearly intentional on Jesus’s part, as He is always intentional. “And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?  For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”” - Mark 4:21-24 Clearly the reception of good things is one of the goals of God’s work in the personal lives of His children, and in fact, it is the first work that is done in the path of their salvation for: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” - Romans 10:17 The act of reception in a Christian’s life is vital to their constant path of sanctification. So vital in fact, that what they were must be discarded and replaced with the “New Self”. “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” - Ephesians 4:22-24 The spirit of the mind implies a separation of the spirit and the mind. Our thoughts are in the mind, and we know that our thoughts and intentions come from the heart. For an even more clear distinction between the soul and spirit as well as their products: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” - Hebrews 4:12 We see that while thoughts and intentions are separate, they both stem from the heart, which seems to serve as the link of the two. Yet we are to love the Lord our God with our heart and our soul, so can the heart be the soul? There is also the distinction between the mind and heart!  “God...will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” - Philippians 4:7 So it seems to go: Eternity -⇾ Soul -⇾ Heart -⇾ Mind -⇾ Body -⇾ Actions Or: Eternity ⇾ Soul/Heart/Mind ⇾ Body ⇾ Actions Or: Eternity ⇾ Heart ⇾ Soul/Mind ⇾ Body ⇾ Actions I say it falls into those categories to make it clear that the Bible does not make it clear when it comes to the distinctive natures of the heart, soul, and mind besides saying that the eternity flows into all three which in turn flow out of the body into our actions. I lean most to the latter, but I would like to point out another option:         (Soul)               ⇙    ⇘ Eternity ---> Heart ---> Mind ---> Body ---> Actions   (Intentions) (Thoughts/Emotions) (Words/Works) Just as the body consists of many parts, I would like to propose that soul is made up of (at least) two parts. Both the heart and the mind, each serving their purpose. The hearts: To receive and out pour the intentions from the eternity, and the minds: To translate those intentions into manageable thoughts. From their we choose to put those intentions to work in the form of action through the body, or we halt them. Yet there is an even deeper component we haven’t touched yet: “For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him?” - 1 Corinthians 3:11a No one knows us like our spirit knows us, the exception being the Holy Spirit, but He’s God, so. The spirit seems to be the deepest part of us, and so from here on out, the process will be laid out like this from my point of view:   (Soul)             ⇙    ⇘ Spirit ---> Heart ---> Mind ---> Body ---> Actions It seems that the eternity God has placed into us is synonymous with the spirit, which leads us into a whole bunch of interesting rabbit holes, but I’m going to try and wrap this up with a little application after a bit more pontificating. Bear with me. “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. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.” - 1 Corinthians 2:14 Now, consider the order salutis, where we begin as an unregenerate man and are regenerated through the work of the Holy Spirit. We transition from “death to life” as John calls it. Therefore we were all natural men, and through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been raised with Him into glorious new life of spiritual awakening! I know, sounds new age-y, but they took it from the truth in a way. Like I said, bear with me.  So, we begin as natural minds, and we grope for God with our natural minds as Luke describes in Acts: “...They should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” - Acts 17:27 Upon His allowing us to find Him, we are led into a new state of mind, and the Spirit is “poured into our hearts”. “Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:5  From there He does the work of communication beyond all understanding: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” - Romans 8:26-27 “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” - 1 Corinthians 2:10 The link I’m trying to draw here is simple. The Spirit Himself searches the mind of God in a similar way that our mind searches out our spirit. How does the Spirit intercede for us in prayer? He understands what our spirit is really saying. He understands the intentions of the heart, because that is what He is searching for. God does not weigh words, but meaning.  “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.” - Proverbs 16:2 When we transition from the natural thinking allotted to man into the spiritual thinking given by God to believers, we are able to understand not just a few things, but “everything”. We do this by using our natural powers to meet with God, and He rewards this by meeting us beyond the middle. Remember what Jesus said in Mark: “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” Two more verses in this vein: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” - 2 Timothy 2:7 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” - James 4:8a It is not one or the other when it comes to natural or spiritual thinking, but a recipricatory process. We use our inherent natural abilities that come with being born in the imago dei; the use of our minds for consideration, and in response, our Lord responds with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding we could not obtain otherwise. We receive this supernatural gift through the infinity that resides within us. Wait, isn’t that how it works for everyone? Almost. Everyone’s thoughts begin from within, but the outpouring of life belongs to those inhabited by the Spirit. For those who have no true Life in them, what pours out? “Destruction is within them;  Their throat is an open grave;  They deceive with their tongues.” - Psalm 5:9, Romans 3:13a Their mouth is an open window to death, and only dying comes from it. It is a void inhabited by shadow, so their acts are deeds of darkness. “When it is bad, your whole body is also full of darkness.” - Luke 11:34b So we require an act of God to replace the darkness that otherwise inhabits us. “Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:5 Now remember, our God is infinite. Where else would God fit except eternity? This is my final proof that not only is the eternity of the heart our Spirit, but that the heart is the connection from the spirit to the soul. As James and Jesus so eloquently put it: “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and saltwater?” - James 3:11 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” - John 7:38 The Spirit flows His Life from us in the form of good works and all of His good fruits. How do we cultivate this? By ingesting light as Luke 11 tells us. What is this light but The Light, The Bread of Life, the Truth, and The Word? Read your Bibles. Do good work. It’s good for your everything when it comes to looking like God more and more. I’ll continue this when I talk about glorification.