Dissection of a Phrase

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There’s this peculiar phrase that I pause and hover over every time I encounter it in the New Testament. It tugs at my attention because it translates as a variety of things: intimate, sometimes out-of-place, and a tad secretive, exuding a do-what-now vibe. After a bit of delving, I discovered that this Biblical saying, “inward parts,” can be traced through both the Old and New Testaments, and unveils precious aspects of our Lord Jesus.

Indicating a Person

The term is used early on in Leviticus 3:3, which reads, “And from the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah, the fat that covers the inward parts and all the fat that is on the inward parts.” The priests of the Old Testament were forbidden from eating the fat of an offering (Lev. 7:23), because it was the special portion reserved and set aside for God’s own satisfaction. In the entirety of the Bible, only one thing ever gladdens the heart of the Lord, and it is Christ (Matt 17:5); the fat and the inward parts are Jesus as the fine, tender, zenith portion of our Christian experience that we can offer up to the Lord to make His heart happy.

Paul uncovers that the inward parts of Christ are still operating in the New Testament. He writes to embolden the Philippians and tells them that “God is my witness how I long after you in all the inward parts of Christ Jesus” (1:8). The inward parts here are not only Christ as the outshining offering, but they are the feeling parts of the Lord. In the depths of His being, He is affected, moved, longing, tender, and overwrought for the sake of His little believers. But by what method does Christ long? Through what medium is He encouraging and sympathizing? It’s through Paul the regular human being! Read on.

Transplanted

Psalm 139:13 declares, “For it was You who formed my inward parts,” angling that the Lord has filled our being with something that is more than just a spleen and a kidney. If we are going along with Genesis 1:27, which says that man was made in the image of God, we can say that a Christian, who has the same life as God, has received the same inward parts; that the palatable Christ and His sympathetic heart have been transplanted into the chambers of our inner being. When I scrutinize myself, my initial thought is, “oh gee,” but the Bible keeps dishing out the details.

Psalm 51:6 explains how we embody Christ and reads, “Behold, You delight in truth in the inward parts; / And in the hidden part You would make known wisdom to me.” Here the inward parts are a direct reference to our soul, which consists of our mind, emotion, and will. What’s more, the hidden part refers to the deepest organ of our being, our spirit. God wills to make known this wisdom and hidden knowledge (which is Christ) in our spirit, and then Christ as truth and reality reaches all of our thinking, feeling, and willing faculties. And the best part of the verse is that this is God’s delight! When I wonder what I can do to please God, I remember that He is pleased with Christ in me, and by turning to my spirit, Jesus is the one who is expressed through my living.

For Something More

The Christian life, however, is not a healthy and God-expressing living just for the sake of it. Paul goes further and writes, “For I had much joy and encouragement over your love, because the inward parts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother” (Philemon 7). Philemon had a truth-filled living that soothed the minds and feelings of the dear believers. The most crucial thing to realize is that with Jesus as our genuine inward parts, HE is the One in need of this refreshment and relieving. Just as Psalm 110:3 says that the Lord’s people revive Him “like the dew from the womb of the dawn,” our proper and weighty living is twofold – it encourages both believers and Christ alike.

By living according to the inward parts of God, we not only have the perfect sacrifice to offer up, but we care for and minister to both Christ and man – and the meat of the matter, all parties are satisfied and equipped to go on in Him.

By: E. Kedzie