Spiritual Manifestation
What I am going to do is lay groundwork for understanding physical manifestation (like shaking, grunting, falling, flying through the air, etc.) without cherry-picking Bible verses that simply justify unusual behavior or give someone a reason to act like a circus carny during Church. Although they will not be addressed here, all other manifestations (healing, tongues, signs and wonders, seeing in the Spirit, etc.) also flow from the principles described below.
Bodily manifestations have accompanied moves of God’s Spirit since Pentecost, history’s first revival (Acts 2:13)! The tongues of fire and mighty rushing wind of Pentecost are allusions to God’s manifest Presence in the Old Testament (e.g. Elijah talking to Him in the wind on Sinai or the Israelites being led by the pillar of fire in the wilderness, among others stories). In the Pentecost account in Acts, Luke is making it very clear that the newly-formed Body of Christ is now ground zero for God’s manifest Presence. The prophets allude to this coming reality throughout the Old Testament.
Jesus Himself showed the human body was always intended to be the place of God’s manifest presence (Genesis 2:7; John 2:19), but we forfeited this privilege in the Fall. The ascension of Jesus and the giving of the Spirit restored this reality to us. There is no separation from us and God, as symbolized by the tearing of the veil in the temple at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51). The gospel writers use the tearing of the veil as a clever metaphor to indicate that, in a single move, God canceled any distance that may have ever existed between us and Him due to sin.
Let’s briefly leave the spiritual and move to the scientific. Modern science reveals to us that the brain is the epicenter for all activity in the body. God has designed humanity with an incredibly powerful central nervous system, through which the brain is able to moderate feeling, sensation, and energy. What happens in my body begins in my mind.
The mind’s ability to reason is what separates us from animals. The Lord has also designed our mind to communicate with, love, and experience Him. We are made in God’s image. His spiritual qualities and characteristics are made manifest in the Creation order (Romans 1:20). God has given us a sense of physical touch because He has a spiritual sense of touch. He has given us the nervous system as a means to not only experience our physical world, but also the spiritual realm.
If I believe that I am a channel of heaven’s glory, I will manifest glory. The kingdom of heaven is not out there somewhere. When we raise our hands to heaven, we should really be putting our hands on ourselves. The kingdom of heaven is inside of us (Luke 17:21)! Manifestations are external evidence of God doing something in the spiritual realm, in which the fixed rules of time and distance no longer apply.
When physical manifestation occurs, I know that God is enacting something in my inner man. I have personally experienced God release emotional trauma, hurts, or blockage through physical manifestation. Manifestation can be as simple as tears or as complex as uncontrollable body tremors and shakes. I don’t always know the reason why I am manifesting. I believe the Lord is always doing something, even when I can’t understand. I always make it a practice to ask Him what is happening.
I believe that God’s Spirit is ultimate source of physical manifestation, but angels are the force that actually enact things in the spiritual realm. Imagine the Lord as the dispatcher and angels as the rescue team. In the spiritual realm, they carry out the will and intent of the Father (Hebrews 1:14).
I don’t try to figure out or judge manifestations. I personally would rather them happen, than not (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The allowance of God’s power needs to be present in the assembly (1 Corinthians 4:20). He is the one who does all the work. We just submit and flow with Him. This obviously requires some understanding and a bit of trust at first, but He is faithful to reveal what and why He is doing certain things in the room. We should always ask Him the age old prophetic question: “What does this mean, Lord?”
Critics have noted that these unusual behaviors do happen outside of the charismatic circle of the Christian faith. That’s correct because all humanity has access to the spiritual realm. In fact, we are always interacting with this realm, whether we realize it or not (Ephesians 6:12). Bodily manifestation is usually evidence that spiritual activity is indeed occurring. Occultists can interact with demonic spirits just as much as a Christian can interact with angels and the Lord. The difference is where the worship of our hearts is. If Christians actually trusted Jesus as much as we said we did, we would never fear manifestation. Jesus will keep us safe as we keep our eyes fixed on Him. He is the ultimate authority over all (Colossians 2:10).
I am an ambassador of Christ and His glory shines through me. When I believe this, and train my mind to think in this way, I see His power manifest in my external reality. More glory tends to manifest when there is more faith in a room, be it individually or corporately. Faith is not simply mental assent, it is an intuitive, deep grasp of the life of Jesus inside of me (see the theology article on the faith of Jesus). Faith is how persuaded I am in the depths of my being that I am who God says I am and He is who He says He is.
Modern spiritual giants and historic Christian saints channel so much of God’s manifest glory for one simple reason - they believe that they are who Jesus says they are. Corporate manifestation becomes effortless when the mind, body, and spirit have been completely yielded to the Holy Spirit. All of this flows from great intimacy and communion with God. This allows Him to do whatever He wants to do in the room.
We must get away from this idea that we somehow summon the Holy Spirit through worship or prayer and that it is on us to get Him to “show up and show off.” The Holy Spirit, because He is indwelling (1 Corinthians 3:16), is always with us (Matthew 28:20). Prayer and worship calibrate our minds and hearts to focus on this reality. We do not cause God to be enthroned on our praises - He is already there (Psalm 22:3). When we focus our hearts on Him, we step into the omnipresent power of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23).
Experiencing God’s manifest presence flows from the intimacy of our union with Him. To begin experiencing the Spirit in a physical way, believe (trust) that you are the temple of the living God. He has chosen your mind and body as the place where He wishes to manifest His Personal Presence. You have unity with Him, being hidden in Christ, and there is no distance between you. When you fix your spiritual eyes on this reality, you will experience manifestation.
