God designed us to always be able to manifest the fullness of His nature. Just like an engineer, God sees the end product of a creation in the beginning. Along with all- knowing vision that God creates us with, He made man in a unique way. God’s unlimited capability can be seen in the human body. The study of the conscious and subconscious alone will spark a curiosity of the bigness of God and our potential in Him. There’s much to be revealed in the intricate function of the body, brain, and mind, but also in the uniqueness of our individuality. No person has the same eyeball or the same fingerprint. God is the ultimate Engineer, and our makeup, like any structure or design, will require modification as we go along. This is where the word retrofit comes into play. Retrofit is the modification of equipment that is already in service. It means to adapt, install, and fit. In reference to God as the engineer and us as the design, a word to pair with retrofit is fortitude, which is to strengthen from within. This is important because there are many of us who have received improper information, slack maintenance, cheap up-keep, and our temple suffers for it. God has created us in such a way that we can only run smoothly so long as we stay close to the One who engineered us. The most important aspect of retrofit is the foundation that God laid in the beginning.
The foundation of anything determines the stability of the end product. The foundation is critical in longevity and durability. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1 explains that the earth was “without form and void” (v. 2a). This word means that the substance was created, or the fullness of potential was available. In simpler terms, it is as if all of the lego pieces for a project were available. All that was left to do was assemble according to the Engineer’s design. This is where the Spirit of God comes into play, the first element. The Spirit must work with the “lego pieces,” or the substance that God had prepared, and bring about creation. The Spirit of God begins to work with the Word of God, the second element, as He commands, “‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:3). This building principle involving the Spirit of God and His word is consistent throughout the Bible, especially in the birth of Jesus. In Luke 1, Mary is encountering the angel Gabriel. He is explaining to her that she will give birth to the Son of God. She was confused at how she could be pregnant when she had never known a man. Gabriel explains that “The Holy Spirit will come upon [her], and the power of the Highest will overshadow [her]” (Luke 1:35). We have the first element. Then, her response fulfills the same thing that happened in the beginning: “Let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38). The second element was received, thus birthing the will of God that had been purposed before the foundation of the world. This is the foundation that God builds on—His word and His Spirit. This is what we were built on, and this foundation is what maintains our stability. We’re commanded to walk in the Spirit, to sow in the Spirit, and refrain from the flesh and its corruption. The fall is a build against God’s foundational requirements, which we see clearly in the tower of Babel (Genesis 11). We were made to retrofit the progressive fullness of God’s nature. To be internally and eternally strong.
God is Spirit, and everything He does is from the Spirit. At the core of creation is the Spirit of God. This applies to us, man, especially. We are first a spirit being. Yes, we were formed from the dust of the ground, but we didn’t become living beings until He
breathed into us (Genesis 2:7). The intelligence, potential, substance, of our existence depends on the Spirit of God sustaining us. No intricate function of our body would be without the Holy Spirit. Our physical makeup is in subjection to our spiritual foundation. This is important because we then become the link between God and material creation. This is our position, or our element. Just like a fish cannot operate outside of water, man cannot operate outside of the Spirit. For man to stay healthy and strong, we must learn to stay in the Spirit, swim in the Spirit, live in the Spirit (see Galatians 5). We mentioned earlier that God breathed into man, and that is what made man a living being. The word for breath in that verse is “neshamah.” This is not merely a word for wind from the mouth, but a word that indicates a soul was imparted. The capability to make decisions, think, and imitate God was now available by the breath of God. God had given man will power that was to remain intimately partnered with the Giver. A part of the retrofit system is for man to be made like God (Genesis 1:26). Only Himself in the material He created could continue to progressively build upon the two-part foundation He started, thus fulfilling His glory. Zechariah 12 begins with a word of the Lord. God’s lordship is confirmed and characterized in verse 1 by saying that He is the One who “stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” Not only is it consistent with Genesis, but it gives insight to the proper way to maintain our existence. Our contact with God through prayer is a spiritual one, which is why we’re urged multiple times in the New Testament to pray in the Spirit. In regard to retrofit, the more notable example is found in Jude 1:20. Jude explains how to maintain this eternal life that has been gifted by the Lord Jesus Christ: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God..” Proper building on our part takes part in a spiritual communication with God that sustains us in the purpose of our life; the love of God. Simply put, praying in the Spirit is the ultimate maintenance. Our up-keep is vital in the life we live and the fruit we produce in our sphere of influence. Man was placed in the garden after being made in the image and likeness of God, and by the blood of the Lamb we have been restored back to the garden where there is no separation between man and God. With our slate wiped clean, we now have the capability and responsibility to steward our lives the way God intended in the first place. This is what was set into place in the beginning, and we now are able to retrofit the Engineer’s purpose in its fullness. We’ve returned to the garden.
As wild as it sounds, we were created to be able to handle all of God—the glory, power, love, and so on. This is the mystery that was hidden from ages and generations: God would no longer dwell in a temple made by man, but in the temple He created with His own hands. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27). Later in chapter 2 of Colossians Paul explains that in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily (v. 9). God is purposeful in what He does, and was especially purposeful in making the human body. He formed the human body to be able to harness Himself then glorify Himself by the outworking of His nature. The veil has been torn and we now have full access to receive the grace needed for the glory of God (Hebrews 4:16). The full expression of God through our person is available, and He declares that we are just like Him in this world right now (1 John 4:17). Once this truth is attained at the individual level, then comes the right to join with another and make impact at the collective level. In other words, be the Church. This is the heart of the Father that we see in John 17.
Jesus prayed, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are One: I in them, and You in me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23). Again, this is for right now, because earlier in the chapter He prays that we are not to be taken from the world, but kept from the evil one (v. 15). The Father’s heart is that His children would glorify Him by being united in the perfect bond with one another that reflects the same bond that Jesus had with the Father. It’s been set up perfectly. The price has been paid, which makes us righteous, redeemed, and justified. The removal of sin has taken place, and now we are able to fulfill what God has always purposed since that day in the beginning, since God placed man in the garden. We were made for this, and it’s important that we continue to do what it takes to stay in the Spirit, to retrofit the design that God intends.