Who is the 'man in Christ' Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 12:2?
The man in Christ is a true born again believer, as Paul defines the phrase. Paul says he knew this man about fourteen years earlier, whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell, and this one was caught up to the third heaven.
Les explains that 'a man in Christ' means a true born again believer. He notes Paul's statement that this occurred about or above fourteen years earlier. Paul could not tell whether the man was in the body or out of the body, but God knew, and such a one was caught up to the third heaven. Les then connects this to the scriptural layout of the first heaven—the atmosphere where birds fly—and the second heaven—the stars and space—before coming back to 2 Corinthians, where Paul will delineate the third heaven as paradise. The context does not name the man beyond this description.
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.