More than Humanity Part 2: A Little Bit Above

     Where does humanity stand in the whole of creation? More importantly, how do we compare to the spiritual realm? We humans occupy a unique place in the world of matter, in that we also occupy a place in the realm of the spirit. Animals, plants, objects; none of these things have a spiritual component. What makes us different is that God made us a bit like Himself, namely a threefold being. We are body, soul, and spirit (debates about the differences or lack there-off between soul and spirit aside).

     All of what we see, and most of what we concern ourselves with is this physical form. This isn't terribly surprising as it is the point of most of our conflict. We are concerned with getting sick or getting injured, worried about future weakness as age takes it's toll and of course we're all a little concerned about death. This body is like a screaming baby, perhaps not the most pressing concern, but the most noisy and what draws our attention most of the time. Humanists would have us believe that this flesh is all there is, that we occupy no higher plane. One wonders though, if that were the case, why all the philosophical thought in the world? How did we get the idea of anything more if there isn't anything more? How are we able even to have thought that is self-aware if all we are is a meat-machine?

     What makes us different is that we are more than mere humanity. What I mean by that is we aren't just meat-machines we are “semi-transcendent.” I used to believe the old phrase “I'm a soul in a body not a body with a soul,” and that sounds good and all but it's not really accurate. In actuality we are physical beings with souls, that combination is what we are; which explains why we will have bodies in eternity. You cannot divorce yourself from your soul and still be really alive, but you also can't say that you are only physical. Our semi-transcendence means that we are slightly above the physical realm. We are not angels so we are not removed from this world, but we aren't animals either. We have a perspective that allows us to see beyond what we see. It is this state that allows for our sentients, that allows us to be self-aware.

     This state of being is a blessing and a burden. Though we are fallen from grace thanks to our sin, our semi-transcendence gives us a sense of the eternal, of the “more than this.” This is a part of that “God-shaped hole” we all have in our hearts. Though we are separated from God, we were created to be more than just animals and so we strain against the bonds of our sin and this material world. We yearn for more than just rocks and air and flesh. It is this desire, this unfulfilled and indefinable pull that ultimately leads many to God. To many the party line of molecules to man just doesn't cut it because they know that there is something more, something beyond what they see and touch and taste.

     Man is an interesting creature, made to be more than just skin and bones. God made us a little like Him, not deity, but stamped with the image of God. We do a disservice to ourselves and our creator when we attempt to remove or ignore the part of ourselves that moves beyond what we can study in a lab or see on the street.

“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

(Genesis 1:26-27)

To Know What We Can't See

It seems a bit odd to think that Christianity, with it's focus on the supernatural is quite a logical and fairly simple belief. There are very few categories of being and rather simple rules. We're not asked to perform herculean tasks nor undergo protracted journeys, we're told simply to seek out a closeness with God and to allow Him His due place in our lives. Ultimately we can see that although Christianity is a very spiritual faith, it is not a mystical one.

     The best evidence for this -I think- is the Bible. Let's just talk about it's existence for one. The Bible is the Word of God, 'God breathed' as the scriptures say. He didn't leave us without information. We needn't read tea leaves or master diving rods, learn spells or contact spirits, we have no reason to follow our instincts or intuition, we need only listen to what He has said! Read the book, we see glimpses of the past and of the future, we see the world of the spirit that is all around us, we are shown what that God is in control and that the chaotic world of other beliefs doesn't exist. Furthermore God has shown us exactly what He desires from us. Unlike other faiths where we are only told what to do, the Bible shows us a God who works with us and for us (meaning for our benefit not under our direction). We needn't fear tomorrow because He is the God of tomorrow, and today, and yesterday!

     The spiritual world, though mysterious, is also quite simple. We don't have a hierarchy of deities, we don't have various groups or beings, and we don't have several warring factions. We have God, His Angels, Satan, the Demons, and us. That is it! So many people want to make the spiritual so much more unusual and difficult, but really we have only two factions of two types of created beings. There are no other deities or powers to be concerned with and like the physical world there are only two camps: those with God and those against. Furthermore there are not mystical powers to be concerned with, objects hold no energy and can be neither good nor evil, angels and demons can only operate in prescribed manners, and with the exception of very obvious miracles God uses mostly mundane means to accomplish His goals. I understand the desire for a more “interesting” world but frankly it just isn't real.

     Reality as we see it and comprehend it falls under the same understanding of simplicity. We are not lost spiritual wanderers or recycled ghosts. We are not simple fauna animated by chance and electricity. We are not advanced animals haunted by false spiritual lies or burdened with impossible eternal purpose. We are created beings who have rebelled and are now worthy of wrath. Servants and slaves who threw off the mantle of the just King and pursued their own wicked desires. That same King who could have wiped us out and been completely justified, chose instead to save us. He chose to save us though it meant His own Son had to die. God chose to love us all, rather than kill us all.

   I want a simple life. I want to live where the only mystery is what tomorrow holds and maybe, what's for dinner. I'm so grateful we don't live in a world turned about by many a changing winds and tides, one where myriad powers vie for the control and praise of weak humanity. I'm so glad we have the path laid out for us and salvation and eternity granted to us if we would only follow. I'm glad for my God who loves me enough to die for me. I'm grateful for this simple, wonderful life.

Is It Worth It?

     I'm coming very close now to the end of my first full year of marriage. We have our plans and are suitably excited and I thank God for this tremendous blessing. As I believe I've mentioned before, I've always wanted to get married.  Now that I'm here I can say that it is indeed better than I thought it would be but also different than I thought. In my previous post “The Amazing and Wonderful Normal”  I talked about the surprising 'normal-ness' of marriage. How everything becomes just another day, and yet more than that.

     Here is where we get to today's point. Some time ago while talking about marriage, I had a friend ask me “Is it worth it?” I nodded and said yes at the time but as I thought about that seemingly simple question I could not help but think of the meaning it might have possessed. Was it meant as more than a trite question that everyone asks but doesn't really think about, sort of like “how ya doin'?” I've had some time to ponder and here are my thoughts.

     On the surface of that question it has to be said that yes, yes it is worth it. Whatever “it” is, marriage's worth surpasses. Whether time spent waiting, the resources used, the effort involved, all of it is worth the result. There are times when, during dating, it may seem like a whole lot of trouble and it would make sense to question the worth of all this hard slogging work. Believe me, if you're doing your dating right there will be times when it is work indeed. The interesting thing is that you can never understand just how worth it it is until you've been married for a while, like how we cannot understand the Word of God as we do until we are saved.

     Beyond that though, I couldn't shake the feeling that behind that question was another question, “Is it worth waiting physically?” This question presents a problems for me as I want to simply answer yes, it is worth it! That however, is hardly the point is it? Our bodies desire that physical closeness and they desire the culmination of that relationship; but we are commanded to be masters of our desires, to lay them at the feet of Christ as our Lord! So whether or not it's 'worth it' to wait, we are to be obedient to God and reserve ourselves to the one to whom we become 'one flesh.' This is what is truly worth it, obedience and submission to God. Not merely God as Savior but God as King of our lives. As David was king in Jerusalem so should Jesus be King in our Hearts, the master of His domain with the final say in all things. We as Christians do not have the right to weigh the odds and compare lists of pros and cons. We listen, we read, we learn, and we obey. That may seem harsh or rigid or even insipid but that is where we will find real meaning. Our worth was only ever to be in our relationship with God and it is only there we will find meaning today! Besides the pragmatic benefit or emotional worth of being able to give all of yourself to your spouse with no one else to lay any claim to you, it is simply of far greater benefit to obey the one who is Lord over all.

     Don't fall into the trap of trying to decide as if you had any power to make a choice. We know what God wants of us and that is all we need. The Christian life is not hard because we have so many choices to make, it is hard because those choices are already made for us and those choices go against the flow of the world. The choice you do have, the only choice, is whether or not you will obey the God who made you, bought you, saved you, and adopted you. The God who loves you. 

Is it worth it?  Yes.  Yes it is.

The False Dilemma of Dualism

     There is an age old belief in the world. One that has existed for hundreds if not thousands of years. One that has wormed its way even into the church. The idea is expressed in many ways and different words are used each time it surfaces. The concept is generally referred to as Dualism. In a nutshell the belief states that reality is essentially separated into two halves: the spiritual and physical. The physical is inherently evil and the spiritual inherently good. You'll find this idea spread across the globe in eastern religions and even in the Roman Catholic church and you'd think that the idea has some merit but sadly it does not.

     The physical, the flesh, the world and everything in it: to the dualist these are evil and tainted and must be removed from our lives. Desires are something that taint us and only when we are free from these earthly yearnings will we find righteousness. It's easy to see why this belief is so prevalent, what with all the war and greed and want in the world. So many people fight a daily war with their own bodies and minds that it makes sense to blame it all on the flesh and the world, to yearn to escape from all this and be freed from all these desires so unfulfillable. We see the monastic movements and the cave dwelling hermits seeking absolution in a grave existence of self punishment and denial. Men and women driven to celibacy by their lusts or even just the normal desires of the human body. Churches lay bare of even the most rudimentary of decoration or of a single note of music for fear of waking these evil tides of the flesh. All of this can be seen from one corner of the globe to the other, but are we fighting shadows?

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

(Genesis 1:1)

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

(Genesis 1:31)

     Do you realize the implication of those verses? God created the heavens and the earth. God, who can do no evil. God who bends all things to His perfect will. God who can make no mistakes, created the earth and sky and everything and it was “very good.” How then can you say that the physical is evil by its very nature? How can the physical be necessarily evil when its very origin is in the great God almighty?

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

(Ephesians 6:12)

     Furthermore, we can plainly see that merely being spiritual is not enough to be righteous. The fallen angels and satan himself are of a completely spiritual nature and yet they are the very core of evil in existence! What matters is not merely being spiritual but being spiritually right! God did not come as Jesus to make us spiritual but to make us right with God. Man, from the beginning, has been a being both spiritual and physical. What makes us evil is not our physicality but our separation and rebellion against a Holy God. This is why it's a false idea to think we will spend eternity as spirits or as 'angels'. We were created to be physical beings and we will spend eternity as such, albeit glorified.

     The point is not to eliminate all desire, for we desire to be with God. Our aim is not to shun all physical things, as they are gifts from our loving Father. Our goal is not to be a purely spiritual people, as that would require denying part of who we are. The point is to enjoy this world in a manner that honors God and is in line with His will. We never let our desires lead us off the road laid before us and we never let things become the primary motive force in our lives. When viewed and used rightly, this physical world can bring great joy and show us yet another aspect of our Glorious God.