Easter 7 Resurrection, Looking Behind What Is Seen

[HKHaugan]

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities---His eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Rom.1:20)

Probably 99% of our breathing is done unconsciously. We live in an atmosphere of so much oxygen, nitrogen and so on. We don’t think about breathing, we just do it. The same is true for most all of our bodily functions. Our body works. It just does what it does. We have respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular and central nervous systems in this body. The reason we call it a body is because it is a whole well ordered entity working together. Every part functions interdependently. The only time we are really conscious of our bodies is if something goes wrong signaled by an ache, a pain, difficulty breathing, digesting, moving and thinking.

Shift for a moment and consider a parallel idea. The fact that we perceive, think and process behavior and life in an orderly invisible way indicates we also have an invisible spiritual body. We have spiritual respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular and central nervous systems in our body as well. 99% of our spiritual breathing is done unconsciously. Like our physical bodies we don’t become conscious of its workings until there is a crisis that causes us to stop, figure out what’s wrong and try to fix it.

If we take this approach there is no end to the number of parallels we can come up with. This could take volumes but the point is we are first spiritual beings and that is what is most important. If our spiritual systems are working properly then how we process our physical condition and environment will find the balance intended in it to begin with. If not we live from crisis to crisis hoping the next one won’t be as bad. The critical need is for a proper diagnosis.

Let’s take, for example, our spiritual respiratory system. The atmosphere we breathe contains a balanced combination of a number of spiritual elements. That atmosphere we breathe is called grace. It is the quality that describes God’s very nature and attitude that accepts us as His images and likenesses in spite of the pollutants of the devil and his evil intrigues. Grace is always there whether we are conscious of it or not. It is the spiritual power that maintains the physical universe and allows everything to continue until it is all resolved in Him. Out of His grace comes His love. Like all God’s qualities, we may not be conscious of them, they are always just there. Grace is the atmosphere whose components are the elements of the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal.5:22-23). “The Law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)”

But there are also toxic elements. Sin and its spirits of fear, pride, anger, greed, lust, jealousy, envy, divisiveness, cynicism, sarcasm, malice and compromise can pollute and cripple our breathing. They have to be diagnosed and filtered out.

Our cardiovascular system, its heart and blood system, is our soul and the spirit that feeds and maintains it. Blockages in our spiritual arteries can cause heart failure and death. These blockages are called strongholds (ideas, concepts and conclusions we make apart from God and His Word). They are fueled by the toxic elements mentioned above. But, if by faith, we take our heart and soul to the Lord, trust Him personally in our hearts, we become conscious of what causes the blockages that cripple the heart, confess them (spiritual bypass surgery) and receive the cleansing of forgiveness. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Ps.75:7-8).”

Our central nervous system is our mind and what it believes, trusts, wills and decides. We may find that we try and control our own minds constructing our own system of belief and action without God, without His Word and without His Spirit to direct. We believe more in our thought processes and ourselves than we do His. Our digestive system is what processes our mental, emotional and spiritual intake.

Again, there are pollutants that can infect and paralyze our bodies. If we take the Word of God, the Bible, and follow its use as the lubricant for our digestive system then we give the spiritual body the kind of nutrition that sustains it for eternity. “ 12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4).”

There is no end to the depths we can plumb because of the Resurrection. If we take our minds and our hearts and put them under the authority of the Cross, more will be revealed than we can presently imagine.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ proves all of the above.