For This Reason 21

[HKHaugan]

In the last writing I made a big noise about sin. It rides on the back of every moment we are in this world. I think of the statue of Atlas stooped over on one knee with the sky in the shape of an orb on his back. In Greek mythology he was the one condemned to hold the earth and sky apart. If you carry that image into what it meant for the Greeks, the earth is where we are in physical reality, our self-conscious present moment. The sky is the space of thought as endless eternity. From a biblical perspective that is the gulf that exists between man and God because of sin. It is a spiritual gulf that only one person was able to cross and He did it through the Cross in order to rescue us by the Cross. It is a gulf filled with all kinds of spirits.

If we can conceive what it must have been like before Adam fell from grace it would probably be like having a view of one’s self in the eternal vision of God. You are in a real touchable garden of total of visible and invisible satisfaction where your relationships are in perfect order. When you are at one with others in the seen and unseen there is neither time nor need for definition nor analysis. You are at one with everything yet totally aware of who and what you are in God. There is no time. There is no consciousness of need, difference or having to ‘get along’ with one another. No need to ‘fit in.’ There is no tension, struggle or conflict within and without. Actually, to even think in this direction wouldn’t ever happen.

This speculation in itself is proof of our inheriting Adam’s sinful condition of separation from God and our longing for a return to Him. When Paul talked about the peace of God that passes understanding it was that peace, peace that is beyond contemplation and intellect, a heart peace, that peace is awaiting us all in Heaven.

Having stepped through the door of speculation we need a guide to handle the reality of what is there because now we are walking into the spiritual dimension. It is right there in this dimension that Scripture tells us what to look for and expect. To penetrate that invisible dimension we have to be open to experience what exists there; love, compassion, kindness, peace and grace as well as hate, lust, rejection, malice and anger.

The process of choice and decision that so engages us in every next moment is really a gift to us and how we use that gift, that invisible gift, is based on the spirit that empowers it. This is why Scripture in its totality is built around the person of Jesus. It’s His decisions, His teachings, His lifestyle, His Spirit, that are the light opening to us the way through the spiritual dimension. He is our personal guide from Genesis through Revelation. But more than a guide He is the One who saves us, redeems our mind, heart, spirit and consciousness first in the spiritual dimension and then in the physical. He is what He claims to be, the way, the truth and the life. He is the way for the heart, the truth for the mind and the life for our spirit.

The reality of that claim is tested by faith. Just like decision faith is His gift to us so that the gift of decision-making becomes dependent on Him. What sin has done to separate us from God, Jesus’ faith on the Cross has provided us with the way to be reunited with Him. The Cross is the visible image reminding us of the spiritual reality of faith. Taking up the way of the Cross, which is faith, we crucify the destructive invisible forces that move through the spiritual dimension where our separated hearts are most vulnerable.

Perhaps a more graphic picture would help us here. It is our heart that Jesus has identified as the castle where sin is king (Mk.7:20-23) and the tempter is the real power whispering in the shadows behind the throne. The castle is surrounded by the mote of pride. Its sentinels are fear, worry, anxiety and suspicion all directed by the tempter. The drawbridge to its gate is open only to those spirits that promise immediate satisfaction to the king’s wants.

In the wilderness of temptation outside the castle desire, needs, greed and lust are lonely transients looking for a place to spend the night. They are always on the move. Rejected in one place, accepted in another, they forage the landscape feeding on whatever is available at the moment. They never sleep. Like hoboes they wander the castle’s surroundings begging until they find rest and temporary food. Only their hunger is never satisfied.

Now bring into that picture King Jesus walking through the wilderness as He did in Judea. He approaches the castle. With no staff, no money, no title, no passport He walks across the moat, knocks on the gate, presents Himself to the astonished sentinels who inform the king of His presence. Some kings laugh, dismiss Him as a vagrant and order Him away regardless of what the sentinels said. Some kings are curious about traveling spiritualists and invite Him in for discussion and give Him time and casual acceptance as a kind of court jester. Other kings find Him fascinating and patronizingly keep Him around for His wisdom which may be biting at times but helpful. Still other kings are more than amused, entertained and protective of their power. There is something about Him that they cannot shake. He is more regal, more understanding of their heart, more in tune with what it means to have power and authority but of a quite different kind. He is not afraid of them. He seems to know what is in their mind. He enjoys being with them and they respond in an honesty they had never dared before. He was a king to the kings. He was a king of kings among kings. He was in fact the king of their hearts. When they realized this they gave Him their hearts to rule their kingdom. It then becomes a kingdom like no earthly kingdom. It is a spiritually organized and managed kingdom.

Re-enter the real world as we live from day to day. Jesus saves us to be kings like Him. Do we still sin? Certainly. But He is always there hearing our heart’s regrets and giving us the most precious gift of all, His Holy Spirit to place His mind and heart in us. When ‘king sin’ tries to emerge again the Holy Spirit offers the gift of repentance and immediately His forgiveness cancels sin’s power.

When you read about the kings recorded in Old Testament times, both Jewish and Gentile, think of the spirits that dominated human hearts. They represent the real kings ruling human hearts and they still do. Jesus submitted Himself to all their power, the power of death on the Cross and defeated what they thought was their power through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Resurrection of Jesus proved Him to be the King above all kings. But more than a king He is the eternal High Priest who has offered His perfect blood so that we could be returned to the Father. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that empowers us and rather than becoming kings we become His priests in an eternal royal priesthood (1Pet.2:4). It is by faith in Jesus that we are more than kings. We are conquerors (Rom.8:37).