Do you really believe Jesus died to save you from the penalty of your sins? Think carefully before you answer in your mind and heart.
Now, consider this. If there were apparent physical evidence that He did not die to save you from the penalty of your sins, would you still believe He did? If you are honest and like most of us, I'd bet you would seriously consider this physical evidence, and most likely would be swayed to disbelieve. After all, evidence is convincing, right?
No, it isn't. And that's the tap root of what I believe may be God's second greatest problem in interacting with us humans. As noted in another post (What's In A Name Anyway), I believe the first problem may well be His invisibility and our slack in getting to know Him via His physical Word through which He cracks open revelations and insights to us. The second problem is training us to receive from Him who is invisible, the real, yet invisible things He has given to us. You must admit it must be relatively easier for us to receive, believe and embrace invisible things given, but which remain invisible throughout this life, than it is to receive invisible things given, which we, by faith, are expected to translate into physical actuality. Our inability to ‘transact this translation’ does not, however, prove God did not give us those things....the "all things" referred to so often in New Testament Scripture. (2 Peter 1:3; 3 John 1:2; Revelation 21:7, etc.)
Our proclivity to believe physical evidence blocks or inhibits our ability to transact this translation, whereas we have less of an issue believing and receiving spiritual things that are not expected to become physical evidence in this life. So our great problem remains -- how to believe and receive by faith, and actually translate into physical actuality the many invisible, yet spiritually real gifts given to us by our invisible God?
Actually, this problem is not as grand as it may sound or appear to be. It is put into its proper perspective when we realize ... get this, everything physical is essentially a very thin, ever morphing façade cast over (cloaking) things spiritual. (Façade: A superficial appearance or illusion of something) God gave real spiritual, invisible gifts to us, paid for by the blows with which He personally smote (beat) Christ on the cross. Isaiah 53:10-11 affirm as the Roman soldiers and other participants in the crucifixion performed their roles, physically, God was performing His role, spiritually, casting upon and punishing Jesus for the sins of all mankind, from Adam to the last human to ever be born. This punishment opened the portal through which God became legally able to (i) invade satan's kingdom on earth, (ii) re-take all authority and power Adam had given to satan when he sinned, and (iii) give gifts to mankind...gifts satan and his cohorts never wanted us to have!
These gifts, summarized throughout Scripture, are very real, but because of our unbelief, they largely remain cloaked by the physical façades of unbelief, ignorance of who we are in Christ, and bad habits and personal cultures of this life that conflict with the culture of God's Kingdom. As our spiritual man is fed and strengthened, he becomes able to cast off (uncloak) these façades, and we are then able to experience physically what God intended.
In our world, façades and veneers are used to cover up blemishes and imperfections, enhancing the view of an item. (Veneer: A superficially valuable or pleasing appearance) God made us beautiful in spirit, but the stains of sin and our cultural habits/expectations serve as façades or veneers over this beauty -- the direct opposite of what happens in our world! These veneers are sickness, disease, poverty, strife, greed, selfishness, hate, covetousness, fearful, etc., covering up the beauty Christ died to restore in us. Through faith in the blood of Jesus, the stains of sin are immediately removed. The habitual and cultural veneers, however, remain and are only removed as we systematically and thoroughly renew our minds to The Word, change old habits, and exchange our personal culture for one that aligns with the culture/principles of The Kingdom of God. Only then will our true, inner beauty be revealed externally.
I believe God sees us in the beauty of His forgiveness, i.e., healthy rather than sickly, rich rather than poor, in harmony rather than in strife, as givers rather than getters, etc., whereas we tend to see ourselves otherwise. Our words and actions attest to this. What if we could see ourselves as He sees us, and speak/act accordingly? What if our image of self matched what He sees? Well, that is the purpose of His Word, The Bible -- to help us understand how He sees us, so we can align our self-image and words aright.
Once our vision or perspective of self is properly aligned with His perspective of us in Christ, the remaining key area to tackle is that of 'corresponding actions', required to complete the uncloaking process. This clearly is a long-term process, requiring both Godly and worldly wisdom. This is an area worthy of serious consideration -- moving into action-oriented faith, based on our renewed, Godly image of self. I hope to address this area in future posts.
There are many examples in our world of people who have worldly wisdom (savoir faire), but who lack a Godly perspective of self, and Godly wisdom concerning what to do. All three are required in their proper order and respective balance in order to transact the translation of God's great, yet invisible gifts...
...from spiritual
reality-to-physical actuality.
