Growing up in the 80's, I'm indoctrinated with certain chewing gum commercials and quite possibly cartoon characters promoting smoking...eeesh. Luckily the only one that lives rent free is a Juicy Fruit commercial with blue-jeaned skiers doing radical backscratchers. Maybe you don't remember that one, but at one point, some version of the Wrigley Double-Mint twins came across your television.
I'd be hard pressed to think each of us at some point haven't felt as though I have double voices in my head and they are often conflicting and both fighting for morality. In the clinical world, this is considered ambivalence, however in the Bible this is called double-mindedness. Not quite the same "oh so good, makes me want to run out and grab a 5 stick pack of Wrigleys gum type of doublely goodness" is it?? And these dual-minds are certainly not twins.
Recently in an article I used the term imperfectly complete. Although this may be a play on words and would make one of my mentors who is a former English teacher cringe, it also defines the journey of following Jesus in such an interesting way. How can two opposing realties exist at the same time? Well, they do, and they don’t. Welcome to the upside-down kingdom of Jesus!
For man (humans) to exist apart from God will inevitably bring about a sense of loneliness, despair, confusion, and incompleteness, however God himself is the one who is and has always been complete. Completeness is even in his name. Revelation 22:13. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
The Greek alphabet was widely used in the Hellenistic world and became the standard script for the New Testament writings. The use of "alpha" and "omega" as a pair to signify the beginning and the end was a familiar concept in Greek culture, symbolizing totality or completeness. This symbolism was adopted by early Christians to express the eternal and all-encompassing nature of God. (1)
"To follow Jesus means a willingness to be a martyr."
To follow Jesus means to say goodbye to myself. It means my way of reasoning and understanding are now subject to the spirit of God and his decrees are now mine. Jesus made it clear hence this statement, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24 As Paul said “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. Jesus spoke it, Paul stepped in to it. Have you? Granted, maybe we don’t know exactly know what it means to “deny ourselves”, but I would argue that it’s an age-old statement that is right under our noses.
God blew the doors open on the abundant life that he offered to humanity in Eden. The only command was to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:17 but the flip side was they were given keys to the Kingdom both in heaven and on Earth. At this point in the story, both those spaces overlapped. God was with them, in one accord. There was completeness.
Often, we communicate heaven as an end goal location, but a better understanding allows us to see that heaven is simply wherever God is. We understand this in many forms in our daily lives. A business may set up its headquarters in a certain city or location. The core values of that company are centralized in this location and dispersed from there, however, if the company moves, that original location is simply a geographical point on a map, but the heartbeat that drives that company is there no more. In the same way, heaven is where God is, and today friend he wants to dwell in you. That’s just wild!
To be in his presence is perfection, it’s bliss, it’s wholeness, it’s completion, it’s stillness, it’s inexpressible beauty, it’s truth, it’s incomprehensible love, and it’s all endless. He really is that good.
Let us be the one’s so enamored with him that we are crazy enough to pray “Lord, show us your glory."
If we have decided to follow, if we’ve received the information, if we’ve counted the costs and are on a journey upward, he has given us all of himself to receive. This friends, is where it gets a bit tricky to understand, but we are going to give it our best. The sprit realm has always existed and arguably is more prevalent than the physical realm. Many theologians believe the Bible is written though the lens of what’s called the Divine Council Worldview or some call it a Deuteronomy 32 worldview. The short explanation of what this means is that just as God created mankind to rule and reign over the Earth and to bring forth the order, goodness, and life breathing life that exist within His character and Kingdom he had also done the same in the spirit realm. The Bible makes many references to the “sons of God” thus refereeing to members of the divine counsel. These spiritual beings were not divine in and of themselves, yet they have power and influence over the spiritual realm.
The most noticeable accounts we have of these spiritual beings are the Nephilim most notably discussed in Genesis 6, although mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. These were fallen spiritual beings, or those who “chose to thwart their allegiance to Yahweh”, similar to Adam and Eve. They were designed to assist God in spiritual matters yet their prideful desire for knowledge and power led them apart from God. These spiritual beings however were seen in the physical realm and were considered modern day giants. Eventually they saw that the daughters of men where beautiful and took for themselves thus intermarrying with humans and creating offspring. Sound like King David’s story?? I’ll let you ponder that one. This “intermingling” did not bode well for humanity, thus leading God to regret his own creation, following which would inevitably be the great flood.
It’s worth mentioning the Nephelium as they are an example of the spirit realm having a profound impact in the physical world. There are many examples of this all throughout the lens of the Bible.
Jesus’s resurrection from the grave fulfilled what God spoke over Eve in Eden when he said And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 Elohim is not simply the name of our God Yahweh, but is a name given to any deity, and since the fall of mankind and the fall of the spiritual beings, there has been a cosmic war between God and those who want to be God. These deities cannot generate their own sense of truth, but they can easily distort the truth. We see in Jesus’s encounter in the wilderness that the satan knows scripture pretty well and also knows how to twist it just enough that it can very easily sound like the truth.
The cross was the satan's final play at destroying God and taking over as ruler of the cosmos. He had convinced almost the whole of humanity that Jesus was the deceiver and worthy of only death. The one who created them was looking them in the eye, yet their hearts were so hardened, they couldn’t even recognize him. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. John 1:10.
Friend, it would greatly behoove us to ponder if this same dichotomy exists in our lives and hearts…and yet this people group, through the craftiness of the spirit of death and darkness, hung their creator and savior on a tree. This, as we know, was the snake crushing moment. Darkness cannot overtake light because darkness only exists due to the absence of light, but it’s the light that holds the power and so it is with God. The sky’s only went dark at the moment of Jesus’ death because God allowed it. The earth was formless and void at the beginning because God hadn’t yet spoken into it. The tomb was emptied when God, just as he breathed the breath of life into the first Adam in Genesis 2:7, once again breathed the breath of life into Jesus’ body thus declaring the King of King always has been and always will be.
The cross and empty tomb was the greatest display of power and declaration of the powerful truth of God. Realizing the spiritual implications of what happened in that moment has a profound impact on how we view our own journey and even how we interact with others. What didn’t happen was an age reversing, fountain of youth moment. Jesus didn’t create the worlds greatest anti-aging cream; however he has given us freedom from the spiritual decay of darkness and sin. His blood cleanses and purifies us from the inside out, even while still being left in our aging bodies. Paul clarifies this well in 2 Corinthians 4:16. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
The spirit of God generates and regenerates life and he offers us and opportunity to receive new life and to give that breath of life to others in how we live and love.
Matthew recorded Jesus saying Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect in Matthew 5:48. The word “perfect” in Greek is téleios it is an adjective, derived from 5056 /télos, "consummated goal") – mature (consummated) from going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal, i.e. developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process.
In other words “complete” or “whole”. Yes, it’s a journey, but it’s a journey not as much to obtain a means to an end through achievements or earning, but rather a journey to understand what has already be given to us and how to live in that reality, especially when physically we may feel quite the opposite.
Joshua really got it right. Although the Israelite journey finally into the promised land was long before the spiritual victory displayed on the cross and through the empty tomb, he understood what God has been after from the very beginning; a set apart people who’s hearts were for him and his kingdom. ALL of their heart. His statement is derived from the Hebrew word qadash, meaning to be set apart.
“In ancient Israelite culture, the concept of holiness was central to the community's relationship with God. The Israelites were called to be a holy nation, distinct from other peoples, reflecting God's holiness in their lives. The process of sanctification was integral to maintaining purity and devotion to God” (2)
This is covenant relationship and God is simply asking that our hearts would not be tethered to anything else that this world may have to offer, but fully committed to him and his Kingdom. Interestingly, this is the only place we will find real and sustaining life.
Jesus, conquering any spiritual stronghold that may exist, offers us the completeness and fullness of life found in him. This is part of an already, but not yet kingdom reality. Spiritually we are already, physically we are not yet.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Colossians 2:9-12
The victory of the fallen spiritual entities is Jesus’s and although the defeat remains in the spirit realm, the spoils of the victory are ours. On one condition. We must choose to set ourselves apart from the belief that what the Bible says about fullness and completeness isn’t true. Our reality, when we choose not to believe the spiritual truths spoken of in the Bible, is that we have now once again made ourselves out to be God. We have stepped back in to doublemindedness. We are trying to exist in two opposing realities at the same time. No matter how much we stir, the oil simply won’t mix with the water. We’ve taken back the fruit and eaten once again from the knowledge of good and evil and we’ve put Jesus back in the tomb. When we choose to believe he hasn’t cleansed us from the inside out, we put him back on the cross. When we choose to believe that he hasn’t restored us and wants to teach us what that means, we put him back in the tomb.
He is the Alpha, the one who is complete and is the one who reigns overall, but he is also the Omega, the ultimate limit, the final answer. There is no higher, no greater and his love is beyond human understanding. Our freedom is his victory as he sits at the right hand of the Father with a defeated foe, unleashing his Kingdom power to those of us who choose to become a martyr to ourselves and to whomever else he may ask us to die for.
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 1 Corinthians 9:19
God bless your journey…
Paul
I absolutely love this. It speaks so much truth about the choices we can make. Jesus gives us that freedom. I especially loved the last 3 paragraphs. It truly touched my heart. Thank you God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and Paul.