Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 12 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..
This month we I have been looking at the idea behind our theme for 2014 here at Living Word Christian Center in Greene, NY. Our goal is to fulfill the prayer of Jesus in John 17 where he reminds us and the Father that those who believe on Jesus for salvation are not of this world just as he was not of this world. He goes on to ask the Father to protect his people from the evil one, but not to take them out of the world. Our theme is that we be a supernatural people living in the natural world.
What does it take to be supernatural? What does Jesus mean when he says we are not of this world? That sounds a little like something that might be part of a science fiction story. However, we are not talking about “ancient aliens” or visitors from outer space. We do need to realize that there are two worlds functioning around us and that we are a part of both. Much of western civilization is devoted to convincing people that this is not true. Yet with all the attempts to educate this thought out of us it remains a main theme of fiction, existential speculation and faith.
Why would we persist in talking about parallel universes and supernatural phenomenon? The more rational thinking tries to convince us that what we see is all there is the more we seem to long to see more. It is interesting how many “reality TV” shows focus on supernatural and unexplained things. We have people hunting ghosts, seeking scientific proofs for life after death and more. Again, I would ask the question, “With so much education to the contrary, why do we still seem so desperate to find another reality?”
One point of view is that man simply cannot accept that life is what it is. Technology, philosophy, art and all the other accomplishments of humanity are just a result of the right gathering of simple proteins in the primordial ooze millions of years ago. Since man cannot accept that death is simply the end of a biological coincidence, we must give life greater significance by inventing another reality. This eternal reality gives meaning to what is essentially a meaningless existence.
I would like to submit another point of view for our consideration. Man cannot get away from the idea that there is another world or reality because there is one. The God of that other world created him. Man is not an accident of nature but a desired child of a supernatural world. We were placed here to be the children of God. We have a connection to the unseen world we came from. This may sound a little bit out there, but the bible supports the idea.
We have already quoted John 17 but there are many other scriptures that also support the truth of the realm of the spirit. Look at today’s verse. Paul tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood and then lists a number of things with which we do wrestle. Where are these things? What are these things? Paul lists them without hesitation or explanation. There is nothing surrounding this verse to suggest that Paul is speaking metaphorically. Paul believes that these “enemies behind our enemies” really exist. The implication is that if we do not understand that these enemies are not of this world, we cannot combat them successfully.
What about prayer? There are those who think of prayer as a meditative exercise that helps us quiet our minds and bring a natural kind of peace into our lives. Jesus does not seem to agree.
Matthew 18:19-20 (NKJV) 19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Jesus tells us that if we agree on things that we ask for, those things will be done for us. Who are we to ask? He says we ask his Father in heaven. Then he makes an even more extreme statement. He says that if two or three are gathered together in his name, he is actually there with them! He was not talking about when he was on the earth only. He was talking about today.
For the most part, we do not see Jesus in our church gatherings. Did Jesus lie? Was he a simple-minded person who could not grasp the complexities of life and philosophy and used this “myth” to explain things he could not understand? Worse yet, was he a fraud who used mythological stories of an invisible “Father” to mislead people? If you are a Christian, you cannot possibly accept anything like that.
Jesus knew exactly what he was saying. Just as Paul meant that there was an evil spiritual presence in the earth, Jesus knew that the Father was also here and that he would be here. His world and the world we can see exist simultaneously. His is the parent world. The world we can see came from the world we cannot see. The world we can see is subject to the world we cannot see. Listen to Paul on the subject.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NKJV) 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We live in two worlds. One is a world that we can see and one is a world that we cannot see with our natural eyes. The one we can see is perishing. Everything in it dies. The one that we cannot see is eternal. The one that we cannot see is the world of the spirit. The one that we can see is the natural world of the flesh. This is the truth. This is why we keep looking for something more. We look because we innately know it is true.
Why do I feel it is so important to pound away at this idea? I believe as Paul believed. We do not fight the natural things we can see. We are involved in a war against things we cannot see. This could be frightening to us unless we understand another truth. We are part of the unseen world. We are not just flesh and blood. We have an eternal component and it is by accessing that eternal component that we will win ultimate victory in life.
If you are a Christian, you are not just a natural person trying to understand eternal truths. You are, by nature, supernatural. Your source of life is not this world. That is what Jesus was trying to tell us in John 17. Because we are connected to the invisible world, we have access to invisible things. We have access to the power of God. Every time we gather together there is a supernatural, invisible presence that is there with us. That connection is to the power that created the world that we can see. Accessing that connection changes everything in life.
To accept any interpretation of Christianity that does not acknowledge that we are not of this world is something less than what Jesus prayed for at the hour of his sacrifice. Take a few moments today and ask the Lord to make the invisible supernatural world real to you. I believe we can learn to feel it and walk in its power. However, even when we do not feel it, it is still there. Believe in that today and begin to access the power of the invisible world. It is the only way to win the war in which we are currently engaged. It is the way we find the life that Jesus intended us to have.
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