Spiritual Reality

A major aspect of Christianity is indeed our view of reality.  Consider what the scriptures say about mankind's current experience on earth, even the rare moments where the supernatural intersects with three dimensional space and time:

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." – 1 Corinthians 13:12

If this world as we know it and experience it is truly only a reflection, what then is the real thing?  What is it that those that belong to Christ will one day know fully?  After all, even Paul himself admits to only knowing in part - that is, having a very limited knowledge of the world and reality.  What is palpable, what we can apprehend; that which we can both conceive of and then, through the manipulation of matter itself we can bring to fruition - all of this is a shadow. Earth, space, and time is less than a reflection, only a shadow of reality.

This idea is truly inconceivable!  How powerful is the sun, Earths physical power source. At least is is considered an average star, a typical star on the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HR-Diagarm), and scientist think it will last another 10 billion years- one star in an estimated 300 Sextillion stars in the known universe!  How amazing is a fertilized egg of any sexually reproducing creature, dividing and forming the extreme complexity of a living being. As human beings, we grow from one cell to over 50 trillion in 9 months!  How much can we grasp of the vast, enormous distances between the stars or the glory of the heavens as we explore them with our tiny, insignificant tools?  Galaxies beyond our real ability to explore – we just look on in wonder and amazement and awe - AND we should!  The depths of the seas, the masses of humanity, the wonder of a mother’s love – these things, including the intrusion of God himself with his creation through Jesus Christ as a man – all of this is simply a shadow.

You see, theologically speaking, what we can touch, taste, feel and experience, even for religious purposes are not the ultimate reality.  The  ceremonies and rituals of life are, as it is written, "... a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” – Colossians 2:16-17

Thus, it is the totality of the entity we know of as the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in his completeness as God the son, which is reality.  Thus, as creatures,  we cannot even fathom who Jesus really is. 

This topic came about because of continued thoughts of a friend.  Referencing a number of passages that clearly deal with the question - what is real, the physical, or the spiritual?  My friend wrote the following:

... Starting with John 4:19-26. Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman teaching her that God is Spirit and he seeks true worshippers who will worship him in Spirit and truth. Then there is Romans 12:1-2. Paul teaches the Roman church that in view of God’s mercy, we should offer our lives as living sacrifices, having our lives transformed, our minds renewed, no longer conforming to this world, and that this is our spiritual act of worship. Also in John 6:63, Jesus teaches his disciples that the very words he spoke to them were spirit and life. Then finally in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Paul tells the Corinthian church that not all of these teachings from God can be understood by all, but that they are “spiritually discerned”, understood by those who possess the Spirit of God.

Thus, he asks what do I and other think about this?  I am convinced that Christianity, if fully accepted by the adherents, is truly out of this world.  There are no national boundaries, not black or white or yellow or red people.  Our ethnicity, our heritage, our nation of origins - all of this and the things we take pride in are only a shadow.  For the non-Christian, this is difficulty, indeed impossible to accept because reality for them is completely existential.  A purely existential framework does not preclude the metaphysical - it simply needs to be experienced.  In fact, most people - unfortunately even those that claim Christianity as their faith (theologically speaking), live this way - guided, even driven by appetites, appearances, and apprehensions. 

Of course, the purely naturalist or hard-core secularist must deny the supernatural but they also live experientially.  As my friend referenced, they can not accept many of the reasonable boundaries  presented in the scriptures because embracing them would require spiritual discernment - which by definition, they do not have.

My overall thoughts regarding Spiritual Reality is two fold: It is beyond comprehension, too amazing to even imagine; and it is hard, maybe even impossible, to live with this ultimate spiritual reality as the primary driver for ones life.   You see, Spiritual Reality is beyond our ability to grasp.  It is really and truly beyond us!  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than mans ways and God's thoughts are much higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  God's foolishness is much wiser than mans wisdom and God's weakness is much stronger than mans greatest power (1 Corinthians 1:25).  Humility is really not a choice - we need to accept this. If this is true, even the little bits of spiritual reality that we can understand requires spiritual discernment.  Let's face it - reality as we experience it, even the vastness of outer space and complexities of living matter, is only a shadow of who and what God is and what God has in store for those who love Him.

In addition  and in conclusion (for the time being),  because spiritual reality is extremely difficult to accept because it is so amazing and beyond our ability to even accept, we as humans - even devout Christians - unfortunately often live as if three dimension space and time - the physical universe - is all there is.  I hope and pray that God's reality can become more and more real to me as I grow older.  I don't want to be overly concerned about appearing foolish or unrealistic in the eyes of those who - according to the scriptures, are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18)