It is odd, that we go through our lives and never study the most important concepts in our world. We just take them for granted and go along our way. Arguably, the most important reality in my world…….your’s too……..is life itself.
So……here it is:
What is the nature of life? More specifically……..what is the nature of my life?
The answer is, at once, both simple and straightforward…….and dauntingly complex.
First, the simple part:
Life is: breath, movement, thought, and much more. This is our physical life. We can see it, touch it, even understand it. We can manipulate our life and the lives of those around us. Our physical strength and our intellect give us the ability to master the physical world around us. Some of us have more power…….some have less. This is heady stuff. It is very easy for us to become proud of our success at running our world. But, all of us are constrained. Our power and understanding are limited to the physical world. The physical world is the realm that we typically think of when we talk about life.
The problem is this:
There is a duality to life. The physical world that we enjoy is a thin veneer covering a much larger reality. That larger reality is the spiritual world.
We are, for the most part, blind to the spiritual world. In a word, we are almost completely ignorant of the nature of the vast majority of our life. We are given brief glimpses of the spiritual side of life……of our life. These glimpses consist of the life of Jesus and the prophecies of the Bible. Occasionally, something happens that violates every rule and law of our physical world. We get a glimpse of the spiritual world. We call these episodes “miracles”. We tend to minimize these events. We try to explain them away using the rules of science. We deny these facts…….because the rules of our world cannot deal with them. The resurrection of Jesus is one of these events. The resurrection is not a lie. It is not a myth. The resurrection is a brief glimpse into the other side, the spiritual side, of our life. It is just as real as the people who surround us.
Scientists talk about a concept called a singularity. A singularity is an event where the entire nature of a system is completely charged. The nature of time, matter, and energy are completely re-arranged. The rules that we call science on this side of the singularity simply do not apply to the new order. The classic example of a singularity is the “big bang”. This is the event that science uses to explain the creation of the universe…….out of nothing……no mass……no energy…….no intelligence……no creator. The rules, time, and structure of the universe prior to the “big bang” are beyond our comprehension. This is because they are completely different from the “science” that governs our physical world. We will never understand what is on the other side of this singularity. We just do not have the tools. The simple fact is that we cannot even measure the “big bang” itself. So, we make something up as best as we can using the rules and structure of our physical life. But, our explanation is doomed to fail……because the rules on this side of the singularity simply do not apply to the other side of the singularity.
And then we die…….and everything changes.
Because death is a singularity too.
No matter what you believe. No matter what you want. No matter your politics. No matter if you lived a good life…….or not. You simply cannot know what is waiting for you on the other side of the singularity that we call death:
Paradise
Hell
Dead black nothing
At our death, we transition from the physical world into the spiritual world. The old rules simply no longer apply. Time, mass, energy, and space as we know it no longer apply. The Bible deals with this using language that is largely symbolic. We call it apocalyptic literature. Try applying the rules of our physical world to the book of Revelation……or Daniel…….or to Biblical prophecy. We just lack the tools to understand it all. We are forced to rely on faith.
So….what do we really know about the spiritual world?
Not much.
What do we understand about the spiritual world?
Even less.
Here is the best I can do:
There is a sovereign creator……..God.
God’s primary characteristic……..is love.
God has expectations……..love him…….love everybody else.
Welcome to the spiritual world. You might as well start getting used to it. It’s going to be around…….forever.
So are you.
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-4, ESV
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.
Psalm 102: 25-27, ESV
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality
Paul explaining the “singularity” of death, 1 Corinthians 15: 50-53, ESV