There are things that are universal to the human condition. They essentially define what it is to be human. These traits are important……..so important that it is critical that we recognize them………so important that it is essential that we try to understand them. Some of these traits are physical. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. If we ignore this essential reality……if we fail to take it into account every moment of our life……..we die. These physical traits are fairly easy to see, measure, and understand…….like oxygen and carbon dioxide. So far, so good. But, there is a duality. Some of these traits are spiritual. These essential spiritual traits are harder to discern. And yet, they are every bit as real as the physical traits. Ignore them…….reject them……and you will wind up just as dead…….perhaps, even more so.
If you want to live a full, satisfying, joyful life, it is mandatory that you understand these spiritual traits and successfully navigate your way through them.
So…….what are these essential spiritual traits?
Love
Anger
Desire
Despair
Righteousness
Sin
Fulfillment
Pain
Sovereignty
Submission
I’m sure that there are more. Search your heart. You will find that every one of these spiritual traits lives in you. In fact, they influence you every day. You could go so far as to say that one or more of them drives every choice that you make.
Because these spiritual traits are absolutely universal, I believe that they are evidence of our connection to a spiritual reality. There have been hundreds of attempts by man to flesh out the specifics of this spiritual reality. I am a Christian. I believe that the correct explanation lies in the Bible and the Trinity.
So……how do we navigate our path through life…….spiritually?
Adam and Eve were created by God. They were physically complete, but spiritually, they were an empty slate. They were completely naive, spiritually. They were completely innocent. Then, they were given a basic set of instructions….rules.
Love and walk with God.
Remain naive.
Do this and live forever.
Adam and Eve began life naive, innocent. Then God introduced a very basic set of rules……the beginning of the law. Hiding in the law was freedom. By God’s design, we were given the freedom to choose. We could obey the rules…….of defy them. We could choose which spiritual trait or traits we would pursue. We were given the choice to accept God’s absolute sovereignty……..or to try to seize sovereignty for ourselves. And it’s been downhill ever since. God had to see this coming. How could God be so obtuse?
Well, it turns out that God is working out a plan…..his plan. God’s plan is rooted in the overriding spiritual trait of God……love. He loves us. And not just that. He desires our love in return. But, love requires the freedom to choose. Love cannot be compelled. Love that is compelled is not love……it is obligation. So, right from the start, God gave us a choice:
Love God, submit to his absolute sovereignty, and live.
Or
Seize sovereignty for ourselves and die.
Imagine a plant. It can accept its roots and thrive in its appointed place…….or it can cut itself free, take off on its own, and wither.
You may not like this. You may disagree.
But, your rejection of God’s sovereignty is irrelevant.
Because it is a spiritual truth…….just like oxygen is a physical truth. Search your heart…….and you will find this spiritual truth.
Choose it…….and live.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus, John 15:4-5, ESV
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19, ESV