(A Terminus Ad Genesis, Part 5, apparently)
There’s this one friend we had who we had trouble communicating with since collage. After sporadic meetings and online conversations we found out he was in Singapore all this time, happily married with children… and, for at least half a year now (or maybe way longer than that) he’s been happily showing up on our feed, with posting graphic-adorned Bible verses and copy-paste text reflections.
I thought that was cool, but today was, what, extra cool? Because what he shared was something that got my attention, and, consequently, a like and comment on his post.
He reminded us of our mental state as members of the body of Christ, via Galatians 8:6 – For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
I’ve had death on my mind pretty seriously over the course of last week, and that pushed me into a spiral of fear resulting in physical pain, mental anguish, and financial loss (hey, those meds and that blood test weren’t cheap).
And this lasted, what, 5 to 6 days? I could imagine being able to tough things out more days, up to years and decades even, back when I was younger, stronger and sharper, when life was less significant and the impact of my actions to myself and to the rest of the world was inconsequential. But now that the stakes are higher, and now that knowledge has increased to Biblical proportions, the cost of dwelling on fear, shame and condemnation weighs a whole lot heavier on my being.
The carnal, fleshly mind which we once had – It’s in a subtle yet agonizing process of manifesting death, and as it dies, so the rest of the physical body’s functions follow. But is it, then, for us to change our minds? You could, but bear in mind that without Christ, the disobedience of Adam already rendered us dead spiritually… and as it dies, the rest of the carnal, fleshly mind follows.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.Romans 7:24-25
We can try to ‘revive’ ourselves. We can try to bring our spirits to life, but no matter how strong our intentions and desires are in doing so, they all fall short of life beyond existing. In other words, we could try with our own strength to do the ‘good’ we see in the world, while simultaneously trying to avoid what’s ‘bad’, but we always end up doing what we were born to do – sin unto death, birthed from death.
No. Did you see what was implied earlier? We couldn’t do righteousness, nor can we avoid sin… because we were sinners to begin with. It was our identity. That’s why Paul just had to mention that Christ delivered us from this BODY of death – He did not merely take sin away from us, but He also took away our identity as sinners.
How? 2 Corinthians 5:21 mentions that He BECAME sin in order for us to BECOME His righteousness – meaning, He became sin, and took on all its wages: the full and complete spectrum of death… so that we who would believe in Him would take on His identity – righteous and in right-standing with God forever, unto eternal life.
So because of Christ, (1) we have been saved from being sinners and suffering spiritual death, resulting in full and complete, fearful and terrible oblivion, AND, more importantly, (2) we have been made righteous as Christ is righteous – righteous unto eternal life, taken from glory to glory.
All this time I’ve been fond of preaching about how the Holy Spirit convicts the entire world of sin, righteousness and judgment; Or (indulge me) the sheer hopelessness of sin, the gracious opportunity of righteousness, and the absolute eventuality of judgment. But the thing is, this is one way of how the Holy Spirit operates and communicates to us from the outside in.
I haven’t really given thought to how we think with the Holy Spirit alive in us, from the inside out. And I have my friend from college to remind me, that we may be hearing the Holy Spirit from the outside, but we also birth words and thoughts from within… We are Spiritually minded, no longer thinking of death, but fixated on Christ, who is Life, and who is Peace.
And this day, I feel that we are challenged to take this Life even further.
We’re seeing everyone in droves trying to do what the world would have us think, works.
Everyone and their dog has a podcast. Phones are being equipped with better and better cameras, and now everyone is taking photos.
The ministries under our care in our great city have their respective services, and we have established our identities through these services. Everyone and their dog has a service.
The intention of missions is right and noble, but it seems as if what’s going on is that we’ve been thrown into a war with terms both set and endured by the corporate secular world, generations ago.
Attention. Trends. We say that the money is just secondary, but we all know in our hearts that it would be really nice to be earning – If it all doesn’t stink of the love of money, there’s also the subtle, ultimately off-putting aroma of insufficiency and insecurity.
Dig deep enough and you’ll see that all of it has its roots in fear.
Before experiencing all that transpired last week, I remember witnessing, if not directly being involved in situations where we needed to stand up for ourselves, to the point that people had to leave, and things had to stop.
I refuse to believe that we’re all supposed to go with this flow. Admittedly, part of me is being selfish in declaring that I refuse to accept these things as the norm… and I will not tolerate it any longer in myself, and, God-willing, in everything else I have been made a steward over.
What’s next? Is this a call to go back to basics, or is this a call to blaze new paths?
I believe it’s both.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 9
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the LORD’s Righteous Judgments
To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
That must be a gnarly tune. And, man, that’s a morbid breath of fresh air, a macabre blast from the past, when it comes to song titles, worship song titles in particular.
‘Still’. ‘Trust In God’. ‘Same God’. ‘Mighty Warrior’. ‘All The People Said Amen’. And now… ‘Death of the Son’. Metal.
1 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Meditation, indeed. Pause. Selah. Pause, review, and realize – this is the Life and Peace we have, not communicated into us as the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but bursting forth from our spiritual minds, written along the train of thought of David, and sung headbanging to the tune of Death of the Son.
3 When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished.
7 But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.
12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
Meditation. Selah
We sing to the Lord because our mind recalls His wonderful works. We give praises to His name, because His wonderful works further prove His authority as being the one true and righteous Judge.
He has maintained my right and my cause (my ‘verdict’, my ‘sentence’ or what is to become of me); In His righteousness, He serves as a Refuge for the oppressed, OUR Refuge in our times of trouble and distress.
Indeed, we give glory to the Father, the Righteous Judge! For in His righteousness, He does not forsake us, because we seek Him and place our full trust in Him! He remembers us, He has mercy on us, He hears us when we cry out to Him!
This new mind we have in Christ, this spiritual mind has us tell of all His praise, and rejoicing in His salvation! For He has not only destroyed the wicked, but He ensured that their name has been blotted out forever.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men.
Selah
We pause, but we should not be surprised if our minds stay fixated on the favor of the righteous, and the fate of the wicked.
We shall continually be praising the Father, and blessing the name of the Lord, from a mind delivered into thinking of life and peace – that is, again, righteous, blood-bought, favorable standing with God as our Father, and the ultimate oblivion of the self-righteous, sin-separated flesh.
As we have been made holy and set apart, so our minds have been set apart from the flows of the world, and into the rhythms of grace.
No longer are we hopelessly trying to bear fruit by the power of the flesh. No longer are trying to avoid the works of the flesh in vain… We’ve been brought from striving and set apart by the Spirit, and in the Spirit. Now we naturally steer away from the works of the flesh. Now we intentionally and successfully bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
What’s next? Is this a call to go back to basics, or is this a call to blaze new paths?
I believe it’s both.
We move.As a building ideally needs to go floors deeper to grow floors taller; As a tree digs its roots deeper for branches to grow higher.
No longer do we act and react out of short-sighted fear. We burst forth with meaningful movement, from His perfect love.
Indeed, we praise You, O LORD, with our whole heart; Not only will we tell of all Your marvelous works… We shall pursue the unity of knowledge and action.
Thank You, Father, for the revealing of Your Word.
God bless you.
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