My last post was entitled “The Life Cycle of the Christian: The Extinction of Christian Sin.” I indicated that the first step in this cycle is the conception of the Christian in the mind of God. In that post I promised that I would expand upon that idea, and here it is: the sinner is us.
In the biblical book of Jeremiah, God is attempting to motivate the Prophet by stating:” Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) I think it is fair to say that most Judeo-Christian adherents believe that God can both predict and control the future, so we should have no problem accepting the idea that God can be aware of the future reality and destiny of individual persons as a consequence of his knowing in general. We should also understand clearly that individuals exist in the mind of God, and that the mind of God is unchanging. From these points we know that individuals exist whenever the mind of God exists, which is always.
In view of these conclusions, we should be aware of the implications of interfering with the lives of other human beings. We must also be aware that those lives are real in God’s mind throughout eternity. When we acquire the stewardship of a human life as parents, friends or spiritual siblings, our responsibility is not to determine the direction of that life but to nurture it such that the person can determine God’s direction. Everything from abortion to coercing a person’s choice of vocation to unnaturally prolonging or terminating an earthly life carries a serious risk of undermining God’s eternal purposes for that person.
The story of Jeremiah teaches us that the dangers of interfering with God’s consecrated purposes for another person go beyond merely endangering the physical life or salvation of that individual. After all, we commonly believe that an aborted human being enters the presence of God and the beauty and joy that implies. We also believe that no external influences can block an individual from God’s redemption and acceptance.
However, we also understand that the quality of a Christian life can be significantly influenced by external experiences and circumstances. The spiritual experience of salvation is immediate and absolute. The physical, mental and emotional processes of recovering from and learning to deal with our earthly experiences can be long and painful. That’s why the subtitle of this blog refers to it as a “rocky road.”
People, even Christians, have problems appreciating the eternal nature of an individual human life because we live in a world, and in bodies that hold our mortal lives to be of preeminent importance. Bible-believing Christians preach that “life begins at conception,” as an attack on abortion. In the larger sense this actually undermines the value of life, because conception is only the beginning of “mortal life.”
As well, we waste valuable resources fighting against the appearance of aging in agreement with those who profit from fear and shame manufactured by marketing propaganda and a society that blindly agrees with it. Our misunderstanding of human life sometimes leads us to artificially prevent our loved ones from escaping from their miserable bodies into the peaceful and perfect presence of God.
Here is the truth we learn from the Bible: an individual human life is as eternal as the life of God, because it is a product of God’s mind. This present mortal life is merely a tiny parenthesis in eternity. Nevertheless, it is within this parenthesis that all human choices are made and the eternal destinies of other human beings are established. The choices and consequences of the flesh are of no significance in eternity, but the choices of the Spirit will last forever.
Christian sin consists of unnecessary choices made for completely irrational reasons. The first choice is to believe the lies that tell us that our mortal bodies are our most important commodities and deserve to be preserved and indulged at all costs. So it was in the Garden of Eden and so it is today. When we put that lie into the context of eternity, it seems silly. When we allow it to make demands only in the context of right now, it can become overwhelming.
Jeremiah did not have an easy life in this world. He was consecrated by God to deliver some really negative stuff. He was tortured, imprisoned and watched his beloved holy city destroyed. He was even commissioned by God to write a book called Lamentations! Nevertheless, his role was one of the most important in Biblical history. What if someone had killed him, or taught him as a child to avoid danger or criticism at all costs?
Frankly, it is a lot easier to criticize the abortionists than it is to criticize overbearing Christian parents, or ministers, or friends, but we have to realize that all of us, in the flesh, are tempted to interfere with God’s determination to consecrate His children. When we place ourselves into a position of preeminence and become the sinner because of our lack of eternal perspective, we endanger not only ourselves, but all those around us.
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