Devotional #1 - Reality

In today’s post-Freudian world, we see a Naturalistic worldview beginning to subvert Plato’s Dualistic worldview. The naturalistic worldview can be summed up in the infamous statement “I think therefore I am”. According to Rene Decartes, “the father of modern philosophy”, reality emanates from our perception, so if I can’t see God, He does not exist.

The statement "I think therefore I am" can be broken down as reality is what I can perceive. Therefore, "that tree over there" is real, only because I can perceive it. Before the Enlightenment imported humanistic progressivism into the corporate consciousness of Europe, it could have been said, "God thinks therefore I am."

The Church would argue from Plato's Dualistic worldview and say, "there is a supernatural realm." The Western world would argue from Aristotle's Naturalistic worldview and say, "if I can't see the supernatural realm, then it does not exist." However, neither ideas are biblical. According to biblical cosmology, creation is divided as the heavens and the earth. At some point between the fall and the flood, it would seem that the 2nd and 3rd heavens became invisible to man, but this absolutely does not denote that the heavens became immaterial or "supernatural".

In Platonism, we spiritualize that which we cannot see. God, angels, heaven, etc. becomes immaterial and ethereal. In Naturalism, we challenge the existence of the unseen altogether. Either way, the locus of reality, shifts away from God's perception and towards our perception. The locus of reality shifts away from where God, the creator of all things, dwells, to the place where we dwell.

However, reality emanates from what God perceives. We have existence because He thought of us, His eyes saw our unformed substance (Psalm 139:16). The universe has existence because God's word holds it together (Hebrews 1:3). We barely have the capacity to keep our budget in check, we do not get to set the parameters of reality, God does.

Dealing with Christo-Platonism:
A Platonic view of God would be based on negations of humanity, thus man is material so deity must be incorporeal. Yet, on the 7th day, YHWH had a physical place to sit enthroned above His creation, as Isaiah 40:22 declares, "He sits above the circle of the earth." In the Garden, He walked with Adam, so He must have legs. He showed Moses and Isaiah the train of His robe, so He must have a torso. The prophets wrote of a God who sees, listens, breathes, speaks, sings, whistles, and laughs, so He must have a nose, ears, eyes and a mouth. He has a right hand in which He holds a scroll, He must then also have a left hand. God has a physical form, and we were created in His likeness (Genesis 1:27).

Dealing with Christo-Naturalism:
Our inability to see God or His angels, is not their issue. The angel does not become immaterial because we cannot perceive him. The burden of proof doesn't rest on the angel to prove his existence. The angel is there and interacting with us. Instead, as fallen Man, it is our issue, it is our disability to see things as they really are. The angel looks at us, and apart from glimpses where our "eyes" are opened, we are like blind men groping in darkness.

When we humble ourselves, and acknowledge God and ask for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the LORD gives clarity and allows us to see things as they are. In our pride, the LORD marginalizes us and allows us to live in our deluded state.

One thing I have asked of the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple. - Psalm 27:4

In this famous prayer of David, the word he used for temple was the Hebrew word "hey-kal," indicating a massive physical structure such as a palace. Many believe David is speaking of the temple in Jerusalem, but the temple was not built until Solomon's reign. When David wrote this prayer, he could not have used the word "hey-kal" in reference to his tent. David was expressing his desire to dwell in the center of reality, the place where YHWH dwells.

Worshipping in front of the Ark, David caught a glimpse of a real location, He saw a real palace, and He determined that he would give all the days of his life to dwell in that house so that He could be positioned to behold the beauty of the LORD. Israel's great warrior King, wanted to be promoted to a place where He could primarily sit and stare.

Like David, our "one thing plea" is a function of where we deem reality to be. If that reality is rooted in naturalism, our plea might as well be for the LORD to give to us our dream house or our dream job, or whatever the culture determines to be the locus of existence. If that reality is rooted in Platonism, we are secretly bored of the idea of heaven, and gravitate towards the same missiology of Naturalism. But, if we humble ourselves, and God grants us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, we will get a glimpse of reality, and our cry will be to be with the LORD where ever He is, to seek Him now, and to long for the restoration where we will see Him fully as we are fully known. (1 Cor. 13:12)

There is coming a day when everyone's vision will be restored, until then the LORD is searching for those who truly seek Him. As we "waste" our time in worship and intercession, in what mostly seems to be mundane as life moves on, we anchor our hearts and align ourselves to reality. We are speaking to the very One whose voice created and upholds the fabric of the universe and every cell in our being. He longs to hear our voice (Song of Songs 2:14), He longs for us to be with Him where He is, He longs for us to see His glory (John 17:24).

Jesus, open our eyes. Give to us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. We humble ourselves and say You're words have eternal life. We say our lives are Yours and we exist for You. We join with David, and say that we long to dwell in Your courts. Give us a glimpse, and like Isaiah, we will be ruined, our lives will gravitate around the beauty and life that takes place before Your throne.