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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Science is to be credited with a literal multitude of discoveries that have made life as we know it possible. However, there is a realm in which the physical sciences has no ability to discover or react to reality. Today's devotional will consider this realm as Paul referred to it in his letters to the Corinthian Church.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5.17). It has long been realized that the new creation that is spoken of here is spiritual in nature and does not belong to the physical realm. This new creation is one and the same as the new birth that Jesus spoke of in John 3 when He met Nicodemus. I suggest that science has no role in this matter in as much as the creation is not one that is governed by nor is it subject to the laws of the physical sciences. If a total scientific analysis of a human being were made before the new birth and the again after the new birth, there would be no changes as a result of the change of which Jesus and Paul spoke. The change would be entirely in the spiritual arena and wholly devoid of any physical indicators.
Paul wrote specifically of these two realities (the physical realm and the spiritual realm) when he said, “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 15.44-46). Jesus alluded to these same realities when He said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10.28). Science can no more discover the secrets of the soul than a speedometer can measure the temperature of boiling water; we are truly talking apples and oranges (two distinct and separate realms).
Science is mistaken when it concludes that there are things in the physical realm which are eternal. Actually, the exact opposite is true. The only things that are eternal exist in the realm of the spiritual. Paul said, “Even though our outward [physical] man is perishing, yet the inward [spiritual] man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen [the physical realm], but at the things which are not seen [the spiritual realm]. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4.17-18). The “law” of science that says that “Matter can neither be created or destroyed” is flawed in that it does no go far enough. It would be absolutely correct if it were stated, “Exclusive of any forces outside the physical realm, matter can neither be created or destroyed.”
I was somewhat amused the other day as I watched a show on the History channel that concerned itself with the possibility of life existing on other planets or in other parts of the universe. The speaker mused, “Unless there was a miracle on earth, it would be preposterous to think that life did not exist somewhere else.” How terribly close this man came to the truth, albeit, I think without his knowledge of so doing!
The new creation is just as much a creation as was the “old creation.” It exists just as surely as does the physical realm with which we are so familiar. Beyond the wonder that such a fact might immediately stir up, the REAL wonder is that this creation can take place “...if anyone is in Christ!” This includes the converted scientist who once denied the reality of God!
Questions:
1. Who is ultimately responsible for the “new creation”? Who makes it happen and who allows it to happen?
2. Is it possible to look at unseen things? If yes, what does this imply concerning the realms of reality that exist?
3. If a miracle did occur on earth and it did not occur anywhere else, would it be preposterous to think that life only exists on the earth??
4. Who has the potential of experiencing the new creation?
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