Spiritual Authority (8) Spiritual to Physical

The battle in the spiritual sphere has a strong influence on events on earth. Paul explained this in his letter to the Ephesians.

Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:11-12).

Paul reminds us that when we are dealing with people and events on earth, they are being manipulated by spiritual forces that we cannot see.

The spiritual powers of evil are attracted to authority and people with authority. If they can influence a person with authority, they can amplify their power on earth. When Daniel was praying about the situation of the exiles in Persia, God revealed that the power driving the situation was a spiritual being called the Prince of Persia.

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia (Dan 10:13).

The spiritual power had to be defeated in the spiritual realms, before the situation would change in Persia.

Changes in government, whether by military coup or election, often change nothing. The reason is that nothing has changed in the spiritual realms.

Influences from the spiritual realms explain why economic crises occur, when economist’s thing the situation is improving.

Spiritual influences explain why war breaks out when peace looks permanent, as in 1914.

Yellow Azaleas

Snapped as I was walking home.

Spiritual Authority (7) Interactions

Interaction between the spiritual sphere and the physical world are critical to the operation of authority in both spheres. These interactions go both ways. (The picture describes a situation where the influence of the kingdom has increased beyond the dark days of the fall).

The angels live in the spiritual dimensions, but have the ability to move between the spiritual and physical worlds. The spiritual forces of evil are fallen angels with the same ability to move between the spiritual and physical dimensions. They operate in the spiritual realm, but they can cross over into the physical realm to work evil.

Angels and evil spirits can touch our physical world at only once place at one time. This limits what they can do on earth. In contrast, the Holy Spirit is present everywhere on earth at any time. This gives him unlimited power and makes him far greater than any angel and gives him much greater reach than the devil.

Red Rhododendron

Spiritual Authority (6) Rebellion

Authority is the ability to give a command and be certain that it will be carried out. Originally, God has absolute authority in the spiritual realms. The angels all do his bidding instantly.

Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word (Psalm 103:19-21).

All the angels accepted the authority of God and followed the directions of his Spirit.

At some point, a third of the angels rebelled against God’s authority. We do not know if this was before, or after, humans were created. Satan set up an alternative kingdom, under some semblance of his authority. I presume these angels grew tired of being subservient to God and wanted independent authority for themselves.

God created the earth and placed humans in it. He gave authority over the earth to the people he created, but kept authority in heaven for himself (Gen 1:26).

Satan wrested authority from Adam and Eve by persuading them to believe a lie. This gave his spiritual forces of wickedness a place in heaven and authority over the earth, but it was stolen authority. The devil also wheedled a place in the spiritual realms by acting as accuser /prosecutor of God’s people before the presence of God (Job 1:6, Rev 12:10).

Sin and the fall destroyed the unity that had existed in the spiritual realms. God still dominates the spiritual realms, and two thirds of the angels remained loyal to him. However, Satan drew together the angels that had rebelled with him and squeezed them into an alternative power structure in one corner of the spiritual world.

Division in the spiritual realms extenuated the division on earth. The struggle between the Kingdom of God and the world became more intense. In places where the spiritual forces of evil gained control, darkness prevailed.

Spiritual Authority (5) Seeing

Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve could see into the spiritual world. They were able to walk with God in the cool of the evenings and speak directly to him. They were able to see the devil, when he came to tempt them. His activity in the spiritual dimensions, made him appear snakelike from a physical perspective.

This situation did not last longs. When Adam and Eve sinned, their sight was changed so that they could no longer see into the spiritual realms.

The Bible says their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked (Gen 3:7). This statement is a huge irony. Their eyes were actually closed to the spiritual realms. When they could see the brilliant glory of the heavenly realms, their observation of the physical world was dimmed, and they did not notice they were naked. Once the light of heavenly glory was turned off, their view of the physical world was greatly intensified, so they realised for the first time that they were naked.

After his death and resurrection, Jesus gained a spiritual body, which enabled him to interact more freely with the spiritual world. After death, those who believe in Jesus will be given new spiritual bodies. This will enable us to interact with the spiritual dimensions in the same way that Adam and Eve did before the fall. We will be able to see the glory of the total universe that God created. We will be blown away by the glory of the spiritual realms and the wonder of the physical world will be diminished.

Blossom

Looking good on the other side of the street.

Spiritual Authority (4) Multi-dimensional

The spiritual realms are not limited to three dimensions like our physical world. The Bible does not tell us how many more, but the fact that it is more complex than our three-dimension world means that it is hard for our minds to understand. The spiritual aspect of life can be thought of as additional dimensions beyond the three core dimensions of length, height and breadth. The spiritual world is not another world in another place, but additional dimensions to the physical world we observe.

An even better way might be to think of the physical world as three additional dimensions tacked on to a multi-dimension spiritual world. The spiritual world is more real than the physical world, so this latter view is most likely correct, but it is very hard for us to handle, because our eyes are calibrated for a physical world. Our eyes are so attuned to seeing a three-dimensional world, that we find anything grander difficult to conceive.

Paul visited the spiritual realms in a vision. He was dramatically affected by what he saw, but he could not describe it (2 Cor 12:2-4). His problem was that human language is designed for describing a physical world, so it cannot cope with spiritual reality. He explained that,

Eye has not seen,
nor ear heard,
and no human mind has conceived (1 Cor 2:9).

We need spiritual insight to understand what is happening in the spiritual dimension. That is why Paul prayed that they “eyes our hearts may be enlightened' (Eph 1:18).

Kowhai

The Kowhai tree in our street has been flowing for several weeks now. It is just beginning to fade.

This tree is a native to New Zealand. Kowhai is the Maori word for yellow. The wh is prounnced ph.

When it is flowering dozens of sparrows feed in it. They must be getting nectar from the flowers.

Spiritual Authority (3) Hovering

When we look at the physical world in isolation, we miss much of what is happening in the universe.

God operates in the spiritual dimensions of reality, but he also created and sustains the physical world. After the creation, the Holy Spirit remained close to the earth.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen 1:2).

The Spirit was not in a distant place. The spiritual realms where he operates hover over the earth. The spiritual dimensions of reality are not way out at the edge of the universe, they exist in parallel to the physical world in which we live. These two realms of existence interact with each other in ways that we often cannot see, and fail to understand.

I am not sure how many Christians understand these things. Three hundred years ago, almost everyone understood their world in this way. Many people in Africa still think this way, although they focus to much on the dark side of the spiritual. Now, under the relentless pressure of education and the enlightenment, interest in the spiritual dimension of life is labelled old fashioned and superstitious.

I also wonder how many Christians understand these things, but do not live them. How many live as if the spiritual realms are irrelevant?

Many Christians are looking inward to establish connecting with the Holy Spirit. This is good, but if we ignore what is happening in the spiritual realms that surround us, we will misunderstand much of what happens in the world. Most Christians need a vastly expanded worldview.

The picture in the previous post correctly shows how the spiritual and physical realms overlap each other. However, in the remainder of these posts, I will place the spiritual realms just above the physical realms so that the interactions between them can be illustrated, but we must always remember that these two worlds overlap and exist in parallel to each other.

Spiritual Authority (2) Spiritual Realms

Christians need a better worldview, that that sees the spiritual realms operating over and alongside the physical realms. We need an awareness of authority in the spiritual realms, if we are to understand the functioning of authority here on earth.

Part of the problem is that we see God as “way up there” far away from our world. We think of heaven as a distant place that we go to where we die. This is shortsighted.

Heaven is not a distant place where God lives. Nor is just a place that we go to when we die. The Bible refers to the “heavenlies” as a label for the spiritual realms that exist alongside the physical world. The spiritual realms are just as real as the physical world that we can see. These two realms overlap and interact with each other.

We live in a multi-dimensional universe in which the spiritual dimensions exist in parallel to our three-dimensional physical world. The spiritual realms operate in continuity with the physical/natural world that we observe. Most humans cannot see into the spiritual dimensions, so we can only observe the physical side of existence. However, events in our physical world are shaped by activities in the spiritual realm. If we just look at the physical world in isolation, we miss much of what is happening in the universe.

Spiritual Authority (1) Better World View

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. This was not just earth and sky. “The heavens” is the biblical name for the spiritual world that exists in parallel to the physical world. God created a multi-dimensional universe. We can only see the three dimensions of physical space plus time, so we assume that is all that exists. The spiritual dimensions consist of many more dimensions of reality beyond what we can see.

We cannot see into the spiritual world due to the effects of sin, so we think that the physical world we see makes up most of the universe. This leads us to assume that the authority systems that we see on earth are important, but we miss the parallel authority systems that exist in the spiritual realms and frequently interact with the authority system on earth. To understand the full working of authority, we need a thorough understanding of the way that authority functions in the spiritual realms, and how it affects events on earth.

Growing up in the modern world, we are taught that the physical world is all that is important. If something cannot be scientifically observed, it is not real. We all imbibe this materialistic understanding of the world during our education and daily lives. We think that the physical world that we live in is all that exists.

The physical realms consist of the earth, the sea and the sky. It includes people and the things they have made. This realm of life can be partitioned into two parts. The people who live according to Gods will are part of the Kingdom of God. Those who reject God’s will belong to "the world" (1 John 2:15-17). In reality, these two groups are mixed up together and interact with each other all the time. I have only portrayed them separately for the purpose of illustration.

Spiritual Authority

My next book is about Authority in the Kingdom of God (not sure what the title will be yet). I have just completed a draft of the second chapter. It has some really exciting material, which is worth more than the price of the book. I will be posting excerpts from this chapter on Blessed Economist, over the next few weeks. If you follow these posts you can get these treasures for free.

Authority is the Essence of the Kingdom. Authority defines kings and kingdoms. The boundary of a kingdom is defined by the scope of the King’s authority. Throughout history men have claimed the right to be king of a kingdom, but if their authority is not recognised, they are fooling themselves. A king without authority is not a king, but a pretender.

Jesus is establishing a kingdom in which authority is exercised in a totally different way from any other kingdom that has ever existed.

Fate of the Devil

According to Rev 20:10, the fate of the devil, the beast and the false prophet seems to be different from that of humans. I wonder if the reason is that they are spiritual entities created in such a way that they cannot be destroyed. They seem to have had eternal life since the creation, but have lesser freedom (there is no reference to an angel dying). They are different from humans, who seem to have greater freedom, but can have their lives snuffed out.

If this is correct, the devil, the beast and the prophet cannot be destroyed, but will have to hang round forever in a creation that is perfectly good and with no scope for evil. The devil and his mates would be powerless to corrupt the creation. Living in a perfect world for eternity would be torment for them. Maybe they do experience eternal conscious torment from living in the presence of goodness, and being unable to harm creation and the people living in it.

It would be ironic if the devil had persuaded Christians to believe in eternal conscious torment, when it is solely the fate of him and his fallen spirits, and not for humans.

More at After Life.

Eternal Smoke

Rev 14:9-11 is often used as a justification for believing in eternal conscious torment. However, it is the smoke that rises forever, not the fire. When a fire has gone out, having totally destroyed its fuel, a pall of smoke often hangs round for several days. It is a reminder of what the fire has done.

I grew up on a farm. When the wheat harvest was complete, we would burn the stubble and the straw that came out of the back of the combine harvester (great fun for children, but not good for atmosphere). The wheat paddock would be totally black, leaving no evidence that a wheat crop had even been there. However, smoke would hang round the hills during the weeks after the harvest was complete. It was a reminder of the crops and the harvest that had been.

Even if it is quick and merciful, final destruction will be enormously painful for those who have received a resurrection body equipped for eternal life at the general resurrection. Watching them disappear will be painful for those who have received life in Christ. Some will be friends, relatives and acquaintances. The memory of those who are lost, and the regret for lost opportunities, will last forever.

The smoke rising forever could be is a reminder of what the fire has destroyed. It represents the memory of those who have gone to destruction and who are lost to eternity. The reminder that we will remember these people forever with pain and regret should be a great spur to preaching the gospel.

Fudging Hell

I have not read the book by Edward Fudge called Hell: A Final Word, but according to reviewers, he sees “destruction” as the ruling image in the texts about hell. Death is the outcome, and the absence of life is the outcome for the wicked. For Fudge the emphasis in the Bible is a fire that consumes or destroys, not a fire that purges or that torments. He rejects the popular idea of Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT).

I agree with Fudge. When I did a detailed study of all the biblical reference to the afterlife several years ago, I was surprised at how many clear textual descriptions there are and how clear they are about "destruction". Even the favourite verse John 3:16 refers to “perishing”.

Jesus and John both used powerful images like Gehenna and fire, to enhance their communication. These images are capable of various interpretations, eg fire can represent pain, purifications or destruction. The problem is that Christians have used the images without considering the clearer textual descriptions. We should work the other way round, and use the textual descriptions to interpret the emotive images. I discuss this more fully in hell.

Azaleas

We went for a walk in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens today. The Azaleas are looking beautiful at the moment.

This is the closest thing to a burning bush as I have ever seen.

Conspiracy to Power

The devil would love to have a one-world government, but he knows it not possible. His Kingdom is divided and disruptive. The big spiritual powers that joined his rebellion are not meek and mild comrades. They are still rebellious, so he cannot get them to do what he want them to do. They prefer to promote their own positions and power. The devil could never get the Prince of Persia to work with the spiritual principality that controls the United States (the King of the North). They prefer fighting against each other to cooperating for their master’s glory. He could not get them into a one-world government, if he tried.

People who believe in government at the national level, often say that they believe in government at the international level too. In practice they never do, because they believe in power, more than they believe in unity. They are never willing to surrender, their power to achieve unity.

The UN Security is a classic example. The great powers want an international organisation to solve problems in the world, but they do not want to be told what to do, so they hang on to their veto power. This destroys the effectiveness of the Security Council. Government does not work at the national level, so it will never work at the international level. Those with power will always cling to it. National governments will not freely surrender their sovereignty to a higher power.

Throughout history, small groups of people have joined together in a conspiracy to gain power in the world. Those with really big ideas think they will control the entire the world. Some dream of one world government. These groups often dabble in occult practices to enhance their power by getting the support of the powers of evil. What these people do not realise is that they are being deceived and used by the devil for his purposes. He wants to control the world, but he will never let a small group of men and women control it, because his ego is too big to share the glory.

He may deceive some of these people into thinking they are manipulating the political and economic powers, but they are the ones being manipulated. They think that they are powerful and smart, but they are deluded into thinking that they have more influence than they really have. They always overreach so they always fail.

Because they are deluded, these people often confuse symbols with substance. Like dogs marking their territory, they often plaster their symbols around the world. They think they have achieved great power, but they are allowed to use their symbols, because the people with real power do not care. These groups often fail when division comes between them, as they fight over power. They eventually collapse and die, and all that remains is their symbols.

The Bible teaches that empires will rise and fall, but God will never allow one group of men to control the world. In my book Times and Seasons, I describe the current world empire and its inevitable fall.

Power never lasts. Most people with power get too big for their boots. Their hubris leads to moral compromise. Bad decisions and mistakes undermine their power. God intervenes to destroy some evil powers, but most human powers do it to themselves. The kings and queens of Europe once exercised enormous powers. Now they are nothing more than television celebrities looking for their next photo opportunity are, but they cannot sing or dance. Metternich was once the most powerful man in the world. Today, Austria is a backwater. The powers of today will go the same way.

Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread (Is 8:12-13).

Collusion between Power and Evil.

Collusion is not conspiracy. Rampant political collusion is everywhere. That is the nature of politics. It is why I hate political power. But collusion is not the same as conspiracy.

There is plenty of political collusion in America. The banks fund the politicians and the politicians are not clever enough to regulate the banks (more at Credit Crunch Characters). But it is out in the open. It is not a conspiracy.

The Fed has enormous powers, but these were voted to its by Congress. Its decisions and actions are public, so it is not a conspiracy. Most Americans are glad it is there, because they think the Fed is needed.

Cover ups are common in the world of political power. Bungling and mistakes are common in the political world, but political authorities cannot admit their failures, because that would undermine their power. Cover ups are not a sign that political powers are in control if the fate of the world. They are a sign that they are incompetent, and do not want the world to know.

Political lying is normal. Politicians often do not tell the truth about what they intend to do, because they are scared that they will lose votes. They say one thing and do another, but this is not really a conspiracy, because there voting records are open to the public. voters seem to accept that politicians will vote differently once they are in power. Their supporters accept this because they expect some crumbs from the table of power to fall their way.

Government organisations like the FBI and CIA often engage in evil practices, but they do it to protect their power, not because they have a grand scheme to control the world. When they undertake evil, it is usually to cover up or attempt to put right their previous bungles. Their focus is on protecting their power, position and privilege.

People with political and economic power will be attacked by the powers of darkness. Most of them are deceived by the forces of evil and are being used to advance the devil’s plans (see Discerning Seasons).

The people with political and economic power are not colluding with the powers of darkness. They are not worshipping Satan in secret. Their egos are too big for that. They want their own glory. They are being deceived by evil, and sometime controlled by it, but they are not deliberately colluding with evil.

I do not believe the common conspiracy theory that a dozen closet Satanists are controlling the entire political and economic system of the world. This would be a real conspiracy, but it is not credible.

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories are popular amongst Christians. I am familiar with the popular teaching that a small group of men with satanic beliefs are manipulating the global financial and political system to accomplish a clever plan. I do not agree with that view.

I have read many accounts of the big banks decisions during the global financial crisis. What strikes me is that most to them did not have a clue what they were doing. They simply did not understand the risks wrapped up in the various derivatives that they created and held. They were taken by surprise, when the risk came back to bite them. Many lost their jobs and most lost huge amounts of wealth. It could be a smoke screen, but I doubt it. I have noticed the same when reading about the 1930s depression. The most powerful bankers went broke or jumped out of windows.

I have no doubt that the devil is manipulating bankers, but he works by deception, rather than collaboration. The political leaders colluded with the bankers to protect them, but they were motivated by fear for their own skins. They did not want to be responsible for making a financial meltdown worse.

So, conspiracy stuff is quite deliberately missing from my writings. I simply do not believe the men running the financial system are that clever.

I do not believe that a world government will come about through a conspiracy. First of all, the belief is usually based on a twisted interpretation of Daniel 9. Secondly, the idea is simply not realistic given the way the way the geopolitical system works. Change at that level is very hard to bring about, event for people with power and money.

Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread (Is 8:12-13).

A conspiracy is not needed, as a union of states already exists, though it has been ignored by Bible interpreters. It just turns out to be is the most powerful military and economic empire that he has ever existed. It is far greater than Rome or Babylon, without any conspiracy needed. And it seems to be degenerating as the influence of the gospel declines. So watch this space, and no conspiracy is needed.