“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that’s what He’s getting.”-Jack Handy

We Christians believe in spiritual things. At least we are forced to since God is Spirit. We even claim to be both body and spirit. But how much do we really accept the spiritual world? Do we even consider the spiritual world as we go about our daily existence? We accept the Bible’s teaching on the spiritual world, but in daily life we exist almost entirely as if the spiritual world doesn’t exist. This is to our peril.

“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.” (Ephesians 6:12). Name your struggle. Now do you believe in the spiritual source of that evil? Perhaps the reason you haven’t overcome that struggle is because you are using non-spiritual weapons to fight it. After this statement by Paul, he talks about spiritual armor (truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation) and weapons (the Word of God and Prayer).

Every time we enter into prayer, we engage in spiritual warfare. Satan knows this and will do everything in his power to distract, discourage, and frustrate our time with God. It is on our knees where we most engage in this battle of Good and Evil. We don’t fight it to gain the victory, but we fight because we already have the victory. Our desire now is to see the Kingdom come; God’s reign extended to every soul on the planet.

Where should we start in warfare prayer? No matter how ignorant of the spiritual world we are there are a few things that everyone can do to drive back the work of the Devil on our world.

The first type of prayer is worship. Worship is our primary activity as God’s creation. It is for worship that we were created and it is in worship that we find our meaning of existence. Satan’s pride wanted this worship for himself. His hatred of God wants to steal the rightful praise of God from our hearts. To do that he tempts our fallen nature which is in rebellion against God. The sinful pride we so naturally carry with us is put aside when we worship. In worship we declare the greatness and glory of God. We declare him as holy and nothing compares to him. The Lord’s Prayer begins with worship and flows into God’s will being done on earth. It is the proper progression once we first recognize God in absolute wonder.

The second type of prayer that has powerful consequences in the spiritual realm is repentance. We rarely feel comfortable in this kind of prayer because it means confronting our sin. Guided by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word the depths of our unrighteousness is brought to the surface. It is here where it can be dealt with. Confession is an appropriate step at this point. Repentance affects the spiritual realm because it removes the strongholds of Satan in our lives. Every sin that we hide and hold on to is a place where Satan can attack. It is through these broken walls where he gains access and plunders

our faith, hope, and love. If you consider the Armor of God, the most essential is the Helmet of Salvation. Second in importance is the Breastplate of Righteousness. These guard the vitals on a soldier and are vital to our spiritual life. Proverbs 15:29 says, “The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” If any of our other prayers are to have an effect in the spiritual realm we must go through the process of repentance. Only when wickedness has been rooted out of the heart are we in a position to pray with power.

It is hard to remove selfishness from our prayers. However, when we pray for others those prayers are much less likely to have a selfish motive. It is this third type of prayer that has great affect in the spiritual realm. It is right after Jesus presentation of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11 where he teaches on intercessory prayer. It is the persistence of a friend that gets the need met for another. God longs for these kinds of prayers because they are motivated by love. It was love that motivated Jesus to die on our behalf. Love is the persuasive power that gets intercessory prayer answered.

Enter into the battle that rages invisible around us. Shake the foundations that Satan has established in our world. We know that it stands on nothing but sand. Praise the name of the Lord who is our strong tower. Rebuild the walls that have crumbled down from sin. Stand firm and fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” (Matthew 11:12). We are more than conquerors…we are liberators.

This question went along with the reading of Ephesians 1:1-14 which is full of blessing.

• “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” v.3
• “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” v.4
• “That we may be holy and unblemished in his sight” v.4
• “Adoption as sons” v.5
• “Grace that he has freely bestowed on us” v.6
• “Redemption through his blood” v.7
• “Forgiveness of our trespasses” v.7
• “Lavished on us all wisdom and insight” v.8
• “Revealed to us the secret of his will” v.9
• “Marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” v.13

    If Jesus were walking our streets [post]. . .

• He would be more critical of those who are theologically on target than those who are not.
• He would attend celebrations and drinking parties.
• He would possibly provide the beer.
• He would drink with the rest of us.
• He would spent a good chunk of time with those whom the religiously “pure” had no time for.
• He would interrupt some of our religious services by making unplanned announcements and controversial statements.
• He would tell stories that were relevant and attractive but not always immediately clear.
• He would spend a lot more time encouraging others to follow him than he would simply providing religious facts about himself.
• He would live courageously yet humbling.
• He would serve those who crossed his path.
• He would rub shoulders with the outcasts of society.
• He would demonstrate that theology is intended to be done in public and on the streets.
• He would go places deemed objectionable by the moral standard-bearers of society.
• He would make people feel both comfortable and uneasy.
• He would violate some of the rules of the religious establishment.
• He would desire to heal and not to hurt.
• He would be compassionate every day.
• He would be challenged (and in some cases hated) by the experts of our day.
• He would probably cause a lot of us to wonder if he is truly the one he claimed to be.
• He would keep his promises.
• He would most likely be criticized by a good percentage of the media.
• He would . . .

Also, peek around on the sight I found this on: The Porpoise Diving Life–Reality For the Rest of Us or Picking Up Where Purpose-Driven Peters Out by Bill Dahl.

Elisha died and was buried. Moabite raiding parties invaded the land at the beginning of the year. One day some men were burying a man when they spotted a raiding party. So they threw the dead man into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man came to life and stood on his feet.

What?! So a dead guy touches Elisha’s bones and he comes back to life. No prayer. No special reason. Seems to me to give some credit to the Catholic idea of relics. We see a few examples in the Bible where one of God’s men brings someone back to life, but that person was alive. Here Elisha was dead. Come on! What was God’s plan there? Seriously, I have no idea. Maybe God just didn’t want any other dead guys to share the tomb with Elisha, so if you toss one in, he’s just going to walk out.

Anyway, I’m trying to stretch my paradigm a bit. So far I’ve concluded that basically God does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. Good theology I think, but kinda scary. You gotta expect things to happen in unexpected ways with God. You never know when a dead guy is going to come back to life. My other thought is that I know nothing about the spiritual world. Though it seems to me that the spiritual world is intricately linked to the physical world. That means there really must be holy places and holy things. Sure God is everywhere and everything is His, but in some places and some things he may choose to put some of his power.

On the one hand, it feels like superstition to me. And I am cautious. We are so drawn to the supernatural, the miraculous, the spectacular that acknowledging it might lead people astray. On the other hand, to suppress it seems that we deny God to work in ways that he might choose. Hey, God knows best. If we can’t admit that, we have a long way to go.  I don’t know what to expect now, but my eyes will definitely be open at the next funeral I attend.

That is really the question of Easter isn’t it. Anyone here personally know anyone who has come back to life after being dead?

In this modern age of science we have learned a lot about death.

In fact, science has identified many kinds of death that can affect a person.

There is:

Necrobiosis which is the death of cells over the lifespan of an
organism. After necrobiosis, a cell is replaced with a new one in a
continual process throughout a human’s life. In fact, every cell in
your body completely replaces itself every 2 years. 98% in less than 1
year. So every cell in your body that you called your “self” two years
ago is dead. You physically are a completely different person.

Necrosis which is when many cells die at once. Necrosis is the
death of an organ or part of an organ. In medicine this is called
infarction. Necrosis is caused by infections, cancer, serious injury,
the presence of venom, severe inflammation, and a variety of diseases.

Clinical Death. No breathing, no circulation, and no brain
activity characterize clinical death. It begins at the very onset of
the symptoms of death, say right after cardiac arrest has cause the
heart to stop. It lasts for about four minutes, and it is the interval
in which life can be brought back through CPR. After a short few
minutes, death is permanent, because the state of the body has gone
from clinical death to…

Brain Death. A brain deprived of oxygen survives for 3 to 7
minutes, making it the first organ to die when circulation or
respiration ceases or is impeded, whatever the cause of trouble may be.
After a few minutes, the brain can’t be brought back to life by any
means available today. This is brain death, and it’s the reason why
clinical death, the period in which a person can be resuscitated, is so
short. Once the brain goes, the heart doesn’t know how to pump and the
lungs don’t know how to breath.

Somatic death. Eventually an organism ceases to be in the
process of dying and proceeds to be dead. Somatic death is the death–
the permanent, irreversible death– of an organism as a whole. In
humans it is usually after brain death, as the other vital organs are
unable to function without the brain. With modern technology, though,
one can be brain dead but still have circulation and respiration
artificially. In such a case one isn’t somatically dead because other
organs are still alive. Once artificial support is removed somatic
death occurs, because the person is then entirely and completely
inactive with regard to brain, circulation, and respiration.

I could go on from there to what happens to the body after that, but
it’s kinda gross, tho’ you may have picked up some facts from watching
CSI. But we don’t have to live in the scientific age or be all that
smart to realize that death is permanent and irreversible. So why would
anyone make the claim that Jesus rose from the dead?

Well, it’s not just one person that made that claim. The Bible records Jesus appearing to many different people:

• To Mary Magdalene and other women returning from the tomb
• To two disciples on the Road to Emmaus
• To all Eleven apostles
• To James, Jesus’ half-brother
• To 500 other believers disciples

The claims are so many and involve so many people it is either a massive
delusion repeated many times over the period of 40 days or a huge
conspiracy. The delusion is too complex, too detailed, and involves too
many people for it to be true. The conspiracy could have easily been
revealed by the Romans if they would’ve just produced the body. The
only other possibility is the impossible truth that he really did come
back to life, and seeing how fervently the disciples believed it, most
of whom were killed for claiming it, it seems that this is the likely
answer.

Yet we still struggle with the fact that when people
die, they stay dead. This universal truth is something that is very
hard to get over, unless there is a truth that is even more universal.
There is and it is right before our eyes. That truth is that when sinful
people die, they stay dead. Aha! We’re onto something here. In the
Bible, death is inseparably tied to sin. Sinners die. So what happens
when a person dies who is not sinful? If we accept that Jesus is
sinless, it would become hard for us to explain why he should die at
all. It is only that he took upon himself the sins of humanity. Your
sins and mine. Apart from this he would never have died. And so, after
that sacrifice on our behalf was finished and accepted by the Father it
is only natural that he would come back to life.

So where does that leaves us with sinners. Well, we already know the answer…we’re
going to die. But Jesus changed all that and provided us a way to live
again. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” a lot in his epistles and it is
in that simple phrase where we can find the answer.

Ephesians 1:13-14 says:

“And you also were included in Christ
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of
those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”

Which basically means that when you heard the good news that Jesus paid the
penalty for your sins, the Holy Spirit lives in you and gives you all
the privileges of son-ship that Jesus has, including his sinless life
which we now know includes victory over death.

Paul repeats the idea a little later in Ephesians in 2:4-10:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us
alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by
grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated
us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in
the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.”

So, if a man dies, will he live again? Only if he lives a perfect, sinless life, OR trusts in the only one who has.

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How can we relate to a man who is God? He had a physical body just like
us, yet he could walk on water. He had to eat and drink, yet he could
make one meal feed thousands and could turn water into wine. His spit
could heal blindness; his clothes could heal a hemorrhage. He weeps and
mourns when a friend dies, yet goes and brings him back to life. He
knows what others are thinking; he comes back to life after he is
killed; his blood atones for sins. The creeds say he was fully God and
fully man, but sometimes it seems he is more God than man.

The Human Spirit

There is a phrase we’re all familiar with called “the human
spirit”. It means: triumph over adversity, hope in the midst of
despair, good coming out of tragedy. We hear the phrase used in rags to
riches stories, in beautiful art coming from broken artists, in stories
of survival against all odds. It is in that idea where we can relate to
Jesus the man. Like Jesus, we all must face adversity of some kind
whether it comes from people or events in life. Like Jesus, we struggle
against despair, at times wondering if there is another way and seeking
to find a ray of hope. And like Jesus, the tragedy of death is looming
over us and could take us when we don’t want to go. Yet, like Jesus, we
keep moving on even in the suffering. Sometimes we keep on because we
don’t know what else to do, other times it is with a clear sense of
purpose and meaning. In those moments of clarity we see the hope behind
the perseverance. It is the essence of what they call “the human
spirit”. As we look at Jesus facing the darkest hour of his life, we
find his “human spirit” filled with courage and hope in the midst of
his sufferings.

Courage

We see Jesus’ courage in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times he
earnestly prayed to his Father, asking him if there was another way. He
knew what he was about to face would be hard, painful, and lonely. He
longed for his disciples’ company in these prayers because soon he
would be without them. The isolation had already began. As much as he
didn’t want to face all that was to come, in the end he yielded to his
Father’s will. After all the anguish and sweat like drops of blood, we
see Jesus facing his task with bold courage, unwavering to the end. He
would experience the worst that life could give: betrayal by a friend,
abandonment, lies and rumors told about him, injustice, unimaginable
pain and suffering, yet he bore it all.

Despair?

But what about that cry on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” Was Jesus at that moment giving in to despair? Had he
lost hope? This is where the triumph against despair comes in. It
reveals the kind of future hope of salvation that men cling to when
there’s nothing left to give them strength. Jesus was reciting from the
Jewish prayer book, the Psalms. His words were the opening lines of
Psalm 22. It is a psalm prophesying that very moment when Jesus was
hanging on the cross. As the sins of the world were placed on him, as
Jesus felt the separation from God, he had breath enough to only utter
the first line, but I believe his mind continued the rest of the psalm
leading him through despair to hope. He had to first face the felt
abandonment of God, but he never stopped trusting in him. Listen to the
words of the entire psalm:

 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
       by night, and am not silent.

 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
       you are the praise of Israel. 

 4 In you our fathers put their trust;
       they trusted and you delivered them.

 5 They cried to you and were saved;
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

 6 But I am a worm and not a man,
       scorned by men and despised by the people.

 7 All who see me mock me;
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

 8 “He trusts in the LORD;
       let the LORD rescue him.
       Let him deliver him,
       since he delights in him.”

 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother’s breast.

 10 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 11 Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.

 12 Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.

 14 I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.

 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
       you lay me in the dust of death.

 16 Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.

 17 I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.

 18 They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing.

 19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

 20 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.

 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
       save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
       in the congregation I will praise you.

 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
       All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
       Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

 24 For he has not despised or disdained
       the suffering of the afflicted one;
       he has not hidden his face from him
       but has listened to his cry for help.

 25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
       before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
       they who seek the LORD will praise him—
       may your hearts live forever!

 27 All the ends of the earth
       will remember and turn to the LORD,
       and all the families of the nations
       will bow down before him,

 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
       and he rules over the nations.

 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
       all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
       those who cannot keep themselves alive.

 30 Posterity will serve him;
       future generations will be told about the Lord.

 31 They will proclaim his righteousness
       to a people yet unborn—
       for he has done it.

Hope

Did you hear the words of hope? Promises of salvation to the
nations and to generations to come. Did you hear echoes of the human
spirit that finds hope, not in the moment but in the future. We share
the same human spirit that faces adversity, tragedy, and despair. Yet
now this human spirit has been joined with God’s Spirit in the person
of Jesus Christ. For now we can truly overcome our sufferings, not with
a fool’s hope but with a hope that is certain, a hope that goes beyond
the world and the curse it is under, a hope that is eternal.

Conclusion

As we look at the humanity of Jesus in those last dark hours of
his life, we can clearly see his emotional and physical suffering. It
is raw and real. It is something we can relate to. It is what gives our
human spirit courage to face despair. And it paved the way for a
steadfast hope that rests in God and not in us.

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