Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Paper, pt2

Here it is, as promised! Please, PLEASE read the first half first!!!

...

Psalms and Proverbs are highly vocal regarding this subject. David cries out in anguish over his spiritual state, declaring that his body is also suffering from his iniquity: “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.” In the second portion of Deuteronomy 28, God specifies the consequences to His People when they did “not obey the voice of the Lord [their] God.” The curses of Egypt (including plague, boils, tumors, and rashes) are named, along with fevers, blindness, insanity, general frailty, and hallucinations. His declaration illustrates Augustine’s point: the body is open to disease’s effects when the soul is out of line.

Might one take this a step further, and suggest that the source of the illnesses is none other than the “corrupting influences of the most vicious demons”? For, considering God’s promises, when else can a believer be subject to sickness other than when he is out from under the Lord’s Divine protection? From the time Satan was cast out of heaven, he and his minions have been waiting for opportunities to attack God’s children. There is only one barrier between them and us: God. In the Garden, Satan could only tempt Eve; he had no power of force. As long as Adam and Eve remained faithful to God, He preserved them from the effects of rebellion – effects Satan knew all too well. Satan cannot undergo physical death, having no body, but his separation from the Lord is a type of death. He has eternal existence, but that hardly constitutes life in the sense of John 17:3. Therefore, he attempts to deprive as much of humanity as he can of the blessings associated with obedience to God.

“Have you considered My servant Job…a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” Often, Job is used as an example of the righteous man who undergoes seemingly arbitrary testing, with God’s consent, just to prove his allegiance to Him. However, one detail is often overlooked. After disaster befell him, Job lamented “…the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” Faith is defined in Hebrews as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Fear, on the other hand, is associated with terror, worry, and “what-ifs.” It may be said that fear is the substance of things not hoped for, the evidence of things seen. This type of fear is not from God.

We are commanded to trust God. Job was “upright,” yet he feared – he did not trust God to maintain him and his family. He dreaded God’s judgment on his children, and his wealth was no doubt a source of worry. By fearing, Job sinned, thus opening the door for Satan to attack. Job’s soul refused to release its burden to his Father; therefore, not only was his own person vulnerable, but his entire household was at risk. As the spiritual head, he had power to allow the rest of his “body” to be subject to demonic antics. For the greater part of the book, Job insists he did nothing wrong. Yet in chapters 38 through 41, when God reveals His omnipotence to Job, one could hear Him saying, “I created and control the entire universe, but you didn’t trust Me to handle your problems.” To which Job replies: “I know that You can do everything…” and repents for his lack of understanding and lack of confidence. Only after Job realigns himself with God’s order is he restored to wholeness. Once again, Augustine’s theory rings true.

As shown in Psalm 103, it is God “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction…” He is our Father, our Hiding Place, our All in All. He created mankind to have relationship with Him. When we reject that relationship, even as Christians, we are subject to devastating consequences. It is only when we repent, renew our minds by the washing of the water of the Word, and return to His protection, that the hierarchy in ourselves can be restored: God is over the soul, the soul is over the body, and the body is kept in perfect health. It is then that we can appropriate His promise: “I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

God calls us to be His servants. This is not the order of a cruel taskmaster, but an honor bestowed by the Lord Most High. He wants us; we bless Him when we seek His will and obey it out of love for Him. He loves us, and desires to give us abundant Life. Our souls form the link between God and our bodies; maintaining that connection is important, and, as Augustine suggests, could be the very difference between life and death.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Paper, pt 1

Below is the first half of a paper I'm writing for my Great Books class. I'll post the second half as soon as it's complete...

Connections: Augustine and the Believer's Health

“I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”[1] Indeed. We, as human beings, are an amazing creation. Made in the image of God, we have intelligence, strength, and the opportunity for spiritual life. Yet, despite these blessings, life often goes terribly wrong, particularly where health is concerned. Why does sickness so plague the human race? Christians know that we lost our immortality when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden; but how does that apply to our bodies in general? Could it be that there is a direct link between sin and disease? St. Augustine, in his work The City of God, argues that when a man’s soul rebels against God, he loses authority over his body, leaving the flesh open to decay.

In Augustine’s mind, anything that God created – angels, men, the natural world – is good by nature.[2] In Genesis, He looked at His handiwork and “saw that it was good”[3] because all was in its natural order, serving His purpose. Man, being a reflection of God’s Personality, was the pinnacle of His creatures: he had a body like animals, to link him to the physical world, but was also given a soul, to link him with the Divine. God ruled the soul, and the soul ruled the body: it was as it should have been. As long as Adam and Eve remained obedient to God’s single command, they retained their eternal life and perfect health.

Connected with this blessing was a warning. If they disregarded His word, and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would “surely die.”[4] From the very beginning of Scripture, God time and again equates sin with death and destruction. In Deuteronomy,[5] He promises His obedient Children health, prosperity, and joy; to the rebellious ones, He guarantees sickness, failure, and anguish, with their lives ultimately ending in either foreign captivity or painful death.

“…if the soul and reason do not themselves obey God…they have no proper authority over the body…”[6] When a person sins, it is his soul which rebels against God, for the soul contains a man’s will. Augustine would argue that, once a soul has rejected the authority of the Creator, it loses control over its physical abode. At this point, the body is exposed to the decaying effects of un-repented sin. A great deal of research done by various Christian ministries (Pleasant Valley Church and Wellspring Ministries, among others) has revealed that most “incurable” diseases are physical consequences of spiritual sin.

What is sin? Most people have a rather narrow understanding of the word, imagining it to be the breaking of a Commandment or of Levitical Law. It is interesting to note that Vine’s defines sin, or “lawlessness,”[8] much more broadly: “This definition of sin sets forth its essential character as the rejection of the law, or will, of God and the substitution of the will of self.”[9] Sin therefore, is anything contrary to God’s will. Holding resentment against a friend is a sin, since we are told to forgive one another. [10] Fear and anxiety are sins, for how often does God tell us to “fear not”[11]and “be anxious for nothing”?[12] Following this line of reasoning, might one also say that a man could be sinning, though doing nothing explicitly bad? Jesus, the Perfect Man, only performed “the will of the Father who sent [Him].” As Christians, should we not strive to do the same? Feeding the poor is noble, but if it is not God’s purpose for that particular man to do so, he is in sin. He is substituting his own will for that of the Father’s.

That brings us to the crux of the argument: how, exactly, does the rebellion of the soul cause disease of the body? “For the corruption of the body…is not the cause but the punishment of the first sin…”[13] When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately suffered the consequences of their actions. They had been told that if they ate of the forbidden Tree, they would surely die. Though the physical death God promised to them was delayed, their souls were immediately severed from that hither-to constant connection with their Father. In a sense, they died right then. Christ defines eternal life in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Our first parents certainly knew “the only true God”; their direct spiritual connection and relationship with Him would have equaled life eternal in His eyes. Under that definition, then, they lost their lives when they disobeyed Him, because they gave up their relationship (their “knowing” Him) for having their own way.

This is not to say that they suffered only one death at the Fall. Rather, when their souls died, the life of their immortality died. As soon as they rejected the connection with God, they forfeited their physical lives as well. “…the sinful soul…made the flesh corruptible." [14]The sin of the soul was the cause for the death of the body. “Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.”[15] Throughout Scripture, God links obedience to His Word with bodily, not just spiritual, health.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Evil and sickness

"If God is so good, why is there so much evil and death and hardship in the world?"

How many times have we heard that question? The answers are varied, depending on where they come from. Non-believers assume that either God isn't as powerful as we say He is, or He has a capricious, malevolent side to His nature. Believers' answers are even more diverse. God sends trials to test us or perfect us. We bring them on ourselves. It is fore-ordained that we endure hardship, for some reason. What Satan sends to torment us, God often uses for good, so He doesn't stop Satan's "pranks."

Huh.

Frankly, those answers never satisfied me.

So, I kept searching...and have been slowly piecing the following thoughts together. They were summed up on Sunday by the sermon that evening.

Like I said before, God is a God of Love. He desires relationship with us, and wants to bestow all possible blessings on us. IF He withholds something desired, it is for that person's protection, not because He doesn't feel like being generous. If he got that promotion, he would get more money, sure, but he'd also lose important time with his family...and may even get seduced into a corporate crime. It may not be that obvious, but the point is: IT'S FOR OUR OWN GOOD. I'm talking about keeping something back here, not punishing.

So, what about 9-11? How about all the cancers, AIDS, and other diseases? What about the fatal accidents we hear reported every day? Why do they happen?

There is a formula (not perfectly mathematical, but close enough) that God laid out for us; simple to understand, but very hard to follow:

If you love Me, you will obey Me. If you obey Me, I will bestow untold blessings on you and protect you from harm, because I love you.
If you disobey Me, you step out of My protection. You tie My hands; I will not bless your disobedience, and I can not protect you from Satan's attacks.

When I say "can not," I'm not saying that God is impotent. Rather, since He gave us a free will, He lets us decide if we will choose Him (life) or Satan (death). Even as Christians (and most dangerously so), we can rebell against Him. He will not interfere with our decisions, and once we have stepped out from under His protection, we are fair game to the Enemy. We have, intentionally or not, declared: "God, I agree with Satan, and don't want Your rulership or protection, so I'm going to obey him, and give my allegience to him."

Christ said we can't serve two masters: if we're not God's, we're Satan's. If we are God's, He gives us the gifts of His Kingdom: Life, Love, Liberty in Him. If we are Satan's, we receive the gifts of his kingdom: death, hate, slavery to darkness.

Hmm.

That does seem to explain quite a bit, doesn't it? Take a look at Deuteronomy 28. Very illuminating.

More on this later. Until then!

~Chelsea

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Under Cover

Authority and submission. Those concepts aren't too popular in the American culture. We are, after all, the people whose country was founded on the words: "Give me liberty or give me death!"

In our democratic nation, we often neglect the part of Christianity called "Lordship." Jesus Christ is, after all, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, is he not? We gladly accept His gift of salvation, but when it comes to obeying His commands...well, we need to talk about this, God. Did God really say...? Dangerous words, considering where they first came from (think Genesis, chapter 3).

You see, I've recently heard someone say that most Christians don't OBEY God; they just AGREE with Him. The test to knowing whether I am truly obedient to His Word is when He tells me to do something I don't want to do.

It is hard, because we can't get through our minds that technically, God's realm is a dictatorship. In the sense that He reigns supreme, and we can't vote on anything. It is called the Kingdom of Heaven, after all - not the Heavenly Republic. Now, the good thing is that, in His eyes, we are still created equal: in His image, with a sin-nature, and all in need of redemption.

So, anyway. What I've been learning is this: Submitting to authority, whether I like it or not (often, even if the authority is ungodly) will bring God's blessings. Since He is the author of all authority, and sets up all rulers, I am expected to obey. Obey Him and everyone else that is over me. Bummer! Well, not really, since He has promised such wonderful blessings to those who are obedient and remain under the covering of His authority and rulership: prosperity, peace, protection, honor, salvation...Ok, I'd say it's worth it.

That's why this post is titled "Under Cover." It's the name of a book I've been reading, which deals with obeying God (and all God-ordained rulers), and staying under the cover of His protection.

He is a God of giving and love; if He withholds something, it's not because He's being mean, but because He's protecting me from something. Sometimes, the answer is "no." And no amount of pleading or pouting on my part will change it. Accept it and move on, trusting God's ability to know what's best for me.

That's what I know in my head, at least. Now, getting it integrated into my behavior and attitudes will be the real challenge...

~Chelsea

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Prayer for Students

Yes, my last couple posts have been shorter, and this one shall be so too. I hope that sentence was constructed correctly.

Some friends of mine at our Community college campus are trying to get a club started (Students for the Advancement of Light, Life and Truth - S.A.L.L.T. for short). The main focuses (foci?) are to fellowship and support one another, then every so often form teams to go out and witness. The Jordan (another Christian club) just started too, but their mission is a bit different than ours.

The process of starting a club is long and involved. Nicco is valiantly trying to carry this forth single-handedly, but I can tell he's getting discouraged. Please, pray for him and all of us who are trying to get this accomplished.

Thank you!
~Chelsea

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

A couple links

Since I have not yet been able to figure out how to add a "links" section to the side-bar, I'm including links to two sites I consider important. First, is a brother blogger's site (http://arevolutionofhope.blogspot.com) ; second, is the site for my church (http://www.sabrespringsfoursquare.com/).

Blessings!
~Chelsea