Imagination

The imagination, given to man by God who created him, is a mysterious thing. Residing somewhere within the mind...somewhere in the intangible and intelligent vaporous part of every  human being, it holds and reflects the essence of who and what a person is, and yet it is not all they are, nor all they think.  Within it's walls is a reflection of the world at large, a reflection of who the individual is, or who they imagine themselves to be, or not to be....  The imagination is seemingly a world all of its own, a region far beyond our cognitive grasp.

The imagination.... It’s a special place to dream, to delight, do and discover so many things where, unhindered by the physical limitations of the real world, one is, or rather, can be truly free, this even despite outward circumstances. It is a vast realm of interesting wonders.  For some it is magical, for others it is divine, and for some it can be a frightening place, somewhere they fear to read, not knowing where it might lead them in the end.  The imagination can be a lonely fearful place... almost like hell, or it can be heavenly.

We carry it with us, and like a trunk, or maybe suitcase it goes with us everywhere we go...  uing it to contain and or store for a rainy day all the baggage of our life's play and work, the things we see, the things we know and learn, the things we think about, remember... the things we would like to remember, or wish that we would forget, but can't  It is a sacred space, a personal place, that manifests itself in the world as a reflection of who were are, what we know and believe and how we see ourselves and the world around us.  We fill it like we fill our heart, with love as well as pain, with thoughts...  desires....aspirations; and it is here too that we human beings find ourselves searching for something greater than who we are, something greater that the world outside of us; we grope about like blindmen, in hopes of finding our source of being, God.

Imagination is powerful.  It is the fuel which gives humans the power to create, to visualize what will or will not be..  With it we soar to heights beyond the physical, building mental facsimiles in a far off place and bringing them back into the world...our grand ideas... electricity, machines, technologies, things that have the potential to change us and our world.   With our imagination we cross boundaries of human limitation every day... we conquered time and space, and make a plan to recreate the world, to our own liking and comfort.

Then, like everything else in the world, the human being dies. Once vibrant, energetic, thoughtful, creative, ingenious, takes it's place  among the fallen leaves of autumn beneath the earth.  With all we know and dream about it life, it seems death, like life, is real and cannot be imagined away. 

Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” The writer of such words mut have known that to do so as a human being, would bring us closer to the reality of what we seek and need to know, bring us closer unto God, for God is all these things.

In the vastness of human imagination, do you believe?  Do you believe in God?Do you leave room for the possibility that he is real and that he exists, much the way you do?

We get glimpses of God everywhere in the world.  The sea, the stars, all life on earth tells os of his glory (Psalm 19) The bible says that there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard,   We humans, discover, contemplate, examine, and analyze... life, the universe and everything as we grope about the world, looking at life in our own ways, hoping to be wiser, to unravel the great mystery of life, find our meaning and purpose... the reasons for it all and where life on this swirling whirling planet came from, once upon a time, long ago and far far far away.  We proudly imagine ourselves to be somehow co-creators of it all and think we know all the answers, if we are smart, if not smart enough to know, we become superstitious, and this as we grope about not knowing who or what or why we are alive at all.  In God's grace, what we need the most is truth.... for truth sets us free from all delusion..

Truth?  What is truth?.

In the beginning, God created man in his image, then through sin, man was changed. He lost something, innocence perhaps, the consequence of disobeying God. No longer in Edenic paradise,  we long for, we imagine what heaven must be like, either that or we make this fallen world our only home.  Paradise was lost, but not without the promise of redemption.  Man's condition is abase, his heart and mind obscured and marred, his spirit wanting and God has sanctioned it to be so because of sin. Made in His image, fallen now, released from heaven's doorstep into darkness,throughout time and history, the imagination of man has been filled with many things.

The imagination has been the playground for psychiatrists and psychologists, the drawing board of inventors and artists, the fanciful dream of explorers and conquerors, and the inspirational powerhouse behind both madmen and kings. With it, we humans can do almost anything we think of, and without it, there is no way we could ever do anything at all.  Indispensable to our being human, or humane, the mind is the very place that we can even begin and end to fathom the reality of God, and there is only one way to let God come back into our personal realities, Jesus Christ, the one sent to redeem mankind from heaven, Jesus, because he lived and died and rose again, as only God can do, Jesus, because he is God.



It is only in our imagination that we see things in life with perfect vision, know what things are and will be, or thing that all is well on planet earth, and as such we humans tell ourselves the lie,  'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But this is foolishness.  We are lost, dead in sin and spiritual darkness... and yet physically alive, simply because God gave us life and because he promised to redeem us, if only we believe in Him.  We have no hope of ever reaching heaven until the walls of pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency that we cling to in our vain imaginations are broken by the truth.  If we retain the knowledge of God, somewhere in our heart and minds, if we believe in God with our imaginations, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, and understand that we are imperfect people, spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked, we only need to call on him. (Revelation 3:17)


The earth itself, the fish of the sea and the sky, even the animals, know who is God, but mankind lost and in sin, thinks to kill wisdom, thinking himself wise, not realizing he is but a fool.  Making up his own mind, making up his own world his own laws and his own idea of right and wrong in his vain imagination, he will only die... and be forever, this side of Eden.

But God is at work, forming a nation. Wisdom is calling from the high places of the city... you can hear her in the streets, and people are confessing their sin and turning to God... and God saves!

There is a nation rising...a nation of people, his own purchased possession...
people washed of sin,
cleansed by the blood of the Lamb,
people born of water and of spirit,
reborn,
lead by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God,

Can you imagine?  Do you believe? Do you know that God is love and he loves and died for you?

One day, we shall all be changed, and the world around us will be transformed, but not the way people plan it in their vanity.  One day, one glorious day the earth will be renewed and a new heaven and a new earth will stand forever, the way God intended life, the way that he created life to be from the very beginning, and it will stand forever, it will stand for eternity.


It will happen, not because humanity evolved, (evolution) or obtained any secret power of the mind to make it so, nor because we used positive thinking, and made it happen because we imagined it to be that way.  It will happen simply because God said so, and because to make it so he gave his word, the seed of promise and a broken earthen vessel of clay, like earth itself, received it.

Yes, those who are dead in Christ will be raised from death to life, just as Jesus was; this is our hope and God's promise. Living in his light, we will rise to a world filled with true and everlasting righteousness and peace. It will be more incredible, more beautiful, more peaceful, more lovely and perfect, than we humans will, (even collectively) in our wonderfully creative, seemingly limitless imaginative minds ever imagine on our own.  It will be a New Day, He will be our Light and in that Day, we shall be like him and see Him as He is.


Truth is, it is God who in his infinite wisdom made everything. God created the world, the animals and oceans, designed systems to support life, hang the planets, moons, and stars in orbit out in space on  nothing.  He created it all, with but a Word and he fulfilled his Promise.  He who began a good work, is faithful and true and He will be faithful to complete it,

and he can...

He is God.

We are not.

And truth, is sometimes stranger than fiction.




 “No eye has seen, no mind has comprehended what God has planned... (1 Corinthians 2:9)  We could never imagine, but we can believe and then God will fill us with Him..


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And so Paul wrote: (Ephesians 3: 14-21) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Yes, God can do so much more, much more, than we...especially without him, could ever imagine..