Beyond The Natural

All humanity functions in what is known as the physical or natural realm. The natural realm is the dimension that is subject to the laws of time, space, and matter, where our five senses make real the world around us. This was part of man's composition in creation so he could function on the earth. However, before the fall of man, he functioned in another realm in which his five senses were subordinate in operation. Man operated in the spiritual or supernatural realm which operates above the natural realm, is permanent, invisible, eternal and located outside of time and space and exercises dominion over the natural realm. Although man was created corporeal, he was not created mortal or immortal, but a perfect human being. It wasn't until man sinned against God that he became mortal, (death doomed) where his five senses took dominion over his spirit and disconnected him from God. Though this separation from God took place, God has left us evidence of Himself in the intricate, detailed order and beauty of the natural realm around us. Yet, when we contemplate the greatness of His creation, our finite imaginations still cannot begin to fathom His vast love and immense power.

Man has often endeavored to know God through intellectual means, but these attempts have proven insufficient. We can know facts and information about God, but we cannot know Him personally through intellectual knowledge. So, how can human beings come to know their invisible, supernatural Creator? Through revelation knowledge, also known as spiritual knowledge. Revelation knowledge transcends intellectual knowledge mainly due to the limits that holds intellectual knowledge at bay. Intellectual knowledge is gained only through the senses whereas revelation knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit, through man's recreated spirit.

The Apostle Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus shows this to be so, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened..." (Ephesians 1:17-18) He also reveals a very similar truth to the church at Corinth, "These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)

Due to an overemphasis on intellectual knowledge, many people are very aware of the natural realm but are remarkably uninformed (or misinformed) about the supernatural realm. In the absence of revelation knowledge, people tend to rely on formal academic education, much of which attempts to discredit faith. Intellectual knowledge has its rightful place in society, but it is a poor substitute for revelation knowledge. The Apostle Paul tells us, "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) He also reveals to us, "God has chosen, the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are." (1 Corinthians 1:28)

It was never God's intention to remain a mystery to His people or people in general. In fact, He has always desired for us to not only know Him intimately, but to also experience His very nature, character, will, purposes and plan. However, we must understand that only God can reveal Himself. No one has the ability to know Him apart from His revelation. God reveals Himself to us as the supernatural and all-powerful God through His Word by the Holy Spirit. There is no other means by which we can know Him.  Jesus tells us, "when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak." (John 16:13) Even a theologian may know that a superior being exists, but that does not mean he knows Him personally. Many theologians operate merely with information acquired through intellectual research, reasoning, mental processes, or the experiences of others. But the Holy Spirit is the Source of all revelation from God.

The carnal mind determines people's reality until they are born again. (John 3:3-8) The moment we confessed Jesus as Lord and received Him as Savior, our spirits are renewed, recreated. We then begin the process of renewing our minds with God's Word through which we can receive revelation by the Holy Spirit. What God has done, is doing, and will do in the future is beyond our natural understanding. Therefore, the degree to which we experience spiritual reality is determined by the leve1 of revelation we have received. Unless we continually renew our mind, our intellect tends to remain in the natural dimension, thereby creating limitations in our lives.

Please understand that I am supportive of intellectual pursuits and education that challenge and train the minds God has given to us. I want people to attend higher education and to complete their studies. With my connection with an online Bible college and seminary, I have helped and continue to help people reach their educational goals and to graduate. However, problems arise when we try to use our intellect to understand spiritual realities. Our minds basically become the enemy of truth because they attempt to displace revelation knowledge with natural intellectual understanding. If we surrender to the natural mind, we will end up doubting the truth of God's supernatural power, especially in and through believers today. Thankfully, we do not have to be slaves to our natural intellects. God gave us something that enables us to move beyond the natural realm and to tap into His supernatural sphere and revelation knowledge. It is called faith.

Faith also is not of the natural realm, because true faith believes God's Word no matter what the circumstances may dictate. If God had intended for humanity to remain only in the natural rea1m, He never would have provided a way through His Son Jesus for us to be restored to a relationship with Him, nor given us access to Himself, His supernatural power nor would He have given to us a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) It is surprising to me when I see or hear of believers, especially church leaders, turning to philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry (the natural realm), to try to resolve problems. No doubt these disciplines genuinely try to help people but fail to utilize the power of God to change and transform humanity. The Apostle Paul tell us, "for the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20)

I want to encourage and challenge you to examine your life to see if you look to the natural realm or look to spiritual realm for all your needs. God has unlimited resources and promises for all of His children. In fact, "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) and "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." (2 Peter 1:3) So, let us be led by the Holy Spirit into all truth and move beyond the natural into the supernatural. We were born again for this! Amen...    

It's Supernatural

The Bible records mans three fold being, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) To fully develop man would be to educate him in all three of these realms. To train only the physical is to make him an athlete. To train only the intellectual would make him an anarchist. To train only the spiritual would make him a fanatic. Adam was created complete in all three of these areas. Though the fall of man came, it did not change God's design for man. Through Christ, God has restored man and once again man is complete (John 1:16; Colossians 1:9, 2:10). So, Gods plan for man through Christ, is that he be developed in all three areas; yet, the area that man is least developed is the very area in which he was created in the image and likeness of God, his spirit.

Man's spirit is the only part of him that is capable of knowing and communing intelligently with God. It was God's plan that man should be His companion (Psalm 8:3-8), so his spiritual faculties were originally attuned to interact with God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 3:8) Through the Fall, man was alienated from God and his spiritual faculties were impaired; yet, through Christ, this lost fellowship is restored and once again mans spirit is capable of functioning in both the natural and supernatural realm.

The supernatural realm is really the realm of the believer. No one knows how much the soul and spirit can be developed and even within Christendom, we have been slow to come to the realization that man is spirit and his spirit is his basic nature. We have sought to educate him along intellectual lines,
utterly ignoring the spiritual. Thus man has lost his sense of relationship and responsibility toward God and man. By ignoring the spiritual side of man, we inadvertently have magnified the intellectual and physical parts of man, which has left him craving the supernatural of God, yet, not having the ability to release it in his daily life.  Whether most want to admit it or not, man has a love for the miraculous because it is in his DNA. He was created in the image and likeness of God.

The intellect of every believer is ever conscious of the supernatural forces that operate around him, but due to the lack of spiritual development in most, he cannot understand or interpret them. This is perhaps the main reason why believers long to not only experience the supernatural, but to perform miracles. The curiosity for the miraculous is deep-seated in every believer because he has been born again by a miracle-working God. It has been a scheme of Satan that has blinded us and has kept us from finding the door that will lead us back to our lost inheritance in Christ. Although believers are to operate in the miraculous, many questions arise concerning their validity for today, such as, "Are these things for today? Did miracles end with the death of the disciples in the early church? Are the so-called miracles that men claim to perform today fraudulent, psychic or works of Satan to deceive many?

Unfortunately, there has come a falling away on the part of most sectors of the church concerning the miraculous. In one area, modernism has dominated the church bringing the denial of the supernatural element in Christianity. This in turn has made Christianity simply an ethical religion. There are also those who declare that miracles ceased with the death of the apostles; that Christianity does not need the miraculous today to convince men of the Deity of Jesus. This in turn has placed Christianity among the other powerless world religions. Then we have a third group who claim miracles are still being performed; that the sick are healed, that prayers are answered, and that God is a living reality in the daily life of the believer. This third group of people have it correct. They know that man needs a miraculous touch now more than ever.

The miraculous was the very thing that God used to bring His people Israel back to Himself; the very thing that drew heathen kings to acknowledge that the Lord is God; the very thing that drew people to Jesus the Savior through the early church as well as turning the world upside down; it is the very thing that is needed today to save our land and nation. The entire church must return to the God of Miracles and believe that He will once again reveal Himself and His Christ to all men through miracles, signs and wonders. These are the very things revealed in scripture that opened the door many times to the preaching of the Gospel and the saving of souls.

The Apostle Paul tells us, "For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." (Romans 15:18-19) Paul shows us that the preaching of the gospel is not complete without "mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God." This he tells us is the full gospel! God desires to intervene "now" in the affairs of man. So, let us stand against all doubt, fear, unbelief and intellectual reasoning that so easily ensnares and robs us of the miracles that God has for us and the lost world around us. "Let God Arise" and we will see the salvation of the Lord like never before!

Entirely Supernatural

When we take an honest look at Christianity, as portrayed in the scriptures, we see that it is entirely supernatural. The incarnation was supernatural. The ministry of Jesus was supernatural. The church was supernaturally birthed. The early believers saw the supernatural as simply normal Christianity. Even becoming a new creation is supernatural. However, in many Christian circles, when the supernatural is mentioned in the church today, a shying away tends to occur due to numerous doctrines that have held many believers in bondage for centuries. Yet, the Bible clearly reveals that God and His Word do not change (Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Malachi 3:6; Mark 11:31; Hebrews 13:8) and that He and His Word are one. (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 5:7)

In order to see the supernatural living God at work through His church, we cannot get past this one truth, which is revealed through one of Jesus' apostles, Thomas. "Then Jesus said to Thomas, Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:27-29) Simply put, we must believe. Thomas did not believe that Jesus was risen and alive, though Jesus told all the apostles that He would be killed and on the third day rise again. (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:31; Luke 18:31-33) In other words, Thomas did not believe the Lords Word. 

The very things that happened with Thomas, is the very thing that goes on in many believers today. They do not believe God's Word, but have excused it away either in the same manner, as Thomas, “Unless I see...I will not believe.” (John 20:25) or have replaced God's Word by, "making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down." (Mark 7:13) These are most likely the main reasons why healing in the church through the supernatural power of God in Jesus' Name is almost nonexistent in many areas. However, there is a biblical truth that is a foundation to
healing the sick and injured. This foundational truth is frequently expressed in various ways in the New Testament.

Many, who seem to generally accept the truth of divine healing, seem to fail in applying this foundational biblical truth to specific matters involving healing. Others will simply reject the implication behind this foundational truth based on doctrine that has become acceptable in the church, again, not believing God's Word. Therefore, healing for believers today in many areas of the church is generally unpredictable, unreliable, inconsistent, or not present at all. This has produced a weak theology that erodes faith for receiving and or ministering healing. This truth, which we will see, cannot be taken for granted or underestimated. It is the bedrock of receiving and ministering healing today in and through the church, believers. Let's begin with a conversation between Christ and His disciples in the Gospel of John.

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." (John 14:1-11)

Jesus reveals, He is the way, the truth and the life. Although this has a larger application than just healing, Christ is also the way and the truth about healing. In other words, Christ's life produces healing, and to know Christ is to know the Father. He goes on and answers Philip. To see Jesus, His actions, is to see the Father in action. Therefore, studying the life of Jesus reveals the Father's will in all matters, which includes healing. If believers fail to believe that Jesus knows the Father's will and expresses it perfectly, many things that God's has provided for believers, such as healing, will remain an unattainable puzzle at best. Believers must understand without reservation, that the Lord Jesus Christ ultimately reveals the will of the Father in all matters! 

The writer of Hebrews says, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person..." (Hebrews 1:1-3) Phillips version of this verse says that Jesus is the "radiance of the glory of God, flawless expression of the nature of God." The Amplified Bible says, "He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature." Let us also keep in mind, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) Again, in all matters, pertaining to God, Jesus ultimately reveals the will of the Father. 

While the entire Bible declares God's will, nature, character, purpose and plan, many of these attributes were unclear and unrevealed until Jesus. Mysteries that were once hidden are now revealed in Jesus, particularly by His actions and words. Also notice, the special nature of the relationship between Jesus and the Father. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus. Jesus says that believers must believe in this special relationship to experience the Father's will which includes healing. We also see that Jesus gives credit to the Father for His works. The miracles and healings in the ministry of Jesus were expressions of the divine purpose of the Father. 

Having faith in Jesus includes believing that He was and is in the Father. Jesus has been teaching the importance of believing that He has been revealing the Father. In fact, He commands His followers to believe that very thing. If believers fail to believe that Jesus reveals the will, nature, character, purpose and plan of the Father perfectly, they will find that faith will be difficult for many of the things that the Father has freely given through Christ. (Matthew 7:11; Romans 8:32) Understanding that Jesus was expressing the will, nature, character, purpose and plan of the Father can be discerned simply by observing the ministry of Jesus in His teaching, preaching and actions. 

To believe and appropriate the blessings, the promises of God, which includes healing, we must believe, we must mix God's Word with faith. This was not only the apostle Thomas' failure but also the failure of many Jews which kept them from coming to Christ. "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." (Hebrews 4:2) God's Word must be mixed with faith or Christianity is reduced to nothing more than another world religion. So, as the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul states, let us cast away the, "persuasive words of human wisdom" and believe God for the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5) Let us believe God for a continuous flow of His supernatural power in and through the church so that the Father is glorified, the Name of Jesus magnified and that the Word of God multiply and prevail mightily. The unsaved world is depending on us. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you...

It's Only Natural

All humanity functions in what is known as the physical or natural realm. The natural realm is the dimension that is subject to the laws of time, space, and matter, where our five senses make real the world around us. This was part of man's composition in creation so he could function on planet earth. However, before the fall of man, he functioned in another realm in which his five senses were subordinate in operation. Man operated in the spiritual or supernatural realm which operates above the natural realm, is permanent, invisible, eternal and located outside of time and space and exercises dominion over the natural realm. Although man was created corporeal, he was not created mortal or immortal, but a perfect human being. It wasn't until man sinned against God that he became mortal, (death doomed) where his five senses took dominion over his spirit and disconnected him from God. Though this separation from God took place, God has left us evidence of Himself in the intricate, detailed order and beauty of the natural realm around us. Yet, when we contemplate the greatness of His creation, our finite imaginations still cannot begin to fathom His vast love and immense power.

Man has often endeavored to know God through intellectual means, but these attempts have proven insufficient. We can know facts and information about God, but we cannot know Him personally through intellectual knowledge. So, how can human beings come to know their invisible, supernatural Creator? Through revelation knowledge, also known as spiritual knowledge. Revelation knowledge transcends intellectual knowledge mainly due to the limits that holds intellectual knowledge at bay. Intellectual knowledge is gained only through the senses whereas revelation knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit, through man's recreated spirit.

The Apostle Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus shows this to be so, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened..." (Ephesians 1:17-18) He also reveals a very similar truth to the church at Corinth, "These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)

Due to an overemphasis on intellectual knowledge, many people are very aware of the natural realm but are remarkably uninformed (or misinformed) about the supernatural realm. In the absence of revelation knowledge, people tend to rely on formal academic education, much of which attempts to discredit faith. Intellectual knowledge has its rightful place in society, but it is a poor substitute for revelation knowledge. The Apostle Paul tells us, "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) He also reveals to us, "God has chosen, the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are." (1 Corinthians 1:28)

It was never God's intention to remain a mystery to His people. In fact, He has always desired for us to not only know Him intimately, but to also experience His very nature, character, will, purposes and plan. However, we must understand that only God can reveal Himself. No one has the ability to know Him apart from His revelation. God reveals Himself to us as the supernatural and all-powerful God through His Word by the Holy Spirit. There is no other means by which we can know Him.  Jesus tells us, "when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak." (John 16:13) Even a theologian may know that a superior being exists, but that does not mean he knows Him personally. Many theologians operate merely with information acquired through intellectual research, reasoning, mental processes, or the experiences of others. But the Holy Spirit is the Source of all revelation from God.

The carnal mind determines people's reality until they are born again. (John 3:3-8) The moment we confessed Jesus as Lord and received Him as Savior, our spirits are renewed, recreated. We then begin the process of renewing our minds with God's Word through which we can receive revelation by the Holy Spirit. What God has done, is doing, and will do in the future is beyond our natural understanding. Therefore, the degree to which we experience spiritual reality is determined by the leve1 of revelation we have received. Unless we continually renew our mind, our intellect tends to remain in the natural dimension, thereby creating limitations in our lives.

Please understand that I am supportive of intellectual pursuits and education that challenge and train the minds God has given to us. I want people to attend higher education and to complete their studies. With my connection with an online Bible college and seminary, I have helped and continue to help people reach their educational goals and to graduate. However, problems arise when we try to use our intellect to understand spiritual realities. Our minds basically become the enemy of truth because they attempt to displace revelation knowledge with natural intellectual understanding. If we surrender to the natural mind, we will end up doubting the truth of God's supernatural power, especially in and through believers today. Thankfully, we do not have to be slaves to our natural intellects. God gave us something that enables us to move beyond the natural realm and to tap into His supernatural sphere and revelation knowledge. It is called faith.

Faith also is not of the natural realm, because true faith believes God's Word no matter what the circumstances may dictate. If God had intended for humanity to remain only in the natural rea1m, He never would have provided a way through His Son Jesus for us to be restored to a relationship with Him, nor given us access to Himself, His supernatural power nor would He have given to us a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) It is surprising to me when I see or hear of believers, especially church leaders, turning to philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry (the natural realm), to try to resolve problems. No doubt these disciplines genuinely try to help people but fail to utilize the power of God to change and transform humanity. The Apostle Paul tell us, "for the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20)

I want to encourage and challenge you to examine your life to see if you look to the natural realm or look to spiritual realm for all your needs. God has unlimited resources and promises for all of His children. In fact, "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) and "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." (2 Peter 1:3) So, let us be led by the Holy Spirit into all truth and move beyond the natural into the supernatural. We were born again for this! Amen...