House Church Talk - Visualizing Christ

[Lee Underwood]

Phillip,

Our imaginations cannot conceive what the resurrected, powerful, almighty 
King, Son of the Living God looks like. This is the One who rose from the 
dead; in fact, conquered death, the One who paid the debt for billions of 
people; a debt far beyond our imagination.  We would come up very short and 
it would be an insult to Him.

You said that for most Christians, "Jesus is only a bunch of words in the 
head. They (we) don't know the real Person. They pray to the air, or to 
themselves, instead of to a real person. They read the Bible as a complex 
weaving of doctrines and commandments, instead of hearing a message from a 
real person." In this I agree wholeheartedly. The reason is because they 
are not seeking Him through the Spirit who He Himself sent to reveal Him. 
Since Jesus is now in the spiritual realm, there is only one way we can 
relate to that: spiritually. (Btw, Jesus said to come as children. The 
Bible is not that difficult if we read it from God's viewpoint and not 
man's by seeking the Holy Spirit.)

I know for most Christians, especially in the U.S., that is something that 
is very nebulous. We are used to touching and feeling and seeing. But that 
is not the manner in which we can have a relationship with this mighty 
King. We must draw near in prayer and meditation, constantly. It is 
interesting that the word used in Scripture for  "seek" denotes a command, 
not a suggestion.

You stated that you want to know who this Jesus is. There is only one way. 
You must draw near to Him. Scripture doesn't say we are to figure out what 
it would be like to be Him. Who could do that? This is the Son of the 
Creator who He Himself helped in that creation process. Who would know what 
it is like to be Him. Scripture say we should be LIKE Him. In other words, 
... holy, focused on the things of God and not this world.

According to the dictionary, "imagination - the formation of a mental image 
of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the 
senses". Jesus is very real and is present through our spiritual senses. 
That is what we need to develop ... our spiritual senses.

I disagree with your statement that our relationship with Jesus takes place 
in our imagination. If that were true then He would not be real. He would 
not be any different than the characters at Disneyland. But He is real. Our 
relationship with Him is real and takes place in real time. Unfortunately, 
again, it is our nature to want to touch and feel and see in order to have 
a relationship. (That is why people make fun of us.) No, Jesus is not a 
figment of our imagination. And I don't believe that God gave us an 
imagination to "to create: ideas, images, inventions, solutions." God is 
the creator. Our job before the fall was to serve God. He would do the 
inventing and creating for anything we need. The reason we do those things 
now is because we feel we can do it all ourselves. We don't trust in God so 
we feel we need to do them to take care of ourselves.

I can understand what you are saying. It is hard to "get a grasp" on Jesus. 
But, as I said (and this is from the Lord not some human teacher), He 
Himself said, if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. He must not 
be first in our lives ... He must be our lives, our focus, our goal. 
Believe me, Phillip, the real thing is much better than anything you can 
imagine.

With love,

Lee


At 7/23/04 09:04 AM, Phillip Cohen wrote:
>OK, let's try again.
>
>We're to follow Christ, right? We're to listen to His voice. We're to
>have a personal relationship with Him. We're to become like Him.
>
>If I would get to know you, I can visualize what it's like to become like
>you.
>
>But for many Christians, Jesus is only a bunch of words in the head. They
>(we) don't know the real Person. They pray to the air, or to themselves,
>instead of to a real person. They read the Bible as a complex weaving of
>doctrines and commandments, instead of hearing a message from a real
>person.
>
>Before the Flood, God said man's imagination was evil continually. God
>gave us an imagination to use for good, not evil. When He created us in
>His image, He breathed in us the passion to create: ideas, images,
>inventions, solutions. We can create love or hate. We can look on the
>positive or negative side of a situation, simply by what thoughts we
>choose. Each of us has a concept of Jesus. For some, He's vague and far
>away. For others, He's real and living inside. This all takes place in
>the imagination. The movie screen of our minds. Imagination can be
>healthy and produce godly results.
>
>So, what does Jesus look like to you? Who is this Person you're wanting
>to become like? Once you're like Him, how will you know? How do you know
>His voice when you hear it? Please don't just quote words and scriptures
>you've been trained to say. Be real.
>
>Please don't try to pervert what I'm asking. It's not demonic. It's real
>life stuff.
>
>Blessings,
>Phillip
>spiritfilledhome at juno.com
>God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
>1 John 4:16
>
>
>

        ------- <><><> -------