The Christian life can be disheartening and frustrating sometimes. We seem to keep making the same mistakes, and going through the same cycle over and over again. The promises of the bible don’t seem to apply to us all the time. Sometimes, the problem might be that we don’t recognize the way in which the promises of God apply to us. The Bible teaches things about reality and human nature that are very important to understand, if we want to grasp the promises within it.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button: To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Living Crucified Part 2

I’m pulling an audible. For reasons which shall eventually be clear, I am renaming this series: Living Crucified.

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Last time we talked about the very beginning of following Jesus: turning away from self, and from sin, along with turning toward God in faith. We recognize that we are cut off from God, and God is the source of all truth, beauty, joy, goodness and life. We admit that we often – maybe even usually – turn away from God, when given the chance. We are committed to satisfying ourselves. All of this is leading us toward self-destruction, loneliness, hatred and isolation – that is separation from God and all that we truly need. When we try to do better, it doesn’t last. We continually fail. We can’t be good enough to remain anywhere near the Holiness of God’s presence. His holiness is so powerful, we would be destroyed by it. Even if we could come into holiness without changing, we would spoil it.

Into this mess steps Jesus. He calls all people to repent. Repenting means we turn away from sin and self, and turn toward God. We give our hearts over to God. We recognize that there is no hope within ourselves, and we place our trust in Jesus alone to make us worthy to be in the presence of God. We trust in him alone to cleanse us from sin, and connect us to the truth, beauty, joy, goodness and life that we need and crave.

So far, so good. Usually, when we first become Christians, there is a period of time when everything is wonderful and good. We feel free, and light. We are overwhelmed with gratitude toward God, and that overflows into how we treat other people. We think “this is it!”

But sooner or later, we seem to lose our way again. We find that the old person we used to be is still hanging around, just waiting for a chance to  take over once more. We start slipping a little, sinning again, living for ourselves. We feel bad, and promise to get it together again, but it keeps happening. We get frustrated with ourselves. But we know that what we believe is the truth. We know that God is real, and good, and we believe that everything we truly desire is to be found in Him, and Him alone. Although we often forget even that when we see something else we think we want.

And so, as time goes on, we think. “Wow. It’s really hard to be Christian. I’m not very good at it.” We cling to our hope that it is Jesus, not our own efforts, who makes us able to be in God’s good presence. But we sort of settle for the idea that we aren’t ever going to get much closer to God until we die. We kind of make peace with the fact that we sin all the time, and we live with a low grade of guilt and shame.

Now, if you read the New Testament, it doesn’t seem like the Christian life is supposed to be so…underwhelming.  Whole shelves of books have been dedicated to help people like us pull it together. Some of them are quite helpful. Somehow though, we can’t seem to make the improvements permanent or consistent. Then, we come across a bible verse like this one:

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

It’s tempting to sort of throw up our hands and say, “Whatever.” It certainly doesn’t seem like we are new creations. It certainly doesn’t seem like the old is really gone.

I sometimes think we get hung up because we don’t understand the way the New Testament views reality in general, or human nature in particular. This next part may seem dry to you, but it is really important. I truly believe understanding the following ideas can be of tremendous practical help in living life the way God intends for us. So please consider giving this a bit of concentration and effort. THIS IS FOUNDATINAL, IMPORTANT STUFF.

Let’s start with reality in general. The Bible assumes that there are two parts to reality: The Eternal Reality, and the Temporary Reality.

¹⁸ So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18, HCSB)

I have italicized four words above. First, there is a reality that is seen. What Paul means by that is that we can interact with that kind of reality by seeing, feeling, tasting, touching and so on. This is what most of us think about when we think about “reality,” or the “real world,” or perhaps: “the physical world.”

There is another reality that is unseen. We don’t interact with this reality through our eyes, or sense of smell, or anything like that. We can’t measure it, or deal with it scientifically. But it is there. It is part of reality. We might call this spiritual reality, or eternal reality. Almost all of the human race, for almost all of history, has accepted the existence of spiritual reality. Most people have experienced things that they know are more than just physical.

Our verse above tells us that the seen realm (you might call it “the physical world”) is temporary. In other words, it has a beginning and an end.  On the other hand, the unseen realm is eternal. It lasts forever.

Both the seen and unseen are important. We live in both types of reality as the same time. However, Paul tells us the we Christians should focus on the unseen realm, because it is eternal, and therefore greater.

I want to offer two analogies to help us think about these things. First, imagine a line. Above the line is the unseen, eternal reality, or realm.  Because this realm is eternal, it is more powerful. It is, you might say, “ultimate reality.” In the unseen realm things are what they are. Appearance and reality are exactly the same In the unseen realm, God exists in all the fullness of his power and glory. This is one reason God reveals himself to Moses as “I AM.” He is exactly what he is. Nothing can affect him or change him. He continually is.

Below the line is the seen realm, what we might think of as the physical world, or the temporary world. Here, things are changing. Things are not always as they seem to be. We have needs and struggles. Some days are terrific. Some days are awful. Most are somewhere in between.

Now here’s an amazing fact. We know that we live below the line, obviously. But even now, if you trust Jesus, a part of you already lives above the line.

Now all of this is just an illustration. The truth is, the eternal, unseen reality is all around us at every moment. There is no line in the sky, or anywhere else. But it is helpful to understand that there are two different aspects to reality, and the line helps us understand their relationship.

Here’s the other analogy. Imagine a book: a fiction novel; that is, a story. The story has a beginning, middle and end. Inside the book, the characters move from the beginning through the middle, toward the end. But the entire book – the story, with all its characters and events – is contained within the covers of the book. There is also a reality “outside the book.” Someone outside the book could go back to the beginning to re-read a part of it. Or, they could go to the end to see how it turns out.

A character inside the book may live through a storm. That’s part of the story they are in. The storm is terrifying and dangerous. Yet, outside the book, the events within the book have no power. A storm inside the story may threaten the lives of the characters, but it does not physically affect a reader who is outside the book.

The book (everything within the two covers) is the seen realm, the temporary realm. But outside the book is an entirely different, and much greater, reality. This is the unseen, the eternal realm. We human beings are inside the book, moving forward through the story. We can travel in only one direction – forward. We experience all that is going on in this story. And yet, in some amazing and wonderful way, we also have a connection to existence “outside the book.” A part of us is outside, in that eternal realm.

How could it be that we are in “both places at the same time,” so to speak? It is because of the way God made human beings. According to the Bible, There are three essential parts to a human being: body, soul and spirit. Here are a few verses that talk about them all at the same time:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12, ESV. “Joints and marrow” refer to a physical body)

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of your Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

There are many more verses that talk about spirit without mentioning body, or soul without talking about spirit, and so on. But it is clear that the New Testament views humans as having those three parts: Body, Soul, & Spirit.

We all know what a body is. It has arms and legs and so on. In our bodies we do and say things. When we behave in any way, it is our body that is living out that behavior. Our bodies live entirely “below the line,” or “inside the book.” It is also very important to know the biblical word “flesh.” Flesh means: “your body, under the influence of sin.”

We also have a soul. The Greek word in the New Testament for “soul” is “psuche” from which we get our English word: “psyche.” Your soul is your personality, your emotions, your thoughts and decisions. The soul is, in a sense, the part of you that feels like you.

The third part of a human being is the Spirit. The New Testament word for Spirit is a lot like the word for breath. The spirit is the part of the human that interacts directly with the unseen, eternal realm.

Now, what has all that this got to do with us living in both the seen, temporary, world, and the unseen, eternal reality? Here’s another diagram that might help:

Our bodies live entirely in the seen, temporary reality. Our body cannot see or understand the eternal, unseen, spiritual realm. On the other hand, our Spirit lives entirely in that unseen, eternal reality. Our soul is in the middle: partly in the physical temporary reality, partly in the spiritual, eternal reality. The soul connects the body to the spirit. You might say it is the go-between. Your soul (“the essential you”) is connected to your body. It is also connected to your spirit. It is the “interface” between the seen and unseen, the temporary and the eternal, the purely physical and the purely spiritual.

Now, let’s return to the first problematic verse I shared:

⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

Knowing what we know now, let’s think about this. Could I accurately say, at this moment, that the entire me – body, soul and spirit – is a new creation? Could I say truthfully, that the whole of the old me – body, soul and spirit – has passed away?

I think not. In the first place, my body is obviously not a new creation. In fact, it gets older every day. So this promise cannot be for my body – at least, not yet. But Paul talks like this is a done deal. Let’s keep going. What about my soul? Is my soul an entirely new creation? Has the old soul with its sinful desires and passions entirely passed away? I’m sorry to say that I don’t think so. But maybe sometimes it seems partly true of my soul.

Now we can see the truth: this promise is made today for my spirit. I do believe that one day – when I step into the new creation with body, soul and spirit, then all of me will be entirely new. My soul will be cleansed and purged from all the sinful influence of my flesh (flesh= my body influenced by sin). My flesh will be destroyed, and I will be given a new body with no sin in it at all. But right now, even before all that, I am already a new creation in my spirit.

Let’s look at the whole of the passage in which our verse is found:

¹⁴ For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

That’s what we’re after. We’ve received forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We want to live in a new way, not for ourselves anymore. But how? Paul goes on:

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17, ESV)

How do we start? By regarding no one according to the flesh. Remember, “the flesh” is our body under the influence of sin. We don’t regard our salvation as a salvation of that flesh. We don’t regard our new creation as happening in that flesh. We look at it a new way. How? By looking at the spirit! Our spirits live “above the line,” in eternity. In that eternal reality, in ultimate reality, our spirits are already new creations. A part of us is already perfect, whole, entirely holy and able to receive all the goodness, joy, love, beauty and truth of God’s presence.

So we don’t keep trying to find life here in our flesh. We don’t keep looking for life in the world that we see around us, the physical world. Instead, we look to ultimate reality, spiritual reality, for newness of life.

OK. So far so good. The promise is true and right. We really are new creations. The old really has passed away. But how to we begin to get that spirit-life into the life we live every day in the world that we see?

I’m so glad you asked. We will begin to answer that question next time.

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