The Parallel Universe
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6
All sin originates in the thought life of a person. While the soul of a man is of a spiritual nature, it is a carnal or fleshly nature which is inherently opposed to his Creator. Romans 8:7 tells us that the carnal mind is enmity, that is, holds hostility against God. A carnal mind is focused more on basic physical appetites, particularly sexual appetites, than on intellectual or moral influences. A much more simple way to say this is that sinners sin because we are sinners.
However, one does not have to be controlled by his or her sin nature. God designed and desires for men and women to live lives in and though the Spirit of God. One who has not experienced the new birth is described in scripture as being “dead”. In other words, his spirit has no real life because it is devoid of God’s Spirit. Blaise Pascal, the French physicist and theologian, wrote that “there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus”.
I like to think that we have a parallel universe. Both are creations of God with one being the physical world/universe in which we spend our lives working, playing, and generally doing what people do, living their lives as they see fit. Let’s call this “man’s realm” or “human’s realm”. The parallel universe, on the other hand, is a spiritual world/universe that operates concurrently within the physical world just as the soul operates within the physical body. At some time in the future, the first realm will no longer exist while the second will continue forever. We will call the parallel universe God’s kingdom, and only those who have been born again through repentance of sin and faith in Christ can enter His kingdom.
Thus we have a world with two dimensions, one that contains all living people, both born again folks and numerous other folks who have decided to remain under their own rule. The other dimension is made up of all those who have trusted Christ and are committed to Him. We call the born again group “believers”, “Christians”, or “Christ followers”. Borrowing from a popular TV show, we could call the carnal group “the walking dead” because that is exactly what they are, alive, yet “without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). They are physically alive but spiritually dead. That’s why Jesus said that we “must be born again” (John 3:3) if we want to be a part of the parallel universe that is known as God’s kingdom. The flesh as we know it will come to an end, but the soul will live forever in one of two realms: God’s kingdom or Satan’s hell.
Christmas, the time set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, will be here before we know it. When I was a child, it seemed like Christmas took forever to get here, but when one is grown and loaded with responsibilities and all the stress that comes with attempting to make the holiday season merry and bright for the family, we sometimes say, “It’s Christmas again?” To me, all the stress related to Christmas and the holidays is mainly self-induced. Those whose domain is man’s realm tend to focus on all the secular celebration of gifts, decorations, parties, etc., and there is nothing wrong with those means of celebration, but those of us in God’s kingdom should be focused on the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ whose mission was to suffer and die on the cross so that we could be saved from our sins. Some folks keep Jesus as a Baby in a manger and put Him on the mantel or coffee table for a few short weeks and then return Him to the closet or attic likely not even thinking about Him until the next December rolls around. There are many who have tried to keep Christ out of Christmas altogether and have succeeded in some areas, in schools, the town squares, courthouses, etc. A few years ago, it was almost a crime to wish someone “Merry Christmas”. Jesus did begin His earthly journey as a Baby, but He grew up, taught, performed miracles, and accomplished the mission for which His Father sent Him, to die for our sins as our sinless Savior.
God desires that everyone would come to know Christ in the free pardon of sin (I Timothy 2:4). He laid out the path to salvation. All those who refuse to take His path have no one to blame but themselves. I think that God is holding off judgment to give people more time to repent, believe on Christ, and become part of His kingdom. God is a merciful God, but one day His judgment will come, and wherever He finds us, in His kingdom or in man’s realm, He will judge accordingly. Christmastime is a lot sweeter when we personally know the One for whom the day is named.