January 27 - NOT supernatural

Supernatural. . . 

 

Have you heard that word used before? 

 

I keep hearing it in the church context, and to be honest, I’ve used it in the church context multiple times. . . But what if I told you that supernatural is not a biblical word. In fact, it’s not even a biblical concept. Look for it in the Bible. . . Let me read all of the verses that use the word supernatural real quick. . Ready. 

 

Done. 

 

That’s right, I bet you didn’t know this, but the word supernatural isn’t even in the Bible. The word closest to it - sorcery or witchcraft . . .

 

So why do we use it so much? 

 

The term Supernatural was given wide platform by the philosopher Thomas Aquinas in the early 1300s. It was used as an attempt to describe the works of God that were not easily explained by natural law. These things were above nature or Supernatural in explanation. They couldn’t necessarily be described by natural terms, so they were supernatural. 

 

Then in the enlightenment period, the words supernatural gained ground by mystics and  scientists in a feeble attempt to quantify things that we just didn’t grasp or have the words for. Especially in the miraculous world of the believer, there was no good words to describe the work that God was doing to intercede in the middle of the natural world where we live. . . But this has deep theological misunderstandings of God and nature. 

 

But first, let’s read the words of Paul in Romans 7. 

 

1-6

Do you not know, brothers and sisters - for I am speaking to those who know the law-that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released form the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. 

 

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released form the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 

 

Ok, stop there for a moment. There is a distinction Paul is making. First you have the way of the flesh. This is focused on the carnal senses of humanity. That’s why he talks of the sinful passions aroused by the law.. the law didn’t arouse sinful passions. What is he talking about? 

 

No, in the flesh, all we understand is the things that appeal to the natural senses. We are not worried about any other realm, because we find our being inside of the natural order. But the law brought this into question. The law suggests there is a higher way of living. It goes back to the chaos. The law points out the disorder that we are drawn to, and admits there is something different we are to live up to. And Paul gives a brief definition of it here. He says “we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”

 

This is him saying that we understand something to be beyond the natural laws that we are drawn to, something much deeper that causes us to live the way of the Spirit. Now this isn’t a dualistic philosophy that says the body and the soul are separate. Instead, it is a philosophy that says the body is governed by something more spiritual than the physical realm. 

 

But continue reading. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. 

 

Vs. 7

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart form the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart form the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.  

 

Ok, he is further proving his point. The law points out how his human desire is drawn to the things that are out of order. The commands that were meant to point out what leads to death, were condemning, because we can’t help but be drawn to sin. . . What piece of the meta-narrative is this describing? 

 

Part 2 - Mankind is drawn to the chaos. 

 

But listen to Paul as he continues to battle this out. 

 

Vs 13

Did that which was good, then, become death to me? By not means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death , so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 

 

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 

 

Ok, here it is again. He is making a distinction between the two pieces. . You have the law which is spiritual, and the human body, which is unspiritual. These are two different words in the original greek. . .

 

Spiritual - pneumatikos - pnyoo-mat-ik-os’ - meaning of the spirit, or relating to the human spirit or rational soul, as part of the man which is akin to God and serves as his instrument or organ. 

 

This is the spiritual part of us that doesn’t belong to the human nature, but is part of what God is doing and is intertwined with our very existence. 

 

But then you have

 

Unspiritual - Sarkikos - sar-kee-kos’ - meaning fleshly or carnal

 

Paul is making a profound distinction here. There are two parts of me. There is the part that lives in this world in the flesh and is ruled by the nature of the flesh. This part only understands sin by the natural order introduced in the law. But then there is the completely different side of me that is the spiritual. It is the part that is close to God and serves as the vessel to understand the mission and purposes of God. Two distinct parts, embodied in each person. So keep reading on. He says, 

 

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, Waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.  

 

This is his final recognition that there are two laws at work. The law of the flesh, and the law of the spirit. It’s like bringing to worlds together. And he beauty is, it is how God is intertwined into his creation. He isn’t separate from it, he is at work calling the spiritual side of us into order with the spirit of God. Though my earthly carnal body is in this world, the spirit of God is calling me into a different order that aligns with the creator. 

 

Can we agree so far, that this isn’t supernatural, this is spiritual. God calls us to his spirit to reject the order of being slaves to sin. Our flesh is being called into subjection to the law of the spirit that makes us right with God. . . 

 

Ok, but keep reading into Romans 8. 

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 

 

Ok, first benefit of the spiritual. It sets us free from the condition of this mortal human body. And it did it, only because Jesus became flesh and broke the yoke that tied us to the sin of this flesh. He left the spiritual and entered the physical so that we would be set free from sin and death. Listen to what he says next. 

 

Vs 3

 

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weekend by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

 

This who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed but the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed but eh flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 

 

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not hav the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subjected to death because of sin, the Spirit give life because of righteousness.

 

Stop here before we get to the next verse. 

 

I want to make sure you are getting this. Paul is showing the the sinful human nature is in contrast with the spiritual nature that is called to be with God. However, Jesus came into the natural world in order to maintain justice between the sins of the carnal self and the righteousness we obtain in the spiritual word through Jesus. 

 

You might be asking yourself right now. . OK. . But how does this prove the misuse of the word supernatural? I haven’t heard anything yet. .  Well, let’s keep reading. . vs.11

 

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 

 

Stop!!!!!!

 

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead. . . . Ok, Paul has described this as a spiritual event. It isn’t supernatural. It is spiritual. Why spiritual? Because the spirit is not separated from creation. It is distinct between carnal and spiritual. It is intertwined the entire time and working together with the natural. 

 

And, here is the kicker - the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. . . . . 

 

That’s not serrated from the natural. That’s mixed into it. 

 

See, the problem with the term supernatural, is that it implies something that is not part of this natural world, taking over the laws of the natural. While that might seem like the same thing, focus on the first part of that equation. Something that is not part of this natural world.  . . . . .

 

To suggest something of God to be supernatural would suggest that he is not part of the natural world. It suggests that God exists outside of our daily lives instead of intertwined with our human existence. The problem with this. . We lose the benefits of sonship. Listen to how Paul continues

 

Vs. 14

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the Children of God. The spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoptions to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 

 

See, the reason the word supernatural feels more comfortable for most people, they haven’t yet let their flesh share in the sufferings of Christ. So their fleshly life is controlled by sin, and not yet brought to the spot of being ordered by the Spirit. So there is a separation that keeps them locked into a world of sin, when we were meant to be set free and live spiritual lives unto the Lord. 

 

I know this is deep. But hang with me for a second as I try to break this down. 

 

We aren’t looking for supernatural. This implies something that is separate from the natural and doesn’t have bearing on us until it mysteriously intervenes. Not the case with the Spiritual. The spiritual is constantly at work within our lives and the lives to those around us. The Spiritual does the work of reconciliation and calls us to reconciliation as well. I’ll talk more about that in a couple of days. But we aren’t meant to be intrigued by supernatural. We were meant to be engrained with spiritual. 

 

The spiritual leads us deeper into Christ. The Spiritual has the power to raise Jesus from the dead and in turn can raise us to life. The Spiritual fights against the law of the flesh and fills us with it’s fruit - which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. God isn’t separate from you. He doesn’t work in supernatural ways. He is intertwined with you. He works in spiritual ways that are beyond our fleshly understanding. After all, the earth was breathed into existence by the spirit and through the flesh of Jesus. . We will talk about that one tomorrow. . 

 

But be assured, God is actively working throughout his creation. He isn’t far from you. In fact, listen to the words of King David in Psalm 145:18 - The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. . . 

 

The Lord is near to all who call on him. . . . To all who call on him in truth. . . . 

 

Take a moment to call on the Lord today. And as you do, feel the presence of God all around you. Not supernaturally outside of creation and sporadically coming into it, but mixed in the very fabric of everything that he created, that we would be able to see the Spirit of God move, as he calls us deeper into his presence. . .