The Spirit of Christmas … | You, Me and a Lifetime

Have you noticed the current focus on physical condition? Everyone is doing something to maintain their health. If you are twenty, that may mean that you run, have a gym membership, play sports, or maybe ride a mountain bike. If you are 80, exercise may be as simple as standing on one foot for as long as you can to improve your balance or taking your dog for a walk. Today, I would like to ask this question, might there be a additional component to our being that needs much the same care as our physical body?

Let’s start with a theological idea. The Bible tells us that man is created “in God’s image” (Genesis 1: 26-27). That’s a bit confusing, because it is generally understood that God is a spirit, not flesh (John 4:24). “In God’s Image” doesn’t mean that we are constructed exactly as God is constructed, but I would argue that we, who perceive ourselves as physical beings, also have a spiritual component, one that is separate and distinct from our physical being. Personally, I like to think of my body as the “electro-chemical interface” between my “spiritual component” and the outside world. The next question to arise is this, “Is there evidence to suggest that such a spiritual component exists?” For that, I will go with the “Near-Death Experience”, or “NDE”. To access a credible overview of NDEs, look HERE. Near-Death Experiences support the idea that we, as human beings are a duality, consisting, at minimum, of two identifiable components, a physical body and a spirit. Of course, no one who has “remained dead” has come back to tell us if the NDE is one hundred percent representative of what we might encounter on “the other side.” NDEs do, however, support the idea of duality. From NDEs we learn that our spirit component appears to define our concept of self, it is the “I” that participates in thought, in social situations, and makes our subjective decisions. It appears that our spirit can also exist separate from the body, defying the physical limitations that we might normally consider to be inviolable.

There are also Biblical references that clearly apply. As Jesus prepared his disciples to go out and spread his gospel, He said this to them, “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul…” (Matthew 10:28a). I’m drawing upon Jesus here, because, for most, He is a credible source, and He makes a clear distinction between the disciple’s physical body and their immortal soul. Christianity has much to say about the life of our spirit. In 1 Corinthians, 15:44, the apostle Paul makes this distinction between body and spirit: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” Even if you don’t believe a word of the bible, couple these ideas with the NIH article, then tell me that you aren’t getting at least a hint of vibration.

To find out where this leaves us, let’s return to man, “created in His image.” God is assumed to be Holy, while man is sinful. Now, I can’t prove to you that God is Holy, but He certainly has that reputation. I can quickly prove, however, that man is incredibly sinful. For that, I refer you to the morning news. In the news, we find parents killing their children, there are reports of human trafficking, sexual slavery, and every kind of perversion (the latter often promoted as perfectly normal). We have people who sew envy and hate, which then incites others to set upon strangers, with the intent of killing them. I think you will agree that every kind of evil is prevalent in the world today.

If we allocate to God omniscience (all knowledge), He then knew from the beginning that man, his creation, would fall into sin. For that reason, He immediately began constructing a plan for man’s rescue. For that, He created a nation (Israel – the only nation on earth created by God Himself) and, from its beginning, he promised Israel a role in correcting the relationship between Himself and sinful man. Along the way, He exposed the Israelites to the trials of poor leadership, disbelief, scattering of the people and slavery (see the old testament). He also provided them with copious rules to live by, the first ten of which we call the ten commandments. Among those rules, they were to sacrifice the most perfect of their animals as payment for their sins. Most importantly, through the blood line of the very first Israelite (Abraham), God sent his perfect Son to live on this earth and, ultimately, to pay the penalty for every man’s sin; notice that we have converged with the traditional Christmas story.

The essence Christianity differs from all other religions. Man did not successfully reach up to God, but rather, God reached down to man … to do that which man could not do for himself. In Christianity, a God chooses to die for his people. This time of year, millions and millions of Christians are celebrating Christmas. They are giving gifts. And why do they do that? In memory of God giving His son, a gift (and a sacrifice) that would bridge the gap between sinful man and a Holy God. And … to go there, to approach that God, all you must do is “believe” (see Acts 16:31). Then, you may ask, “what is the value of that?” Well, Christian believers are promised eternal rest for that spirit component of yours. Look at believing in, and learning about Christianity, just the same as you look at going to the gym. In this post I am urging you to take care of your spiritual self this Christmas and, like body building, there is a clear-cut starting place. For an overview of the entry level, I invite you to visit HERE.

Enjoy the greatest Christmas present of all this year … a gym membership for your soul!

Author’s note: The NDE is an area of intense interest to me. The idea that each of us has a critical spiritual component, in conjunction with my Christian perspective, have taken away all fear of death. To me, death will mean simply stepping out of a worn out electro-chemical interface and into a perfect and, already familiar, spirit world (now, go back and read the NIH link again) … and then think about it.