“[and Jesus said,] ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'” John 15:5
God is good 🙂
In the movie “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, one of the main characters (if not the main character) is a chimpanzee named Ceasar. (Please humor my quick explanation if you’ve seen the movie already.) Ceasar is given a brain-enhancing chemical that grants him super-intelligence at an astonishing rate. He’s taken into a man’s home where he is taught, cared for, and loved. Events transpire and sadly, Ceasar is transferred to a petting zoo of sorts full of abandoned apes. In one scene of interest, Ceasar is at a stand-off with a very corrupt facility worker who is trying to exert his rather cruel authority over Ceasar. In the instance of this scene, Ceasar looks at the guy and suddenly yells, “NO!” Everyone is shocked.
Ceasar has expressed “otherness”.
Otherness might not necessarily stand out to anyone in the scriptures on a first or even 50th reading of the Word. But God reveals His secrets. God is FAR from the cruel task master presented in the movie above. Yet, even though God, through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-17), made all things, placed His life in them, and blessed them, He too had to contend with the issues of otherness.
The issue of otherness is distinctly related to the fact that for God to create a being beyond the extent of being a robot, He would have to chose to give them free will. This free will we experience, at it’s core, is not necessarily the choice to do right or wrong. Rather, in its most essential characteristic, free will is the freedom to choose to either live in the Life of God or apart from the Life of God. We see then why there can be no middle ground.
The issue of otherness first appeared in the heavens when Lucifer (aka. the devil) started having “issues”. Where were these issues coming from? He lived in the heavenly places. He was made to be a beautiful creation of God, holy, who stood in the presence of God. He knew God to a greater extent than we do when we are first born, and God knew him. Yet, the Word talks about him being deceived, even by his “own beauty”. This goes deeper than we imagine. His beauty here was not the primary issue because the Word says that God makes everything “beautiful” in its time. So beautification is of God. The problem was that word “own”, in relation to the self. His recognition of self. The perception of otherness, apart from the life of God.
Many things played into Lucifer manifesting his “otherness” in the way it came to pass. I could say many things about that, but what I will say is that from what I have seen in the Word and in experience, I believe that the desire for otherness over the Life of God essentially begins with misunderstanding and lack of revelation. The impetus of it tends to begin in the heart, but once it reaches the mind, it’s a disease that destroys the soul, draining it of God’s life and light. If the being who is experiencing the pull of otherness in their life does not receive the healing, truth, or reconciliation they desperately need in God and His life alone, it is only a matter of time before they step out and say “No” to God, just as Ceasar said no to the man in the movie. From there, apart from the life of God, only death, curse, and destruction remain. To be dead is to be devoid of life. Again, there is no in between.
The Life of God, the presence of Father God and Christ Jesus in our lives through Holy Spirit, is joy beyond comprehension 🙂 We are born disconnected from God’s life to a great degree, and we grow up living mostly out of the mind – the soul – shuffling between the knowledge of good and evil to guide us. Yet the Father is constantly drawing us to His life 🙂 He makes His life accessible to us through Christ Jesus, and through Christ Jesus alone. Christ Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and The Life, and apart from me, no one can come to the Father.” (John 14:6) This was more than just a sentimental expression from the Lord, but the reality of who He is as it relates to our existence. There’s much more to say on this – too much for this one post! But it’s important that we consider whose life we’re walking in 🙂 His life is always better ❤
GodisGood 