Monday, May 12, 2014

When the Supernatural is Natural

WHAT IF the way our world is today is NOT natural and all the miracles Jesus (and his followers since) have done that we call supernatural are actually completely natural?

When God created the world and put man and woman in the garden of Eden, He made things a certain way. We don't know much about the Garden of Eden or paradise as some call it, but we can surmise the following:

Humans did not grow old
There was no death
All animals got along - no prey and predators
No weeds to pull
No hard labor
Humans walked with and were friends with God
People were innocent. They didn't know how to do bad things
Plenty of food and provision
No sickness

Can you imagine such a place? God had created a perfect world for us to enjoy.  There was no death, crying, sickness, money problems, divorce, bad relationships, wayward children, abuse, perversion, crime, betrayal, lying, corrupt politicians. All needs were met and everyone had fulfilling work! As if that wasn't enough, God Himself was friends with man. Adam and Eve got to hang out with God! Ask Him questions, discover the universe, get His advice. They were not only friends, I believe God loved them as a father would His children.

This is the natural world. This is how the world was supposed to be.

But we all know what happened. Now we have death and sickness, money problems, evil, betrayal, heartache, crime, pain, etc. . .   When Jesus was sent to Earth to take on human form and walk among us, He did many miracles. He healed the sick, pulled money out of a fish's mouth to pay taxes, restored withered limbs and blind eyes, provided food for thousands, walked on water, still the storm, cast out demons, and even raised the dead.  We call these miracles because they defy everything we know about how the world and science works. We can't explain them by scientific method or by what we know of the "natural" world.  So we call them "Supernatural"

The dictionary defines Supernatural as: of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.

But are the supernatural things Jesus did abnormal?  Or perhaps it is the world we live in that is abnormal. Perhaps the world we see around us is the supernatural world, the unnatural world, the unexplainable world, a world that isn't at all like the natural world God created. What if our world were nothing but a deviant manipulation of natural laws by an enemy who is determined to see us all destroyed. An enemy who wants to keep us imprisoned in a delusion of hopelessness and despair?

And what if Jesus came to show us how things were meant to be? How things could be?. 

What if each time Jesus preformed a miracle, He was giving us a small glimpse into how things were supposed to be, a peek at the world God created in the beginning, a chance to see what God's original plan was for the Earth.? And His miracles were more natural than anything we experience?

I don't know about you, but I just love this way of seeing things for two reasons. It reminds me and gives me hope that someday God will restore the Earth to the way He designed it, and death and pain will all be eliminated. And two, it strengthens my faith to believe that through the name of Jesus, we can bring glimpses of the natural world into this abnormal world and show people how things were meant to be. It makes "miracles" not so weird or supernatural or rare, but more things that should be, the way things should be. And maybe, just maybe we'll expect to see them more often.




3 comments:

  1. Definitely an interesting thing to think about! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this concept, MaryLu - I feel it probably is an accurate one!! The abnormal WAS normal until man's selfishness destroyed it!! I'm currently experiencing what I am terming a miracle (Supernatural thing) in answer to many prayers - as I peacefully recover from a mastectomy more easily and quickly than expected with no pain or soreness!! What a wonderful God, to let us see and experience such happenings as a fore-taste of our future natural world!!

    Thank you for this post - am sharing!!

    Love and hugs to you, MaryLu!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Sarah... and thank you Bonnie! And Praise God for your fast recovery!! That's wonderful news. Yes, indeed, a foretaste of the next age when miracles will be so common we won't even blink an eye. :-)

    ReplyDelete