by Aaron Davis
In my perception, between religion and science, this argument is often a matter that can more easily be defined as an ego-driven arm-wrestling contest between pride-filled educated minds that refuse to entertain or acknowledge the possibility that their educated hypothesis could be wrong or that someone else’s could be right. They care too much about what they think and not enough about allowing others to have an opinion that differs from their own.*
Although scientifically relevant, discussing these subjects doesn’t typically amount to much more than creating a major dividing line theologically, if one subscribes to the ideal that, regardless of time and date, what was created was created by God.
Big Bang or not, even science has difficulty explaining within their present understanding of their laws surrounding energy and physics or how physical matter existed before the Big Bang.
As I understand it, within the Big Bang theory lies the assumption that all matter and energy in the physical universe existed in a compacted, ultra-dense form, which exploded and released our universe into what is physicality. Science concedes that they don’t understand where this matter came from or how matter originated, only that there are consistent physical laws surrounding it after its inception. So, in a nutshell, science does not know beyond theory and Christians cannot speculate beyond their biblical theoretical justification of when or how they believe it all originally manifested.
I once heard Stephen Hawking (world-revered physicist) on a television program say (and I paraphrase what I understood him to say), “As far as we know, the laws of physics exist consistently throughout the universe.” I respect Mr. Hawking’s perspective on this matter and I do not dispute scientific knowledge of this concluded truth. However, it is this very understanding of the consistency of scientific physical law that easily allows me to question the inconsistencies in the Big Bang theory in its presently defended form.
Quite frankly, my level of intellect pales in comparison to the brilliance of learned scientists like Stephen Hawking, who cannot fully explain it beyond hypotheses themselves. So I choose to let it be whatever it is or was, concluding that, at least from my experience, it doesn’t alter my belief in a spiritual realm or its involvement within this physical realm.
MORE DIMENSIONS?
Honestly, I’m not convinced that the spiritual realm isn’t an additional dimension of our physical realm, whose laws are not understood or yet discovered, and is perhaps even coexisting directly in parallel proximity to us.
I’ve never heard anyone else speculate on this, but a few days ago, I came across a passage from Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven, that said, “The present heaven is normally invisible to those living on Earth.” For those who have trouble accepting the reality of an unseen realm, consider the perspective of cutting-edge researchers who embrace string theory. Scientists at Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, among others, postulate that there are ten unobservable dimensions and likely an infinite number of imperceptible universes. If this is what leading scientists believe, why should anyone feel self-conscious about believing in one unobservable dimension, a realm containing angels and heaven and hell?
The Bible teaches that sometimes humans are allowed to see into heaven. When Stephen was being stoned because of his faith in Christ, he gazed into heaven: “Steven, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ (Acts 7:55–56) . . . his eyes were opened to see a spiritual dimension of reality which none the less really does exist in our space/time universe . . . ”22
As a pastor, on many occasions I have heard accounts of those who were on deathbeds whose eyes were seemingly “opened,” like Stephen in the Bible, and they saw something beautiful, spoke to loved ones passed, or even described angels as if a window into another dimension opened before them, moments before they breathed their last breath.
So what if the spirit realm is actually a scientifically hypothesized fifth* dimension in quantum physics, often referred to as “non-locality” (although, not limited to a single dimension in science, non-locality could be multidimensional), placing heaven not somewhere in a distant faraway existence where the man upstairs looks down on us from the distant galaxies and spies on us with his all-seeing telescope accounting for our every wrong deed, but is actually a kingdom that exists in a realm that is as close to us as the air we breathe, but veiled from our awareness of it.
My, how this hypothesis could change the interpretation of Hebrews 12:1:
Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us . . .
I’m not saying that this is truth, but I do wonder if it’s possible, and if so, what if these dimensions interact and are more interdependent upon each other than has been previously understood (at least in so much that our four-dimensional reality is dependent upon this fifth)?
I personally have come to subscribe to the belief in the possibility that the physical realm was created by spiritual realm, and that wherever they exist, however they coexist, they are connected and influenced by each other.
KINGDOM RULE
The word kingdom can be interpreted many different ways depending upon the use and understanding of the word. Some immediately think of a king and the geographical realm that he rules. Others may break down the meaning of the word and see it as the accepted rule of the king manifested through his followers. For example, if a man is the king over a geographical area, it does not necessarily mean that his rule is inherently accepted by all those within the realm. If someone or a group of people revolted within his realm, then obviously they did not submit to his kingdom or who he was as king, and failed to implement or submit to his will within the realm. So, in this example, he may be king, but his kingship or kingdom is not necessarily at rule within all who reside under a geographical or jurisdictional covering.
In fact, in the historical example of wars and kingdom takeovers, we know that more than one kingdom can be present in the same geographical area, whether as ally or opposition. Ultimately, what defines alliances to a kingdom is adoption of and submission to the king’s way of doing things. Submitting to his kingship or kingdom in your life produces particular benefit of the king’s representation, covering, and authority.
In the Bible, we also see spiritual reference to kingdoms that parallel these previously cited physical examples, with the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness established and operating in this physical realm. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, the prophet prays to God and then goes weeks without an answer. When an angel appears to him, this is what he says:
Daniel 10:12–13 (NKJV)
“Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.”
It was obviously God’s will that Daniel receive an answer from Him about what he prayed, yet there was something other than what God willed standing in the way of Daniel receiving what God released to him. This opposition was directly connected to the establishment of another kingdom in the earth with some form of spiritual leadership and authority that could contend with the progress of an angel of God reaching Daniel with his answer. In this case, it was the prince of the kingdom of Persia.
And for whatever reason, this spiritual prince was able to thwart the spoken Word and will of God from reaching Daniel for twenty-one days. Which presents at least a dozen additional questions, not the least of which is, how in the world was evil able to delay the commanded movement of the Word of God? I believe that the ans
wer is undeniable from a spiritual perspective—there are other kingdoms besides those established for God that directly influence mankind and his reception of the manifested will of God in the earth.
As it pertains to the subject of God’s kingdom, I like how theologian Dallas Willard describes it in his book, The Divine Conspiracy, when he states, “Now God’s own ‘kingdom’ or ‘rule’ is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done. The person of God himself and the action of his will are the organizing principles of his kingdom, but everything that obeys those principles, whether by nature or by choice is within his kingdom.”23
Within God’s kingdom rule (His way of doing things) on earth, we have a specific understanding of how to function and what it looks like, but we also have present at the same time, in direct proximity and opposition to God’s kingdom, a well-established kingdom of darkness, where people are directly influenced by evil and destructive principles that are in opposition to the kingdom of God. I believe it’s possible that there is a war ensuing (whether we are aware of it or not) for the heart of mankind and there are casualties often resulting in human experiences that are directly connected to that war, even when (and maybe especially when) man is not aware of it.
If this is the case, and there is a battle between kingdoms ever present in our life experiences, I wonder if there are occasions when what we experience directly reflects our knowing and willing involvement in that war, or if at other times our experiences can possibly be a direct result of our ignorance of the war.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
If there are established kingdoms in the earth that are in direct opposition to each other and these kingdoms influence the affairs of man as pointed out in Daniel 10, I wonder where that leaves us as contributors to that experience? Furthermore, how do we have to change our minds in order to receive clarity on the more complex details? What part does man play in this war, and is it possible that we actually control some aspects previously assumed to be only “acts of God”?
CHANGE MY MIND, YOU SAY?
This passage of scripture from the first book in the New Testament of the Bible depicts a prophet named John declaring that Jesus came to restore and establish the kingdom of heaven (other translations say “kingdom of God”) on the earth. I just wonder if, when he said that “the kingdom of God is at hand,” he intended much more in this world for us than what we have experienced or come to expect from God’s lordship or kingdom in our lives.
Matthew 3:1–3 (AMP)
In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea
And saying, Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, direct).
As I look at the current state of Christianity, I wonder if it is possible that that many within the church have a future kingdom mentality where they believe that life on earth will be filled with lack and failure and missing pieces, but their future hope is in a heaven-filled eternity. If eternity in heaven instead of hell was all that we got from God, then it would be a great deal and I can understand through traditional teachings and doctrines of specific denominations how this could be derived. But I wonder if perhaps God intended much more for us when Jesus restored our covenant, authority, and relationship with God.
From what I can see, it seems that Jesus was the human example of the manifestation of the kingdom of God in the earth. God did not start to bring his kingdom, the “kingdom of the heavens,” as Jesus often called it, into existence through Jesus’ presence on earth. All too frequently it is suggested that He did. But Jesus’ own gospel of the kingdom was not that the kingdom was about to come, or had recently come, into existence. If we attend to what He actually said, it becomes clear that His gospel concerned only the new accessibility of the kingdom to humanity through Himself.24
Jesus did not model a kingdom that was to come and would only be manifested after death in another dimension or existence “somewhere out there” in heaven and eternity, while we strum a harp and sit on a cloud as a portly little angel. On the contrary, Jesus was the present model of what it looks like when God is the ruling force in a man’s life and man uses his authority to establish God’s rule, will, and Word (kingdom) in his own life and subsequently on the earth.
I find this a point of particular interest because it is abundantly agreed upon by New-Testament scholars that the central teaching of Jesus Himself was the kingdom of God, or what it is supposed to look like when we place God in His intended position as king in our lives! The manifestation of the kingdom of God was the central message of every message, every teaching, every parable, every physical example that defied common understanding. Even in His example to His disciples concerning how to pray, Jesus addresses this subject of God’s present and experiential kingdom established here on earth.
Matthew 6:9–13 (AMP)
Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.
And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
So when Jesus directs us to pray, “Your kingdom come,” He does not mean we should pray for it to come into existence (because it already is in existence). Rather, we pray for the kingdom to take over all points in the personal, social, and political order where it is not excluded: “On earth as it is in heaven.” With this prayer we are invoking it; as in faith we are acting it into the real world of our daily existence.25
Through cessationism, I have heard religious leaders discount or even explain away many of the things that Jesus declared should be manifestations or expectations of God’s Kingdom in our lives on earth for those who are in covenant with Him. But because they do not understand all the answers to why, it becomes easier for many to simply accept that everything that happens in the world is simply a manifestation of God’s “will and sovereignty.” However, Jesus says in Mark 16 and 14, the signs that will follow those who believe will be to display the miraculous by doing even greater things than He Himself had done. And to me, these viewpoints seem to be very opposing.
In fairness, I wonder if, as many before them have, these leaders have come to their conclusions based upon their own unfulfilled expectations of what they perceived to be failed manifestations of the kingdom of God, and rather than losing faith altogether, have chalked up the experience as something other than what God intended when Jesus taught these kingdom principles.
I think it is these experiences and the subsequent questions that are provoked by them that keep many pastors from speaking more often on the subject of the kingdom of God. In my lifetime, I have rarely heard anyone speak on this subject, and when they did, it often seemed like it was watered down regarding what Jesus taught about the kingdom of God, and how it directly tied to their rationalized excuses as to why God doesn’t always fulfill His biblical promises.
Throughout the Bible, God promises many things for those who are in covenant with Him. If God was intentional with these promises, and they are His will for our lives, and if these promises are the intended manifestation of what the kingdom of God looks like for those who are in covenant with Him, I understand why people have difficulty processing and questioning when their experience conflicts w
ith their kingdom expectation. As my pastor and very dear friend Danny Chambers26 often says, “When experiences and expectations are polarized, frustration is the result.”
Even the prophet John the Baptist, the one who prophesied to everyone that the kingdom of God was at hand and that it was accessible to man through Jesus, faced his own questions toward the end of his life and sent word to Jesus asking basically, “Are you the one that the Old Testament prophets declared would come and that I prophesied and believe that you are, or should I be looking for someone else?” Jesus replied to tell John,
Matthew 11:5 (AMP)
The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them.
These were miracles that would not have been the norm outside of Jesus manifesting the kingdom of God on the earth and were a confirmation to John that Jesus was who He had declared and believed that He was. This is the same man whom Jesus goes on to say later was the greatest man ever born of a woman—and yet, even he had questions for Jesus because his experience differed from his expectation.
Many of us have been told by religion or religious leaders to not question what we have experienced and to simply suck it up and accept the fact that God’s ways are not our ways, and as a result, we are not going to be able to understand why.
But, when God promises something in His Word for those who are in covenant relationship with Him and our experience happens to differ from His promise, maybe something is breaking down somewhere in our kingdom understanding of things.
If God is a covenant-keeper and not a man that can lie, then if my experience differs from what He has promised me, maybe something external or maybe even oppositional (as in the case of Daniel 10 from above) may be interfering with the fulfillment of God’s promises in my life. And if so, what part do I play in making sure that the fulfillment of the promise actually reaches its intended target?