The Download Of Life

echnology has given many a glimpse into what Jesus called “the powers of the heavens,” in that we can see, by analogy, how the Triuniverse operates. This is particularly true in the idea of individual computers, and the larger, more powerful systems that comprise the networks of computer systems known as the Internet.

Even those not connected to these modern tools are exposed to the emerging language that has given new meaning to terms like memory, surf, and browse. It’s likely that most of us have heard someone say they were going to download something from another system. It is this concept that is worth exploring.

For those less technical, a download, in its most basic form, is when you connect your computer to the Internet (or another group of more powerful computers), and install, or transfer a program, or other information, onto your computer. Because there are millions of programs, and files of every type (data, photographic, audio, and video) in existence, and one cannot put every bit of data in the whole world on one computer, it is a common practice to download the desired information from a higher, or more powerful, source.

A Parallel To The Principalities

The irony is just how close this mirrors the Spiritual realm of existence. The Bible tells us that in the Triuniverse, there is a much higher power, who we call GOD. All knowledge, understanding, and life is vested in Him – yet we don’t see Him.

In technology, you can see your computer, laptop, cell phone, or wireless computing device in the same way you can see your own body. It’s physical, but it’s is actually just a vessel that can hold vast amounts of things that originate or exist elsewhere. Whenever you use that device to access information, or contact others, you are downloading something you cannot see.

So it is with God, for we are the individual units that can be seen, and we are capable of periodically accessing a higher authority who can interact with us according to our needs and requests – and that higher power is something, or someone, whom we cannot see.

When a new user of technology first accesses the Internet to find a piece of information, they don’t quite know how it works, and they’re usually very tentative concerning the procedure. Over time, they come to trust the process. If, for example, you heard about an important person who came to your town last week, and you wanted to know what he said, you could “browse” the Internet to find details of this person’s visit.

Let’s further say you’re an inexperienced technology user, and you use your telephone line to dial up a large computer archive run by a newspaper, so you can find out what happened at this particular VIP’s press conference. You know the event occurred, but you’re unsure the invisible system you’re connecting to will also know just what happened; however your desire to get the story overrides your doubts about the technology.

After some effort, you’re pleased to find the information you wanted, so you download it to your own computer for easier reference in the future, and your confidence (read faith) is increased just a bit, because now you’ve “seen” that the invisible source you’ve found is able to get results.

So it is with God. Each time you come to an interaction with God, by seeking to access His presence through a process called prayer, His response will be evidenced in you, the individual unit. But what happens when you try to go online with God, and He doesn’t respond? When this inevitably occurs, you may begin to doubt Him, or wonder why He doesn’t answer. Many will come to believe that He doesn’t exist at all.

Address Correction

If we go back to our previous effort to access the data banks to find out something of importance to us, we can find the answer to why the “connection” with God doesn’t always seem to work. All Internet users quickly learn that if they don’t have the correct address, or an accurate location (read identity) of the more powerful systems we’re querying in order to retrieve the knowledge we seek, we will fail to make a connection. In short, at least in the Internet example, the remote knowledge base will not respond to our query if we don’t approach it properly.

Computer users also find that many, many entities have similar sounding names. For example, I recently tried to access one of our own ministry presences on the web, which is placed there, or hosted, by our health and nutrition ministry, SoundBody.tv. I inadvertently put in a slight variation of the address, and ended up with a massage parlor in England with almost the identical name. Thus, we are introduced to the concept of counterfeits, or undesirable entities, which can be mistaken for the identity we’re seeking. We could call this the Internet equivalent of dialing a wrong number.

Parents of kids accessing the electronic memory portal known as the Internet also know that appearances can be deceiving. There are net entities that only pose as child friendly, or socially acceptable websites where kids can interact with other kids, in order to snare the unsuspecting. Indeed, there are many thousands of predators who are willing to mask their true identity because they have a malevolent agenda.

In many cases, organizational structures that are otherwise legitimate, such as youth clubs, schools, and churches, have long been the target of wicked people who seek to become entrenched in positions of authority so they can further their iniquitous desires. Some within these collectives are so unregenerate in their worldly ways that they have deceived themselves into believing they are actually in good standing with God:

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (II Timothy 3:13)

When it comes to accessing knowledge concerning God, a similar condition exists, for there are any number of high-level knowledge sources that claim to know about God, but they make contradictory claims. The Quran, for instance, tells us 16 times that God “has not begotten” a son (Sura 112:3), in sharp contradistinction to the New Testament, which authoritatively asserts

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Quoting the Hebrew Tanakh (commonly called the Old Testament in the Bible), Jewish sources similarly tell us that God says

“I Am, and there is none beside me.” (Zephaniah 2:15)

Although the Christian Scriptures answer the Jewish and Islamic challenge by thoroughly establishing the fact that Jesus Christ is God, ultimately each individual unit must weigh the evidence, and seek the truth wholeheartedly in order to find the truth about God. Prophecy tells us in the end, virtually everyone will claim to love the truth, but very few will actually know Him.

The Bible describes this phenomena using the metaphor of a great tree, in which evil spirits, imaged as birds, have become nested in it. In both Daniel and Revelation, we see this tree was vast, and within its

“…branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation….[and it has] become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Daniel 4:21, Revelation 18:2)

Unfortunately, the Word of God declares that all religion, including Christian structures, will become so devoid of the Spiritual truth of God that those vessels who have received the new life from heaven are instructed to stand apart from all forms of religion, including their own corrupted fellowships and churches, and walk directly with Christ, in the Spiritual wilderness the world has become:

“Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” (II Corinthians 6:16,17)

The Download Of Life Everlasting

It should be obvious the reason people should seek God is that He holds the keys to life and death, and heaven and hell. Most come to realize early in life that this life has an end, but the promise of eternal life is claimed by the Scriptures to be in the control of God, exclusively through belief in His Son Jesus Christ:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (I Peter 1:3)

In these wonderful accounts, the Apostle Peter tells us that God has given us hope of eternal life because He raised Jesus from the dead. Significantly, the pattern is clearly a top down hierarchical structure, for no man was ever able to raise himself from the dead -- but the Bible tells us that God the Father resurrected Jesus from the tomb, and lifted Him up to where Christ is now seated in the heavenlies.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ further states that all who are willing to receive this gift from the most high, may also be indwelled with the same Spiritual presence that raised Jesus from the dead:

“For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28,29).

However, like most complex systems, access to this supernatural life has a condition. In this case, it’s a simple one, for Scripture also teaches us the only way we are actually able to do “good,” is through receiving the Spiritual rebirth (read download of Spiritual life) which was generated through the death and resurrection of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This unmerited favor is received from the majesty on high, but it’s password protected, for it’s not enough to simply know the Word, He must also know you. The good news is He desires to know you, and if we earnestly seek Him, and are willing to turn away from our sinful ways and allow His life to be downloaded into us, we will live in His righteous and glorious presence forever.

- James Lloyd