As Christians we are supernaturally empowered by God through the Holy Spirit who resides within us. This one fact is the foundation on which our separation from the world stands. Thus, we are to look, act, think, and live in a completely different manner from the unbelieving world around us when trials, like COVID-19, present themselves. So how does this look in real life? While there are many directions we could take to answer this question, for times sake I want to isolate this discussion to two things we receive as Christians that both benefit our spiritual walk with the Lord and display Christ to the world around us.
Did you miss Part 1 of the series “The Christian response to the Coronavirus pandemic?”
The first is something that the world desperately seeks, but to no avail. The world looks for this in everything including wealth, work, pleasure, materialism, meditation, yoga, physical settings, medications, alcohol, etc.. While worldly unbelievers will seek hither and yon for this, they will inevitably reach a point of clarity in which they discover that nothing they do can provide this for them, and consequently they become hopeless, frustrated, fearful, and even suicidal. What I am alluding to here is the elusive sense of PEACE! True and enduring peace is only accessible to Christians, and this claim is supported by the Biblical fact that peace is only attainable through Jesus Christ and the salvation He secured for us. Jesus reveals this truth to His followers in the gospel of John:
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
– John 14:27
It would behoove every Christian to memorize this verse and recite it to themselves over and over throughout the days of their existence on earth. What a beautiful and comforting promise—especially in our current world of chaos culprits that include the current virus pandemic, social upheaval, school shootings, unprecedented stress, rampant depression, debilitating anxiety, narcotic epidemics, teen suicide, murder, pedophilia, rampant infidelity, sexual perversion, celebrated abortion and occult fascination; all of which are unified in a relentless rebellion against Christ and Christians!
One of the greatest gifts we receive
As these burgeoning evils press in upon us, the promise of real peace becomes one of the greatest gifts we, as Christians, receive from God. Anyone, even non-believers, can look around and state the obvious—the world is anything but peaceful. The world doesn’t offer peace, doesn’t live in peace, and surely doesn’t contain any source of peace, but it attempts to deceive us with a spurious form of peace. This ‘peace’ that the world disingenuously offers is at best a pseudo-peace, a faux stand-in for the real thing; in other words the peace offered by the world has the appearance of real ‘peace’ but it is a counterfeit, a sham, that will leave people chasing what will continually escape them. Knowing this is what led Christ to ensure His followers that the peace He gives is “not as the world gives”. Christ’s peace is no counterfeit poser, but rather the genuine, bona fide real thing!
To further help us in this discussion of peace, we must understand that we are really spiritual creations. Our immaterial souls are who we really are, while our physical bodies are simply temporary dwelling places or homes for our souls. This is why upon death our soul is separated from its physical, bodily home, and is returned to its Creator to receive its eternal assignment—heaven or hell.
Temporary vs eternal
Thus, the body is temporary while the soul is eternal. This helps us understand Paul when he says, “For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18b). The problem for the unbeliever, in his quest to find peace, lies in the fact that he searches for peace in an external, physical form! A big home, a great job, drugs, alcohol, sexual pleasure, even a quiet field of sunflowers are all capable of providing a temporary feeling of peace and well-being, but they are proven to be utterly impotent when their ability to provide sustained and unceasing peace is brought into question. This is because every physical thing is bound by time and subject to natural laws of deterioration, decomposition, and erosion, resulting in the fleeting nature of the physical realm.
The new home and new car won’t be new in 20 years, which will leave you wanting a newer, more modern, more updated one. The physical beauty of someone you lust after will progressively disappear with age as the human body breaks down in appearance and function over time. The intense feeling of well-being created by drugs and alcohol is a false, chemically manipulated sensation.
While the high from these substances may be calming and euphoric it will wear off, leaving users unhappy and depressed secondary to the drug’s unnatural manipulation and depletion of the brain’s euphoric chemicals. At this point users are unable to experience any level of natural happiness as they enter into an emotional low that can become so low the thought of suicide is entertained.
Beautiful tombs
Without entering into an exhaustive discussion about the futility of physically sought peace, we can stand on Scripture and say with absolute certainty that any peace that is dependent on physical things is unsustainable secondary to the agents of peace being perishable, transient, and fleeting. Thus, anything and everything physical is completely incapable of providing peace. We can see now that humans without Christ truly are beautiful tombs. Their external appearance can give a masquerade of peace as they appear to have it all together. Such people walk around polished, beautiful, well-dressed, and confident; while all the while this external display is simply a deceptive façade that hides and conceals a desperate soul underneath that is trapped in turbulence, chaos, fear, and uncertainty as true peace escapes them!
Spiritual attempts to attain peace outside of Christ may pose even more of a threat to the human soul than the physical attempts discussed above. Transcendental meditation, yoga (including the Kundalini, and third-eye varieties), mind-emptying, applied wisdom, and the practices of Buddhism, and Hinduism, etc. are all spiritual attempts to find peace. The problem with all of these is that any spiritual practice outside of Christ is, by definition, demonic, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1).
Demons are liars and tricksters who will cater to human senses in an effort to exploit our seeking of peace and draw us into occult practices that are deceptively labeled as ‘cultural practices’ that promise peace. This is incredibly dangerous and deceptive, and this manipulation can even result in the entry of demons into one’s life (which I have personally witnessed).
Meditate day and night
For instance, in non-Christian meditation one of the first instructions is to empty the mind. First of all, emptying of the mind is NEVER instructed by God in Scripture. When the Word of God instructs us to meditate, rather than emptying the mind, God teaches the Christian to fill his mind with His Word and His commands as we meditate on them “day and night” (see Psalm 1:1-2).
Secondly, it is an intuitive fact that entering requires emptying. Nothing can enter a vessel that is full, that vessel must first be emptied if it is to subsequently be filled. This is why the meditation of other religions requires a pre-requisite emptying of the mind; because if one’s mind is empty then demons are free to enter and influence that mind with their persuasive lies. Since demons are evil, chaotic, and desire influence over humans in an effort to separate them from God, participation in any such ‘spiritual practices’ will result in everything but peace; in fact it will result in the opposite of peace as your mind will be slowly and systematically destroyed secondary to the sinister demonic agenda that was initially presented to you as a beautifully wrapped cultural practice—don’t be fooled!
The peace of Christ is the only true peace available to the human soul; and when the soul is at peace all chaotic occurrences in the physical realm become secondary considerations incapable of disturbing the peace that is found in a much deeper, more profound place—our soul! This is the answer to the paradox surrounding the behavior of the early Christian martyrs. How could Polycarp (a disciple of the apostle John) appear joyful as he stood unbound, singing hymns to the Lord as his flesh was burning at the stake? How could Stephen, the first Christian martyr referenced in Acts 7, look up to heaven in total peace and ask God to forgive his murderers as dozens of thrown rocks began to crush his head?
We could go on and on, but the question remains—what gave these men such profound poise and even joy in the midst of such horrific and painful physical torture? The answer is the peace of Christ! That peace sustained them, and can still sustain us today through even the most difficult physical trials; and when unbelievers of the world witness a man at peace, singing joyfully as he burns alive, they want what he has and I can think of no greater power that draws men to Christ than when this peace is witnessed by a fearful, stressed, anxiety-ridden world that lives in avoidance of what the Christian is joyfully welcoming and enduring! ‘Peace amid chaos’ accurately describes the Christian amid the world respectively. Does this describe you today as we face a global coronavirus pandemic that incites fear and chaos in the minds of those without Christ? Examine yourself!
I can think of no greater power that draws men to Christ than when this peace is witnessed by a fearful, stressed, anxiety-ridden world that lives in avoidance of what the Christian is joyfully welcoming and enduring!
The gift of eternal life
The second thing that we receive as Christians that I feel is important to remember and discuss when considering the global fear created by this virus is: eternal life! While this may sound overly basic I would like to argue that it isn’t basic at all and the fact that many Christians live and act as if they fear death, via the coronavirus, cancer, etc., warrants a discussion concerning this most blessed of gifts! As true, born-again, regenerate believers we are promised eternal life. Generally, a Christian would define eternal life as living forever in heaven in the presence of God after physical death on earth, and while this is certainly true, this definition provides the ends without mentioning the means. In John 17 Jesus provides us with His definition of eternal life as He prays to His Father just prior to His arrest.
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know You, the ONLY true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
– John 17:1b-3
When discussing the gift of eternal life this passage must be considered. Notice in this verse, rather than describe eternal life in post-mortem terms (what we receive after death), Jesus describes it in current terms (what we receive on earth today). Eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus the Son today! This knowledge of God and Christ is unattainable in our natural fallen state, and thus knowing God and Jesus, coming into a relationship with the eternal Father and Son that allows us to claim membership in the family of God and come boldly into His throne room through prayer to inquire of Him, is the blessed definition of eternal life! This knowledge of God the Father and God the Son that is given by God through salvation is the ONLY way that we can we place our hope in life after death in heaven! So don’t consider eternal life as something only to look forward to after death, but rather, live within the reality of your eternal life today which includes: the knowledge of God, adoption into God’s family, and a continual, interactive relationship with Him!
The root cause of fear and uncertainty
So how does all this talk about peace and eternal life relate to the coronavirus and the current state of affairs in our country and in our world? It has everything to do with it! When any level of suffering enters the world, especially suffering that is meted out by disease (which the Bible refers to as “pestilence”), what is the base cause of fear and uncertainty? The answer to that question is summed up in a single word: DEATH!
Sadly, I am witnessing Christians being just as afraid as unbelievers when the threat of contraction of coronavirus, and possible death from it, is being considered. What are we showing the world about our God if we show fear in such a time as this? What are we afraid of? The entire purpose of Christ suffering, dying, and being resurrected for us revolves around death! We must realize that when Christ was resurrected He defeated death once and for all, to the point that death no longer has a hold on Him or any of His disciples.
Now does this mean that a Christian can’t contract this virus and die? Absolutely not! But just as being a Christian in the first century didn’t ensure that one wasn’t horribly tortured and martyred, being a Christian today does not ensure that we won’t fall sick and even die of illnesses like that caused by the coronavirus. The strength of true Christianity lies not in Divine protection against being terminally ill or murdered, but rather in the peace and hope we are given to display as we pass through life-threatening trials; and this peace and hope are fueled by our faith in God’s promises concerning eternal life today and after death. This ‘hope’ that the Christian is given resided so powerfully in Paul that not only did he not fear death, but he actually desired it, as He discerned that being with Christ was infinitely better than being in this fallen world.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
– Philippians 1:21-24
This sentiment was not exclusively Paul’s, but rather we see evidence of this in all the apostles and many Christians in the early church (as evidenced in extra-biblical historical texts written by Jewish historians). Being a Christian in the first century nearly ensured persecution to the point of death as we know that all of the apostles, with the exception of John, were murdered in horrendous ways. At the end of Hebrews 11 we read about some of these trials and deaths that were experienced by believers:
“Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated–of whom the world was not worthy–wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and cave of the earth.”
– Hebrews 11:36-38
Considering the recorded accounts of the murders of these saints of old, one can immediately appreciate the fact that they never fought back and they never cried out begging their torturers to stop, instead they displayed an inner peace so profound that it almost appeared as if they welcomed death. The truth is, it wasn’t death and pain they were welcoming, but rather they were joyfully anticipating the fulfillment of the hope that had fueled their lives up to that very point of death, and that hope was the hope of heaven that had been made so sure in their hearts secondary to the power of the Holy Spirit, that nothing could disrupt their peace and their hope.