“Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1Corinthians 2:9 NET).
Imagination is the forming of mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. Artificial intelligence (AI) may predict an image based upon some preexistent dataset, but God promises a future actuality to address our senses, which cannot be limited or predicted by any existing reality. AI is more powerful than we are, so it is a useful tool. Compared to the Living God, AI has a lack of imagination. Humans, however, have the capacity to perceive and imagine God. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).
Only an Eternal God can speak a thing into existence, which never existed before. “Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful” (Revelation 21:5).
Spiritual Life requires imagination, since “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18).
Additionally, we have yet to see what Yahweh is truly capable of.
Our present reality, both physical and spiritual, has been defined by culture and tradition. The world has even attempted to achieve a new reality by mind altering drugs or communing with spirits; but, if it is not a revelation from the Eternal God, then it comes from being “brought under the power” (1Corinthians 6:13) of something other than the Living God.
If we are open to anything other than “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”(Matthew 4:4), then we are already susceptible to deception, since we would be accepting a reality outside of the God, who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).
Remember, as we approach the end of this Church Age, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). The wicked one has so attacked the Church’s understanding of reality, we hear the cry, If we could only have lived in the days, when Jesus walked the Earth.
But, we have the Spirit of Christ, if we have obeyed the NT command, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
We do not want to go back to former days when the Spirit did not reside in individual Christians (1Corinthians 3:16). Our strength is to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Too long has the Church entertained a reality without the communion of the Holy Spirit.
A lack of imagination permeates the Church, because we have become complacent about taking God at His Word. We have become entrenched in a scientific reality devoid of the supernatural. We have elevated an intellectual perception of Truth, which omits the complete participation of our senses and emotion. We have become susceptible to AI capturing our Christianity, robbing us of our soul.
We need to restore the Holy Spirit as the pinnacle of our thought life, “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2Corinthians 10:5), so much so, we would feel compelled to say, The Holy Spirit told me…, just as we would quote any human individual.
Nothing told to us by the Spirit would or could ever contradict what has already been sealed in the Canon of Scripture, since the Spirit’s Voice of Scripture is always consistent with His Voice in our mind, head, and heart. “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
Father, may we be determined in our heart to exercise our imagination of You and Your things that others could note about us that we have “been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Make us living testimonies to Jesus and Your Truth that we would be used by You to rescue others around us from the grasp of the wicked one. Cause us to live upright lives in this world, while we eagerly await Your Son’s soon return. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Your Majestic Name, we pray. Amen and amen.
