TO WHOM ARE WE RELATIVE
(Part 5)
RELATIVE TO THE UNSEEN
Synopsis:
The Kingdom of God cometh not with (1)observation" (Luke 17:20).
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:9-11).
We will be relative to the seen for a moment and suppose He did leave -- that His entire person was taken to a physical place other than where human beings were present, such as, in outer-space somewhere. Even if that were true, His leave was for only a period of ten days. Let us note the scriptures which convey the story, and in them we will, hopefully, see them from the vantage point of being relative to the unseen:
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And we recall that the Lord Himself is that Spirit. Since He is that Spirit which was manifested at Pentecost, and He has never stopped manifesting Himself to those who are relative to Him, we must conclude the King has been with us from that day to now. And if this is true, and it is, so has His Kingdom been with us.
We are all familiar what is called Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. He believed that if one traveled at the speed of light, time would cease, as well as the person's aging process. Borrowing from our dear friend, J. Preston Eby, who draws a graphic picture of this Special Law of Relativity. He uses a parade as an example, with a man sitting on his little chair in front of a hardware store.
It is like those who hear the word of the Lord that this or that will take place, and their hearts rejoice at the good news, even though they cannot see a thing. As it is with the promises of the Lord, so likewise the parade -- it eventually comes to where the man sits on his little chair in front of the hardware store. He can now see the procession. It is tremendous, and his heart races at actually seeing what was his uncertain expectations. The fruit of hundreds of hours of hard work by those who built the floats are being witnessed; but he can only see one or two floats at a time. His world is narrow and taking place right there in front of him. He can't see that which is yet to come, and neither can he see what has passed him by. He may know what lies in the past, since he once saw it; but to him, it is forever gone and nothing remains of it except vague memories.
Let us take a moment and notice a man who has ascended and see if he can view the parade with a different perspective. For instance, say he is on the balcony of the third floor of a hotel across the street from the hardware store where the man is siting on his little chair and surrounded by hoards of people. Ah, from that vantage point he can see from one end of the parade to the other. There is no past or future for him. Everything is in the present. Eiestein's Special Theory of Relativity suddenly becomes fact and is no longer theory.
What he sees is unlike everyone who is on the street. This man's perspective is entirely different. He is relative to a higher plane and can see beyond those who are relative to the lower level of the street. And if he ascends higher yet, he is able to take even more into his relevant present.
You have problems, and at times we have problems. We all know the rigors of such dire straits. Yet when viewing them from above we are able to say -- SO WHAT! Shouldn't give them a second thought. There is no call for whining and crying and moaning and groaning. Sons don't do that.
When we see the whole parade of God's creation, and His purpose for it all, how wonderful it is. No longer do we question why. We don't just buckle down and say, "It is for us to do or die." We instead, lift our voices in anthem's praise to God in all things.
The parade of life, and all its heavens, will pass away, one float at a time; but THE WORD OF OUR LORD SHALL NEVER PASS AWAY! Selah.
Elwin R. Roach
To receive our studies in booklet form, write to:
The Pathfinder
Elwin & Margit Roach
PO Box 4004
Alamogordo, NM 88311-4004
1. "observation: parateresis, from paratereo; inspection, i.e. ocular evidence."
paratereo: to inspect alongside, i.e. note insidiously or scrupulously" Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.