People do crazy stuff sometimes. They jump out of airplanes, ski off the tops of mountains, kayak off of waterfalls. Often this is done for the adrenaline rush that comes with flirting with death. People also do dangerous “recreational” drugs to experience something beyond the boredom or the pain of their daily lives. These risky or reckless behaviors are often described as wanting to feel alive. What is being “alive” supposed to feel like? Let’s ask a crazier question, “Are you alive?”
Feelings are very much subject to the chemistry of our bodies. Depression is chemically mediated in our brains. It can have a cause in negative experiences, but it is then enshrined in brain chemistry. That is why medicines can help. Fixing relationships, changing how you think about your life, feeling hope can all help. These things also modify brain chemistry. So what is real? Is what you think real or what is happening to what you think with? Both. You are not a soul riding along in a body. You are a body and soul, even if those things are not what they should be at this time.
One of the unfortunate aspects of how our bodies have been modified by sin and the curse, is the strong tendency for our brains to seek pleasure and to become addicted to it. Life becomes a balancing act where we want to have pleasure but remain in control of ourselves. Some people have this tendency worse than others; they have an addictive personality. This is often seen as being “weak willed”. It is more being poorly constructed. “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, who drown at his home this week, freely shared how he became addicted early and could not shake it even with the best of care. This did not make him a weak or bad person. He was a person who could not handle any drugs of alcohol because of how sin and the curse had modified him.
We all need to have realistic expectations of how this life will feel and a clear understanding of why we are alive. Living under sin (we all have a sinful nature, for a better explanation of this go here: https://givingchrist.com/2023/10/10/what-is-sinful-nature/ This reality does create a far from ideal existence. Add to it what the Bible calls “the curse”, which is basically God not tightly controlling how the universe works, and you have the ingredients of a life than is disappointing at best. (Go to givingchrist.com and search “the curse” in the search box at the bottom of the page)
This explains an intriguing little phrase in the Bible:
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)
I am especially interested in the last two words here: “truly life”. Does “truly life mean our experience here not real or is it not worthy of the title “life”?
Recently scientists and noted personalities like Elon Musk have played with the idea that the whole universe is actually a simulation. It is like the movie, “The Matrix”. The reasons for this are because our planet seems too good to be true within the laws of physics. Because the odds are against it, we must be in a simulation. Others note that physical limits like the speed of light suggest a limiting processor speed.
This seems like a desperate attempt to get around that the world is a creation. The complexity of the universe that seems extraneous to the world’s existence is either God being creative for His own pleasure or some type of consequence of the curse. Living in a creation does not make it a simulation. However, living in a fallen creation does make it unpleasant and incomplete. That is why people who have Near Death Experiences (NDE) say that they feel more alive when they were clinically dead.
There will be heightened senses, greater joy, deeper love, engrossing amazement when we get out from under sin and the curse. It will be life that truly deserves the title life. In fact, this won’t be completed at your physical death, unless Jesus is coming again at that time. The fullness of your life will be accomplished at your resurrection from the dead (Search “resurrection of the dead” in the search box above). It is also a gift for those who are connected by faith and baptism to Jesus. It is not the general fate of mankind.
In the meantime, the muted nature of our experience now doesn’t make it worthless. This is God’s creation and it still has a purpose and so do you. You are not created for thrills and highs. You are created to know God, to know His love for you, to reflect his love for you to others. This is true in even the most miserable of situations (especially then). You want to be here to accomplish God’s plans for you.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
Having God work through you is a high that doesn’t do harm. It is a foretaste of life that is truly life.
afterdeathsite 