We need to say this again: The Hebrew mindset does not seek to know the nature of things. It seeks only to know its duty within a given context.
Thus, Paul enunciates the Doctrine of Election. He doesn’t answer all of our western minds’ questions. Rather, he gives us just enough to figure out how to approach serving the Kingdom of Christ.
That’s how doctrine works. Theology is not the same thing; that’s a quest to discern definitions that satisfy a Hellenized brain. It’s all about questions that a Hebrew mind would not consider in the first place. In other words, theology is mostly invalid. It’s okay if you need to work out something internally, but you cannot pretend that you gain truth from theology. In the Hebrew mind of Christ, truth does not work like that.
Unlike theology, doctrine is a frame of reference that allows you to operate in this life. It’s not about absolute truth; it’s about functional orientation. It gives you just enough to get the job done. It’s not meant to inform you how things are, but to grant you a provisional perspective. Doctrine says, “Act as if this were true.” Never mind whether it is true, just act like it is.
Thus, I have taught for a long time that you should act as if all Creation is alive, sentient and willful. That’s part of how Jesus calmed the sea storm. He spoke to it as if it were a living thing that would respond to His valid command. Stop trying to figure out whether the natural world is actually alive; that’s the wrong question. Pretend it is.
Treat it like a simulation, like you are living inside a game. The only real question is for you to discover what a valid command would be in any given context. The difficulty is overcoming the work of the fallen Watchers. You see, they taught a bunch of cheat codes. Using cheat codes will degrade your game-karma, as it were. The simulation knows the difference between a valid command and a cheat code. This is a demo run.
When the Devil offered the first cheat-code, the only way to accept it was to enter the simulation in which he was provisional master. That meant leaving the Garden of Reality and entering this dark realm of mortal existence — simulated existence. Everything you accomplish here will eventually be reset. God is keeping score; He will eventually reboot the system and start from scratch. The next iteration will take into account the score and the flaws that are revealed. The design of the natural world (the basic game design) doesn’t change, only the defilement of nature from human play within the game is ephemeral. On the restart, God will set the course of the game on a different track.
Indeed, God will patch the flaws that showed up during the first demonstration run. He’ll remove the Devil’s track from the game, along with the Devil and the Abyss. The Watchers, their Nephilim children and the cheat codes will be erased. The NPCs won’t be back (the non-Elect).
This kind of parable seems to fit our mental frame of reference in explaining how the Hebrew mind sees reality. Like any parable, it goes only so far before it breaks down. Still, perhaps you’ll get a better concept of how Jesus thought about things.
