God Invaded Saul’s world via a vision
God has a way of showing up when you least expect Him. Saul was busy persecuting the early church, securing legal letters to lock them up for believing in Jesus Christ as God in a body of flesh for the atonement of sins. Then, a bright light from heaven shone down on him on the road to Damascus, blinding his eyes. As soon as knew it was Jesus, he fell to his knees. It changed his life so drastically that he became a great apostle for Christ’s Kingdom, writing these words to the church at Corinth.
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” II Corinthians 5:16-18
Saul also known as Paul, found out that there are two ways to knowing Christ. One can know Christ with the physical eyes and interacting with the physical mind, and emotions, or one can know Christ with eyes of the spirit.
When one is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old passes away, causing all things to become new. This is through God-loving each of us so much that He gave His only begotten Son as our reconciliation. Our mission after knowing Christ, as was Paul’s, is to tell others that they now can be reconciled to God through Christ.
Our spirit-man has been made alive via the new Birth. The Holy Spirit has quickened our human spirit to be sensitive to the things of God and on alert to what humans around us are saying and doing and how it all relates to the Spirit of God and His desire to fill the earth with His Glory.
We have to realize that we are born into a world at war. There are evil spirits opposing God’s purposes in our lives and in nature. There is a fleshly world and there is a spiritual world. Paul says we need to know the spiritual world first and foremost.
Christmas is God’s Invasion into the Devil’s Evil World
The birth of Christ took place around a manger and on a silent night by outward appearances. However, looking into the spirit world, we see that a devil stood in front of Mary ready to devour baby Jesus as soon as He was born. (Revelation 12:1-5, 7-8, 17)
C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, in the chapter titled “The Invasion”:
“One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death, disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees…this universe is at war.”
Evil originated with Lucifer the good angel who went wrong
Instead of blaming ourselves and others or God for the terrible things happening to us and around us; we need to understand that we are in a spiritual world which is at war with God.
Terrorism, kidnapped young girls, school shootings, abusive husbands setting their wives on fire, children killing their parents and grandparents, with them in turn abusing their children and grandchildren, broken dysfunctional families, sickness and disease, wars and natural disasters, greed, fraud, corruption, aborted innocent babies, and the list goes on and on; these all come from an evil spirit being who has chosen to go wrong and opposes all that is good and holy from God, influencing humans to use their free wills to choose to do his dirty work.
Christians in the flesh produces religion
Christianity is not a religion. It is God coming to men and women through Jesus Christ. Too many Christians today are trying to work their way through religion to God, but Jesus has already worked His way to earth via a baby born in Bethlehem.
What we as humans need to do is look beyond the manger, beyond the flesh of that baby Jesus and see via the Holy Spirit, the Son of God as Immanuel or God in flesh reconciling the world unto Himself!
The personal experience with Christ is what changed Saul into a missionary willing to be beheaded for his Lord. It moved John to write Revelation of Jesus Christ. It caused Peter to walk on water. It caused Lazarus to walk out of a tomb. It caused the disciples to rejoice over demons obeying the Name of Jesus! What is He doing in your life?
The world celebrating the baby Jesus is what brings peace and goodwill to men around the world at least for a few days or weeks.
A personal vision of heaven is what changed atheist Robert Sornsen in 1989 into a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ.
Robert’s car was hit by a snowplow while he was driving 50 mph. He was rushed to the hospital where they tried to save his life. He had an invasion from God transporting him into heaven with Jesus Christ as his guide. Jesus ended their visit by telling Robert; “I am the truth, the light and the way.” Robert was back in his body in the hospital room spending 20 hours in the ER and many months recovering. He found his way to a church committing his life to Christ with plans to return to heaven one day as a member of the redeemed!
Personal dreams, visions, and encounters with Christ have kept my faith strong. It will take a personal invasion from God to change your life. Then as you develop a personal relationship with Him, you will also say with Paul:
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer.”