In the modern West, we use the word “nature” to refer to the material universe that operates by cause and effect, independently of spiritual influence. We use the term “supernatural” to describe what is spiritual/ immaterial, from beyond the natural world. If we hold to these two assumptions, then a miracle occurs when the supernatural invades the natural. This way of seeing things can have great influence upon how we read and understand key scriptures.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV)

If we read the above verse through the filter of our modern Western assumptions, we might understand “on earth as it is in heaven” as the supernatural triumphing over the natural. But what would happen if we adjusted our filter according to the following passages of scripture?

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3, ESV)

“But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:2–3, ESV)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1–3, ESV)

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:6, ESV)

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16, ESV)

From these verses it becomes clear that the material universe originates from and is sustained by the Word. The natural originates from and is sustained by the supernatural. The natural is, in its essence, supernatural. The visible is made from the invisible. When we view Creation through this set of lenses, the distinction between natural and supernatural begins to get pretty obscure. Heaven and Earth are both created realities. They were nothing. Now they are something because God spoke. Heaven and Earth are both supernatural. They are both ordered. They both operate by laws God has set in motion.

It is therefore insufficient to think of a miracle, that moment when Heaven invades Earth, as an expression of the supernatural triumphing over the natural, for the natural is itself supernatural. It is likewise incorrect to think of those aspects of our existence that are not obviously miraculous, our day to day material, cause & effect existence, as being merely natural. The material world itself originates from and is currently being sustained by God’s living and active Word.

I believe it is the modern Western view of things that works to limit many believers from experiencing the miraculous life promised and modeled within scripture. By relegating the spiritual to a reality disconnected from our material existence, and thereby defining the miraculous as a divine interruption of the norm, we position ourselves to only experience the miraculous abnormally. If, instead of seeing spiritual reality as a distant and disconnected reality that must interrupt the way our world normally works in order to produce the miraculous, we were to see the spiritual reality of God’s Word as the source and sustenance of every aspect of every moment of our existence, we would begin to see the supernatural in all things and, at the same time, begin to redefine the miraculous altogether.

Instead of defining a miracle as God working “here” from “out there” in a manner that violates the natural cause and effect processes that are actually His design, we begin to see a miracle as the supernatural work of a supernatural God within His supernatural material creation to accomplish His purpose. Heaven is working within earth to restore God’s original design. Everything is spiritual (heaven & earth). Some things are also material (earth). Some things are doing fine (heaven). Some things are broken and fallen (earth). God is at work redemptively within fallen material Creation to restore and heal; as a result, His will finds full expression on earth like it’s already expressed in heaven.

Bethlehem.

House of Bread. That’s what it means. Also called Ephratha – fruitfulness. A small little town in a tiny little part of the world called Israel. Rachel was buried there. Ruth found her kinsman redeemer there. It is David’s city. And as Micah makes clear, it is a city of great promise. God loves to do great things in small places.

But let’s not misread this wonderful verse. Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy to look back upon Micah’s words through lenses that were unavailable to those who first heard Micah’s message. We read about Bethlehem and hear the voice of Linus as he holds his blanket and recites the Christmas story. We think of nativity scenes and mangers and mixed in with that are images of Christmas trees, eager children ripping open gift after gift with smiles and laughter, and jolly old Saint Nick. Nothing wrong with any of that. I’m planning on a good strong dose of all of it at my house. But if that’s all we see, we miss something important about Bethlehem.

Go back and read the fourth and fifth chapters of Micah. God’s people are in exile, oppressed by pagan nations, scattered and defeated. There is compromise and idolatry. Things are desperately wrong and there is a deep longing for God to act and make things right. Micah 5:2 is located right in the middle of this mess. God will send a ruler. When he comes he is going to defeat the enemies of God’s people and restore their rightful inheritance. He will overthrow corrupt leaders, tear down idols, establish justice, and vindicate the small remnant of the faithful.

Imagine Herod’s reaction when he was told that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. I can see the beads of sweat forming on his brow as his hands gripped the arms of his chair as knuckles turned white. Wise men from the East, guided by a star, had been led to the land of Israel, looking for this new King. Having come to Herod for guidance as to where they might continue their search, Herod is informed that Bethlehem is the promised location. Can you imagine Herod’s face as this passage is read in his hearing? He can’t help but think in terms of the defeat of Rome and the overthrow of his own power base. The ensuing slaughter of children powerfully demonstrates the fear that must have gripped his heart in that moment. Rachel is crying for her children.

Far from a cute little nativity scene, the incarnation of Christ is, and has been from the beginning, a most subversive thing. A small baby in an obscure village represents God’s invasion to overthrow evil. A tiny baby represents the ultimate threat to corrupt rulers. No one could ever have anticipated this plan.

“But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. ” (Micah 4:12, ESV)

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth this year, let’s be mindful of what God is really up to. He is taking over, not with an army, but with love. He is destroying corruption and idolatry, not with a show of force, but by lowering himself beyond comprehension, even to the point of death. He is making all things new.

Peace on earth. Good will toward men. Bethlehem.

I wrote down of few of the best zingers. Here’s one.

“I can’t afford to be more conscious of any problem than I am of his presence.”

Wow. There’s more in there than I can digest in a single sitting. He’s really messing with my business too. How often do I pray from a place of being conscious of a problem rather than of His presence? Too often. When I am problem focused rather than Kingdom focused, I usually end up striving from a place of fear and unbelief. This usually produces fruitlessness in prayer, which then magnifies the unbelief. This process may produce louder and more fervent prayer, but rarely does it produce more effective prayer.

Faith comes from hearing God. Revelation results from turning toward Him, not toward a problem. I’m most effective in prayer when my focus is upon pursuing divine encounter rather than relief from a difficulty.

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
NKJV

Birth must be quite an experience. What must that be like? We leave the only reality we have ever known, a warm and cozy space about the size of a volley ball and emerge into a vast world completely outside of our capacity to understand. We are born into a reality for which we have absolutely no point of reference. We enter a world in which we are completely dependent and within which we must now learn to grow and mature. But this is not a learning defined simply in terms of the accumulation of new and additional data. This is a qualitatively new way of seeing and experiencing reality.

Jesus describes our entrance into God’s Kingdom in these precise terms. What is it like to enter the Kingdom of God? First, we must leave behind the only reality we’ve ever experienced. By the Spirit we emerge into a bigger, deeper reality – one for which we have no reference point. Entrance into the Kingdom is best described in terms of birth.

Faith in Christ is so much more than mental ascent to doctrine. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is far more than a commitment to identifying and implementing Biblical principles. Christianity isn’t simply our identification with a group or organization, nor is it a new set of ideas, even good, right, and true religious ideas. Saving faith is in fact an entirely different way of perceiving reality. It is an awakening from darkness to light, emerging into a new reality where none of the old rules apply and everything is somehow strangely different and upside down.

Like the wind, this new life surprises us and is difficult to tame or predict. When asked to explain we find ourselves stretching for a vocabulary that doesn’t quite exist yet. All we are able to describe is that the trees are blowing. The wind itself is beyond description for we are so new to this larger, deeper reality called the Kingdom. We are born. Again.

God has provided a way through Jesus for us to enter a new reality called the Kingdom of Heaven. Many long to be free – free from addictions, free from destructive behavior patterns, free from demonic oppression, free from anything in our life that hinders us from becoming all Jesus created and died for us to be. Our first step to freedom is the new birth. This is not something we add on to our old life as an accessory. Being born radically alters our perception and definition of all we have every known to be true and real. You cannot be born and remain within the cozy reality you’ve occupied before. So the first thing God frees us from is all we have ever thought to be true and all the ways we have thought about truth.