Theodicy of the Spirit

[aron]

I've been trying to follow the thread on "Becoming" or "not becoming" in 1 Corinthians 15:45 ("b"), and someone asked, Well, what is the Spirit? The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, yes; but what is the spiritual body spoken of in the previous verse, verse 44?

But I wanted to start a new thread because my concepts here are not on Christ the last Adam becoming a life-giving Spirit but on the idea of what is Spirit, and what is spiritual.

And I want to do it in a way different than the discussion on that thread, because I want to have a discussion about experience. I don't think words and concepts will help you at the Judgment Seat, but rather experience. Though words and concepts help us with ideas, and thus shape behavior, and thus affect experience, I want to focus on the experience itself. Even my ideas I want to be from experience. So this is a personal discussion. How does the Spirit affect my life today? How do we experience the Spirit of God?

The idea of theodicy is to explain the existence of evil; why can God allow an imperfect world? I want to explain the Spirit. Not in a definition of a word or concept so much as a discussion of experience.

To me the Spirit is analogous to the Star Wars "force". The Spirit is that which pervades all, sees all, knows all. No one knows the Spirit but the Spirit knows all. Every star is named. Every hair on your head is numbered. Every bird that falls to the ground is reported back to the Father of lights. Every bug that crawls, every thought and intention of your heart, is laid bare. There is no dark hole for you to hide. The light that shines penetrates all.

And yet no one knows where the Spirit comes from, or where it goes. You can occasionally hear the sound of it, like the wind, if you listen carefully. But you really have to be still. If you think that you can join the Shouters and shout the Spirit into existence, you'll be fooled. I know, because I was there; eventually someone shouts something stupid and we all bray like donkeys, "Four legs good, two legs better!" And the Spirit moves on, like the wind. If you think that by shouting Witness Lee's theology you have caught have the wind in your box, then your box is empty. No one can catch the wind. It must move to be.

We, on the other hand, must be still. If we truly desire the "the restoration of the kingdom" (Acts 1:6), then we must "wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit" (v. 5). Then we will have the power to witness (v.8). But first we must wait. Hear of the Father's promised gift, and believe and obey, and wait.

God moves through the Spirit. God sits on the throne, but the whole universe lies open before His Spirit. When the Spirit moves, God moves. When the Spirit speaks, God speaks. The Spirit's moving and speaking is actually God's moving and speaking.

And I say this because of the word 'intention'. God's will is carried out perfectly by the Spirit. There is no distortion, no hesitation, no doubt. We are muddy, fleshy, distorted creatures, buffeted by every wind. We, unfortunately, have intention. The Spirit has God's intention. And that, my friends, is the difference.