"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
So, here is the simple truth which we all know subconsciously: There is a God. Already embedded within the psyche of each of us is this awareness that there is an all-powerful, eternal Being to whom we all owe homage. This awareness may be perverted or suppressed as Paul described in the verses above. But, it is there.
And yet, far more times than not – we fail to discover it. Why is that? Why do we struggle with this simple truth and the self-evident reality that it describes? It is because there is a flaw in our “Interpretative Context.”
Essentially, it works like this. In simple terms, Truth is merely a correct interpretation or assessment of reality. When you can see reality accurately, you have arrived at the truth. But, since the fall of man, which, in short, gave each of us our own subjective view of reality, our perception of reality has become a matter of a very personal Interpretation.
And that interpretation is typically entirely shaped by our value system. And, our value system is very much a product of our upbringing, our life experiences, and various intellectual and emotional exposures.
Eventually, all of these experiential influences produce some principles and beliefs which are so deeply held that they become more instinctive than cognitive. And these, then, simply coalesce into our personal value system, which, in turn, becomes our Interpretive Context. So, our personal value system, in effect, becomes a kind of “life filter” through which all life's issues must pass to be analyzed and interpreted.
This is the means by which we vet everything. And, in this way, we distill our own awareness of reality – what we believe to be it's correct interpretation.
However, the problem is that this “Filter,” is clogged, and torn, and misshaped by our personal inadequacies, prejudices, fears, ignorance and the impact of our own deep-seated selfishness. As a result, this interpretative context which we are depending on to show us a correct view of reality does not accurately distill a true reality at all.
Instead, it produces a view of reality that, for example, may have important elements subtracted by our fears and superfluous elements added in by our personal preferences. So, instead of actually arriving at a correct assessment of reality – the truth – we come to our flawed and very subjective version of a given circumstance. We arrive at our own, "designer truth," based in our very flawed Interpretive Context.
And then, armed with this self-concentric view of reality we enter into strident confrontations with those around us on everything from Creationism to the worth of Capitalism, to the question: "Is There A God?" And we simply can’t understand why those who oppose us can't see that truth which seems so very obvious to us.
Eventually however, objective and honest thinkers do come to an inescapable conclusion. It is this. In fact, none of us are consistently capable, within ourselves, of distilling an entirely accurate and objective awareness of reality.
And, it’s true. We actually lost that ability as a species long ago, in the very beginning of our existence.
In truth, the capacity to always accurately assess reality, and thus to correctly determine truth, resides with God, alone. The Liberals in our world are convinced that they know the truth and therefore the correct way forward. The Conservatives hold the same view.
And, Muslims hold this same view, as do atheists. Yet, none of them are correct. In truth, only God is capable of rendering a completely accurate view of life's issues.
Thus, if one would know the true interpretation of life's circumstances, there is really but one available source. It is Christ, who can reintroduce us to the divine perspectives.
All other purveyors of truth are mere pretenders, who are actually disabled by their own flawed Interpretive Context. But, as God, Christ is the authoritative interpreter of life. And, it's only He can empower us to rise above the stumbling’s of our own misinterpretations to know the truly correct view of life issues.
So, the Apostle, John would write these words..."And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, [if we embrace His interpretations of reality]we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." [Brackets added] – The Holy Bible
And you shall know the truth,
and, the truth shall make you free - Jesus
Eventually, all of these experiential influences produce some principles and beliefs which are so deeply held that they become more instinctive than cognitive. And these, then, simply coalesce into our personal value system, which, in turn, becomes our Interpretive Context. So, our personal value system, in effect, becomes a kind of “life filter” through which all life's issues must pass to be analyzed and interpreted.
This is the means by which we vet everything. And, in this way, we distill our own awareness of reality – what we believe to be it's correct interpretation.
However, the problem is that this “Filter,” is clogged, and torn, and misshaped by our personal inadequacies, prejudices, fears, ignorance and the impact of our own deep-seated selfishness. As a result, this interpretative context which we are depending on to show us a correct view of reality does not accurately distill a true reality at all.
Instead, it produces a view of reality that, for example, may have important elements subtracted by our fears and superfluous elements added in by our personal preferences. So, instead of actually arriving at a correct assessment of reality – the truth – we come to our flawed and very subjective version of a given circumstance. We arrive at our own, "designer truth," based in our very flawed Interpretive Context.
And then, armed with this self-concentric view of reality we enter into strident confrontations with those around us on everything from Creationism to the worth of Capitalism, to the question: "Is There A God?" And we simply can’t understand why those who oppose us can't see that truth which seems so very obvious to us.
Eventually however, objective and honest thinkers do come to an inescapable conclusion. It is this. In fact, none of us are consistently capable, within ourselves, of distilling an entirely accurate and objective awareness of reality.
And, it’s true. We actually lost that ability as a species long ago, in the very beginning of our existence.
In truth, the capacity to always accurately assess reality, and thus to correctly determine truth, resides with God, alone. The Liberals in our world are convinced that they know the truth and therefore the correct way forward. The Conservatives hold the same view.
And, Muslims hold this same view, as do atheists. Yet, none of them are correct. In truth, only God is capable of rendering a completely accurate view of life's issues.
Thus, if one would know the true interpretation of life's circumstances, there is really but one available source. It is Christ, who can reintroduce us to the divine perspectives.
All other purveyors of truth are mere pretenders, who are actually disabled by their own flawed Interpretive Context. But, as God, Christ is the authoritative interpreter of life. And, it's only He can empower us to rise above the stumbling’s of our own misinterpretations to know the truly correct view of life issues.
So, the Apostle, John would write these words..."And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, [if we embrace His interpretations of reality]we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." [Brackets added] – The Holy Bible
And you shall know the truth,
and, the truth shall make you free - Jesus
