Selfishness seeks its own private happiness at the expense of others. Love seeks its happiness in the happiness of the beloved. It will even suffer and die for the beloved in order that its joy might be full in the life and purity of the beloved.
John Piper

The Context Of Christian Medita

The Context Of Christian Medita

THE CONTEXT OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

. What exactly does the Bible mean when it uses the word Meditation?
. The expression “Meditation” is used by a whole host of philosophies and religions ranging from the Mahareshi Mahesi Yogi (Transcendental Meditation) to the religions of Hinduism and Buddism. Meditation is especially popular and basically had it’s foundation in the Orient.
. Christian Meditation is much different from that of all the other religions of the world. It stands in the context of the Biblical message of salvation. This we must know before we will be able to completely understand the meaning and importance of Christian Meditation.
. Christian Meditation is entering into a very real and dynamic fellowship with the the Father. But before that can be, we must first understand who God is. What is He like? How can we get to know and have fellowship with Him?

GOD, THE CREATOR

. (Read Genesis 1; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; I Corinthians 8:6.)

. The Bible is a book which contains the words that God breathed life into, they disclose God to Man, and it is here that we meet the Person who causes us to meditate.

  1. He is the eternal one. Time and space begin in Genesis 1, but God is before time. (Genesis 1:1) He is the unbeginning beginning of all that is.
  2. He is the Creator of earth and space. He, therefore, contains space within Himself. The Limitless One who contains all that is measured and is, Himself, measureless. (I Kings 8:27)
  3. He is the original Person. Genesis 1, does not speak of mere force or energy being the beginning of all that is, but One who speaks — A Person.
  4. Before He created there was nothing but Himself. All that is was created from His faith. (Hebrews 11:3) The material that makes up the universe is not God but was made by Him and is an objective reality to Him.

. In stating this, we must understand that He fills all that is with His real presence. (Acts 17:27,28; Jeremiah 23:24) He is the power at the center of every atom that holds creation together. (Colossians 1:17) Although He is at the center of a blade of grass, a tree or a living creature, He is not that blade of grass, tree or creature. The Christian sees God filling His universe but does not confuse the universe with Him.

5) Man was created at the end of the creation week. He was and is a unique creation. He shared with the animals that he was made from dust (Genesis 2:7,19), but he could not find fellowship with them. Man was different, made in God’s image and likeness. (Genesis 1:26,27) Man was made a limited beginning person to relate and have fellowship with the unlimited, unbeginning person.

THE CHOICE

. In order for man to actually be the free lord on Earth that he was created to be, he had to make a choice. All other creatures were programmed to obey the Creator. Man, made in the image of that Creator, is the only unprogrammed member of creation. He must choose to be who he is, a creature, and so worship the creator – drawing life, direction and understanding from Him. Man chose to rebel against God, not accepting his creaturehood, but setting himself up as God. (Genesis 3:5)
. Let us consider what this has done to man. By refusing to submit to the one who arranged and ordered the universe, man chose a path of disorder and chaos.
. God is Life. So when man rebels against Him, he is in fact embracing the opposite of God (Life), Satan (Death). (Genesis 2:17) Man also entered into a state of both mental and spiritual darkness and has followed the Liar (satan) instead of God by whom we know truth. Only when we become servants of the truth are we truly free. People who do not Know God and make fun of Christians often use the phrase, “Yeah, but I am free to drink, take drugs, smoke etc.. and you are not.” Well, if they think that the right to destroy themselves is freedom, then you can see the lie and deception they are following. But the fact is, although they may be free to do all that; we are even more free, because we as Christians are free NOT to do those things, they are not. When mankind walked away from God he actually walked away from Wisdom Himself and entered a life of foolishness. (Romans 1:21,22) (Please read for further information Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17- 22.)
. Man forgot who he was and became a lost person ever in search of the “WHY” for his existence.

GOD’S SALVATION

. Despite the predicament man got himself into, God in His love for His creatures provided a way out. But, God has totally set Himself against the cancer of the creation … SIN. Man could and would not ever have fellowship restored with his Creator until the sin problem had been dealt with. God also knew that in order for the debt of man’s sin to be paid; He must do it Himself. Man is unable to pay for his own debt of Sin.
. The Bible records, beginning in Genesis chapter 3, the unfolding of God’s dealing with man’s sin which culminates in the finished work of Jesus Christ. God took to Himself our humanity, guilt, sin and sickness and laid it on His Son Jesus Christ, who is truly God and truly man. For only Jesus was able to take our place and receive our penalty. He died to take YOUR punishment and guilt so you wouldn’t have to.. Oh, what Love. He is the substitute and representative of all mankind. He accepted the penalty that justice demanded from the rebel sinner man. (Please read 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 5:8.) Because He actually took the sin away from mankind, He was raised from the dead. (Romans 4:25)

. Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished by His death, burial and resurrection, mankind can once again be restored to fellowship with his Creator. It is not because of a single thing that mankind has done, it is solely by the Grace of God that we can have this, and only through faith in what Christ did. Grace as a definition could be that God did us a favor, and he did not give us what we really deserve, but He actually gave us the opposite of what we deserve. When a human being accepts the sacrifice of Jesus and receives Him, by Faith, he becomes a new creation and comes out of spiritual death, darkness, confusion, deception and foolishness and walks into eternal life – The Zoa of God – God’s own Life, through Christ.

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

. Once born again, Man is once again able to fellowship with his Creator. When sin has been dealt with, man can begin to understand the “WHY” of his existence.
. The Term MEDITATION as it is used in the Bible is a description of the born again believers fellowship with God. Meditation is NOT a way to salvation, and it will NOT lead you to God. It can only take place in the life of an already born again believer. The Christian meditation must be accomplished by a Christian in order to be understood.

A COMPARISON

. As we have said above, Christian meditation is unique from all the other types and ways of meditating that are known to mankind. The other philosophies that use the expression “Meditation” focus mainly on man himself with no personal God or an objective creation. (unless it is himself he deems as God)
. To the other religions that practice meditation, God is some cosmic force that is manifested in some type of spiritual energy. They think that the universe or the creation is God, which means that man is God. Their salvation is realizing this fact or to attain some form of “Enlightenment” known as “Nirvana”. They spend hours sitting, laying or contorting and repeatedly saying a “mantra” that is supposed to be a vehicle to attain this “Nirvana”. A mantra they tell you is a meaningless word, but after having been involved in this for many years prior to becoming a Christian – the mantra is actually the name of different DEMONS to whom the meditator is calling upon. . Thank God, Christian meditation is the reverse of all this. He knows that he is in union with his God by the faith that he has in Jesus Christ. At that point he meditates — not to achieve union, but because he is in union. Meditation becomes the way of fellowship – person (man) to Person (God).
. Christian meditation is NOT mindless, but it is a focusing of the mind on the Scriptures under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. A good way to start to do this is to choose a book of the Bible, (preferably a short one – i.e. Jude, 3 John etc.) and read it over and over until you begin to anticipate the next word. Then start with verse 1.. commit it to memory, then during the day roll it over and over in your mind. It will soon drop down into your spirit and then the realization of what it means will be manifested.

(Author unknown)

Computers for Christ – Chicago