Have you ever wondered if your perception of the divine is clouded by the lenses through which you view the world? Prepare to embark on a spiritual odyssey that reframes our understanding of God's nature, as we engage in a deeply insightful conversation about the power of perception in shaping our theology. Our perceptions act as a prism, bending and coloring our views on spirituality, influencing our actions, emotions, and beliefs. With a focus on 'seem' and its profound connection to our belief in what God is like, this episode invites you to contemplate whether the act of repentance is less about turning from sin and more about transforming how we see the divine. We also entertain the fascinating idea that the consumption of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge could have been a deliberate move in a larger divine plan to enhance human perception, prompting you to consider how you appear to God and vice versa.
Continuing our journey into the heart of spirituality, we delve into the contrasting images of God as an embodiment of love or as a dispenser of punishment, with insights gleaned from scripture such as 1 John 4-8 and James 2-13. Our dialogue highlights the importance of adopting a perspective that sees God mirrored in the character of Jesus—a figure of unbounded mercy and love. By embracing this view, we posit that our actions and relationships with others should be infused with forgiveness and compassion, reflecting the benevolent nature of the divine. This episode is an invitation to carry the profound teachings of mercy into every interaction, transforming not just personal faith but also the fabric of our collective human experience. Join us for an episode that promises a transformative shift in how we perceive and live out our spiritual convictions.
Have you ever wondered if your perception of the divine is clouded by the lenses through which you view the world? Prepare to embark on a spiritual odyssey that reframes our understanding of God's nature, as we engage in a deeply insightful conversation about the power of perception in shaping our theology. Our perceptions act as a prism, bending and coloring our views on spirituality, influencing our actions, emotions, and beliefs. With a focus on 'seem' and its profound connection to our belief in what God is like, this episode invites you to contemplate whether the act of repentance is less about turning from sin and more about transforming how we see the divine. We also entertain the fascinating idea that the consumption of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge could have been a deliberate move in a larger divine plan to enhance human perception, prompting you to consider how you appear to God and vice versa.
Continuing our journey into the heart of spirituality, we delve into the contrasting images of God as an embodiment of love or as a dispenser of punishment, with insights gleaned from scripture such as 1 John 4-8 and James 2-13. Our dialogue highlights the importance of adopting a perspective that sees God mirrored in the character of Jesus—a figure of unbounded mercy and love. By embracing this view, we posit that our actions and relationships with others should be infused with forgiveness and compassion, reflecting the benevolent nature of the divine. This episode is an invitation to carry the profound teachings of mercy into every interaction, transforming not just personal faith but also the fabric of our collective human experience. Join us for an episode that promises a transformative shift in how we perceive and live out our spiritual convictions.
Speaker 1:
Welcome and greetings to you. Unless you have perfect vision, nobody sees 100% clearly. That's why we have glasses. Scripture says that without vision, the people perish. Let's talk a little bit about vision. Vision isn't only what you see with your eyes. Vision is also what you see in your mind's eye, where you interpret what you see to have a specific meaning, not only about yourself, but about others, as well as God. That vision in your mind's eye is either impaired or enhanced based upon the glasses that we wear and whether they are the right prescription. Those glasses are known as perception.
Speaker 1:
All of life is based on perception, is it not? Your perceptions determine how you feel, how you act, what you do, what you say. It determines all your actions in some form or fashion. I find it kind of humorous how God brings this back around. I seek God out for a few words each year to guide me, and in 2021, one of the words I had received to guide me was perception. God does have a sense of humor. If you haven't noticed, all right, let's get into it.
Speaker 1:
The Cambridge Dictionary defines perception this way it is a belief or opinion often held by many people and based on how things seem. Hold on to that word seem. We'll talk about it in a minute. They also define it as the quality of being aware of things through the physical senses, especially sight, as well as someone's ability to notice and understand things that are not obvious to other people. In a sense excuse the pun it is a kind of knowing. I want to hone in on that first definition in particular A belief or opinion based on how things seem. Here we'll point our lasers at the second definition, related to sight.
Speaker 1:
Perception is basically a pair of glasses that we all wear. It's the filter that everything goes through. Perception is what we were given when Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Everything that we feel, think, reason and do is based on our perception. That's what the serpent in the garden attacked our perceptions, not only about ourselves, but more importantly about God. I want to go straight to the word Seem. That word is the key part of the definition of perception. Cambridge Dictionary defines the word Seem as this to appear to be.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to take us back into understanding some of the deeper things of our evangelical doctrines, like hell and such, but I need to take a small detour here first, because how we define hell, punishment, eternal damnation and the like is all based on our perception of how God appears to be in our mind's eye. Seem starts there, and this is where repentance really has its most important impact and call to our hearts. Let me first start by saying that we often think of repentance as the changing of our minds away from the sin that we commit. Repent, stop sinning, do better, be better. What if that's not what repentance is about at all? What if repentance is about changing our view or our perception about how God appears to be? What kind of person is God really? Let's go back to the beginning again and visit the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis, chapter 2.
Speaker 1:
And according to Strong's Concordance, number 1847 is the Hebrew word d'ath, and it means to be aware. It also means the opposite of ignorance. It can also mean learning, discernment, insight or having a notion about something. It's closely related to the concept of wisdom and d'ath comes from the Strong's root word, number 3045, yadah. No, not yoda, although I suppose that could apply. It's the Hebrew word pronounced yadah, and it means to know or to ascertain by seeing. It is the idea of what we all want, which is to be known and to know. But to know and be known, we must first see clearly. So what does all this mean?
Speaker 1:
Well, if we're going to see and experience the promises of God and to have the kind of life we want to have, then we have to get our theology straight. We have made so many doctrines and rules and regulations and such based on false perceptions, particularly perceptions about God. Our perception of God comes from our theology, our theology being the study of the nature of God and religious belief. And our theology is going to determine how we view ourselves and others and also will determine what kind of life we live and experience. So, based on the definition of seem, let me ask you this how does God appear to be to you? This is important because if our perception of something determines everything that comes after and it does then our perception of God is what determines what kind of God we believe in. And what kind of God we believe in is what's going to determine our theology, that being what we believe about the nature of God, but also our experience of life. So what is our perception of the nature of God? What do we believe about His identity? What are their views about us as their creation, their children, as human beings, and about all the things that are our reality. And, more specifically, what does God believe about you personally? Is God angry at you? Does God love you? Where do you go from these perceptions about God? God's nature and God's image of you will determine your life's trajectory. Here's another question of Ponder how do you appear to be to God? Perception in this case is not only about our beliefs about who God is, but also about how we think God thinks about us.
Speaker 1:
I am about to say something that flies in the face of almost all Christian beliefs. You ready, what if God preplanned for Adam to choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so that God could establish and develop our sense of perception about him? That could have seriously gone either way. That could have resulted in what was originally established in the garden that we are perfect and part of the trinity, or it could have gone the other way, which is what happened, and we could have established for ourselves a perception of God and ourselves that is not real. God knew right from the get-go what we would choose. He was not a surprise to God, and right before the foundation of the universe and earth and everything that was created. In Genesis, chapter 1, god knew, jesus knew, the Holy Spirit knew. Can I dare go so far as to say it was orchestrated this way? I could have think so.
Speaker 1:
God needed a human race that was capable of not only choice, but of perception as well. For what is choice without perception? What is free will without an individual viewpoint of something? Isn't that what happens in the dance of the trinity? Ask yourselves this Does the Godhead, the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, ever disagree on anything? They have to. If they didn't, then they couldn't be separate, but unified. They couldn't represent the human race in any way if they didn't. But here's the key the love they have for one another overrides any disagreements they may have, and the central goal of everything they do is not only for the benefit of each other, but the benefit of us as well. So each will put down their own desires and they will agree to do what is in the best interest of the three of them together as well as the benefit of the human race, no matter which. One of them has to lay down their own ideals. That is the point of the cross, and not only that, but also the point of the instruction Jesus gave his disciples take up your cross and follow me. I know that's pretty deep, but here's why this is all important and I'm going to ask a question that is going to point to the heart of the whole matter.
Speaker 1:
Why did Jesus the Son have to come in human form to this earth and do what he did? Jesus said it himself why he came. He came to reveal his Father. Jesus is God incarnate, which means that Jesus came to show us what God is like. He came to correct the false perceptions we established in the garden. To begin to get our perceptions accurate, we have to address the elephant in the room Sin and its counterpart, repentance.
Speaker 1:
We can't talk about repentance unless we also talk about sin. Here in the Western world of Christianity, we have put those two things together. The way we practice those concepts here in the US, sin is about doing bad things. It's about our behavior and repentance. The way we practice here is about turning away from your bad behaviors, your sin. But that's not how the Bible defines repentance or sin. Let's start with sin.
Speaker 1:
Sin in its simplest form is missing the mark. That's its truest definition. But what is the mark. And what does that mean? It's about perception. Do you see God truthfully? Do you see God the way God actually is, or do you see God the way you've been taught to perceive Him? If you want to know the way God actually is, look at Jesus. He came in human form to show you that. So, when you're faced with certain decisions, can you see Jesus as he truly is, in all of His identity, and make your decisions from that perspective or perception, or do you go against it? That's what it means to either hit or miss the mark.
Speaker 1:
Jesus is the mark, for he is the perfect representation of God, and because Jesus represents God, that means having the right viewpoint or perception about God is where life begins to flow. Sin, therefore, is not about doing bad or even thinking bad things. Sin, therefore, is having a wrong perception of God and ourselves. That goes against what Jesus showed us as God's nature, character and identity. Jesus came so that we might see who God is, not our poor perception of who we think he is. And when we see who God is, then we can see who we are To know and to be known. Jesus is the perfect representation of the nature, the characteristics and the identity of God.
Speaker 1:
You want to know who God is, then look at Jesus, and I don't mean see Jesus in storybook fashion. Get into the stories yourself and put yourself there somewhere and identify with him. Get into prayer and hear from him directly and let him reveal himself and the Father to you. Because when you can see Jesus, then you can see God for who she really is, and when you can see straight, then you have the right perception that everything else flows from. When you can see God correctly, then you can start seeing yourself correctly and you can start seeing your neighbor correctly too. Because once you have that straight, then all the crooked roads will be straightened. As God says through the prophet Isaiah, chapter 45, verse 2, I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. I'm going to pause there for a second and just state that when God says I will go before you and make the crooked places straight, he's talking about Jesus coming and setting our perceptions right. Okay, continuing on with verse 2, I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name and the God of Israel, and to combine that scripture with 1 John, chapter 4, verse 8, not only am I the God of Israel, but I am the God of love and I am love.
Speaker 1:
Most of us in the Christian circles know that repentance has traditionally been defined as changing your mind or turning away from, but changing our minds about what Repentance is about? Getting your viewpoint of God straight. He came to set our perceptions right, and that's the heart of repentance. Repentance, then, is about laying down your ill perceptions and taking up the reality that Jesus shows you about God. It means to start believing God the way they are and not what your perceptions have told you about God. That means that repentance is not about stopping doing bad things and doing good things. Repentance is therefore getting your perception about God right so that all the roads after that are straight.
Speaker 1:
So let's get right down to it.
Speaker 1:
Let's see where your perception is. Who is God to you and who do you think you are to God? Is God love, as 1 John 4-8 says, or is God the Punisher? Because that's what your pastor, your preacher, your teacher, your minister or your priest said, or because of how we've interpreted certain scriptures. Is God the wrathful one who needs appeasing, or is God the one who is merciful and loving and long-suffering? What does Jesus show us about that? Remember this.
Speaker 1:
James 2-13 says this about God, for judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment, do you see it? If you perceive God as being merciless and angry, then guess what? His judgment of you in your mind's eye will be merciless because that's the God you have created in your mind, aka perceived One is not the God who has revealed themselves in the person of Jesus.
Speaker 1:
This verse is not necessarily about humans showing mercy or not showing mercy to each other strictly, although that is part of it, but it's secondary to what it says about God. Remember the old adage what you sow, you will also reap. James 2-13 is saying that because God is merciful, his mercy triumphs over his judgment. That is who God is, but if your perception is anything other than that, you'll reap the consequences of that belief. Lastly, I will say this Because God is merciful and forgiving, then so should you. Like I said in the last episode, let's get our theology straight. In order to do that, we must study the nature of God and establish a right religious belief about God, and that will come from knowing Jesus, because Jesus came to show us the Father. Once we have that right understanding repented understanding then everything else becomes clear and falls into place. I hope you have enjoyed this. Have a blessed day. As a last note, if you like this podcast, please like, comment rate and, most importantly, share this with your friends. Thank you.
