The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his086/meditate.lzh/MEDITATE.TXT

Text File | 1991-07-08 | 9KB | 174 lines

DEV: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)