Divine Anesthesia
The "Old Man Must Die
"And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him" Gen 2:18-20.
Discuss Christian character
A tiger? Great fur, but maybe someone walking on two legs would fit better. How about an ostrich? Well, not exactly what I had in mind. A hipopotamus? Next please Gorilla? Hm…
So the creation story continues: "And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" Gen 2:21,22. We are here witnessing the first surgical operation in the human history, where God is both the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. As God puts Adam into anesthesia He in a beautiful way pictures how Jesus, the second Adam one day will die in order that his bride, the church, may come to life. From the side of the second Adam there did not come out a rib, but blood and water. And with this God creates the bride of the second Adam.
Jesus himself understood this mystery even before His death: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit" John 12:24. In the same way, we too die so that God can make us alive: "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin." Rom 6:5,6.
Why does the "old man" need to die in order for God to create a new life in us? Imagine the following scenario: You are suffering from heart failure, and right now you are lying on the operation table waiting for the heart transplantation to take place. The surgeon suddenly enters the operating theatre and begins to open your chest. How succesful will he be? Without anesthesia it would be a total disaster, and certainly he would loose his job. When the knife touches your skin you will resist the operation with every source of energy that you posess.
We need to be put in deep anesthesia in order for the surgeon to remove our diseased heart and replace it with a functioning heart. As Adam was put in deep anesthesia, in the same way it is for us both in the physical and spiritual life. If the old man in us does not die first, we will never allow God to do what He wants to do in our lives, even if we have the will to follow His plans. Your will is of no help when you lie on the operation table with a knife going into your chest. Your very nature will resist the operation for everything it is worth. Paul recognized the insufficiency of the human will when he in anguish cried out: “for to will is present in me, but to do that which is good, is not.” Rom 7:18. Even though Paul was an expert in theology he completely lost his way in the science about spiritual life. He ended up persecuting the Surgeon, throwing His patients into prison, rejecting the therapy and instead applying the diagnostic tools, Gods law, as treatment.
However, the heavenly Surgeon showed him mercy and made him temporarily blind so that he could recognize his own spiritual darkness. God is also merciful towards us. God is fully aware that “the old man” will oppose the work that He wants to do in us.That is why He first wants to put us into a deep, transforming sleep.
Are you maybe hesitating to enter divine anesthesia, and are satisfied with your “Eden”? Are you really satisfied to pat the hippopotamus, or climb the trees together with the monkey and enjoy the earth? Or maybe you have, like Adam, a longing for something more meaningfull and satisfying in life, but don’t really know what it is? Why not accept Gods offer and see if He maybe has something even better for you? Let God put you into divine anesthesia. He has promised that you will wake up to the best in life.
Allan F -
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