Lesson 2. First the Natural, Then the Spiritual
(Excerpts were taken from Lesson 2 to give you a taste of what the book is about. To learn what these spiritual laws are and how to receive freedom from the negative consequences, you will need to order a copy of the book).
Our Father God put in place a system of spiritual laws to manage the quality of life on earth that determines what happens to us now and in the future. Before we discuss them, however, we need to know a few things about the natural laws that exist here on earth. Studying the more familiar natural laws and how they function will help us understand the ones that are spiritual or supernatural and how they affect our life. There is a biblical truth that says, “As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.”
The Laws of Physics Simplified
When God created the earth, He put in place a set of physical laws to govern how everything would function. They are known as the laws of physics. One very common law we first learn about as a child is the law of gravity. To state it simply, what goes up must come down. All of nature learns this physical law early in life. When a toddler is learning how to walk, he experiences how this law works the hard way with mild apprehension, bruises and pain.
I remember so well the day our young daughter Mary was learning to walk around the age of two. She pulled herself up beside the coffee table and was so proud of herself. Then she lost her balance. She fell down hitting her chin hard on the table. Oh, no! My heart went out to her as I ran for some ice to keep down the swelling and pain.
In his private letters to his family, Albert Einstein gave God the glory for helping him discover the other physical laws of the universe in 1905. Later on, you will learn about what Einstein discovered about God’s spiritual law of love. The physical laws work, whether we understand and believe in them or not. To survive in this world, we have to learn how to work with the laws, not go against them. Time, experience, and science teaches us many of the physical laws. God put them into place to establish order and control the chaos that would result without them.
Consequences—Good and Bad
Another important point is that when these laws are put in motion, they produce a consequence. Consequence—the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier (Dictionary.com). People learn to change their behavior after they suffer from or discover success from-- the consequences of the choices they make.
When a small child loses his balance, he falls down. Until he develops the ability to maintain his balance, he is subject to the law of gravity. He will suffer the consequences of the law of gravity (falling and maybe getting hurt) until he masters the skill of balancing. Laws set in motion produce consequences. He will also not be able to move beyond that point until he can safely stand upright.
Once a child learns to keep his movements in balance, he can manage the law of gravity safely. He has learned how-- to work with the law and not be subject to it. He even learns how to put that law to work for him when he plays kickball or enjoys throwing a frisbee. If a young two-year-old child can learn the physical law of gravity, then you can learn how to provoke the spiritual law of-- sowing and reaping.
Life is much more enjoyable and successful when you can flow with the spiritual laws God has established to govern our life on earth. Also, these consequences come with two types of results, either positive or negative. They are the result of what was originally put in motion. If a good action was begun, then a positive result can take place. Likewise, if a bad action was begun, then a negative result will be produced.
Demonstrated by Aerodynamics
For an airplane to get off the ground and fly, a number of laws are involved. The airplane is held down to earth by the law of gravity. It stays at rest until the law of inertia is overcome by the addition of power and thrust. With the power that is generated by the motor and turning prop, the plane begins to move forward. As the plane gathers speed on the runway, the laws of air pressure begin to change and have more effect on the flying surfaces. At a certain speed, depending on the weight of the plane, the air pressure beneath the wings becomes greater than the air pressure above the wings. When this happens, you have lift off—you are now flying.
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Life in the Spirit is a lot like learning to fly a plane. You have to go to ground school first to learn the basic rules, regulations, and aerodynamics of flying. Then a certified instructor takes you up and helps you learn the necessary skills.
Many hours of instruction take place first before you are allowed to take your first solo flight. Then comes the day when you finally pass your exam. You are never the same after that. You are no longer earthbound. Temporarily, you can leave all your troubles behind, even the law of gravity. You experience new freedom. You can go anywhere you desire and see new places. You are not sitting around, waiting for life to happen to you. You are taking charge of your life. You are taking calculated risks and exploring new horizons. This is the abundant life God has planned for you to experience.
We have to learn about, understand, and apply the laws of the Spirit in order to overcome the influence of the natural world around us. Living a successful life in the kingdom of God means you not only comprehend the laws, but also practice the laws and principles God has set in motion already to govern the quality of life in his kingdom.
The spirit of adventure
Your spirit comes alive with excitement, anticipation, and a sense of accomplishment. You are living the life God intended you to live—to its fullest. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual flight instructor. If you ask Him, He will gladly teach you how to fly in the spirit. As your copilot and navigator, He will go with you and stay right by your side all the way. After all, He wants you to be successful in life and in God’s kingdom as much as you do. Learning to fly seems complicated at first, but taking one step at a time, one day at a time, anyone who desires to can accomplish it.
The problem with many Christians is they are too intimidated by the prospect of life in the Spirit and never even consider learning a new, spiritual way of life. Like chickens in a farmyard, they would rather stay safely on the ground, limited by their circumstances. Many people resist being stretched beyond their comfort zone and allow the fear of the unknown to influence them. Others are bound by the fear of being rejected by traditional, naturally minded Christians who quench the power of Holy Spirit in their life. Life in the Spirit requires us to make the ultimate choice to overcome all the hindrances and surrender to-- the guiding, sanctifying and equipping work of the Holy Spirit.
A biblical illustration would be the Israelites who refused to enter their promised land, because of their fear and unbelief. The result of not trusting God— meant they had to wander the wilderness for forty more years, and most of them died. During that period, God raised up the next generation who witnessed his supernatural power and divine provisions.
“When the Lord heard what you said, He was angry and solemnly swore: 'No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.'” (Deut. 1:34–35). Joshua was also called to lead the Israelites with Caleb into the Promised Land as well.
The Spiritual Laws
Now, let’s move on to a discussion of God’s spiritual laws. They function in much the same ways as the laws of physics, whether we understand and believe in them or not. They also produce positive or negative results in our lives, and we must learn how not to violate them in order to live successful, productive lives. When we understand how they work, then we can actually initiate them ourselves and use them to our advantage to produce good results. We can make use of God’s spiritual laws to produce blessings in our lives and the lives of those around us.
Cause & Effect
First, we must understand cause and effect. When we see a particular effect has taken place, either good or bad, then we look back in time to try to understand what caused it. Having wisdom means we have learned from the successes or failures of the past and are putting into practice the principles and laws we learned from that experience.
God put the laws of physics in place when He formed our solar system and fashioned planet Earth. His spiritual laws were put in place to govern the quality of life for mankind here on earth, and they are inevitable. That means just like the laws of physics, they already exist, and we need to learn how to use them to our advantage. God put them here to help manage life on earth and bring order out of chaos.
For example, God promised us a successful, prosperous life if we put Him first and obey His commands. So as we learn how to cooperate with God’s spiritual laws and use them to our advantage, life will go well for us. If we violate these laws, then we will experience failure, pain, disappointment, sorrow, sickness, bad health, and broken relationships.
Consequences of Sin
Deuteronomy 28:15–68 makes it clear that disobedience to God’s laws bring curses on us. Verses 16 to 18 tell us we will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country, our basket and kneading trough will be cursed (work), the fruit of our womb (children), our land (crops), herds, and flocks. We will be cursed when we come in and cursed when we go out. These curses affect not only us but can run three to four generations. While the curse, or penalty, for illegitimacy runs for ten generations in a family line (Deut. 23:2). The sins of the Old Testament fathers affected the quality of life for all their descendants.
The second book of Samuel chapters 11 and 12 gives us the story of what happened to King David when he sinned with Bathsheba. That spring David should have gone off to war, fighting with his men. However, he chose to remain in Jerusalem and sent his army out with the Ark of the Covenant to protect them. David abused the kingly power God had given to him by using it for his own personal gain. He was guilty of negligence and not carrying out his kingly responsibilities.
One evening David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof of her house next door. The temptations of lust and covetousness rose up in his flesh. He sent word for her to join him, and she spent the night, which resulted in sexual promiscuity and adultery. She became pregnant and gave birth to an illegitimate child. I suspect that Satan set this trap for David to bring about his fall from righteousness. If he had gone with his men to war against the enemies of God, he would have not been tempted to sin against God.
Paris relief of David's sin
For
David, one sin led to committing another. He eventually orchestrated
the murder of her husband, Uriah, on the battlefield. Bathsheba later
married David, and she bore him a son. However, the Lord was not
pleased with David, for he despised the word of the Lord by doing
what was evil in God’s eyes. God sent Nathan, the prophet, to tell
David what would happen to him for his disobedience. Nathan spoke the
word of the Lord over David that pronounced a curse on his life and
family. 'The sword will never depart from your house, because you
despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.
Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you.”
(2 Sam. 12:10–11).
David repented and God allowed him to live. But his infant son died seven days later. David had fasted and prayed, pleading with God to let his son live, but it was to no avail. In the chapters that follow, we can read about the same kinds of iniquity repeated in the next generation.
Generational Sins of the Father
David’s son Ammon rapes Tamar, his brother Absalom’s sister. This leads to Ammon being murdered by Absalom. Eventually, Absalom rebels against his father and plots to take over the kingdom. The story ends with Absalom’s death. Because of one man’s sin, there was much destruction brought upon David’s lineage and the nation of Israel. How different everything might have been instead if David had gone to war that spring as he should have.
The kingdom of God exists right alongside the physical kingdoms of this earth. Satan and his principalities and powers rule the kingdom of darkness. Our Father God’s spiritual laws function in the invisible, spiritual realm all around us. As members of His kingdom, we have certain rights and privileges that people of the world do not have. We can live successfully in the kingdom as we learn how to make these laws work to our advantage.
Transformation of the Inner Man
Christian ministers and counselors have a great need to understand God’s spiritual laws when it comes to helping people struggling with personal issues. One of the forerunner counseling and teaching ministries over the years has been Elijah House founded by John and Paula Sanford. In 1982, the Sanfords wrote Transformation of the Inner Man, which has sold more than five hundred thousand copies. In 1992, John and his son Mark published A Comprehensive Guide to Deliverance and Inner Healing.
At Elijah House, all diagnoses in counseling is reduced to four basic spiritual laws in Scripture: (1) honoring parents; (2) judging; (3) sowing and reaping; and (4) becoming what we judge in others (Sanford, pp. 55–60). We will look at these four laws first and then go on to discover others God has put in place to govern our lives in His kingdom.
When Tommy and I began our ministry back in the 1980s, the Sanfords were instrumental in teaching us about the blessings associated with obeying these spiritual laws and the curses we bring upon ourselves through our disobedience. The Sanfords’ knowledge and experience helped to launch us into a dynamic ministry of healing and deliverance.
Spiritual Eyes and Ears
We will be blessed and not cursed as we practice following the spiritual laws found in God’s Word with our families, in the church, in the workplace, and everywhere we go. I invite you to walk with me down this road of discovery. But first, ask the Holy Spirit to give you spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear these fundamental truths. You will need the Spirit of truth to guide you along the way as He reveals the mysteries of the kingdom.
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose].” (Matt. 11:25, AMP)
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7, NIV)
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…but his delight is in the [spiritual] law[s] of the Lord, and on His [spiritual] law[s] he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalms 1)
That is an incredible promise for us as God’s sons and daughters. As we delight in walking in God’s spiritual laws, and applying them daily to every aspect of our lives, we will see good fruit produced in our lives. Life will go well not only for us, but for generations to come! Believe that Father God desires to bless you as you walk in the truth. Intellectual understanding alone does not produce life in the spirit realm. We have to experience revelation on a heart/spirit level to see genuine transformation.
As you read over these questions, take time to write your answers in a notebook. Ask Holy Spirit to give you new understanding and how to apply what you have just learned. If you are participating in a Bible study group, take some time to discuss these questions together and share your answers.
Life Application Questions
Explain what it means that—spiritual laws have consequences.
How does life in the natural world differ from life in the spiritual world around us?
How will we be blessed when we “delight in the law of the Lord”?
What spiritual laws are you familiar with already?
What new idea or concept did you learn in this lesson, or do you think is important to remember?
Sample Prayer- Lesson 2
You can personalize the prayer below by asking Holy Spirit to show you specific issues about which you need to pray. Is there any unconfessed sin in your life? Is there any situation you need to ask the Lord to forgive you for?
Dear Father God, I thank you for choosing me to live the abundant life as a member of your family here on earth. I thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to teach us valuable lessons about life in your kingdom.
As a child of God, I choose to pursue righteousness and holiness unto You. I choose to repent of any ungodly attitudes and behaviors that would hinder my personal growth in Christ. Lord Jesus, please forgive me for not studying your Word and learning how to practically apply these truths to my life.
Forgive me for being a hearer of the Word only, and not doing the things you have instructed us to do. I ask You to forgive me and wash me clean from all wrongdoing.
Holy Spirit, I ask You to give me eyes to see and ears to hear these spiritual truths. I ask you to be my guide and to reveal to me the mysteries and the parables of the kingdom. Fill me with your Spirit and give me the grace and power I desperately need to mature into the son (daughter) of God you have created me to be.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
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