The most important cognition in this life is possessing spiritual ears rather than physical ears. The aspect of having listening ears is as important as life itself. God speaks today, similarly to how He spoke anciently, but it takes those with spiritual ears to hear. Many Scriptures allude to having ears that do not hear and eyes that do not see. After communicating some important information, Jesus often concluded by stating: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus communicated the profundity of having eyes but unable to perceive and having ears but unable to hear, quoting Prophet Isaiah (Matthew 13:13-15). The Bible can be cherished by anyone. But the understanding of its contents is preserved only for those to whom God desires to communicate. Similarly, Jesus’ personality is cherished by many but also misunderstood by many, except those to whom it is intended for their perception.
For instance, why did Jesus conclude with this mysterious phrase, after stating: ”Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear?’” (Luke 14:34:35 NIV). A wise person cannot take lightly a warning of that nature. This was after Jesus had illustrated the point of exercising caution to those interested in following Him. Why was the warning necessary, when considering the importance of being His follower?
In Zimbabwe, the display of multitudes, having eyes but not perceiving was manifested. The army clearly violated the constitution by staging a coup against a seating president, in 2017. The multitudes that had previously approved the country’s new Constitution would have been expected to see the wrongness of that behaviour. However, they were blind to it, even after Patrick Chinamasa had declared that the coup was a ZANU PF affair.
Rather than repent from that impervious erroneous attitude, there are several others still eagerly wishing the army should take over from the current President. It is incorrect to assume this blindness comprises uneducated rural people or non-Christians. In this category, are people regarded as highly educated, but oblivious of there being a ‘cause for every effect’ axiom. Some of such enigmatic blind people are popularly known as “prayer warriors,” in Christian circles.
Such Christians are as pious as Baal worshippers were, during Elijah’s time (2 King 18:25-29). The Baal worshippers could not see the obvious. Their Baal could not respond as effectively as Elijah’s God. The persistent rebellion by the Israelites stretched God’s anger to the limit. Can it be possible to tell a physically blind person to observe beautiful flowers in the garden? Certainly, not possible and the same applies to spiritually blind people. The more the truth is highlighted, the more they become blinded.
A human being is a composition of dichotomous conditions of good and evil. The more good the person becomes, the more inclined to listen to God he is. The more evil the same person would be, the less inclined to hear God he would be. An evil person does not necessarily have to have a record of having murdered people. Similarly, a good person does not necessarily have to have a record of having done many good deeds. It is the spiritual condition, at any given time, shaping him to be either good or bad. What goes on in his mind is what matters most.
If inclined to the physical interests, the person becomes deaf to Godly communication. It only takes a person whose mind bears interest in Godly principles to hear Godly communication. There is no magic to not hearing Godly communication, except that such people’s interests would be focused on sinfulness. For instance, how can one convince a person whose ambition is to accumulate wealth, to heed the call to share with the poor?
In a country where getting rich is trendy, the flow of human behaviour is that of enrichment. It becomes impossible for such people’s ears to hear God’s voice. Regardless of how amplified the voice, such people would not listen. They would be inclined to listen to what heightens their chances of accumulating wealth. The accumulation of wealth is being used here as an example. Otherwise, there are many issues associated with worldliness, causing a person to be blind to Godly communication.
Positions of authority, that grant a respectable status in the community, can also cause a person to be blind to God’s communication. Anything that causes a person to be respected among other fellow humans can be a great hindrance to hearing God’s communication. The physical body feels comfortable with human adulations. The spiritual body takes the opposite stance, being very uncomfortable with human adulations. The more a person is cosy with human adulations, the more deaf the person becomes against Godly communication.
The value of Jesus is only in what He said, more than His personality. However, the fraudsters have manipulated the personality of Jesus more than what He said. The name of Jesus is therefore adopted as enabling the accumulation of wealth, aligning with the person’s proclivity. Such a person may be a staunch Church-goer, but unable to hear God’s communication in the Bible that he would be carrying. There are many respected personalities, in Christian circles, but not associated with the words of Jesus.
Such Christians are starkly different from their counterparts who religiously apply Jesus’ words. Even when He was talking to His disciples Jesus indicated that keeping His commandments was the only sign of loving Him. The fact that they were His disciples was undisputable, but the virtue of loving Him was determined by keeping His commandments. The same communication applies to today’s Christians, as it applied to the disciples at that time.
“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:15-21 NIV)
The outlined Scripture does not communicate anything to the spiritually blind people. The reason for their not comprehending is compounded by mixing worldliness with Godliness. For instance, in as much as Jesus was Spiritual, those of this world saw Him only as physical. They could not comprehend his Spiritual condition. However, to those having adopted the teachings of Jesus, verbatim; what is said above is as comprehensible as any straightforward communication.
Spiritual things are opposed to physical things. The axiomatic principle is that the more physical the person becomes, the more unable to hear God he would be. While foreign to the physical body, the Spirit understands the physical body. The physical body is oblivious to what the Spirit entails. The physical person cannot hear the spiritual communication, as committed to the physical.
Although the name of Jesus is trendy, those in this world, can’t communicate with Him. The only possibility is that they would be communicating with a counterfeit Jesus, accessible physically. The most interesting revelation is that even at His second coming, the physical humans will recognize the physical Jesus, rather than His spiritual condition. To ordinary people, He comes as the Son of Man and not as the Son of God (Matthew 24:30).
Perceiving and listening to Jesus in His physical form was unambiguous to the physical people of that time, as long as He communicated through parables. However, connecting with the Spiritual Jesus was, and remains a challenge. A spiritual individual perceives Jesus as present as in the first century. Although it is unimaginable to witness the Son of Man (Jesus in physical form) today, this does not imply His absence, as His followers represent him.
Those, who could not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, are no different from those failing to recognize Him in His brethren today. Before his conversion, Paul persecuted the followers of Jesus, unaware that this was equivalent to persecuting Jesus (Acts 9:4-5). Paul could not hear or discern the Son of God before that pivotal moment of his transformation. Such recognition cannot be expected of physical humans, even in the present day.
A person is as disconnected from the spiritual as they are unable to perceive or hear Jesus in His spiritual state. Communication with Jesus requires two things: 1) belief in and applying Jesus’ teachings, and 2) a willingness to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, engaging in these without understanding their significance still leaves one outside the Godhead family. This misunderstanding led to the erroneous perception of the Trinity. The advocates of the Trinity believe they are excluded from the Godhead, which is indeed the case. Such a person cannot be considered part of the divine family, thus, assuming exclusion, when the opposite is true of Christians.
Expecting that individual to hear God’s voice is expecting what is unattainable. The Spiritual and the Physical realms are dichotomous, hence unrelated. No matter how devout the person may be, he cannot be deemed a child of God. The factors that blind and deafen him could stem from either arrogance or cowardice. Lacking an event akin to Paul’s Damascus experience, the individual remains content in his blindness and deafness. This aligns with Jesus’ words: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:44 NIV).
The inability to grasp spiritual matters while in a physical state is not miraculous. The Spirit and the physical are dichotomous, much like positive and negative electrical charges. A physical being cannot see God and continue living. The advent of Jesus appearing as the Son of God was dangerous; hence, He came as the Son of Man, instead; without revealing His divine identity. Even today, it remains risky for physical beings to engage with the Holy Spirit.
Interacting with the Son of God will remain perilous for humans during Jesus’ second coming. Hence, to ordinary humans, He will appear as the Son of Man rather than God’s Son. Only His brethren, who have acknowledged His divinity, will be privy to His divine nature. The remainder of humanity, observing without discerning and listening without comprehending, will see the Son of Man, instead. Nonetheless, each person is drawn to Jesus according to the Father’s will, but depending on personal choices.
The simplest path to grasping spiritual mysteries begins with forfeiting one’s dignity. It involves embracing humility and relinquishing worldly status and honour. This path recognizes that irrespective of one’s accomplishments or failures, one is no different from another. It continues with a devoted study of Jesus’ teachings, striving to implement His lessons. This leads to an unconditional baptism. Such a baptism represents the individual’s death, an unparalleled event in this world, embodying the entirety of the person’s being.
“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:10-17 NKJV).
The person in question must cease spreading the untruths disseminated by Trinitarian theologians. While still in physical form, such an individual would be considered part of the divine family, similar to Jesus’ role within the divine family during His time on earth. This does not imply self-promotion to divinity but rather signifies redemption through the grace of God, granted by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. There is no other means to engage with the divine except through the mediation of our Messiah.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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