Transcript of the video below.
Welcome back to the basic Bible concepts. Tonight’s concept is called The Anxiety Mechanism, and we are going to build on all the concepts we’ve already talked about in learning about why we are so anxious. You know, and especially in today’s society, where we have more at our fingertips to satisfy our needs than any culture in any society that’s existed probably in the history of time but yet we have suicide rates off the charts. We have people who are depressed, they’re chronically mentally ill, and there’s just a global dissatisfaction. So we’re going to talk about why that is and we’re going to build on the concepts we’ve learned, to kind of walk through that.
So just by way of review, we’ve learned that there is a physical realm and a spiritual realm and that these realms were created by God. And they reflect his characteristics which are omniscient, he’s omnipotent, and he’s omnipresent. He is a spirit, he’s everywhere, right? And also his nature is righteous, just, and loving. We learned that God’s actions are determined by his nature. Also, because of who he is, there are laws right? There are physical laws and there are spiritual laws. In particular, we talked about the law of sin and death. And by the way, I need to apologize, when I gave the study on the concept of the law of sin and death I promised you that in the next concept I would explain what kind of death happened in the garden. I didn’t do that very well. So we’re going to take care of that tonight. So moving on, we also talked last time about human design. We learned that we were created by God in His image and with a body, soul, and a spirit. So taking those concepts, let’s move on.
We understand that in the physical realm we have certain physical needs, right? We get hungry, we get thirsty, or we get cold or too hot. We are tired, and those needs, when we have those needs unmet, the more that we feel the need. Let’s just take thirst. For example you’re in the desert. I’ve hiked in the desert and you get thirsty. Your anxiety level goes up because you need water. And if you get water, the more water that you get, the more that your anxiety goes down, right? Because that need is being met. Well guess what? We have the same exact scale in the spiritual realm. What is it? We Have spiritual needs. What does our soul and our spirit need? Well, we have a need for God and a relationship with God. And when we try to meet our need for God with something less than God then we experience anxiety. And we’re going to talk about where in the Bible it talks about that.
So let’s back up a minute and think about what motivates us. We are motivated to avoid anxiety, right? We are motivated to fulfill our needs. And one of the big motivations we have is to avoid pain, we want to avoid death, right? Isn’t that probably the strongest aversion we have, the aversion to death? And so what is the parallel in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm between life and death? Well, we know that in the physical realm life is a condition of being able to be connected to the physical realm. We experience that realm. I am experiencing life right now. But if I were dead, guess what? I wouldn’t be experiencing this realm. You wouldn’t be able to talk to me. I wouldn’t be able to talk to you. I would be gone. That’s it. Nothing else right? No communication. Well that idea is in the Bible. And of course we talked about that. For example, we read Genesis 35:18, where Rachel was dying. You know it said her soul departed because she was dying. So we learned that the Bible teaches us that what keeps us alive is the part of us that is spiritual. For example in First Kings 17:21- 22, Elijah the Prophet was asking God to bring life back to the young man that had died. And he said, Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to Him; And the Lord heard Elijah’s cry and the boy’s life returned to him and he lived. Just by way of further illustration, James 2:26 says; For as the body without the Spirit is dead. The analogy is about faith that works. So the book of James is talking about the body without the Spirit is dead.
So the spiritual part of us that we learned about last time inhabits our body and gives us life. So we don’t have any trouble understanding physical death and physical life. Let’s flip that and talk about the spiritual side. There is spiritual life and spiritual death. When we’re spiritually alive we are connected to God. Thus we know God. Jesus said in John 17:1- 3, he said Father, the hour has come; glorify your son, that your son may also glorify you: As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So spiritual life is knowing God. And it also, of course, follows that spiritual death would be not knowing God right?
So, let’s talk about that. In Genesis 2:15, we read this in the context of the law of sin and death, the Lord God was talking to Adam and he said: the Lord God took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Well, we know from reading Genesis, that Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden after they ate of the fruit. And they were still alive. So it follows that what died, when they disobeyed God, was their spiritual part, their soul, their spirit.
This again goes back to what we talked about regarding the characteristics of God. When we violate God’s infinite love, there is a requirement that there is infinite justice that must be served. And we talked about the example of owing the bank a million dollars. How much do you have to pay back? A million dollars. Well, it’s the same when we violate God’s law in one point. We must pay back what is owed and because God is infinite that is an infinite penalty. So the part of them that died was a part of them that communicates with God, their soul and their spirit. And it’s interesting because the part made alive through Christ is the part of us that is spiritual. Not our body. Ephesians 2:4 says God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love which he has loved us, even when we were dead in sins. Well it wasn’t our body that was dead in our sins. It’s our spirit, our soul, made alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. So again we’re talking about spiritual life and spiritual death. Spiritual death is being separated from God. And we learn from the law of sin and death, that happens, when we sin, we die. When we talk about that, you know there’s four groups of people. Since we know there is spiritual death and spiritual life, physical death and physical life. Well you can be physically alive and spiritually dead right? You can be physically and spiritually alive. You can be physically dead and spiritually dead or physically dead and spiritually alive. So those are the four categories that everyone fits into, and we’re going to look at an amazing example that Jesus gave us to illustrate a person who was physically dead and spiritually alive and another person who was physically dead and spiritually dead.
So we need to think about that. You know, this anxiety that we have. What if you don’t like being anxious? I would encourage you to think about something. Is it more important to be concerned about your physical death or your spiritual death? Which lasts longer? And if the Bible is true, if you believe the Bible, our spirit and our soul, they are going to go on for eternity. And this spiritual death that we’re talking about, that causes us this high degree of anxiety, is something that will last forever. This anxiousness is forever. If we die and are spiritually dead, and we’re going too, I can’t imagine a better example of this than to read and to understand the passage from Luke 16:19- 31 where Jesus is telling about the story of Lazarus and the rich man. And this probably gives us the best example of why we should be absolutely, absolutely, concerned about where we stand with God spiritually, about being spiritually alive. And let’s just read this. Jesus said,There was a certain man rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and he fared sumptuously every day: but there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those from there pass to us and the rich man said I beg you therefore father that you would send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment Abraham said to him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them and he said no father Abraham but if one goes to them from the dead they will repent and he said if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. Jesus was describing this conversation that’s happening between two spirits because their bodies are both dead. They died, right? And the rich man is in torment. His soul, his spirit, are in torment. He’s feeling pain, which is forever. The soul is the source of deep-seated emotions and he’s having this conversation. Please, please just give me a little water because I’m tormented. And meanwhile Lazarus is in great joy.
And so this is the eternal condition that should absolutely grab our attention. What the Bible is talking about is the remedy for this eternal anxiety. I mean we have anxiety while we’re here on earth even by virtue of not being close to God, being separated from God. That hole in our heart is still here while we’re here. I suffered from it for many years before I accepted Christ my Savior. I get it. And so we may be concerned about that while we’re here. But we should be even more concerned about, and have a very heightened concern about, the eternal consequences of our spiritual death.
And so the next thing we’re going to talk about is what is the solution, right? What’s the solution to our anxiety? And that’s going to be the next two concepts. The first one is going to be what is man’s solution? What have men done in response to this anxiety and does it work? And then the next concept after that is what is God’s solution and does it work? So I hope that you’ll stay tuned. I really want to express that the next two lessons are going to be very critical to you understanding how to get rid of that anxiety that drives us. How to fill that God shaped hole in your heart that can only be filled one way. And it doesn’t matter how many physical things you try to do to satisfy your soul it will never work. And so I hope you’ll stay tuned to find the answer to these questions.
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