The Two-Sided Existence

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The two-sided existence

I need to turn in here to reemphasize that we indeed live in a two-sided existence. It is both corporeal and spiritual. It is wise to often remind ourselves of this. It is a strain on our attention to even recognize another human; we look then we look away. If we look at a man and say to ourselves, oh, it’s a man, we’ve recognized no more than the corporeal. How often do we actually attend the spiritual half of our existence? Our twofold existence is an issue that spans religions, philosophies, cultures, and eons. Christianity is not central to the issue, merely one satellite in orbit of its influence.

But Christian thinkers, have invested much thought in this important theme. Hebrews 11:3 says,

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Man recognizes that the spiritual is the greater aspect of our two-sided existence. It is a lazy tendency to ascribe reality to the more solid. It is erroneous to think of the more ethereal as the sole reflection. We look and feel real by way of our solidity, but science points to the ethereal spaces between our atoms and asks, what is the real power that keeps us from flying apart?

When we consider the spiritual side of our existence, the prevalent concept is of a full-fledged ‘world’ at least on a par with our own. Matthew 12:32 puts it this way, “Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Not only are we made up of God particles, but Christian thought ascribes ownership of both sides to God. Innately, by way of comparison, I think that all of us, choosing between our brain and our body, will ascribe ownership to the brain. That ownership walks a fine line, and must necessarily enjoin that symbiosis through concession.

If the brain makes the hand pass through a flame, the brain suffers with the body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 informs us, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” God makes certain sacrifices to maintain the relationship. The greatest, of course, was the sacrifice of His Son. God making regular sacrifice is not an alien concept when one remembers that the pattern for the Israeli temple altar came from the altar that was real in Heaven. It is not so burdensome, then, to think that sacrifice on our part is necessary to the maintenance of our

relationship to the other side of existence, indeed, to the other side of our nature. 1 Corinthians 15:19

says this about sacrifice, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most

miserable.”

We are told that we may know and understand the spiritual side of existence, and even God, Himself, through things commonly known and understood here on the corporeal side. It is upon this that parables, as straight gates to the truth, are based. (Side note: ‘parable’ seems strikingly similar

to ‘parallel’). Parables make comparisons that lead the mind from the corporeal illustration to the

spiritual parallel. It is a device that will keep many out, and yet, those who are most interested, those

who ‘strive to enter in’ will discover the key.

It seems fitting that the key to all parables is another parable. Mark 4:13 points to such a key, “Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” It has been placed within our own powers that we can see these things for ourselves. Luke 21:29-31, “And He spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”