Can a Human Being Be Partners With the Deity? - d2

The secular magician Simon, in Acts 8, became a Christian, but then became carried away by the spectacular sight of Peter laying his hands on Christians and them becoming able to perform smaller miracles themselves.

Like P.T. Barnum offering $20,000 for the Cardiff Giant, Simon went home, gathered up money, and came back to Peter with a business proposition:

Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Simon had neither part nor lot in WHAT matter?

In the religion of Christ. In the kind gifts of the Spirit of God, promised in Joel 2:28-32, preached by Peter in Acts 2.

"Thy heart is not right." You can't have a partnership when your governing motives are incorrect. What did Simon love? A full wallet, and the praise of man. So? There's no way to form a partnership with God.

It's key to understand that Heaven and Hell are not primarily reward-and-punishment. They are separate places for incompatible people. Beings in Heaven, according to Jesus, "get with the program." They want love, they want truth, they want harmony and teamwork.

The devil, with full knowledge of what heaven offered, didn't want those things very much. He wanted power, ego fulfillment, pleasures for himself whether or not they cost others.

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The legend goes that in Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper, he originally did a terrific job of painting the cup that held the wine. (In fact, in the painting you can still see Jesus pointing at a tiny clear cup that holds about 1 oz of wine.)

Supposedly Leonardo finished the painting and asked for a friend's opinion. The friend gasped. "That is the finest cup I have ever seen painted!" Leonardo took his brush and painted over it. His motivation? He wanted people looking at Jesus' face.

In this legend, Leonardo did not covet praise for technical expertise: he wanted people meditating on the sacrifice of the cross. The difference in a man's motivation makes all the difference.

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In John 13:8, Jesus talks to Peter about walking on the same path with Him:

Joh 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Joh 13:5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Joh 13:6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Joh 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
Joh 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

You choose not to give up the realm of heirarchy, Peter? You choose to cling to the ladder structure, and to the realm of ego, and to the realm of competition? You refuse to enter the realm where ego does not matter, and helping one another does matter?

You know what: you can do that. I won't stop you. It is your choice. But there are consequences! Your actions have results. And one result is that you cannot be a part of My mission. You cannot be in partnership with Me -- because we do not want the same things.

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Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Here we are again with this eerie phrase: we seek "our part" in the resurrection, and in the book of life. The more we look at it, the more it dawns on us. The divorce of heaven and hell isn't based on punishment as such. It is based on INCOMPATIBILITY!

The Plank of Carneades as a moral dilemma:

There are two shipwrecked sailors, A and B, treading water in the middle
of the ocean. They both see a plank that can only support one of them
and both of them swim towards it. Sailor A gets to the plank first.
Sailor B, who is going to drown, pushes A off and away from the plank
and, thus, ultimately, causes A to drown. Sailor B gets on the plank and
is later saved by a rescue team.
Can Sailor B can be tried for murder? Would you personally prosecute him?

There are two instincts here: (1) Survival, and (2) Love. Both cannot coexist in the same time and in the same place. In this situation, the two motivations are INCOMPATIBLE. They are mismatched, unsuited, unable to get along, unable to coexist. They conflict. They clash. Light and dark can't exist in your bedroom at the same time.

The nature of the separation between Heaven and Hell, between spiritual men and secular, is not (inherently) that one place is perfect and the other not. The separation is inevitable because of the fact that they WANT terribly different things. They cannot exist together in the same place and the same time.

A gun-control advocate will not say the same things as does the president of the NRA. Harmony is not possible through more politeness. Their desires create conflict, not their manners.

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Having part and lot with God? Is no more and no less than wanting the same things He does. This is a rather important insight, one would think.

Kind regards,

Jeff

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