Principles of Divine Equilibrium in Jesus Christ
"Our universe is held together by laws which operate according to the principles of balance. The stars, the planets, and the moons which orbit them are all placed within a deliberate sphere of balance which governs their positions. Should any one of these celestial orbs escape its confine, immediate discord and chaos would result.
The ancient moon of our planet holds a wonderful spiritual lesson for us. It hangs in space with no light of its own save for the reflective glory of the sun. Without the sun’s illumination, the moon would remain a dark orb, completely undetectable to the human eye from earth. But as long as it maintains a balanced orbit, it is available to reflect a portion of the sun’s glory upon the earth.
The moon is held in its place by laws; conflicting gravitational pulls keep it in a perfectly balanced distance from our planet. On one side exists the earth’s gravitational pull; on the other side exists the sun’s. Both laws are constantly working against each other to keep this satellite in a perfectly balanced orbit. Should any one force unbalance the other, discord would occur. For the beloved in Christ, there are many things to learn from these principles.
Observe, for instance, that the Word of God speaks of two laws working within the believer: the law of sin and death, and the law of the Spirit and life (Romans 8:1, 2). One law is forever pulling the believer toward the earth, while the other is forever pulling him away from the earth. But it is the pull of both which keeps him in in his present state. This is why God does not eliminate the pull of the flesh once we are born-again. He could easily eliminate the pull of flesh for us with one glimpse of His inexpressible glory, but such would bring a great departure and uselessness for us upon this earth. Instead, we are told to overcome the earth’s pull in such a degree as to where we can uphold a beneficial balance, for it is in this balance where we efficaciously radiate the light of the Son to those on earth.
The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, and also into all balance. Many times He will warn and exhort children of God to shun certain discussions. This is because certain discussions have the tendency to throw a believer off balance. A popular topic of debate these days is man’s freewill choice versus God’s sovereignty. God’s Word is balanced concerning the two, but man’s tendency is to weigh too heavily on one side or the other. The result is always discord, division and debate. The moon breaks orbit and thus ceases to shine on earth.
When these kinds of orbital breaks occur, the renegade satellite always speeds earthbound, instead of back towards the sun. This is due to a disproportionate factor on the earth’s behalf rather than the sun's. When man wrests scripture to say what he wants it to say according to his limited wisdom, the earth’s influence increases and carnality abounds (James 3:14-17). There are two kinds of wisdom, just as there are two laws; divine equilibrium occurs when man is able to differentiate between the two while maintaining his abode in Christ.
It is important to understand that this equilibrium must pervade all areas of a Christian’s walk: towards God, towards other believers in ministry, and toward unbelievers. Before we look more closely at these principles, we need to begin at the foundation of where God has hung our spheres in space: firstly, at the balance of our relationship and understanding of Him.
1. Divine Equilibrium in God
Our understanding of God and how He relates to us is crucial if we are to enjoy the principle of divine equilibrium in our walks. If we allow God to hang the sphere, the conflicting laws of gravity will automatically reconcile themselves to our positions.
To begin, we must recognize that some spheres are not perfectly formed; some are oblong, while others are oval or some other diametric distortion of a perfect circle. These non-circular distortions almost always point to an improper understanding of our positions of completion in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:10).
As the sun is at the center of our solar system, so God’s Son must be at the center of our spiritual system. This may seem like basic information for babes, but it is surprising how few believers actually understand this simple truth. Had they understood it, God would have established divine equilibrium in their walks much sooner. The Lord has given us many object lessons to illuminate this truth. From heliocentric systems in astronomy all the way to the free radicals of microbiology, God’s design is to demonstrate that in the full gamut of man’s observation, the all-governing principle of Christocentricity is inescapable.
Until we have a revelatory understanding that we have been divinely placed into Christ by God (I Corinthians 1:30), and that Christ’s life is henceforth to be lived through us in lieu of our own (Galatians 2:20), our orbits will be in complete discord. Though we transverse space, we do it as comets, never at rest and always exhibiting a tail of our own self-transient glory. We will never enter into the rest of God, no matter how straight our theology is or how much we discipline the flesh, until we allow God to establish balance.
Peace and rest must be ours before peace and rest can be engendered from us unto others. A revelatory understanding of what God has already done for us in Christ is vital if our spheres are to be built and maintained by Him. Although there are different theological systems in Christianity just as there are different solar systems in our galaxy, one thing must be present if God’s created purpose is to operate within them all: a Star must be at the center. This is why God can move within alien frameworks, often defying the theological vehicles of men, as long as Christ’s life is the spiritual nucleus of the believer within the given system.
Those who have entered into the rest of Christ, and who are divinely balanced in God, draw away from theological debates and strivings about the law (Titus 3:9; II Timothy 2:16). The Holy Spirit has shown them that such activity generates imbalance, unrest and actually occludes faith’s eye from continuing to look unto Jesus. This is a very hard concept to embrace for most, because theology and God are often thought to be inextricably linked.
What is needed in the life of a Christian is not so much correct theology but correct doctrine. When a believer aligns himself with impure doctrine, his theology – no matter how correctly adhered to – will be to no avail. However, a believer with pure doctrine will triumph in God despite his theological leanings (I Timothy 4:16).
For example, today there are myriads of strivings and debates concerning Arminianism versus Calvinism in relating to which is the most accurate and/or balanced view according to the revelation of scripture. Both sides have adherents that move in the authority of God, and both sides can boast of genuine revivals occurring under the auspices of their system. This is because God is bigger than the denominational systems of men; He transcends men’s theology and compartmentalization efforts. He bypasses religious systems and seeks instead to abide within individuals irrespective of their denominational leaning. All that’s needed doctrinally is the revelatory principle of Christ in man, the hope of Glory. Such an understanding creates the perfect sphere from which He can now begin to establish equilibrium in the life of the believer.
If the eyes of our faith can be opened to the divine glory of Christ in us, and consequently a life which is no longer self-propelled, activities once indulged in will no longer hold an allurement. If the eyes of our faith can be opened to the everlasting power of Jesus Christ’s blood, depression and discontent will no longer hold us hostage. If the eyes of our faith can be opened to the unsearchable love of God for His children, the threat of separation will no longer keep us under the anxiety to perform works. And if God has brought an understanding of Christ’s abiding centrality into the spirit of a believer, rest will immediately result with divine balance soon to follow.
Divine equilibrium in God is found in simply knowing our positions in Christ. There is a tremendous sense of sanctuary which comes in reckoning ourselves dead and our lives hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). All the strife of life suddenly comes to an end, as a picture of a man in death sinking peacefully into his pillow as he takes his final breath. Such is the rest we discover in realizing our deaths in Christ (Romans 6:6).
With the realization of this death comes a sudden balance in God. Since the life of Christ is perfectly balanced, and through His death we were raised into His life, the balance found in Jesus Christ becomes our balance; His patience becomes our patience, His humility becomes our humility, His love for others becomes our love for others, His faith becomes our faith, His zeal becomes our zeal, His compassion becomes our compassion. His divine nature is a divinely balanced nature, full of glory and perfection, grace and truth, and it is this very nature we are invited to enter into and partake of by faith (II Peter 1:4).
Once the Lord has given us such an understanding as mentioned above, the need to assert ourselves theologically will cease, for it will be shown that these types of debates are normally predicated upon a desire to inflate our own spirituality in the eyes of others. No longer content in being a luminary of God within the rest of divine equilibrium, we desire a comet’s radical zeal and the spectacular tail that follows it. Beloved of God, the Holy Spirit will never endorse such carnal motives, and will render even the Word of God in such cases an instrument of death rather than life (II Corinthians 3:6) if one attempts to use it to build a tail. Imbalance in God always brings spiritual death, failure and deep falling; whereas divine equilibrium in God always brings abundant life and peace.
To gain this balance in God, one must first seek to be balanced. God searches the hearts of His children to see who genuinely desires to be balanced in all aspects of their spirituality, and to those honest seekers He delights in preparing them for divine equilibrium in Jesus Christ."
...to be continued
Paul West
