Meaning
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© November 12, 2017
I have been intrigued while watching a secular documentary series on the human brain.
While watching it I marveled at God’s Works! They are past finding out!
The most complex (and wondrous) object that has been discovered in the universe, is the human brain…
Every second our brain has billions of (neuron) interactions within it – and it doesn’t stop, for all our life.
From a PBS Series on “The Brain with David Eagleman.”
The brain is securely protected and enclosed in our skull. It is permanently encased in total darkness, yet it profoundly activates, stimulates, and controls every thought, move, action, vision and interaction that we have – voluntary or involuntary!
Vision: The brain itself does not see, but it allows us to see, with our eyes, the brilliant and vibrant colors of the world around us, through billions of bursts of electrical and chemical impulses in the neurons throughout the brain.
Taste: The brain itself does not taste, but it, along with our tongue, allows us to appreciate the sensations of sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Aroma: The brain does not smell, but through its interactions with our olfactory glands, we can either enjoy or be aware of some 10,000 pleasant to disgusting odors.
Hearing: The brain does not hear, but it allows acoustics, through our ears, to comprehend the vast frequencies of sound.
1.Sounds enter the ear
2.Tiny middle ear bones amplify sound
3.Cochlea sorts sounds by frequency.
4.Nerve passes signal from cochlea to brain stem.
5.Signal travels through brain getting decoded along the way
6.Auditory cortex recognizes, processes sound.
Communication: The brain does not communicate, but it allows us to comprehend the syntax of complicated language and nuances of facial and body expressions.
“Humans are equipped with sophisticated machinery for producing and hearing speech”:
oWhen a person speaks, the brain controls all mental and physical aspects of speaking.
oSounds begin as breath is expelled from the lungs.
oOn its journey to the mouth, the air vibrates as it is forced through the vocal cords.
oThe mouth, nose and tongue modify this vibrating air to form sound waves.
oFacial expressions and gestures also play a role in communication.
oIn the listener, sound waves enter the ear and are then analyzed into words by the brain.”
National Science Foundation: https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/speech.jsp
Memory: What would we do without our brain’s memory retention?
Movement: The brain does not move, but it calculates our every movement from ordinary life, to fight or flight.
Feeling: The brain does not feel, but it facilitates the communication of every pain, joy or sorrow throughout our whole person – through nerve receptors or emotional interaction.
Planning…Protection…Pursuit…Propose…Production…etc., etc.: God has allowed our brain, in conjunction with the Consciousness of our spirit, and the ability of our physical body, to facilitate every aspect of our human being.
We marvel at God’s Works! We are fearfully and wonderfully made! God’s Ways are past finding out!
It was interesting that during the presentation on the brain, while exploring the fuller breadth of “consciousness”, Dr. Eagleman interjected a brief interaction he had with one of his mentors, Dr. Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA – the code which God implanted in each of our cells, so our body’s growth would be guided genetically.
While considering “consciousness”, Dr. Eagleman described entering into Dr. Crick’s office and on his chalk board amid many other words was one word much larger than the others and that word was, “MEANING”. This implication led me to believe that Dr. Crick may have been seeking to distill all of life’s underlying motivations of life to be centered on this one dynamic: Meaning.
If that assumption is accurate, I agree with him.
“Meaning” may be one of the greatest basic underlying needs for each human being.
Today we will be exploring even a greater dynamic of “meaning”, which is much broader and deeper than the basic motivator of everyday “meaning” – it is “Spiritual Meaning”, from the first eleven verses of 2 Peter 1.
Why is Spiritual Meaning so important?
Human meaning is important, but, God who made us, is Spiritual, and Godly Spiritual meaning has a much vaster breadth and depth for any of God’s Children.
Six dynamics of Spiritual Meaning, found in 2 Peter 1:1-11, are as follows:
1. “Supernatural Meaning” and Faith (2 Peter 1:1-2)
2. “Supernatural Meaning” and Power (2 Peter 1:3)
3. “Supernatural Meaning” and Promises (2 Peter 1:4)
4. “Supernatural Meaning” and Maturity (2 Peter 1:5-7)
5. “Supernatural Meaning” and Effectiveness (2 Peter 1:8-9)
6. “Supernatural Meaning” and Accomplishment (2 Peter 1:10-11)
1. “Supernatural Meaning” and Faith
God’s Imparted Righteousness
Precious Faith
Grace and Peace in Abundance
Through the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ
2 Peter 1:1-2
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
We have Spiritual MEANING in our life when we have God-honoring Faith, God’s Righteousness, with Grace and Peace in Abundance
2. “Supernatural Meaning” and Power
Divine Power
2 Corinthians 10:4
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
“Everything we need for life and godliness”
Through our Knowledge of Christ
Called by His own glory and goodness
2 Peter 1:3
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
We have Spiritual MEANING in our life when we are empowered by God’s Divine Power!
3. “Supernatural Meaning” and Promises
Very Great and Precious Promises
oFear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God (Is. 41:10)
oCast all your care on Me, for I care for you (1 Peter 5:7)
oI have loved you with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3)
oI will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me, because you trust in me (Is. 26:30)
oMy peace I give you, not as the world gives, let not your heart be troubled (John 14:27)
oResist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7-8)
Participation in the Divine Nature
Escape the Corruption in the World caused by Evil Desires
2 Peter 1:4
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
We have Spiritual MEANING in our life when we are recipients of Promises given to us by God, are participants of His Divine Nature, and are given the ability to escape the corruption of evil desires in the world!
4. “Supernatural Meaning” and Maturity
Faith
Goodness
Knowledge
Self-control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love
2 Peter 1:5-7
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
As we mature in our faith, by growing and deepening in our daily walk with the Lord, the Spiritual MEANING we seek comparatively grows more secure, even though we may go through deep waters and sometimes abrasive issues, becoming more mature.
5. “Supernatural Meaning” and Effectiveness
Kept from being Ineffective and Unproductive
Kept from being Nearsighted, and Blind with Amnesia (forgetting you have been cleansed from past sins)
2 Peter 1:8-9
8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Possessing an increasing measure of these qualities keep us from becoming ineffective and unproductive. God’s blessing and effectiveness in His Work affirms the Spiritual MEANING that God wants to affirm for our lives.
6. “Supernatural Meaning” and Accomplishment
Accomplishment keeps from Spiritual Failure
Accomplishment receives a Rich Welcome into Christ’s Eternal Kingdom
2 Peter 1:10-11
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We, as believers in Jesus Christ, have Spiritual MEANING when we are sustained from the hazards of spiritual failure and are able to look forward to being joyfully welcomed into Christ’s Eternal Kingdom!
1. “Supernatural Meaning” and Faith (2 Peter 1:1-2)
2. “Supernatural Meaning” and Power (2 Peter 1:3)
3. “Supernatural Meaning” and Promises (2 Peter 1:4)
4. “Supernatural Meaning” and Maturity (2 Peter 1:5-7)
5. “Supernatural Meaning” and Effectiveness (2 Peter 1:8-9)
6. “Supernatural Meaning” and Accomplishment (2 Peter 1:10-11)
God created each of us with a magnificent and incomprehensible body, brain, soul and spirit. He has also given us the opportunity to have profound Supernatural Meaning as we walk through complex mazes of life and interact with many along the way. God allows us to go through testing, trial and blessing so we can grow into Spiritual maturity, by being refined and purified, to become more effective servants in Christ’s Kingdom.
May each of us make every effort to add to our faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love; because, if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:10-11