imagination

Man’s Image
God made Man in His image. He put His attributes in us to varying degrees. Because of the Fall we have lost touch with His nature in us. Through the operation of His Holy Spirit we find His nature again.

Imagination - The mind of Man has capabilities to envision, or imagine what does not exist in this world. We call this the imagination. It allows us to plan, piecing together from knowledge and past experiences what may become possible. Our imagination is a facility in our mind that enables us to have vision for what can be.

Our imagination can also be used for other things, such as entertainment. We call that “day dreaming”. Another thing we can do with our imagination is evaluate ourselves, which can be seen as “inflating our ego”, or seeing ourselves in a “bad light”. We begin to compare ourselves against other people (2 Cor 10:12) or evaluate others according to worldly standards (2 Cor 5:16).

The Bible mentions our capability to have “vain imaginations (Rm 1:21). This comes from seeing patterns (retrospect) and possibilities (real or imagined). The basis for vain imaginations can be pride or lust . . . they can be intellectual or sensual. Vain imaginations can also be spiritual and lead one to deception (Ez 13:2,17). Our ability to imagine can work to pollute our mind, or can be lit up by the Holy Spirit to enable us to see through the eyes of faith. This is what Paul referred to when he prayed that the “eyes of (our) understanding be opened”. The comprehension of our inheritance begins with our ability to “see” what Christ has done for us in the past, what He has for us currently, and what He is working in us and through us toward the future. This experience of being His child, filled with His light, is then coupled with this knowledge and helps us to perceive, imagine, and know small glimpses of what is to come. Strong’s Concordance – imagine; weave, contrive, conceive, invent. It is a function of the mind of Man.

How do we guard against the wrongful use of our imagination (vain imaginations)? We are warned that we will become deceived if we do not have a love of the truth (1 Cor 13:6, 2 Thess 2:10). King David prayed that the Lord would clear him of presumptuous sins (Psalm 19:13; see also Deut 18:22). Love of the truth is an operation of the heart. Guarding the mind against vanity is an operation of the Mind, coupled with the Word of God. Paul describes this as a war, instructing us to “pull down” pretenses that exalt themselves against the truth (2 Cor 10:3-5). Just as the Holy Spirit is the One Who brings truth to us, so we have a responsibility to guard and value that truth against the vanity of our fleshly imaginations.

Another instruction of Paul’s is to “put away childish things”, and he mentions thinking, reasoning, and talking (1 Cor 13:11). Childishness carries a lack of true estimation of our character and skill because it lacks experience needed. A child may hold great hopes and dreams in his heart, and can hear God’s Spirit speaking to him. But childish thinking lacks the ability to “see” the depth that God has for him. So, we are admonished to “grow up into Him”, Christ.

Godliness - God’s ways are based on His character. He has not changed. We read about His love of obedience and holiness, and hatred of evil and sin. He wants us to be like Him and so provided a way for this to happen. What He provides for is seen in His Word, and in His actions. Godliness is incorporating God’s ways into our lives. We see His provision for us when we receive our spiritual daily bread and so we in turn provide physical bread daily for our families or others. We receive His grace and mercy and so we give grace and mercy. These things are an outward show of godliness.

Young men may dream of being a super hero. Their courage remains in their imagination until tested against risks to their own safety. David passed these tests with the lion and bear. When accused by his brother of being vain or proud (boasting that he could defeat Goliath), David brought his past experiences of defeating wild beasts as his defense. These experiences were evidence that he wasn’t being vain in his imagination, and that he indeed had the skill to defeat Goliath. David’s skill, coupled with godliness (his indignation at the “uncircumcised Philistine”) caused his ability to enter into the realm of doing God’s will . . . accomplishing God’s purpose. David became a “super hero” of his time, and a hero of faith for all time.

Back to imagination; we let our imagination prepare us for what might be or what is coming up. Our thought-life reaches out to assess situations which might be risky, or glamorous. If we are not the “super hero” type, or even just a plain hero, fear may be guiding our imagination, and a desire to be safe will lead us away from faith. We will construct rules to protect ourselves and eventually rely on ourselves or other people deemed safe and more capable rather than rely on God. We will become skewed towards our perception of past experiences and lose our visionary capability. However, if knowledge is the basis of our imagination, we will search our past experiences for “success stories” in which to base our future actions. We can be like David and have an honest estimation of our past actions, or we can have a poor estimation of ourselves based on intimidations from others. Or, we can have pride; an inflated estimation of our capabilities. Again, the battle must be fought according to Paul’s instructions in 2 Corinthians (10:3-5) with the weapons of the Spirit. Instead of letting our own imaginations prepare us for what is to come, God wants to prepare us. God alone knows our heart and true capabilities (see 1 Cor 3). He alone can lead us to our first lion or bear, and He alone can appoint our giants. In our desire to know about and feel safe in our future events we must not allow our imaginations to lead us. The preparations of the Lord are faithful. He will give us the knowledge we need in His timing and help us to keep our hearts in trust of Him. Then our minds will become like the mind of Christ, and what we have imagined will become founded by faith and followed by action.