Part 1 - What is ‘Real’?
| This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Life That is Real Life. |
- Chapter 1 of: "The Life That is TReal Life"
In order to discuss a topic with any degree of confidence we must have a foundation for our understanding that is secure and true. The most fundamental basis that we can have for our perceptions is a correct understanding about what constitutes reality. This is a concept that philosophers have debated and probed for centuries. The true nature of reality is the basis of a correct understanding of our existence. In the end, it is up to each person to decide for themselves what really constitutes reality. That is to say, each of us must form an understanding of what makes something real.
There is one critical ground rule we must raise at this early stage of our search. The pursuit of an understanding of reality can only be healthy and profitable if we recognize that true reality is an objective concept. We cannot legitimately view reality as "the reality we choose to accept." Many people in the world treat reality this way. In the end, this approach to the subject of reality results not in understanding but in self-deception. Reality is not an opinion or a product of wishful thinking; it is what is.
To be more precise, reality is not just what is but it is what is forever. This is why the person without some acceptance and understanding of the spiritual can never fully grasp what is truly real. Reality can be seen in at least three levels of understanding. The most superficial of these levels is what exists physically. Physical existence is, in the immediate sense, what is real. But this is not a foundational understanding of reality.
The next level of understanding reality is in the intellectual. The question must be confronted and answered: 'Is my reality a product of my ideas and understandings?' I do not believe that this can be so in any absolute or objective sense. It should be obvious to anyone that we are each individual in our thoughts and understandings. If the intellectual were the basis of reality then reality would have to be subjective. Reality would then be what we think it is instead of what it really is. No one has a sufficiently complete understanding to be able to base reality in a true and total sense on intellectual grounds.
Reality, real reality, must be more than physical existence or intellectual understanding. This is so because what we see around us in the physical will pass away. And if it passes away, where then is our reality? And our understanding is too limited to even approach encompassing all of reality. No, the reality that is true must be able to go beyond the present moment and our individual limitations. Reality, to be absolute must have the elements of absolute endurance and be all encompassing. Absolute endurance can only be eternal. An all-encompassing understanding must be omniscient. So the reality that is total must endure for all time and include all things. The reality that is absolute must be eternal both in endurance and in scope. This, of course, describes only one being in all creation - God.
True Reality
In the end, reality is God. The total of all things, all understandings and all truth is God, the Father. This is why the search for reality is doomed to failure if the spiritual is not considered. To seek for the truth about existence apart from God limits the searcher to some component of reality and not the total of reality itself. The physical universe is part of reality but it is not reality itself. The thoughts, emotions and understandings of humanity are likewise part of reality but not the sum total of what is real.
To go beyond these components of reality to the basis of all truth and reality we must eventually seek God. This is why the spiritual part of reality cannot be overlooked without dooming ourselves to failure in the effort to understand the reality of our existence. This is why a relationship with the Father is imperative to being able to successfully do anything: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5).
The Bible has always been quite clear on this point. If we ever hope to accomplish anything of lasting (real) value we must do it through the Father. The only way we can do anything through the Father is by having the Father's life in us. This is what is meant by "If a man remains in me and I in him,". This is why the issue of life is so important to being all we are capable of being.