The Immaculate Conception

This is a continuation of my last post about spiritual fruit.

As a kid I remember thinking that if you kissed a girl in just the right spot you could create a baby! I was obviously too young and uninformed to know that babies are the result of a man and woman engaging in sexual intercourse, and now as an father of 3 kids it kinda makes me laugh at my silly notions of what it takes to create life. As adults we all know (or at least I hope we all know!) that if we hope to birth life it will require us to enage in a transcendant encounter with another human being. There is only one Immaculate Conception in all of human history - the birth of Jesus.

So I had to ask myself this question - "Do I believe that I can experience an Immaculate Conception in my spirit life?"

How can I expect to enjoy the birth of a new life in my spirit unless I have engaged in a transcendent encounter with Jesus? I know that the physical things we encounter everyday are a shadow, a copy, a picture of God's character - so why do I live as if virgin birth is a daily possibility? Can you imagine going to a fertility clinic and telling the doctor you have been trying to have a baby for the past 10 years and then telling her that you are still a virgin!!

The sad part is that I think I live the majority of my life this way. I long to have my life re-born. To live my new life in the power of God's spirit and in doing so produce the wonderous fruit of His Spirit - but I am unwilling to encounter Him in a committed, passionate, surrendered relationship. (Not to mention doing the 'work' it will take to get to that place). I daily rely on my belief that a virgin birth is possible within my spiritual life. I'm taking the fertility drugs. I am checking my temperature daily but I am a spiritual abstenant!

I suppose the church has assumed that as we mature into spiritual adults the whole 'procreation' concept would mysteriously emerge in our own understanding of birthing new life? But maybe it's time we started talking to people about the "Birds and the Bees" of the human spirit! Friendship with Jesus is not enough, I need to become a lover of God. After all we are referred to as the "Bride of Christ"!!

As I'm finishing this thought I can't help but think how much "new life" I would birth in my spirit if I was as eager to engage in a transcenent encounter with God as I am with my wife.