8th Wonders of the world
Man has consistently looked to glorify himself and the works of his hands. Routinely we award one another for acts or feats that we use to set us apart or above others. This is contrary to the nature of God. When we look to elevate ourselves, we till the fertile ground where our pride grows. One clear depiction of this practice is the list of the 8 wonders of the world. These wonders are voted upon and rated by a select group that fails to confer with the very world they are making these choices for. I would like to offer a different version of the wonders from the point of view of the faithful.
I pray that the Spirit of God would enhance the words and give a simple notion a ray of light.
Wonders should represent those things man cannot create. They should be those far reaching things that float above the human experience, and are there to be observed to signify the glory of the one who created the wonder. They should exceed thought, imagination and dreams.
The wonders
1. God
The only entity without a beginning or end, and without height, depth or width. Expansive beyond comprehension and the creator of all. He set in motion all forms and facets of life and began their function to be in perfect unison with one another. Perfection is solely based on the truth that no other way appears viable. Man has tried in vain to duplicate, imitate, preserve, enhance and circumvent life to no avail. As wondrous and massive the concept of God is, He can only be seen through the lens of faith. God created faith to energize, settle, and empower the spiritual experience as we engage fitfully in the human experience. What is divine is that God created and gave us the faith, increases the faith, and is the sole purpose of faith. A perfect example of this faith is the many ways man has tried to extinguish God’s church/people. They attempted to burn it to the ground, yet the smoking embers gave warmth to new beginnings. They attempted cut it off at the head, then in a glorious regeneration such as you would see from a medusa like creature, many more heads sprung from the severed neck. God should be glorified most for the preservation of this faith. Throughout history man’s inability to just believe, has caused him to attempt to extinguish that which he fails to understand. Yet in each episode the God of all extends grace and preserves the very nature of His creation, faith.
2. The Word of God
Has been known as the Son of God, the savior of the world and the Lord of Lords. The word is not only a wonder, but wonderful. God is so precise that His word is in itself an entity. God is so filled with power that His breath gives life, and His word creates and sustains the very life His breath has given. The word of God has always been true. Yet it came a time when man looked to question the validity of His word and become disobedient. Man attempted to use God’s word as the reason for his disobedience. Man exclaimed that God could not relate to him and his unique problems and trials. Man perceived that God could not understand the feelings and depth of man. God handled this rebellion man had in him with perfection. He allowed His own word to become flesh. He allowed His word to walk with man, as man walked. He allowed His word to experience every human aspect of life imaginable. He did so in the presence of man, so that he could never claim again the divine separation. God manifested His truth, power, authority, love, fairness, grace, peace, joy and sacrifice that are present in His word. At one time God used to walk with man, talk with man. As man fell further into sin, we lost that presence of God that sustained early man. God’s grace allowed us to once again walk with Him in Faith, through Christ. The second wonder of the world.
3. Holy Spirit
God once again needed an entity of Himself to impart a heavenly knowledge, a Godly peace and understanding. In the early beginnings of man’s creation, man was able to withstand a walk with God. Man was able to endure a talk with God. Yet as man fell further into sin his tolerance for the power and majesty of the presence of God diminished. Man did not possess any longer the ability to remain in the presence of God without hurting himself physically. It is similar to the protection the layers of our atmosphere provide us from the sun. Once the layers are removed, we would burn rapidly from the intense heat and radiation. I imagine Adam was given the adequate protection from God to withstand God’s presence. Once again God needed a perfect substitute for His presence as it pertained to man seeking, gaining, understanding, and receiving the things of God. It was just a remnant of Him, a smaller dose if you will, that would be digestible for sinful man. The spirit allows for the wisdom of God to be revealed. The Spirit allows for the faith, peace and grace of God to be understood. It allows for the joy and love of God to be received. The Holy Spirit is the chalice with which we humbly drink from the river of living water which is Christ. That river if followed to its mouth, would lead you to the largest and most filling body of water, God the Father. The Holy Spirit was given by the Son of God to man, from the Father. The spirit bears witness to the Son, who bears witness to the Father. The Spirit had always been there from the beginning. The Spirit will be there at the end, our third wonder of the world.
4. Life
In all its aspects, life is an almost impossible concept for the human mind to process. It is precisely why we have a “big bang theory”. We cannot explain, fathom, digest or understand the beginning of life or the reason for it through a carnal mind. Life is a wonder because it encompasses all types from the infinitesimal amoeba or protein strand; to the largest star we have evidence of, the sun. God set in motion an array of life that is interwoven and relies on other life forms for survival. This is contrary to the creator who is self sustaining. The notion of life is difficult for man to grasp, and only through another of God’s creations can one comprehend the truth. That creation is faith. With and through faith, man can be at peace with himself about creation. He can allow the creator to be in that role alone, as it should be. Man tries to confuse and make life out to be a puzzle to solve, a riddle to decipher. Through faith we can appreciate the simple perfection of life. Instead of wondering how a glacier was formed, enjoy the formation. Knowledge of its formation cannot be made more important than the beauty of its form. Life is indeed a broad brush to paint this 4th wonder with, but God is the broadest of them all. So to include all living things as life is to exemplify the incomprehensible Father of all. It seems logical that the Father of all is as expansive as or greater than His creation.
5. Love
The absolute greatest part of the spiritual experience is love. It is the most perfect form of our spirituality. Simply because it is the most representative of our creator. (see 1st wonder) It is the spiritual experience that encompasses this perfect trait. It was from God that life was breathed into us. The purpose of that breath lies in the perfect trait of love. Only in our spirit will love grow. It is not affected by physicality except when illness prevents the growth. Otherwise God created us in an image, but not a physical image. God cannot be put in a box marked male or female, or any race or ethnicity. God is much broader than that and rightfully so. Love also is broader than that and since God is love, love is a wonder.
6. The Bible
The word of God is of itself resilient. As it should be since it is God’s word. You may have heard that what God puts together, let no man put asunder. Man has tried to burn, drown, hide, destroy, and divide God’s word. Yet it remains intact and as full of power as it was the day the first scribe began transcription. There are many facets of the bible that can also be construed as a wonder. For time’s sake, we will include them all. Preparation of the word has been a meticulous and arduous journey of complete perfection. Can we imagine any body of writing, with several authors, in several locations, over several hundred years, incorporating archaic tools of penmanship, spanning centuries, oceans and many wars, to finally survive intact and invoke a belief that transcends life itself? The preparation and preservation of the Word is truly a representative of God. (See 1st wonder) God made sure that the least of these my brethren, 5,000 years after the first word was uttered, would be afforded the opportunity to know Him personally. No person, government, or sect would have the power to accomplish this task. The bible represents a chronological account that even in the modern age of communication we have trouble duplicating. The bible brings forth knowledge that scientist would not discover for centuries after the bible recorded it. This would lead to the conclusion that there was a higher intelligence that was behind the writer and the inspiration. The truth of God has been argued for, defended, people were killed for its contents, and yet the truth of God need not be defended. The truth of God is like a lion, and who would argue that a lion need no defense. Just let the lion go free, and he will defend himself. So will the lion of Judah. That is why the word is a wonder.
7. Death
For all intents and purposes, death appears to be a wonder shrouded with negative connotations. Yet our faith has transformed death into a doorway of life. Faith explains that our savior took the sting and fear of death from believers. Also deaths main fear has always been the end of life. Yet if we approach it as the beginning of life, we move to a place of fearless acceptance of the end of our human experience. The bible reveals quite eloquently that the spiritual far outweighs the physical. The Lord says do not fear them that can kill the body. That is because He endured that death of the body for us all. The bible records that men lived to 900 + years in the past and now we are down to 90 years. This more than likely stems from the increase in sin and degradation which are extreme aging agents. We live to die instead of dying to Christ so that we may truly live. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. We must embrace the end of our human experience with joy for the beginning of our full spiritual experience. The enemy of God routinely uses this wonder to extrapolate fear, anxiety and panic. God allows us peace in this area through the wonder of His love for us. It provides a peace that passes all understanding. So then must His creation death fulfill His will, a will that we can trust. It is a wonder.
8. Faith
The 8th wonder is interwoven heavily with all the other wonders. It is imperative to realize that faith is the only way to believe in the others and their merit. It is as selfless as true love, and transcends emotion. You cannot expect faith as you would love. Faith has to happen and is not based on any other item being connected. Faith is the foundation of our human experience and the human equivalent to God’s love nature. We cannot obtain the agape love that separates God from us. That love raised mountains very high, and raised Adam from the dust. Yet faith raised Lazarus from the dead. Faith fed 5,000 people with a boy’s lunch. Faith executed spiritually will bring forth the love that truly resembles the Father. He created us in an image, and for centuries man intended to decipher that image through paintings, photos and depictions. Yet truly the only way to truly be in the image of God, is to believe on Him. Once you believe on Him, act in a way that exudes the very love needed to give, help, embrace, be empathetic, and change the world and its ideas toward God. That is a wonder. To move a generation of people by faith, in love towards God. If we could get hundreds of fellow believers to accomplish this very task set before us in 66 love letters from God, the ninth wonder would be mankind.
