Photo by Gustavo Peres (Pexels)
By Dr. Michael Weis
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the human heart, all that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, quoted from Isaiah 64:4).
Our Imaginative Race
Most often this verse is associated with Heaven. While it is certainly true that we can’t imagine what God has in store for His children in Heaven, the context of this verse has to do with the wisdom God gives through His Spirit.
Paul is saying that through the Holy Spirit, God gives true wisdom that the world cannot understand. This godly wisdom is something wonderful and hard to imagine. It is rare within Christendom so speak about imagination.
Where did imagination come from?
God thought of all He would create before He created it. Just look around at the world, universe, animals, plants, and people. Notice the variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and designs. God is an imaginative God.
God created Adam and Eve on Day 6 (Genesis 1:26-31) “in His image.” This means God created people to be holy, righteous, and relational. He created the human race with intelligence, understanding, the ability to communicate with Him, and with a measure of imagination.
Renewed Imagination
Sadly, when sin came into the world, it wrought havoc, including the effect it has had on our imaginations. We read in Genesis 6:5: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”
Yes, sin had darkened our imaginations as we are continually imagining new ways to be evil or indulge in our selfish desires. How is the remedy for this?
When believers are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ, God changes us from the inside out and makes us “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This includes our imagination. Once we are saved, we can use it for God’s glory – as many have done.
Think of the numerous ministries dedicated to the truth of God’s Word. Think of the Christian films that have come out the past 20 years which both glorify God and are biblically instructive. All products or projects begin in someone’s imagination or thoughts.
When we are children, our imagination runs wild. As we get older, we lose the wonder because we have bills to pay, responsibilities to fulfill, and the things that were once new to us have become “familiar.”
As we grow, we still seek something or someone to fill our imagination. Only God is big enough to continue to give us the wonder our imagination requires.
How does He do this?
A Renewed Mind
It is crucial for us as Christians to transform our imaginations with the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). Our imaginations are connected to our thought life.
So, my question is: What do you imagine or think about? Are your thoughts and imaginings holy, proper, and pleasing to God? Because of our innate sinfulness, sinful thoughts and imaginings often enter our minds without being invited. We either reject them or dwell upon them.
The apostle Paul addressed this problem in 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
When we start doing this, by God’s grace, we will be able to use our imagination for God’s glory.
Our glorious God is the God of imagination and we need to place Him at the center of our imaginations. Only he is awesome enough to fill our imaginations and inhabit them to His glory!
Dr. Michael Weis is a pastor, video operator, editor, and social media manager at Zion’s Hope.
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