Daily Word

Paul is dealing with the religious ceremonies of the Old Testament – they are not reality itself, but pointing towards it, just as the shadow of a tree reflects the tree itself, but is not a tree.

Actually, the Bible points out that the wonderful physical world in which we live with all its phenomena, is just a temporary shadow of a much more wonderful and eternal, for us invisible world.

Sadly, most people are totally taken up with shadows.

What the Bible essentially seeks to show is that Christ is the innermost and ultimate Reality of all things—that everything which exists is, at its deepest level, a reflection of Him.

Paul expresses it in these words: "The Lord is the Spirit."

What does he mean by that?

The invisible, spiritual is the Ultimate Reality!

While Christ was here “in the flesh”, He was a visible, physical reality and His disciples knew Him and related to Him as such, but they did not discern and know who He actually was.

That´s why Jesus said that He had to go away and send the Holy Spirit, so that they would get to know Him in reality – i.e. spiritually.

In 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul says something very important: “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer”: we know Him spiritually, not physically.

Christ´s physical appearance was the outward shell that hid His inward, spiritual reality. The disciples knew Him only physically through their limited natural senses, but they couldn´t discern HIM, His inward spiritual reality.

For much of our Christian lives, we are fascinated by the miracles Jesus performed, by His humility and care for the despised and the outcast; we are deeply moved by His immense suffering on the cross. We love hearing how much He loves us and knowing that He is with us in every situation—helping and guiding us—and we enjoy being touched by the Holy Spirit.

Yet, the Holy Spirit desires to lead us further into "all the Truth"—to the point where Christ becomes more than just thoughts and experiences; where He becomes our own reality and the very life we ​​live—regardless of our feelings or external circumstances.

If we allow Him to, the Holy Spirit will step by step lead us beyond the shadows into Reality itself: Christ!