The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. Galadriel, Lord of the Rings. 

Paradise lost. Do you feel it? A sense that something in the world has been lost and that things are not as they should be. Why do terrible things happen such as human trafficking, genocide, rape, or murder, to name a few?

What about in your own life? Do you sense something has been lost or perhaps taken from you? I'm not just talking about someone beating you out of the last parking place at the mall. Perhaps you have been abused or wounded, either physically or emotionally, or you have lost loved ones, etc.

So what is really going on in the world and in our lives? Do you ever wonder? Is there any way to find out? As it turns out, the Scriptures are surprisingly clear about it. If you are a person who asks these deep questions, there really is a way to know more. The only requirement is that you really have to want to know, for the Word of God promises that those who seek will find (1).

An excellent analogy to this comes from the movie "The Matrix". If you have seen it you probably recall the scene where the main character Neo (Keanu Reeves) is offered a choice between a red pill and a blue pill (you can Google it and watch it on youtube if you like). If Neo takes the red pill he learns the truth about the matrix, which permeates the world around him but is really only an illusion. In the movie, the matrix is like a veil pulled over everyone's eyes to hide the fact that they were all born into bondage. By taking the red pill he can learn the truth about and escape the prison of the matrix. Conversely, if Neo takes the blue pill he can remain and live in the deluded world of the matrix, totally ignorant of the truth that something is terribly wrong. I'll let you watch the movie if you want to know more!  :)

This concept is really quite a stunning analogy to the spiritual world as described in the Word of God. Part of the purpose of this post is to encourage you to "take the red pill", so to speak, to begin to learn more about the nature of the world around us as taught through the Scriptures. Paradise really has been lost (2). We are all born into bondage (3, 4). Things unseen really are more important than things seen (5). Freedom and redemption are available (6, 7), all weeping will one day cease and death will be destroyed (8). And those who choose redemption will receive treasure in this life (9) and one day will take their place in paradise restored (10). Don't misunderstand, there are some things we will never understand this side of heaven, including some of our sufferings. But a little clarity now would do us wonders as we face the trials of everyday life.

A good summary of this can be found in the book Epic, by John Eldredge, which is a short 104 page read that gives a bird's eye view of these things. If you click the link here and scroll down the page, there is even a brief overview of the book. It is worth spending a couple of minutes to read!

                                                                                                 

Footnotes:

(1) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

(2) God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never—this cannot happen!" So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

(3)  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

(4) Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:25-26) (Dale's note "...coming to [our] senses and escaping the trap of the devil" is akin to taking the red pill in The Matrix!)

(5) we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

(6) God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free (Jesus, in Luke 4:18)

(7) For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

(8)  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

(9) To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27).

(10) Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth”... He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this..." (Revelation 21:1, 5-7)