The Blog of Mark (SoftCoder) and Vickie Vejvoda

With a title like Utopia many thoughts come to mind, from many different perspectives. One reference here gives some generalities and opinions of what this might be. Utopia cannot be a person or a place because people and places change. Utopia I believe is found in a condition. This condition may be perpetual or temporal. The real question is about how this condition is discovered, acquired and maintained.

How can you begin to talk about such a controversial topic while keeping a straight face and giving it serious attention? I am not a believer in psychology (the art of manipulation / creation of of realities) but I am a strong believer in sharing experiences and expressions of love. With all of the things the Bible teaches mankind, it summarizes the whole into a simple entry point namely:

Mark 12: 28-33 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Utopia starts with God. Isn’t He a person? Yes He is, and yet being a person he has the capacity to dwell in man, just like Satan being who he is can dwell in man. Utopia comes from God and flows into man, wherewith the Bible describes the mechanism. This comes then to the man Jesus Christ. Was He Utopia? Absolutely! But He was a person and we discussed above that Utopia is not a person or place but a condition. Exactly! If Utopia was a person, then Satan being in Utopia, experiencing it being part of it would still be Utopia, alas that is no longer the case. His condition was that part of Utopia that made him what he was, and also made Jesus Christ what He was. Could Jesus have done wrong? Let the scriptures speak for themselves:

[KJV] Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

[KJV] Hebrews 2:18
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

[KJV] Revelation of John 3:21
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Jesus “chose” to live a life with all the same opportunities to sin and disobey as we face in our own lives (Hebrews 4:15). In that way He is able to understand mankind because of His experiences, and how effectively He is able to help mankind go through life victoriously. Jesus maintained a state of Utopia because He recognized His absolute dependence on the source of it, the Father, God. Jesus is the physical manifestation of God:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God has given man an example of Utopia for our examination, specifically maintained by the man Jesus Christ:

[KJV] John 19:5
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

From showing man that the kingdom of Utopia does not have its roots in “this world” we see a number of principles such as the fact that Jesus did not fight against an ungodly, unfair and corrupt authority that had seized Him and was to ultimately “kill His body”. They did kill His body, but they were never unable to remove the Utopia:

[KJV] Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

In this way we can see that the condition of man (whether Utopia or not) is one that is destined to continue in various degrees long after “this life” has ended whether a Utopia acquired on earth and continued in heaven or the default non Utopia continued and experienced in hell, and later the lake of fire. I think people typically dismiss the idea of Utopia quickly because how far away from it their current condition appears to be and mostly all of the examples around them appears to bode likewise. Utopia / Perfection are found in a condition given by God alone, and only possible to maintain by God alone. This is a central dependency, without which man can never experience Utopia, even if for a moment:

[KJV] John 15:5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It is when man realizes and appreciates and appropriates this dependency that Utopia becomes real. How do you know you ask? I have experienced this at times, though not in perpetuity. A man may say He has the same without God, without the Christ, but alas that is like saying you have experienced water by drinking in air. Perhaps technically speaking there is some legitimacy because in this life:

[KJV] Matthew 5:45
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

But experiencing God’s goodness (which is felt by all in unique ways) and supposing that is Utopia, when God Himself calls mankind to something higher than where man stands is a rejection of the higher calling and a satisfaction with the sampling of His goodness. That is not Utopia, it is an advertisement for Utopia, namely God’s goodness to man. Jesus is the single most important advertisement of what God can do with a man who gives himself to follow in God’s Will. No other example suffices (however impressive they may be) because no other man lived in Utopia perpetually like Jesus the man did. Utopia is not an ignorance of hurt, or an exemption of crucifixion, no Utopia simply put is:

[KJV] John 17:15
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Being able to live in a non Utopia, without willfully participating in all those activities that rob us from this condition:

[KJV] I John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Which again reminds man of his dependency on God. Suddenly so much of the scripture comes into plain and clearer view. The way I see Utopia at work is:

1) The Father in heaven declares it.

2) The Son (Jesus) displays it.

3) The Spirit produces it in man.

And then in simplicity the Christian need not fret when called upon to be like our Father in heaven:

[KJV] Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

A great deal in life is missed because of the littleness of our faith. The less we make something difficult and complex, the more practical and useful it becomes to us. Jesus died primarily to give the opportunity for God (once again) to live in man, and therefore show a lost and selfish world what God is like by living through men and women. This is the essence of Utopia.