5/1/2020 - Godly Space (Godliness Stone)
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25
If you had the Infinity Gauntlet, what would happen when you snapped your fingers?
“From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then…boom. The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence.” – Wong (a very underappreciated character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe)
I spent several hours continually studying and going back and forth with this Christian Infinity Gauntlet and its Infinity Stones and with the Infinity Gauntlet and its Infinity Stones. I chose the colors and tried matching up all the Infinity Stones the best that I could. I think I did a pretty good job, too. There were some that could have gone in a couple different directions, but it is all one in the same. However, if you disagree with any of this, feel free to speak up. I would love to hear your thoughts.
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11
When Paul wrote out 1 Timothy 6:11, he had order in mind. If he had order in mind, I think it is only right that I go through each of these Infinity Stones with order in mind. With that saying, we did the Righteousness Stone last time, now we will talk about the Godliness Stone. In accordance with the Godliness Stone I paired it with the Space Stone.
I chose the Space Stone for a couple of reasons. The first thing I did with all the Infinity Stones, I wrote down all the colors that coincide with each of the original MCU Infinity Stones. Then I wrote down how the color of those stones match up metaphorically with the Bible. Throughout the Bible, the color blue is portrayed as: Heaven, Holy Spirit, authority.
Then I went and saw what the color of the original MCU Infinity Stone was. The blue Infinity Stone was the Space Stone. The Space Stone could do a lot, but its main attributes are that it allows the holder to teleport between the Multiverse (we will talk about more of what it really could do later).
William Barclay wrote, “Second, there comes a group of three virtues which look towards God. Godliness, eusebeia, is the reverence of the man who never ceases to be aware that all life is lived in the presence of God.”
Godliness, to me, is being devout to God and his will. 1 Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Godliness is something that we have to work for on a daily basis. This is similar to the training that an athlete or someone that is trying to learn an instrument goes through. I am going to talk on what the athlete does, but in the end, it is all one in the same.
As an athlete the training entails running, lifting, educating yourself, watching tapes and film, practicing and more. You have to continually practice in order to perfect your craft. You can’t expect to be a champion overnight based on raw talent. There are levels to it. You can’t expect a healthy flower to grow in a cold dark basement with no water. You need water and sunlight in order for it to grow big and strong. The same is for being godly and being filled with godliness. The same is for our relationship with God. There are several different ways that you can train and build up your godliness. Some of the ways that you can do this is by Bible Study, prayer, fasting, meditation, general study, fellowship, and so much more. You do this by having “the reverence of the man (or woman) who never ceases to be aware that all life is lived in the presence of God.”
Who is the Holy Spirit? There is a lot of ways to describe and talk about the Holy Spirit, there are books on books based on just the Holy Spirit. I don’t have that kind of time and I know you really don’t want to sit around reading a book for a blog post. The big thing I want to grab from the Holy Spirit is that it is our intercessor. John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit is the one that communicates with God on our behalf. The Holy Spirit is who we receive when we get baptized. Acts 2:38 says, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” The Holy Spirit helps us in times of need, it helps us in our weaknesses and with our weaknesses. Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
The Holy Spirit has fruits. Fruits not meaning like apples, mangos, oranges, sour gummy worms, etc.; but fruit as in originating or coming from something. A fruit is an effect, a work, act, and/or deed. It can be an advantage, profit and/or utility. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” These are all the fruits that the Holy Spirit contains and gives us. The Holy Spirit gives us and teaches us love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are all attributes of the Holy Spirit; they are all attributes of godliness. This is what we have to strive to gain and strive to train in.
The Holy Spirit alone is powerful but combined and used with the rest of the Trinity it is life changing. The same thing for the Space Stone and the rest of the Infinity Stones, alone they are powerful and world changing. However, together they are multiverse changing. I am going to educate you on the MCU for a second or two (a little closer to two), but don’t skip it because it is necessary for the full explanation and the full experience.
After the whole universe came to be, the four immensely powerful Cosmic Entities created the 6 Infinity Stones out of 6 singularities. The Space Stone was to govern over the fabric of space allowing the user to teleport to anywhere in the universe. The Space Stone made its MCU debut through Tesseract. It was hidden (or thought to be hidden on Earth). This is where Red Skull (Captain America: The First Avenger) took hold of it during WWII. He used it to create a super army and super weapons. These weapons and army gave him the confidence to go over the rule of Hitler and the Third Reich and take on America (and prepare for world dominion) by himself. While Red Skull was on his way to blow up America, Captain America hijacked his plane and fought Red Skull and his militants. During the battle Captain America accidently activated the Tesseract (Space Stone). It sucked up and sent Red Skull to Vorrmir (the resting place of the Soul Stone). Afterward being out of its container it burned through the ship and dropped into the Arctic Ocean, where it was later recovered by Howard Stark. Howard used the Tesseract to theorize (and later to be created and completed by his son Tony Stark) a new element, Palladium which was used in the Arc Reactor. After Howard passed the Tesseract remained in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands, which than found itself in the hands of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. (Captain Marvel) where it was researched by Mar-Vell and led to the creation of a Light-Speed Engine to help the Skrulls. After it landed back in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. where they tried to have Dr. Erik Selvig study it (The Avengers). This led to Loki’s invasion of Earth on the commands of Thanos. After the defeat of Loki and the rest of the Chitauri army Thor brought it back to Asgard. On Asgard it was used to reconstruct the Rainbow Bridge and the Bifrost; then it was locked away in Odin’s vault. During Hela’s takeover of Asgard (Thor: Ragnarök), she passed by the Tesseract (the only treasure that she gave props to), but during Ragnarök Loki stowed it away without anybody finding out. Ragnarök is where Asgard was destroyed forcing the Asgardians to flee. As they were floating in space, Thanos invaded the ship killing half of them with the Power Stone. He then used the Power Stone to torture Thor forcing Loki’s hand of coughing it up. Thanos now in control of it used it throughout Infinity War to teleport from world to world, as well as strategically in battle. Thanos in the end used the Space Stone to teleport to Wakanda where he ripped the Mind Stone out of Vision head; then we all know what happens next…SNAP (If you had the Infinity Gauntlet, what would happen when you snapped your fingers?)
The Space Stone is incredibly powerful, it is space. It allows the wielder control over space itself by allowing them to open portals throughout the multiverse. It has enough power to destroy an entire planet. It also has the ability if not in the proper container or not wearing the proper gloves can melt through surfaces or severely burn the wielder. The Space Stone draws its energy from space making the power and energy unlimited. It has the power to create and repair objects of great power; such as, the Rainbow Bridge, advanced powered weapons and vehicles. It also has the ability to enhance a person’s powers like Captain Marvel’s. The Stone is also known to have its own form of limited sentience and degree of intelligence. When the Space Stone is under control of someone who actually knows how to use it and all the benefits that it contains the power becomes incredible. Besides creating wormholes and portals throughout the Universe Thanos is able to warp the fabric of space itself. He warps the fabric of space to create spatial pressure that can crush, freeze, pull, and manipulate matter. He is also to create powerful singularities capable of compressing and sucking anything in their path, like a black hole. Another thing that Thanos used the Space Stone in battle for was to create a build shield around to protect him from the attacks of War Machine and Scarlet Witch. Combined with the other stones it brings great force. Thanos used both the Space Stone and the Power Stone together to absorb Iron Man’s attacks and redirect them at the rest of the Avengers. He also used both the Space Stone and the Reality Stone together to manipulate the terrain and pull it towards him in order to grab Dr. Strange who was airborne.
“The cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both ends” – Hawkeye to Nick Fury in The Avengers
If you had the Infinity Gauntlet, what would happen when you snapped your fingers?
We are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are called to be filled with godliness and act godly on a daily basis. The best and easiest way of doing this is by acting through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our intercessor and a protector. It creates portals in order for us to reach the unreachable world. It creates portals in order for us to communicate and be with God. The Holy Spirit with a snap of a finger create a shield around our heart to protect us in our weakness. The devil only needs the smallest of openings in our heart to come on in. The Holy Spirit is here to protect us from that, it fills the voids with its love and grace. The Holy Spirit warps the matter around us and in us. It is the controller of our life and the way we walk. Alone the Holy Spirit is powerful and life changing; but when we take advantage all that the Holy Spirit and the rest of the Trinity can do together it is world changing. We have to train daily in order to wield that power correctly and efficiently.
If you had the Infinity Gauntlet, what would happen when you snapped your fingers?