PICHEN is an acronym I assembled as a way to remember a concept that occurred to me while meditating on life in the Kingdom of Jesus. The PICHEN concept focuses on the practical manifestation of the Cross as a Portal, Not a Destination perspective. The acronym is a shorthand reference to the following actions:
- Cleanse
- Heal
- Empower
- Protect
- Instruct
- Nourish
Explanation: This is a beginning to answering the question of what happens to a person after traversing the Cross Portal. This is not meditation only on what happens after death, but instead views entering the Kingdom in Jesus’ teaching as something we enter and participate in while still in our mortal state—i.e. the things we do that are part of a wholly fulfilling life irrespective of whether we have yet died. The first thing traversal of the Cross Portal does is to place us in the same state and realm with the Resurrected Jesus. The purpose of the acronym PICHEN is to articulate what that means for those who traverse the Cross Portal. Specifically PICHEN describes the life lived while being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who acts with and through us in eternity.
Whether we are mortal or resurrected at any instant is irrelevant (Romans 14:8). The span of eternity necessarily includes our temporal mortal existence, and thus our (now current) traversed state is necessarily just as much a part of our earthly life in our naturally current temporal state. It is in this way that the eternal Kingdom is now.
From traversing the Cross Portal we become joined in every way to our Lord Jesus. In contemporary parlance, the term “channeling Jesus” conveys (although pitifully inadequate for this purpose) a relevant gist of the nature of life on the tangible Spirit side of the Cross Portal. That Spirit side necessarily rules our still-mortal state, and the attitudes and actions we take in it. Traversing the Cross Portal then is infinitely more than just walking through a gateway—although it’s that too.
When we’ve crossed to the Spirit side of the Cross Portal during our mortal life, we’re still on the mortal side of bodily death—except now we are on both sides, or all sides. Consider (through simultaneous extreme boldness and extreme humility) that traversing the Cross Portal is like entering the Most Holy Place (the sanctuary) in the Jewish Temple (Hebrews 10:19). The Temple was a structure that included the work of human hands—and that it was later defiled by other human hands does not diminish the holiness of the Creator God it connected humans with (Mark 13). We become a part of that same Creator God’s Kingdom when we ourselves traverse the Cross Portal. Once traversed we are anchored in the Kingdom of Jesus, not to earth-referenced things anymore (2 Corinthians 5:17), with the Spirit as our tether that cannot be cut (Romans 8:31-39). It is that Spirit tether that allows us to freely move about our mortal world with confidence—and and confidently perform PICHEN.
All persons who love Jesus carry with them something like a field of influence that is the Spirit. Wittingly or not, we emanate through action of the Spirit beneficial effects to our fellow humans. I find it useful to describe these effects with PICHEN, as a means of remaining mindful of the eternal work of the Spirit through me and and my fellow redeemed saints in Jesus. Those effects include protection from soul-destroying evil, instruction in righteous relationships with your neighbors, cleansing of all unhelpful qualities, healing of injuries of all types, empowerment to live full and meaningful lives, and nourishment of all levels and aspects of our being to allow all good things to flourish.
Therein is true and eternal life, and it is worth living—including now.