"i understand the egoic allure of (self-)'righteous indignation', that surge of endorphins in imagining oneself the sole defender of truth and justice. yet, in the end, what we resist persists, and Jesus offered some pretty good advice regarding the 'pharisees': "Leave them alone..." - Annie Daugherty
I think that is good advice from Jesus who had much experience in dealing with the Pharisees of his day. There were times he engaged them on a discourse about God and the kingdom of God, and there were times he disengaged from them and departed from them when they resisted his message and wanted to stone him. Similarly, when his disciples shared the gospel, they also learnt to shake the dust off their feet and moved on to another town if they were not welcome in a town.
I think today's Pharisees can be likened to those who do not see Jesus manifested in the flesh (in everyone on earth) and look forward to a physical return of Jesus in future, not realising the kingdom of God is in the here and now and is within us. This egoic allure of imagining oneself to be the sole defender of truth and justice is in everyone, including the Pharisees. For example, many a times, some modern pharisees/evangelists would claim to speak for "God" and pronounce judgment on some groups or some societies for not living up to certain expectations. That could also be a manifestation of the egoic expression of the dualistic self.
When it comes to promoting social justice and setting people free from oppression, we can follow our heart and intuition, as Jesus did. Sometimes it involves speaking up for the marginalised, just as Jesus defended the woman he healed on the sabbath day who was bowed down by religious oppression. Sometimes it involves speaking in parables which invite people, including Pharisees, to think for themselves what the kingdom of God means, as Jesus said, "he who has ears, let him hear." When people's hearts are open and ready or willing to learn more about the gospel, they will come to Jesus and listen more of his teachings, as it was in the case of Nicodemus the Pharisee.
"If you believe you have something to give,
you'll give it... The emotionally distant believe they have little to
offer... A person who fails to return affection sees them self as
emotionally bankrupt... don't take it personal... Remember fear is the
greatest obstacle to love. Many of our fears are yet to be discovered...
Many people unknowingly spend their entire life running from fear...
Awareness, discovery, enlightenment is
the answer... We cannot unsee, but we can be forever changed by what we
see... We don't need to be fixed, only awakened and this happens through
meditation, processing, prayer... It is the difference between telling
and showing... the difference between reading and experiencing... The
only way to reach deep into the heart of an enemy is to love them...
People are either guided by love or enslaved by fear... Light reveals,
but darkness enslaves, so when you feel anxiety turn on the light, don't
act upon anxiety... Acting upon anxiety creates more anxiety, more
regrets, more destruction and keeps you enslaved... Unwrap each fear,
one by one to reach the love at your core... Love starts with getting to
know yourself... You're not emotionally bankrupt, you have eternity
inside you. You have enough love behind those fears to give some to
every person you meet... You just need to be awakened from the bad dream
know as living unconsciously... you need to become conscious... I once
was blind, but now I see this love inside of me and out of this love
comes depth, warmth, beauty, allure... I am not a Christian, but I
believe the person of Jesus manifested such depth, such love... such
divinity... Namaste."
Yes, the axiom "People are either guided by love or enslaved
by fear" sums up his post because love and fear are mutually exclusive.
Organised religions have tried to include both love and fear in the
hearts of their followers through their teachings, which only results in
people living in fear of judgment. It is hard for people to love
themselves and others when they are put under fear. I have been there
before too. I agree with his post that "we don't need to be fixed, only
awakened and this happens through
meditation, processing, prayer..."
I also find that the gospel or good
news (which is not necessarily confined to christianity) about our true
identity that we are already beloved and innocent and complete/perfect
children of God/Divine Love/Universe has helped me become free from fear and
self-limiting thoughts, and learn to embrace myself (including my "dark"
or shadow self), and accept others the same way too. I am on a journey
still even as I am sharing this. I appreciate always reading such
reminders as this because this axiom captures a timeless truth that is
relevant for all time and applies to everyone regardless of their age,
background, belief system, etc.
"The
word "evil" means "to veil"... All destructive behavior is born of our
failure to see our divinity and to accept our divinity... I'm not a
Christian and neither was Jesus, but the whole point behind forgiveness
of sins is to remove this veil... this obstacle keeping us from loving
our self... Most Christians completely miss the whole point of the
Gospel entirely... they go on hating who they are and creating
destruction as a result... The word Gospel means good news and yet most
Christians have found a way to turn it into bad news."
It is interesting to see the word evil meaning "to veil", which
hinders a person from seeing one's own divinity. It may explain why Jesus described the Jewish generation as evil because they failed to see their own divine nature. Jesus
may have tried to unveil their eyes by telling them that their true
identity is the light of the world. Perhaps the law had blinded their
eyes to see the truth of who they are because they had thought they had
to do something in order to become righteous.
I am thinking that in Luke 11 when Jesus
described whether their eye is single or evil, he could be referring to
whether their inner eye/vision is veiled to see their own divinity.
34 The light of
the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is
full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also isfull
of darkness.
35 Take heed
therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
36 If thy whole
body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the
whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give
thee light.
(Luke 11:34-36)
To
me, darkness simply means ignorance of one's own divinity. Jesus came to
bring light to dispel people's ignorance of their divine identity, hence
darkness is overcome by light. Sin in the Jewish context also refers to
ignorance or amnesia of one's true identity and forgiveness of sin means
unveiling of one's true identity, as pointed out by the post.
Back then, the Jews and Pharisees failed to see their own divinity and hated
themselves and became destructive, to the point they tried to kill Jesus too.
Similarly, as noted in the post, many people in Christian circles fail to see
the gospel or good news of their own divinity and so they hate themselves and
others, seeing themselves as sinful and unworthy.
Even though they may be taught to see Jesus as their covering with the robe of
righteousness, and know they are crowned with glory, the underlying message
they get from institutional church is that there is nothing good in them and
only Jesus is their righteousness. But that is the old covenant mindset
because the Jews put themselves under the law. The law is the one that
condemns, not Jesus/God. God has all the while seen everyone as innocent and
perfect/complete because he/she/it made us in divine image and declared us
very good.
The gospel of inclusion therefore unveils our mind to see the truth of who we
are and see our original glory in the face of Christ our true identity. We
will have single eye that sees our body as being full of light, knowing we
are the light of the world.
You are valuable, you are loved, and someone knows you even better than you know yourself. There is an image and likeness imprinted upon your being that is the basis of your value ... a value beyond your wildest dreams.
Coins used to have the face of the person who guaranteed their value, minted onto them. Any note or coin has a guarantor, a person or institution that guarantees its value. Even if a coin gets lost, the coin never loses it's value.
The one who invented and designed you, stamped you with His own image and likeness.
He knows you better than you know yourself ... He knew you even before you were born. You might not know Him, but He has always known you. You might not be aware of Him, but He has always had you on His mind.
You might think 'why' ... why would anyone have such an obsession with me. Well, the creator of this universe sees a value and a beauty in you beyond anything in this natural world. He even sees a possibility of romance!
I like what Andre Rabe said in his message so far, especially the part that we cannot be lost unless we belong, and as we have seen in the 3 parables, the sheep remains the sheep, the coin remains the coin, and the son remains the son. Our true value and identity has not changed, and neither has God/Creator/Divine Love changed his mind about us, regardless of whether we know him or do things that impress/disappoint him. So the idea of separation (as propagated by organised religions) is a lie, and so the truth of the gospel of inclusion sets people free from the illusion of separation and enables them to enjoy peace and wholeness in their lives.
Further thoughts
I have finished listening to Andre Rabe's message video. Overall, it is a good message about God's love that affirms our intrinisc value, which is based on the image and likeness of God in whom we are created/made. This value is unchanging and incorruptible, as he said. I agree that God loves us not in spite of us, but because of who we are - we are valuable, precious and lovable, and God's love rejoices with the truth - that there is something so lovable about us.
Yes, God created us in his innocence and likeness, and God knew us before we were formed; he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1). Jesus is the revelation of what God thinks about us, and Jesus is God's mind made up about us - he is the Alpha and the Omega - he is God's original thought and final conclusion about us (our lives). (This is similar to Francois du Toit's main message of the gospel too.)
I agree that the gospel is not a "product" to be purchased by the "currency" based on the amount of grief, faith, remorse, etc shown by the "customer". As he put it, we are not selling a product. Rather, the gospel is a mirror, and what we declare in the gospel is true, whether we believe or not - that God has declared us innocent and righteous, and has included in his love and acceptance. Yes, knowing this truth doesn't make people grovel in the dust anymore or continue to live in a pigsty like the prodigal son did, parabolically speaking. Looking into the mirror of our true identity can transform our experience of how we live our lives -knowing who we are can cause us to want to not continue in our illusion of separation (since we are already one with our highest self), just as it causes the prodigal son to forsake the pigsty that has never been his origin. (To me, it simply means a place of ignorance of God's love.)
I like his sharing of Psalm 22 - God has done it, and the ends of the earth shall REMEMBER - yes, we cannot remember unless we once knew the truth of who we are and later forgot who we are.
As he pointed out, some people say "God is love but he is also just" as if God is in conflict with himself, and yet there is nothing God does not do for us in justice that is different from his love, so justice and love are one because God does not have a multiple personality disorder. I also noted that Jesus prayed to the father that we may be one - before the world began, we were all already in a relationship of love (John 17) Yes, God is not a grumpy judge in an antiquated legal court. Rather, in his fullness and completion, his love overflows to reach out and embrace us.
I also agree that loving God is shown in loving people - loving our brothers who are made in the image of God too (1 John), so for our doctrine to be worth something, we will demonstrate love to others in our own lives.
Last but not least, Andre also shared that Jesus is fully God and fully man - representing both God and humanity, and that the law came not to fix the problem but to reveal the problem - the law demands perfect obedience and declares man exceedingly sinful (in terms of measuring up to absolute standards). My take is that the law was only for those under the old covenant, who placed themselves under the law of Moses - so it is only applicable in their culture and tradition. The law is not applicable to us, so we are not "sinners" to start with.
So, innocence is our original state, and in a sense, we did not know until the gospel came to reveal the truth. As for 2 Corinthians 5 that says God has reconciled the world to himself through Christ, I agree that is the gospel to the people living in the first century, and I would add that the world was referring to the known world back then (in the Roman empire), based on a preterist perspective. For us in our modern context, I see it as being reconciled to our true self who is never separate from us. We live in a time that is beyond the Jewish religion, beyond covenants, and beyond sacrifices. While some symbolisms in the Bible may not apply directly to us (such as the temple, covenants, etc), we can still learn and benefit from the gospel described in the bible.
All in all, I agree with the overall message that God the father (Divine Love, highest self, universal consciousness, Great Spirit) enjoys who we are, and is proud of us, and there is nothing wrong with us, and the truth of God's love sets us free to be ourselves and trust and accept ourselves for who we are.
"If
a sermon seeks to expose indwelling sin in the saint instead of the
indwelling Son in the saint, it is not the Gospel. Period. You are not
sinful, but Sonful." - Jeff Turner
Yes, the gospel is the good news that proclaims the sonship in saints,
who are all of us, as the gospel unveils the loveliness, perfection,
beauty and innocence of every man and woman because we are all made in
the glorious image of the indwelling Son. Any other message that seeks
to expose so-called indwelling "sin" is not the gospel but merely man's
opinions based on the knowledge of good and evil. "Sin" is an illusion,
which only exists in religious mindsets. The gospel is born of the
Spirit (of God/Love) which gives life, whereas man's religious doctrines
are born of the flesh which ministers condemnation.
The gospel is also
good news for everyone because every one is a saint, regardless of
whether they believe in a particular religion because we are all made in
Love's image and Love keeps no records of wrongs. As Love is perfect
and glorious, so are we in this world.
"There is a strong tendency within the church for people to extract
and teach the ethical framework found in the Gospels. For instance,
people might set up a community in which they attempt to live out
principles such as giving to someone in need, turning the other cheek
and living simply.
There are however a number of interrelated problems with this
approach. Firstly it tends to generate guilt. In other words, the more
that we hold up certain principles the worse we will feel when we fall
short of them.
This leads to the second problem, namely repression. In order to deal
with the guilt we will be more likely to avoid a direct confrontation
with our failings. In this way we will tend to intellectually disavow
what we are doing.
....
The trick is to create an atmosphere of love, grace and acceptance
where people are not told what to do. Where people learn that heresy
which claims that, while not everything is beneficial, everything is
permissible. In other words, while there are destructive things we do,
they can be brought to the light without fear of condemnation. In such
an environment ethical acts will emanate from the body just as heat
emanates from light. One will not have to be taught that they should
look after their neighbour as if it were something that we need to be
told, they will simply be more inclined to do so.
The desire to have ethical rules to follow tends to lead to the
action they forbid. This causes the spiral into guilt, repression and
disavowed symptoms. In contrast laying such ethical propositions to one
side and learning to accept both ourselves and the other in grace opens
up the path to what we have set aside."
I think Peter Rollins has touched on the core of the gospel, which is love,
grace and acceptance, emphasising their supremacy over ethical rules. I learnt that whenever people focus on ethics, rules and principles, they
are putting themselves under the law which only produces guilt,
condemnation and repression. The more people try to live up to their
perceived standard, the more they feel repressed and ashamed of their
failures, and eventually the works of the flesh will manifest, such as
envy, jealousy, outburst of wrath, and so on. Religious adherence to law
and ethics may look impressive on the outside, but people are dying on
the inside, by trying to stay on the performance treadmill.
Conversely, when people have a revelation of our true identity
as love and perfection, made in God's image, there is no need for
outward rules and regulations. We are guided by the spirit of love and
grace within, even as we follow the bliss, living by the unforced rhythm
of grace freely and lightly. We simply live life intuitively, not going
by right or wrong, or the knowledge of good and evil. Even if we make
mistakes here and there, we know there is no condemnation and we can
simply pick ourselves up and dust ourselves and continue our journey
while learning from our experiences. Our true identity remains the same,
regardless of our performance, because we are forever innocent,
righteous, perfect and blameless, and nothing shall separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus. Our part is to keep resting and stop
doing, so to speak. The more we rest in our true identity, the more our
heart is established in grace, and we will not be tossed to and fro by
legalistic or condemning teachings.
Like what
Peter Rollins wrote, people need to stay in an environment of love,
grace and acceptance. There is no need to worry about behaviour
modification because the more people are conscious of their true
identity and how unconditionally loved they are, the more true and
effortless transformation will take place from the inside out, and the
fruit of the spirit will result - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. Against such, there is no
law. Such transformation takes place subconsciously without people
having to try to do anything in order to become something. As we all
with unveiled face behold the glory of the lord (our true identity as
beloved, beautiful and blameless) we are being transformed from glory to
glory into the same image, even by the spirit of grace within us and
not by our own efforts.
"Awake to your
innocence and remember who you are. You are the music, you are the
melody, you are the song. You are a workmanship created in love." - HM
I
agree with the essence of Rob Bell's message about how it is important
to tell and understand a story especially in terms of how it begins and
how it ends. While I am aware that the bible is only a collection of
books written and put together by ordinary people such as you and me,
and some books such as the gospel of Thomas could have been added, I
agree with Rob Bell's perspective that if we were to use the bible
(however imperfect and questionable it is) as a platform to tell the
gospel story, it makes sense to start with Genesis 1 and 2 (the garden
where everything is created good and perfect), and end with Revelation
21 and 22 (the new city with gardens and rivers where everything is
recreated good and perfect).
I think that is an important point
because like what Rob Bell has observed, many a times in evangelical
christian circles, preachers tend to tell the gospel story by beginning
with Genesis 3, instead of Genesis 1, and the result of such preaching
is that their message focuses on the "removal of sin" and "disembodied
evacuation of earth", hence out came the doctrines of "original sin" and
"rapture in the last days". As we know, this kind of message created a
whole lot of problems because people develop self-loathing tendencies
when they are told they are "sinners" and they need to evacuate from
this earth one day by receiving a so-called perfect body, and going to a
so-called perfect place.
As Rob Bell pointed out, there is
nothing wrong with the original creation, because god/creator/source
created everything good, including human beings whom he declared to be
very good. Our original state, therefore, is shalom (peace, health and
wholeness). The good news therefore is a "restoration of shalom" - to
return to the experience of our original state of being, as co-creators
and participators of love, peace and wholeness (holiness = wholeness).
This gospel empowers us to believe in the truth of who we really are,
instead of the traditional evangelical teaching that puts a heavy burden
on people to try to perform in order to become acceptable.
I like this quote
by Walt Whitman who said "Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss
what insults your soul." Yes, we can dismiss those condemning messages
we used to hear in the past in evangelical christian circles that insult
our soul, and instead hold on to those messages that affirm our
original innocence and perfection, and build us up.
Recently, I read Jan Coetsee's post in facebook and I agree with his message.
Jesus IS NOT the justification of the unjust .. Jesus is the proof that mankind has always been just (righteous) .. ♥
Ephesians 1:4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes .. ♥
Yes, our true identity has always been righteousness, innocence, and blamelessness, which has been unveiled in Christ.
Finally,
I agree with Rob Bell at the end of the above video that resurrection
is not about the hope of leaving the earth to somewhere better, but
about the hope of staying and overcoming challenges and tribulations in
the here and now. The gospel empowers us by affirming the goodness and
innocence and perfection of god's creation, including us human beings
(or spiritual beings on a human journey).
Here's sharing this nugget I came across in facebook.
"The universe.. all that exists.. seen or unseen
Was.. is.. and will be. It has no beginning.
In its essence.. it is both energy and consciousness.
Here lies the secret of life.. without boundless knowing.
...In Silence.. Divinity reveals itself from our depths.
The sacred.. lies within every human being...
appearing through simplicity.
~ Ilie Cioara "Life is Eternal Newness"
Yes,
the sacred lies within every human being. The resurrection, according
to Carlton Pearson (in his book "God is not a christian, nor a jew, nor a
muslim, nor a hindu - God is in us, with us, around us, as us"), is
forgetting who we are not and remembering who we are - divinity and
humanity as one. We are both energy and consciousness in essence, and
unconditional love is our nature.
"Friendship is the essence of the Gospel.... Without deep connection, we have missed the basis of the Life of God
When we differ in beliefs and by those differences estrange ourselves
from others, we have endorsed the lies that have separated Mankind for
thousands of years....
We are One....not primarily in our beliefs, but in who we are, based on His belief about us....
If our beliefs have divided us even if we have believed 100% correctly, then our beliefs have failed us...
Love others you love yourself It is simply ... Profound !"
Yes, unity and harmony goes deeper beyond the differences in the belief
systems of people. The life and love of God transcends any religious
book or scripture or theology - whether it is called the bible or the
quran or the bhavagad gita or lotus sutra - we are all one indeed.
Doctrines and theologies are merely constructs of the mind, and those
who hold on tightly to their doctrines or scriptures are only liable to
become attached to fundamentalist dogmas.
As I
have observed, those who are attached to a particular book or scripture
tend to use circular reasoning in their argument (eg "I believe the
bible is the word of god, and whatever the word of god says is true,
therefore I believe the bible is true"). This circular reasoning perhaps
becomes a hindrance for people to be free from the religious mindset of
separation and ego, since it tends to give people the impression that
only they know the "truth" and other people do not know the "truth". Yet
we know that truth is universal and is not confined to any religion or
any "holy book", just as love is universal and includes everyone.
So yes, the heart of the matter is that we are all one - we are
brothers and sisters of the same family of the human race, of the
spiritual realm, regardless of our differences in belief systems,
cultures, etc. It is like what this quote says too.
~What If?~ "What if our religion was each
other, if our practice was our life, if prayer our words? What if the
temple was the Earth, if forests were our church, if holy waters ~ the
rivers, lakes and oceans. What if meditation was our relationships, if
the teacher was life, if wisdom was self-knowledge, if love was the
center of our being?“ ~Ganga White
Yes, love is the centre of our being, just as friendship is the essence of the gospel.
We all need revelation of the gospel, for Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is norevelation, the people cast off restraint;
but happy is he who keeps the law." The new covenant interpretation of
"keeps the law" is to believe in Jesus (seeing our true identity in Him), for He has fulfilled the law on
our behalf.
I believe it is possible to have peace and harmony in the world, when we all see one another as new creations in Christ, no longer from a worldly point of view. What we need is a constant reminder of who we are in Christ - "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
"We
are so used to thinking of things external to us. When, we do this we
begin to feel like a victim. This keeps the victim-victimizer game
going. We have been both. It is some times painful to look within and
see self. Many say you need to get rid of your ego. If you do that you
are no longer able to see what needs healed. If you repress your
thoughts or feelings then this energy turns in and causes
illness and all kinds of problems. When, you are able to see it and not
judge it but send love to it the energy is no longer stored in and can
flow out in a healthy manner. What, is on the outside of you is a
refectrion of you. When, you heal what you see needs it, you will stop
the victim-victimizer game, you will know we are all in the same boat.
We are all each resposible for our own creation in our hologram. Also,
makes it easy to love each other. We are all one, but individuated Faces
of God Source. So, we make our experience here." ~ Marlene Fow
Yes, we are all one and yet individual faces of the God source in this divine ecosystem in which we coexist and build up one another in the body of Christ. Like what Paul wrote, when one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body is affected and suffers as well, and when one part of the body does well, the rest of the body benefits too and rejoices with that part.
And yes, I have also come to realise that we are living in a matrix or holographic universe, whereby our inner condition or consciousness can affect our outer condition or universe. So what we see and experience outside is a reflection of what is inside us because what is inside us manifests on the outside.
Like what the post says, when we love and accept ourselves the way we are, including embracing the ego, we will experience wholeness and create a beautiful and peaceful world both for ourselves and others, which is our ultimate reality. Whenever outside circumstances appear challenging or overwhelming, we can remind ourselves these things are an illusion and focus on the divine unconditional love inside us, and we will remain in peace and victory over the circumstances.
In 2 Chronicles 20, when King Jehoshaphat and his army was overwhelmed by Moab, Ammon and other armies, they learnt to sing praises and focus on their belovedness, and they eventually won the battle without a fight and got to collect the treasures in the battlefield.
The gospel of our belovedness and oneness has the power to transform our consciousness and bring peace and wholeness to ourselves, which will also emanate to the world around us. May we continue to create a wonderful, peaceful and restful world.
Here is a summary of the preterist-universalist view of the gospel of
grace that I have been learning about the past couple of years, though
my mindset has continued to evolve from this view some time last year to
embrace a more metaphysical view, that includes gnostic or mystical
aspects (such as interpreting God as our highest self, rather than a
separate entity).
"Hell" can mean grave (Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek), which also has a metaphorical meaning of "hidden". So hell/hades can symbolise ignorance or amnesia (of our oneness with God, and of our true divine identity).
"Gehenna" - Jesus was referring to the garbage dump in Jerusalem (Ge - valley; henna
- Hinnom; the Valley of Hinnom). Metaphorically, it symbolises the
condemnation that the Jews experienced in their conscience during the
tribulation, because they (mistakenly) thought their "god" was punishing
them when the Roman army attacked their city.
The "Last Days", as
I understand it, was referring to the end of the Old Covenant Age - the
end of the Jewish religious system, the end of the law system. It also
symbolises the end of the law mindset (doing in order to become),
thereby the end of the separation mindset.
The ministry of
reconciliation, as I understand it, is about God (our highest self)
reconciling to ourselves through our true identity - Christ Jesus. To
me, to be reconciled with God is to be reconciled with our true divine
self, with the Universe - there is no more enmity or inner battles or
condemnation in our own mind or consciousness - so we are completely at
peace with ourselves.
There is no so-called future hell or lake of
fire to be saved from. The lake of fire has already happened in AD70.
The old identity in Adam (that was attached to external circumstances or
performance) has already been done away, and it signified the end of
condemnation. The only thing for people today is to awaken to their true
identity (in Christ), or as spiritual beings on a human journey.
So
that's my view in a nutshell in this stage of my journey. I think even
the word "Christ" is not necessary for awakening - it is probably just
specific to the Judeo-christian culture in the Middle East. Buddha or
Krishna etc will do just fine as well - as long as it is about awakening
to our true divine nature of Unconditional Love and Light in every one
of us. :)
Hello, here am I again. I am going to talk about the gospel.
The gospel is the power of God to save those who believe the good news, and
what is the good news? It’s simply that we are righteous, or another word for
“righteous” is “innocent”, that we are, before the beginning of time, we are
already seen as innocent and righteous, holy, blameless before God, and that is
the good news.
God does not want us to be afraid of Him
There is no bad news in the good news, and that is why there
is much concern, especially in the “Christian” world about the mixed gospel
because there seems to be some bad news in the good news, the so-called “good
news”. But we know that God does not give any kind of fear or condemnation
because 2 Timothy says that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind”, and also we learn that Jesus always
said “Do not be afraid.”
He doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him at all, and He is the
same as God, and there is a misquotation (or rather misinterpretation) about
“Do not fear those who can kill the body and can do no further, but fear him
who has the power to destroy both body and soul.” But that is actually not
referring to God. That is actually referring to the enemy. The enemy is not
God; He is always our Friend; He is our Father in heaven.
The enemy is actually that part of our conscience, our human
psychology, that caused us to feel condemned, and that is actually a symbolic
representation that is simply called Satan or the devil or the accuser of the
brethren in the Bible. Now, for every interpretation of the Bible, I think a
safe guideline to go by is: Whenever it ministers peace to us, that is a safe
bet to say that it is “scriptural” because we know God always wants us to be at
peace with ourselves and with Him.
If there is any interpretation of the Bible that seems to
generate some fear or condemnation or guilt or shame, then it’s probably, most
definitely actually, not from God. If you
disagree, that is ok because I think we all have the freedom to discover for
ourselves what the Bible says or what any other holy scripture that we deem to
be “scriptural” to ourselves, because after all, we are made to have our own
freedom to pursue the path that we think what God is like.
One person’s understanding may differ from another person’s
understanding of God, and I don’t claim… and I don’t think other people also
would have the same… would have the full understanding of what God is really
like, and I definitely don’t have all the answers, but I can only share what I
have studied so far in my journey of faith because I believe that I am a
spiritual being on a human journey, and vice versa. I am a human being on a
spiritual journey as well.
How does the good news affect our consciousness?
So, what I am going to talk about, as I mentioned, is the
gospel. I think the power of the gospel is when we believe the good news. The
good news is simply that God is love and He sees us in His image, and it is
because the first Adam partook from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he
felt alienated from God, but God has never alienated Himself from us down
through the centuries. So that is the reason Jesus came to show us that God is
all the while with us. He is one with us, as He said in the prayer of John 17.
How can we apply this practically because theoretically and
theologically we can go into a lot of details to explain the gospel and the
salvation story? But, practically I would say, in my life, when I believe God
is good and only good – He is love – His love endures forever, somehow good
things also happen to me in my life, practically, realistically.
I think there is something to do with the – maybe you can
call that – vibrations. New age and… ya, this might raise some alarm bells from
some of the more conservative Christians, but actually new age thinkers and new
paradigm thinkers, or we call that new thought philosophers, they are actually…
they have something that is quite close to what we so-called know as the truth
or the reality – whatever you call it – or quantum physics or quantum science.
We actually live in a matrix kind of world, and I am sure
some of you would actually be able to tell the parallel between "The Matrix" and
the gospel story, that we actually live in a world that is something like a
holographic universe. So, how we perceive the world to be actually will play
out in real life. So, it is very important what we believe in our consciousness
because the battlefield is in the mind.
And I’m going to just talk about one passage from the Bible
before I go long-winded and go into other rabbit trails. It’s 2 Chronicles
chapter 20 where King Jehoshaphat and his army were facing a huge dilemma
because they seemed to be outnumbered by the enemies from Moab, Ammon and some
other countries.
I would say there is a spiritual significance to this story
because in our lives, there seem also to be some instances where in our mind or
our consciousness, we may imagine that some things are overwhelming us. They are
overwhelming to us especially when we go through some challenges, but even if
there are no challenges, our mind sometimes can still sabotage us and think that “Hey, something’s bad going to happen.” Maybe we’ve done something wrong.
Or even if we have done nothing wrong, somehow there is a voice that seems to
tell us that “Hey, don’t expect too much. Sometimes bad things do happen.”
Well, what happened in the story in 2 Chronicles chapter 20
is that King Jehoshaphat and his army, they actually learnt to sing “Praise the
Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever”, and I believe they sang this
over and over again. They were actually building in their mindset or their consciousness
how good God is, who is all the while with us, who is our heavenly Father, who
loves to bless us, who is already blessing us actually all the while. So, the
more we are aware of that, the more we actually become conscious of God’s
goodness and love that endures not just for a moment but forever. We can also
believe that at every moment, we can expect good things to happen to us.
Yes, it has nothing to do with our performance because the
moment we think it has something to do with our performance, we are actually
going back to the law mindset, to the tree of knowledge of good and evil where
Adam used to eat, and that’s how he felt alienated from God. But Jesus came to
bridge the gap, not in terms of the actual separation but in our mind, to show us
that God is all the while with us, to show us that He is our true identity – “as
He is, so are we in this world” – accepted, beloved, favoured, prosperous,
completely healed, whole, healthy, peaceful – that is shalom.
Jesus is our Shalom. And I would say the battle is in our
mind. The only way to overcome, to fight this battle is to actually be at rest. “Be still
and know that I am God.” We are actually gods, according to Psalm 82, which Jesus actually quoted to say that we have the
divine nature in us because we are all made in His image, which has never
changed and will never change. So this is the battle that we continue to fight,
not by struggling, but by resting.
Rest is the greatest work that we can do in
order to stay victorious. This is spiritual warfare, and probably it’s not like
what some of the traditional Christianity has taught. So, this is basically the
gospel, the aspect of the gospel which I want to focus on in this message. And
keep on fighting the good fight of faith, believing that we are righteous, we
are innocent, we are holy, we are blameless.
Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, holiness and
redemption. We are redeemed from the sense of alienation because by one man’s
disobedience – Adam’s – he made all sinners. “Sin” is not a moral thing; “sin”
is simply ignorance about our true identity, ignorance of the love of our God.
But by one Man’s obedience – Jesus’ obedience – all were made righteous. The
word “many” there means “multitudes”. So, it actually means “all” – the multitudes
of everybody. We are ALL made righteous, in our mind, and God has all the while
seen us righteous because we are all wrapped up in Him – the new Man, Jesus
Christ, the second Adam or the last Adam.
This is the gospel, as I believe it, and I’m still on a
journey. If you are blessed, I am glad to know that because I am also blessed
by knowing the gospel, and it is my privilege and pleasure to share this with
you. God bless you. Know that we are loved by God always unconditionally,
universally, individually, personally forevermore. Amen.
I think taichi is the art of converting any opposing force into the energy of love. The practice seeks to understand that the other is attacking from the place of feeling wounded because people who are hurting tend to hurt others. Similarly, Jesus is the taichi master who sees all our hurts and wounds, and transforms the ashes into beauty. He willingly laid down His life so that our old, wounded and fragmented self can be buried with Him, and we are raised with Him in our new, resurrected and glorious self.
The Pharisees sought to kill Jesus because they were hurting inside. They knew not what they were doing when they wanted to crucify Him and mocked at Him. Instead of seeking to placate them or take revenge on them, Jesus sought their highest good and prayed for the Father - the God in them - to forgive them so that they would not suffer from guilt and condemnation later on.
Jesus is said to be a lucid representation of our true identity, who came to reconcile us to ourselves, or rather, our highest self, also known as God our heavenly Father. The heavenly places is not so such a physical location as it is our highest consciousness. Jesus came down from heaven - from our highest consciousness - to where we were in our blindness - and opened the eyes of our heart and see with our inner vision the reality of our identity.
Christianity fosters self-hate in mankind (sometimes tastefully called
"conviction of sin") so that it can offer its own special answer
(salvation) to an entirely artificial problem. The real solution begins
by understanding that there is nothing wrong with you just as you are -
that man is not a "fallen" being.
If you consider yourself a christian, does it strike you as strange if people say christianity is a self-loathing religion? After all, you think christianity is about God loving us unconditionally, even the worst of us. Yet I realise there is something amiss with the presentation of the gospel by mainstream or traditional christianity. The doctrine of "original sin" tends to paint a picture of how sinful and fallen we once were, and a holy and righteous God could not stand being around us for a second more and had to come up with a plan to send His Son to die and cleanse us with His blood to make us acceptable before Him, and even then, those who are seen as "rejecting this good news" will continue to fall out of favour with God and will continue to suffer misery and separation for ages and ages in a place called hell without end after they die. What a miserable existence, is it not?
Another common refrain I have heard in the evangelical christian circles goes something like "We are nothing without Jesus" or "It is all about Jesus, not about me". It is as though to love ourselves the way we are is a terrible sin and can cause us to become proud or puffed up, and so we must see ourselves as originally dirty and condemned, and only Jesus' blood can wash us clean. I also hear believers say things like "All glory to Jesus", as if Jesus is somewhere up there and we are down here, and the only way to defeat pride and demonstrate humility is to try to make ourselves nothing and make Jesus everything.
Why is this important? Well, for a start, it keeps us from actually loving and accepting ourselves the way we are if we think God is constantly trying to change us into something we are not. Secondly, it may cause us to see others as lost and miserable creatures if they do not profess to believe in Jesus. No doubt, some of us may say Jesus saw people as sheep not having a shepherd, but I believe it does not mean that Jesus saw people as being destined to go to a so-called place for hell.
Thirdly, it can create a sense of false humility when people insist on saying that it is all about Jesus and not about them. The question is: How can it be only all about Jesus when He is already one with us? We are inseparable from Jesus, so if Jesus is glorified, so are we glorified together with Him. It is impossible to glorify Jesus without us sharing the same glory that He had, so it might as well be better for us to be truly humble and accept the fact that we are as perfect and complete and righteous and beautiful and powerful as Jesus is.
1 Corinthians 6:17 says "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
"Yes, but that is referring to believers", someone might say. Really? When Jesus died on the cross, who died with Him? When Jesus was raised from the dead, who rose with Him? Only believers? No, every one of us rose together with Him and we are united with Him.
"If we are already righteous, why did Jesus shed His blood then?" Good question. The interesting answer that I have come to learn is that God is not the one who requires the blood sacrifice. The religious sacrificial system is actually a pagan practice, which the Israelites borrowed from the pagan cultures in the old testament times. God does not need to appease His anger because He was not angry with us at all. "What? This is blasphemy! Heresy!" I hear some of you say.
Wait a minute, folks. Why would the Israelites think God was angry with them whenever something bad happened to them? Has it occurred to us that they interpreted events based on their concept of God or Yahweh, thinking that God must be punishing them whenever they were attacked by enemies or harmed by natural disasters like earthquakes? I believe before Jesus came on the scene 2,000 years ago, people back then felt separated from God. It began in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and after that, they felt alienated from God. It was interesting to note that God was all the while with humankind, and yet humankind thought their sins had separated them from God.
To cut a long story short, the Jews in the new testament times needed to be saved from sin-consciousness because they had been under the law for so many years (about 430 years). The law of Moses could not save them; it only condemned them. The only way for them to be saved from the religious mindset is to understand that Jesus came to be the perfect offering. Again, it is not to appease God's wrath, but rather to silence the roaring of the lion that accuses them day and night in their own conscience.
"For the worshippers once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins" (Hebrews 10:2)
This blood sacrificial system is never for us today. Why? Because we are never under the law in the first place. We are living in the new covenant of grace already. The law system ended officially in AD70, marked by the destruction of the temple by the Roman army in Jerusalem. So, since we are under not law, and by the law is the knowledge of sin, it means that sin has never been imputed to us.
So let's fast forward to the main question - How are we righteous? Is it by believing in Jesus or is it by Jesus' obedience? Some might say, "well, it is definitely not by our works, because the Jews sought to be righteous by obeying the law to obtain their own righteousness and have not submitted to the righteousness of God, according to Romans 10". I agree we are righteous not by our performance, but it is also not by believing in Jesus either. "What?" I hear you say. Yes, you read it correctly, we are righteous not by believing in Jesus, but by Jesus' obedience.
Romans 5:19 says "For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous".
"Fine" you might say. "That happens when Jesus did the divine exchange at the cross, for God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That means before Jesus died on the cross, no one was righteous."
Well, not really, because the cross is outside time - Jesus is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. Therefore, by the time God created humankind, He created us to be righteous and innocent and perfect and complete. We were originally beautiful and good and perfect - that is our true identity, and Jesus came to restore that identity to us. Our part is simply to renew our mind with this wonderful good news.
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:23-24)
So, the heart of the gospel is that we are created righteous and holy and beautiful, and it is not by our doing but by God's doing. We are crowned with glory and honour. Christ in us is the hope of glory. And Love is who we are because we are made in Love's image.
I have been reflecting recently that while there is a place for preaching the gospel of our inclusion in Christ, there is perhaps a greater importance and significance of living out the gospel in real life. When we make others feel appreciated and welcomed, regardless of their race or belief system or background, etc, we are actually indirectly proclaiming the gospel and telling them that they are precious and valuable, without necessarily using gospel language or bible words like Jesus or salvation. I will continue to meditate and munch on this food for thought as I also realise that for grace to be grace, it needs to be inclusive and a living reality.
"Always preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and IF NECESSARY USE WORDS." - St Francis of Assisi
I think the word "CON/science" is a creative play on the spelling and captures the essence of many religious teachings about the human "conscience". Yes, religion majors on the art of pricking people's conscience to the point it becomes a science of conning people to think there is something wrong with them and they need to fast, confess sins and/or do a thousand and one things to appease a displeased deity. It plays on people's guilt and fear of rejection, abandonment and punishment.
The preaching of penal substitution view of the cross doesn't really alleviate guilt either; it only perpetuates the illusion of an imaginary god with anger and ego problems. Hence, I believe when Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free, He was saying that the truth will make us free from illusion, guilt, shame, fear and condemnation.
What is truth?
Some evangelical christians
think that telling the truth is telling people they will go to hell if they don't believe in Jesus. That's not truth because truth is synonymous with grace. Truth is about being free from illusion and ignorance. The good news is about God's unconditional love and our true identity in Him.
I also have been thinking about the question Pontius Pilate asked Jesus. After Jesus had told him "Everyone who is of the truth hears my
voice", Pilate asked "What is truth?" I believe Jesus was saying those whose eyes have been opened to
see the kingdom of God within themselves have known the truth, and
therefore they hear His voice of love, grace and mercy. Those who were
under religion (including the Pharisees) and world system (including the
Roman governor) were still living in illusion and ignorance. They
neither knew God as unconditional love nor knew their true identity.
When Jesus began preaching the gospel in Israel, He was essentially warning the Jews that in the days to come, there
would be no more temple and no more sacrificial system. What then would
the Jews do to get right with God (or at least they thoughts so)? They would probably experience a
sense of alienation and condemnation when these outward rituals ceased
to be. In the same way, today's religions still very much depend on
outward rituals, like going to "church" etc, to get in the good books of
"god". It's living in illusion. Truth is the antidote to illusion.
Truth is not con/science. Truth says we are already innocent, already
blameless, beloved and favoured.
The gospel of grace and peace proclaims that God has reconciled all things to Himself through Jesus’ finished work at the cross. (Colossians 1:20) Now that we know that all humankind has been reconciled to God, some questions may arise among those who have grown up in traditional or evangelical church teachings, such as:
Does that mean there is no need for faith in Jesus?
Is there still a need to preach the gospel?
What about those who don’t believe the gospel?
What exactly are we saved from?
The post below seeks to address these questions, and more.
—–
According to the gospel, Christ has been made unto us from God wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption. By one man’s obedience, all has been made righteous. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We all are included in His redemption. We are redeemed from the curse of sickness, lack, identity crisis, low self-esteem, guilt and shame, etc.
I believe salvation is for the soul (mind, will and emotions), so faith in Jesus is necessary. (Hebrews 10:39; James 1:21) When we believe the good news that we are righteous and accepted by God who has never forsaken us from the beginning, we will experience peace for our conscience and healing for our mind and emotions. We begin to live life with hope and expectancy of good things to come, and enjoy the divine dance with our loving God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is within us, and Christ in us is the hope of glory.
When someone dies without believing in Jesus or having heard about Him, s/he will still be with God, for the spirit returns to Him who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). S/he will not be in a place called “hell” (which is implied as eternal separation from God or eternal damnation or everlasting punishment or torture). Hell or gehenna as mentioned in the gospel accounts refer to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD70 (which was described in the book of Revelations concerning the end of the old covenant age and the establishment of the new covenant world “new heavens and new earth”). Hades is simply grave or a place of the unseen (or ignorance of God’s love and of our true identity, which shall not prevail against the church).
When we proclaim this gospel of grace and peace, we are reminding others of their true identity. They will be awakened to who they really are, and start reigning in life through Jesus Christ. “Much more those who receive abundance of grace and gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One Jesus Christ (not one day after they die)“. (Romans 5:17; words in parentheses are mine) Praise the Lord for the good news. That’s why we continue to preach or proclaim the gospel so that more and more people will know the unconditional love and amazing grace of God, and become established in their true identity, and start to reign in life!
Steve McVey said, “the efficacy of the cross is done, whether we believe it or not. But by rejecting it, our experience will not be what our acceptance would facilitate. It’s the same ‘River of Fire’ (Dan 7:10) – God’s Love – that flows from the throne down upon all of us. To those who believe, it will be the joy of heaven.” I agree that those who believe the good news, it will be the joy of heaven.
As for those who don’t believe the gospel, I believe that it doesn't mean they will end up in a place called "hell" after they die. It simply means that they will not get to enjoy the benefits of salvation that believers enjoy while they are alive, which includes peace for the conscience, divine healing, freedom from guilt and condemnation, etc.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve became afraid of God after they disobeyed Him in the garden of Eden, but it wasn’t God’s love that caused them to distance themselves from Him because He draws people to Himself with lovingkindness. Rather, it’s the fallen human mindset that blinds people to see the reality of God’s love, and hence Jesus has come to show us how good and loving God really is. This good news of knowing how much God loves us will help to build our consciousness of God as our loving Father. In fact, our God is a triune God – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is in constant fellowship with us because He is a relational being, not a legalistic judge or book-keeper.
In conclusion, salvation is for the here and now, not one day in the future. “Behold, now is the accepted time (of favour); behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Jesus came to save us from the Adamic curse of living a performance-based life marked by stress, guilt and condemnation, that we might live the abundant life freely and lightly, flowing with the unforced rhythm of grace (unmerited favour), where He works miracles among us by the hearing of faith (about our right standing with God).
The Meaning of "Salvation" Depends on Context in which It Appears in the Bible
Someone has asked a question which I’ve also been thinking about lately: “Other than being saved from the destruction of Jerusalem, is there anything that the 1st century believers were saved from?”
Since salvation (‘soteria’ in Greek) means wholeness, health, deliverance, preservation and prosperity (in spirit, soul and body), I think salvation includes healing, provisions, etc.
For example, after Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus, he went on to say that there is no other name except Jesus by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12), the context was healing.
Another example: When the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years was healed after touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, Jesus told her “Daughter, be of good comfort, Your faith has saved you.” The Greek word ‘sozo’ (saves) means healing in that context. So yea, salvation includes healing.
I am coming to realise the gospel has much (if not everything) to do with our consciousness — the more we know and are conscious of God’s love, and the more we are established in the knowledge that God is love and He is good and only good, and there is no bad in Him, the more we will experience the reality of His goodness and love and mercy and grace working in our lives.
Psalm 27 seems to bear this truth – when David chose to do the one thing and behold the beauty of the Lord, he ended up living a victorious life.
Psalm 27:4-6 4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Similarly, in my Bible reading two days ago, I learnt that long before King Jehoshaphat and his army were surrounded by their enemies, they first heard from a prophet who had a judgment mentality about God, for he had told them that God would deal with them harshly unless they tried their best to please Him – that must have caused them to be sin-conscious and fearful, and this negative consciousness manifested in their reality as the enemies suddenly approached to outnumber them (2 Chronicles 19 and 20). It’s only after Jehoshaphat sought the Lord for help, that they received the revelation that the beauty of holiness is found in praising Him for He is good and His love and mercy endures forever! The moment they started to be conscious that God is love and only love, and not an angry God out to get them, they started to reign supernaturally, and they even defeated their enemies without a fight, and they collected so much spoils in the following three days in the battlefield.
2 Chronicles 20:21
“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
‘Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever.’”
Similarly, it’s so important we all feed on the right kind of teachings that present God in the fullness of His love towards us, so that we will always be conscious that He is always with us and for us, and He has never alienated us from the very beginning, and His heart of immense generosity just wants to pour out and LAVISH His blessings on us His beloved children. Let’s keep beholding the BEAUTY and GRACE of our good Lord Jesus and Abba Father.
Video commentary:
Peace reigns in love consciousness. The gospel is about how perfectly God loves and favours us because Jesus is our true identity. This is the power of God to save us from fear, guilt, shame, ignorance and condemnation in the battlefield of our minds.
Since emotions are a form of energy, our emotions can effect the environment and weather patterns. Emotions are a form of energy, and perhaps an excessive amount of negative energy, such as anger, hate, fear, guilt, etc, contributes to tornados, hurricanes, flooding, etc.
We control the weather to a certain extent when we send negative energy into the atmosphere. Psalm 82 seems to suggest this idea. I think Joseph Prince mentioned something similar in one of his sermons quite recently, perhaps earlier in the year 2010. He was teaching about the importance of having a “no condemnation” mindset, because when people feel condemned and think negative thoughts about themselves and/or others, they can affect the environment and even cause adverse weather phenomena, like typhoons, around the world. So yea, the gospel is so important because when people align their minds with the good news that God loves them and is not mad at them, they will be at ease and at peace with themselves and with others too, and the environment will also be more peaceful (in terms of being free from natural calamities).
Makes me think that some of the natural disasters like earthquakes in the Old Testament were not caused by God (though they appeared to be) – they were probably caused by negative thoughts or emotions of the children of Israel when they were under the law — they felt condemned and bad things started to happen to them; for example, earthquakes swallowing up some people or the fiery serpents appeared in the desert to bite them (hence God told Moses to put the bronze serpent on a pole for them to look — to see that their guilty conscience (or accuser) has been judged and they should no longer feel condemned or guilty), or the armies of Moab and other nations rising up to attack them. You can read more about how the gospel affects our consciousness here.
Looks like we’re indeed living in a matrix world of sorts. So important then for us all to guard our heart (our mindset or belief system or our thought life) from fear and condemnation because out of it springs forth the issues of life. (Proverbs 4) It’s good for our hearts to be established with grace, as Hebrews 13 also says.
Sin-consciousness, condemnation, guilt… all these negative feelings contribute to our environments.
