Seeing our divinity with unveiled eyes

Someone said:  

"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.

CON/science

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.

Salvation Has Rescued Us From Darkness (Ignorance) To Light (Understanding)

I have been blessed reading about the successful rescue mission of the 33 miners in Chile who were trapped for more than 2 months underground (from August to October 2010). I have been following the news about their plight for the past few weekends when I read about them in the newspapers. I think it’s almost like a real-life parable or illustration of how we all are rescued or translated from darkness to light.

Colossians 1:13-14 says “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

We were once in darkness, a place of ignorance. We were blinded in our minds to the immense love of our Father in heaven. We did not know our true identity. We felt alienated from God, when all the while God has never alienated Himself from us. He wants us to KNOW Him.

I believe then that Jesus has come to save us from our ignorance. He has come to give us an understanding of who God is and who we are in Him.
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Someone may quote Philippians 2:13 and say that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (meaning to imply some work on our part to remain “saved”). But I think we need to look at the historical context of this verse as well as consider the audience relevance. Have done a bit of study on Philippians 2:12-16 – I think the Concordant Literal Version of the Bible kinda captures the original Greek thought better:

So that, my beloved, according as you always obey, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, with fear and trembling, be carrying your own salvation into effect, ¹³ for it is God Who is operating in you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight. ¹⁴ All be doing without murmurings and reasonings, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and artless, children of God, flawless, in the midst of a generation crooked and perverse among whom you are appearing as luminaries in the world, ¹⁶ having on the word of life, for my glorying in the day of Christ, that I did not run for naught, neither that I toil for naught.”
(Philippians 2:12-16, Concordant Literal Version)

Paul was writing to the first century christians who were living among the “crooked and perverse generation” which refers to the religious people in Israel – I believe the salvation in that context is referring to being saved from the destruction together with the temple in 66-70AD — indeed, none of the christians were reported to perish during the Roman army siege – they had heeded Jesus’ warning to flee to the mountains of Judea. Besides, the salvation they knew then was salvation in all its fullness (wholeness, preservation, protection, etc) – it comes from the Greek word soteria. And yes, salvation is also a Person – Jesus is the Yeshua of the world.
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If we know Jesus as He really is – that His name is Salvation (Yeshua) – we will know that He is the Saviour of the world. Love came to save, love came to serve, love comes to give – Jesus is love personified, and He is salvation personified.

Jesus is the Saviour of ALL men. (See 1 Timothy 4:10)

When we say we are in Jesus, we actually mean we are in Salvation.

The good news is that: Salvation is here – in us, with us, for us. Even for those who do not know Jesus, HE knows them – that is their security. It is WHO knows us that matters, not how much we know Him – we cannot never fully know Him, for that matter. We all may lose sight of Him at times, but He never loses sight of us.
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I have had a misconception about what salvation means. I used to think salvation means being saved from hell (whatever that ‘hell’ meant), but I have learnt that salvation is simply saved from having a wrong mindset about God and about ourselves.

‘Hell’ is a pagan concept that has been used by the Roman Catholic church to control the masses with fear. This website “Hell is a misunderstood concept in Christianity” explains the details.

You may also like to listen to this video ‘Hell as an invention of the church‘.

The lake of fire is not literal but metaphorical. If it were literal, how would it be possible for death (which is non-physical) and hades (grave) be cast into the lake of fire?

We all have (had) a part in the lake of fire, which was not meant to torture us, but to purify. Phillip explained it like this: “The Greek word for fire is pur. Strong’s Concordant of the Bible #4442. This is where we get our English word ‘purify’. The lake of fire is no more than a purification process that every man will endure. (Mark 9:49) So the lake of fire is symbolic and it is not a literal fire.”

Revelations 21:8 speaks of the old Adamic nature and the old identity that experience the second death. It is not referring to people being burnt and tortured forever.

In short, Jesus came not to save people from ‘hell’ (which is a pagan concept). He came to save us from having a wrong mindset about God and about ourselves. He came to show us that God is all the while with us and He has never alienated Himself from us. He came to show us God is love and to restore our sense of identity which is found in Him.
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“And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Colossians 1:21-22)

Notice that this sense of alienation and being enemies took place in our minds? Hence, God sent His Son to renew our mind (or repent – change our mind or change our thinking) to see ourselves in His image – that we are holy, blameless and above reproach.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ ALL shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)

In God’s mind, we are all made alive in Christ. We are new creations. We are the righteousness of God in Him. We are beloved children of God, accepted and highly favoured in the Beloved. We are the apple of God’s eye, and He loves us with an everlasting love.

When we awake to the truth that we are righteous in Him and He is in us, we will experience the abundant life He has given us – full of hope, full of joy, full of peace, full of health, full of finances. That is spiritual awakening at its fullness!

“Awake to righteousness (awake to the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ), and do not sin (do not fall short of the understanding that you are one with God and as a result living below the best He wants you to have); for some do not knowledge of God (who is in us and in whose image we are made).” (1 Corinthians 15:34; words in parentheses are mine)

Mary Lou Houllis said, “The Bible is not about the physical realm.” Indeed, the gospel (or good news of Christ) is about our belief system. What we believe will manifest in our lives. Our perception creates our reality. When we align our minds with the mind of God that proclaims we are one with Him, we will experience the truth of the gospel in tangible ways, in manifested blessings.

You may also like to listen to “The Creator You” by Mary Lou Houllis, who heads the New Beginning Oneness Center.

Recommended Readings:
“God’s Salvation Plan – Salvation of All” by Jath van der Westhuizen
“Misunderstandings about the meaning of hell (Part 1)” by Jath van der Westhuizen
“Misunderstandings about the meaning of hell (Part 2)” by Jath van der Westhuizen
“Redemption of Mankind” by Jath van der Westhuizen

When we discover Jesus’ identity, we discover our own identity

We all may have some sort of identity crisis at some points in our life – we may either have a poor, beaten down image of ourselves, or an elevated view of ourselves. We would ponder over questions like “where do we come from?”, and “what is our purpose in life?” But once we realise who Jesus Christ is, we will actually discover our true identity – that we are made in His image. Jesus has come to be our perfect representative, and all His divine attributes of power, love and sound mind become ours.

The only accurate picture of ourselves we can have is to see ourselves in Jesus’ image. The following is an awesome revelation shared by Francois du Toit.

“In Matthew 16 Jesus asks the most important question in the Bible, “Who do men say that I the son of man am?” By revelation, Simon asserts in response that Jesus is not the son of Joseph, but the Messiah. He is the promise of man’s redemption, the image and likeness of God fully displayed in human form; the son of the living God.

Notice how Jesus responds to him: “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father. If I am the son of God, then so are you. I have come to reveal that man began in God, and not in father’s seed or in his mother’s womb! Jer.1:5. Your surname is no longer derived from your father in the flesh but from the Rock that begot you. (“You have forgotten the rock that begot you and the God who gave birth to you…” Deuteronomy 32:18. “Look to the Rock from which you were hewn…” Isaiah 51:1) Upon this Rock, I will build My church (Greek, ekklésia).”
- Francois du Toit

“Hades is a compound word like most Greek words, ha, negative, or not + ideis, to see. Thus the blindfold that traps mankind in ignorance about their true identity will not prevail”
- Francois du Toit

The gate of hades in Caesarea Philippi, Israel, where Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is a rocky place, where the main cave was traditionally known as the 'gate of hades'. Jesus took the opportunity to give Peter the revelation of his true identity in Christ, and said the gates of ignorance shall not prevail against the church upon this revelation of their identity in Christ.

Hades is a place of ignorance, where there is an absence of knowledge of God nor the true identity of humankind. Praise the Lord for the revelation, for when people’s eyes are opened to see who Jesus is, and realise He is their true identity, the gates of ignorance shall not prevail against the church. Instead, the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, as more and more people shall see their true identity in Christ, through the preaching of the gospel. And they and we all shall continue to be transformed from glory to glory into His same image, as we behold His glory and see ourselves in Him as in a mirror reflection: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and “as He is, so are we in this world”.

It’s all about relationship. God created us to have fellowship with Him. Because of Adam’s disobedience, man lost his original identity. But by Jesus’ obedience at the cross, man was restored to fellowship with God.

We now realise the significance of Jesus giving Simon bar Jonah (son of Jonah) a new name Peter, which means “rock”. It’s wonderful how Francois drew out the revelation from the old testament to explain the new testament concerning Jesus as our new identity. Jesus is the Rock of Ages, and He has hidden us in that Rock - “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (who is our Rock)” (Colossians 3:3)

How the Gospel Affects our Consciousness

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.