The gospel as a mirror (Andre Rabe @ Kainos Ministries )

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Published on 29 Apr 2012

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.

A metaphysical interpretation of incarnation

Someone wrote:

"maybe the incarnation is in fact, a moment of realization, for every human, in that when the word (ideas; constructs; mediation) becomes flesh (materialization) we realize that prior to this what we have been experiencing was not reality at all..."

Yes, I too would see the incarnation as symbolic of a moment of realisation for every human being that the word (idea or construct about who we are and where we come from) is made flesh (manifestation). Perhaps before the word was made flesh, before the incarnation, symbolically speaking, people were living in darkness, in the sense of living under the illusion of separation. The shadow self/vengeful god/ego that caused people to live in fear, guilt and strifes with one another is brought to light and this darkness of ignorance could not overcome the light of the truth of our innate oneness, wholeness and beauty that is made manifest through the incarnation (or realisation of our true identity). 

Overcoming illusions

"The world is run by people who depend on people depending on an illusion that they are willing to fight for. As long as the people are fighting for an illusion, they don't have the energy to see beyond it."-Karrie O.

I suppose the rulers here may refer to those seeking power and control in politics and religion. Yes they usually depend on people who buy into the illusion they painted, such as the illusion of separation (to control people with fear of a vengeful deity or to manipulate people to fight against imaginary enemies in other countries) and the illusion of democracy (which has been mainly controlled through propaganda, making it hard to people to make informed decisions in voting). Hence, it takes each individual to be our own saviour and rely on our intuition and resources to find out the truth that sets us free.

Related link: 

prayer from the cell: no separation

  

"People don't need to be saved or rescued. People need knowledge of their own power and how to access it."

Regarding the above picture, my understanding of the message is that it is about empowerment, whereby each of us needs to know our true divine identity who possesses infinite wisdom and we have the power to create or co-create our reality. I think organised religions such as mainstream Christianity tends to tell people to rely on an external saviour, but this idea is based on the illusion of separation.

I also come to realise the religious or societal mindset seems to place a responsibility on people to save others, in the sense of fixing others, but this not only becomes legalism, but also encourages co-dependence because when we "save" people, we have to save them again and again as long as they remain unaware of their own innate power. When we realise that we are not called to be saviours (because each of us is our own saviour, or our own physician, as Jesus said, "physician, heal thyself"), the pressure is off us to save others. Maybe religious authorities don't really want the masses to know about their own true innate power so that the authorities can continue to enslave and control them by keeping the masses co-dependent on them, telling them to come back every Sunday and "hear the word of God" from them. But no, each of us can hear God ourselves because we are one with God/Divine/Great Spirit, and we are also gods and goddesses. We all have intuition, and we can tap into our psychic powers, so to speak, by meditating and being in tune with ourselves and with Mother Nature. As the verse goes, "be still and know that I am God". 

"Beliefs are doubts wearing garments of fear." ~ Randy Stalls

"Beliefs' indicate that one does not 'Know'.....When one 'Knows', all 'beliefs' and 'belief systems' have fallen away".....Matthew Michaud

Yes, too often, beliefs in the religious circles are based on borrowed concepts, ideologies and doctrines passed down through the centuries, and most of the time, such beliefs are fear-based, as noted by Randy Stalls. For example, people are taught to believe they have to do this or that, else "God" will be displeased blah blah blah.  Also, like what Matthew Michaud pointed out, when people know instead of believe, all belief systems have fallen away. Our part then is to know who we really are, and help remind others too where necessary.

1 John 1:9 was written to the Jews, not Us

I understand the context of the verse 1 John 1:9 in terms of John writing to the Jewish audience, so he was only speaking their lingo, since they held on to this sin theology.

For us, there is nothing to confess, because we are not "sinners". I think this sin-consciousness comes from the religious mindset, that mistakenly thinks one has failed to obey a so-called god, and that subscribes to the illusion of separation.

Hence, I don't agree with the popular notion that people are born "sinners" or use the explanation that the world is messed up because of some sin Adam committed. My take is that the world is messed up because people have forgotten who they really are - that we all are already perfect, complete, blameless, innocent and beloved.

I have come to see the bible as a Jewish old covenant book, and while I may learn some truths from it, but many of the things in the bible, such as the sin theology, do not apply to me because I don't belong to the Jewish religious system, which has already been done away in AD70.

Someone may ask, "Then why did John write that 'If you say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us?'"

My answer is: Precisely because John was writing to his Jewish brethren who were under their law system, they were counted as "sinful" simply because their own man-made laws condemned them. We learn that "By the law is the knowledge of sin", so that is how the Jews became sin-conscious. This man-made law system was put to an end by AD70, marked by the destruction of the Jerusalem temple.

We are not under the Jewish law system. When there is no law, there is no transgression of law either. That means there is no such thing as sin.

In short:

No law = No knowledge of sin

No law = No imputation of sin

No law = No transgression of law

No law = No knowledge of sin

No law = No consciousness of sin

What is our conclusion then? When we change our mind (repent) from the law mindset to the grace mindset, we realise that sin is only an illusion - the illusion of separation. Sin doesn't exist in reality.

Jesus' parable of the lost son exemplifies this truth. The younger son returned home, and before he could finish "confessing his sins", his father embraced him and welcomed him home warmly and unconditionally.

What does this tell us? Is God waiting for his children to confess their sins? No. The father did not even bother to listen to the son's rehearsed confession. As far as the father is concerned, the son is always perfect and innocent in his eyes.

Similarly, as far as God is concerned (whom I believe is our highest self), we are perfect and innocent. May we all continue to see ourselves the way our highest consciousness sees us - beloved, complete, innocent and blameless.

"A good Father doesn't think of His children as evil, and His love won't even keep a record of our wrongs. So, He sends us the Comforter to bring us a real sense of security--the very thing that our theology stole from us."- Dr Michael Jones

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Thoughts on Devotionals

I usually don't read the devotionals nowadays, since much of it I have already read before about our original blueprint in the image and likeness of God, so at the most, it may serve only as a reminder, if we need reminders of our true identity.

Other than that, I have moved on beyond the separation mindset of mainstream christian theology, and the concept of "sin", which to me is an outdated religious concept that doesn't apply to any one of us at all, as it is only used in the context of the Jewish culture and mindset. As shared with you before, the bible may contain some spiritual truths I can learn from, but it is not the absolute truth.

The truth is within each of us, and we can learn from any other sources or books that dispel the illusion of separation, and point to our innate innocence, and our value and dignity as human beings (or spiritual beings on a human journey). Native American spirituality, and some aspects of Taoism, Buddhism, paganism and new age, etc, all convey a similar message that we are all one, and the divine is in us.

Spiritual activities and interpersonal skills

According to this blog "The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity", "spiritual" activities (such as praying and reading the Bible) do not necessarily enhance one's interpersonal skills. In fact, if one is not careful, doctrines and books tend to influence his mindset to the extent of discriminating others who do not think or believe like him. Therein lies the danger of organised religion, which perpetuates the illusion of separation and "us" versus "them". 

I have come to realise that life is not about doctrines; life is all about relationships with people. If those who are still being influenced by religious teachings treat us unkindly, we know it is because of their attachment to doctrines and not because of us. We can only keep resting in our belovedness and perfection, and love them from afar, like what Jesus said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

We are a perfect workmanship created in love, and how others treat us does not define us because we are defined by our original identity. How someone treats other people does not define them; it only reflects him. If he chooses to treat others like enemies just because they disagree with his views, his actions are only a product of religious conditioning from the Christian fundamentalist circles, and he knows not what he was doing. We can rise above the way such people treat us, and we can continue to fly high as eagles.

How do we overcome the illusion of separation in the material realm?

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." --Mother Teresa

I asked a question in Yahoo Answers recently: Since we are living in a material dimension which causes us to have an illusion of separation and false identity, how do we walk by faith and not by sight in this world?
 
We all need spiritual eyes to see beyond the illusion and realise we are all one and not separate from one another. Though each of us is unique and different, we are all one in divine love and are interconnected and interdependent. I like the quote by Mother Teresa too - to realise our connectedness is to have peace in this world as we would seek to love others as ourselves, and love ourselves as others.

every one wants to love

Someone wrote:

"The need to right and win an argument is a STRONG indication of deep rooted insecurities that come from low self-worth. The ONLY cure for low self-worth is realizing you’re worth what God paid for you. Settle the self-worth issue and you’ll settle most of the arguments in your life".

That's true - everyone wants to love and be loved, and the way for a person to be established in his own self-worth is to realise the value God has placed on him. Jesus reminded us we are worth more than many sparrows, and he gave his life for us that we may be free from the illusion of separation and false identity and come to know our true identity and our oneness with God. We were bought with a price, as Paul described in 1 Corinthians, not in terms of paying penalty for so-called sins, but in terms of purchasing our freedom from ignorance and religion with God's own life to demonstrate we are worth everything to God. As Jesus has said, no greater love is there than this: that a man gives his life for his friends.

So yes, when a person is established in God's love and his own self-worth, he will know that he has nothing to prove and has no need to win a debate or argument. Instead, he will rest in his own belovedness, and do or say things for edifying others, that they may also benefit by knowing their true identity and their oneness with God and others.