What if Jesus Christ was actually a human being, not a deity, who went forth and did all of the amazing things he did armed only with his faith? Would that make his story less important, or would it make what he accomplished even more important, and more relevant to our lives? As we approach the holiest days of our year as practiced by western Christians, I feel compelled to ask this question. The more I read The Sermon on the Mount, the more convinced I become that Jesus Christ was a truly revolutionary figure. A man so armed with his faith and thereby supported by the will of God that he changed the course of the world.
I believe that Jesus rebelled against the teachings of the established religion of his time. I believe that the most important element of his teachings was that no one required anyone else to facilitate their relationship with God. The more I read those parts of what Jesus said that was allowed to filter through by the Romans who ultimately took control of and reshaped his message,the more I see a man teaching that God is not the entity represented in the Old Testament. There is truth present in the teachings of the Old Testament, but it is also intertwined with the desire of religion to promote, preserve and institutionalize itself. "I bring a new covenant" Jesus declared. The Romans who took control of and reshaped his message would have you believe that he declared himself a deity when he said "only by me can you enter the kingdom of heaven." I submit that what he actually conveyed was that only by understanding and embracing the vision of God I am teaching can you know the kingdom of heaven."
One thing that seems so clear is Jesus message that there is only one thing that any of us must do to be in Gods favor, love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. He went on to say that only God can judge us, clearly rejecting those who attempt to convince that they have some sort of divine permission to make judgments on Gods behalf, and merely by seeking God we open up the opportunity for us to be blessed.
Clearly God loved for humankind to come together and fellowship. Clearly in this was the desire that we would use these opportunities to share the love and respect that is so important to the survival and health of humankind.
Clearly Jesus Christ warned of the fact that religion was the problem. That no matter how well intentioned the message at its beginning, religion can become so obsessed with wealth and power that is begins to see itself as God rather than serving God. That within the effort to preserve itself, the abuses begin and grow, becoming an obsession.
When one looks closely at the gathering brought together by Emperor Constantine to take control of something that they had tried so hard to stamp out for four hundred years, it is easy to see that their effort in forming the Roman Church was to shape a message that would serve them. Making Christ a deity served this purpose. In their minds what could be worse than an average human being believing that he could have such amazing faith that God would invest such anointment upon him. Compare what Jesus said about the role of women in serving God, look carefully at the example Jesus set regarding how we treat the least fortunate among us, think carefully about his admonition to his own followers to not become "self righteous".
Then think about his own warning that those there would be those who would attempt to take control of his message and use it to deceive us. It is common among people today to believe this is a warning of some calamity to come, but consider that what Jesus was really warning us about was something that began 400 years after his death, by those who put him to death and continues unabated today.
Now consider how this deception has inundated and perverted every level of modern life. Fear rules and gets represented as common sense, greed rules and gets represented as just deserts. Humankind has so lost its way, and those who see the way are ridiculed and treated as simple minded and paranoid. Around the world we see politics so contentious that the people are not represented and only the best interests of the rich and powerful are served. How can this not be a byproduct of the Great Deception?
But simplicity is Gods way. We are born in simplicity and so we shall depart our earthly bodies. Our greatest challenge is to resist the corruption that is a natural part of survival. Cast off fear. Have faith. Jesus Christ taught over and over, using as many different examples as he could to point out to us that within our natural lives is everything we need to flourish when we have faith and grow without fear. Embracing truth. Truth is always simple.
And we must forgive them for they are only doing that which humans will do. All evil is a byproduct of goodness. A perversion. Every evil is based on fear. Greed is the fear of being without. Violence is the fear of lacking control. Jealousy is the fear of not being worthy.
Love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. Fear not, for God is always with us. Love is simple. Goodness is simple. It is naturally within us all.
I believe that Jesus rebelled against the teachings of the established religion of his time. I believe that the most important element of his teachings was that no one required anyone else to facilitate their relationship with God. The more I read those parts of what Jesus said that was allowed to filter through by the Romans who ultimately took control of and reshaped his message,the more I see a man teaching that God is not the entity represented in the Old Testament. There is truth present in the teachings of the Old Testament, but it is also intertwined with the desire of religion to promote, preserve and institutionalize itself. "I bring a new covenant" Jesus declared. The Romans who took control of and reshaped his message would have you believe that he declared himself a deity when he said "only by me can you enter the kingdom of heaven." I submit that what he actually conveyed was that only by understanding and embracing the vision of God I am teaching can you know the kingdom of heaven."
One thing that seems so clear is Jesus message that there is only one thing that any of us must do to be in Gods favor, love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. He went on to say that only God can judge us, clearly rejecting those who attempt to convince that they have some sort of divine permission to make judgments on Gods behalf, and merely by seeking God we open up the opportunity for us to be blessed.
Clearly God loved for humankind to come together and fellowship. Clearly in this was the desire that we would use these opportunities to share the love and respect that is so important to the survival and health of humankind.
Clearly Jesus Christ warned of the fact that religion was the problem. That no matter how well intentioned the message at its beginning, religion can become so obsessed with wealth and power that is begins to see itself as God rather than serving God. That within the effort to preserve itself, the abuses begin and grow, becoming an obsession.
When one looks closely at the gathering brought together by Emperor Constantine to take control of something that they had tried so hard to stamp out for four hundred years, it is easy to see that their effort in forming the Roman Church was to shape a message that would serve them. Making Christ a deity served this purpose. In their minds what could be worse than an average human being believing that he could have such amazing faith that God would invest such anointment upon him. Compare what Jesus said about the role of women in serving God, look carefully at the example Jesus set regarding how we treat the least fortunate among us, think carefully about his admonition to his own followers to not become "self righteous".
Then think about his own warning that those there would be those who would attempt to take control of his message and use it to deceive us. It is common among people today to believe this is a warning of some calamity to come, but consider that what Jesus was really warning us about was something that began 400 years after his death, by those who put him to death and continues unabated today.
Now consider how this deception has inundated and perverted every level of modern life. Fear rules and gets represented as common sense, greed rules and gets represented as just deserts. Humankind has so lost its way, and those who see the way are ridiculed and treated as simple minded and paranoid. Around the world we see politics so contentious that the people are not represented and only the best interests of the rich and powerful are served. How can this not be a byproduct of the Great Deception?
But simplicity is Gods way. We are born in simplicity and so we shall depart our earthly bodies. Our greatest challenge is to resist the corruption that is a natural part of survival. Cast off fear. Have faith. Jesus Christ taught over and over, using as many different examples as he could to point out to us that within our natural lives is everything we need to flourish when we have faith and grow without fear. Embracing truth. Truth is always simple.
And we must forgive them for they are only doing that which humans will do. All evil is a byproduct of goodness. A perversion. Every evil is based on fear. Greed is the fear of being without. Violence is the fear of lacking control. Jealousy is the fear of not being worthy.
Love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. Fear not, for God is always with us. Love is simple. Goodness is simple. It is naturally within us all.
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