Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, is the same One for the eons also.
To the Hebrews 13: 8, Concordant New Testament
I was reminded once again this week of the varying beliefs among the followers of Jesus within this religious system we call Christianity. While in conversation with one of my fellow gym goers, I once again learned of the biblical promises of punishment and banishment. Now, I'm not a stranger to these institutional teachings of the mainstream church. Growing up, it was all that I knew about God. What I knew about Him was what I learned from going to church each Sunday. I learned that Christ Jesus gave Himself for my sins, but I also learned that it was those same sins which were keeping me from a relationship with the Father. How does that work? From a young age, I learned that all I could ever hope to do was to "Be like" Jesus. If I was somehow like Jesus, then my ticket to heaven was punched and I was good to go. Yet something happened on the way there. Like the man Saul on that road to Damascus, I was suddenly faced with one of the most important decisions of my spiritual life. The decision to realize the truth of Christ, or to continue in my beliefs of the man-made religious system. It was the apostle Paul, who when he came face to face with Jesus, finally became aware of the Christ he had spent his life persecuting. It was the Father Whom, as Paul proclaims, proceeded "To unveil His Son in me" {Paul to the Galatians 1:16}. That is, Christ in this man who had spent so much time and effort persecuting Jesus. Had Jesus somehow changed from the Savior Saul once envisioned? No, for Jesus has always been the same today as He ever was {To the Hebrews 13:8}. God is the same as He's always been {Malachi 3:6}. No, it is not Jesus who changed, but Paul's own realization of who He was. As for myself, the decision which I was faced with was to recognize the truth of Christ in me, or continue in the teaching of the church system which denied that truth. In the end, it is the revelation of the Father who brought me into this knowing.
"Religion has actually convinced people that there is an invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you, and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money"
~George Carlin~
Have you ever noticed just how many different translations of scripture that exist out there? We have translations for every language, age group and belief system imaginable. Are we foolish enough to believe that all of these translations of the word have not watered down the words and intent of the scriptures? A good friend of mine often uses the word "Lens" when talking about the different translations and beliefs within Christianity, and he's right. All too often , we will view Jesus and Christianity through the lens of what we ourselves believe. Knowing this, my own views of Jesus and the Father might not mesh with those of my fellow gym friend. I do not believe in the separation of man and God. This is simply a result of the lie spoken by the deceiver in the garden {Genesis 3:1-8}. Satan led Adam and Eve to believe that were they to partake of the fruit which God commanded them not to, that they would "Be like God, knowing good and evil" {Genesis 3:5}. The issue with this is that Adam and Eve were ALREADY like God. It was the Father who created them is His own likeness {Genesis 1:27}. It is the God who breathed into them the breath of life, creating a living soul {Genesis 2:7}. God has always been a intimate part of who it is that we are. It is not the Lord who has changed, but our own understanding of who He truly is.
~Scott~
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