The Church has failed to view Christ as " The Greatest Renouncer". Many understand "Kenosis" with regard only to the incarnation but Christ renounced himself continually till his death, and in the end he cries "It is finished, I have no more to give up" as the water and the blood flows from his being. If we understand "renouncing" in the Indian context it would imply renouncing one's humanity, renouncing the immanent and trying to grasp the transcendent which is beyond comprehension. Christ on the other hand embraced his humanity and proudly called himself "the son of man" (Ben Adham, we can trace this to Ezekiel who always asserts his mortality and his link to humanity). Then what did Christ empty? He could not have emptied his pride because he was without sin. He emptied himself of his will, his dreams, aspirations and his way of approaching life. His human element had a perfect plan for his life. He kept negating it continually.
His self-emptying starts before the incarnation, when he had the plan of "Christification" in his mind. The divine son was the revelation of truth. God is Nirguna- Sarguna Brahman. Without any attributes and with all the attributes. His complete transcendence hides himself from everything that exists outside of him and his super-consciousness shines with his glory, this is translated by beings in relation to themselves and he is worshiped with respect to these qualities because finite beings apply the faculties of their minds to do full justice to the object of worship. His attributes known to us are finite and our image based on this is pure idolatry. That is why God is worshiped in spirit and in truth, this is true worship.
Such is the magnificence of the pre-incarnate son. Glory beyond imagination, life beyond comprehension, truth beyond imagination, existence beyond dimensions (celestial beings exist in lower spiritual dimensions and there are infinite dimensions).
The Pre-incarnate son descends into the dimension of time and space assuming full humanity. He takes upon flesh and thus extends his being retaining his power as the embodiment of divine super-consciousness but yet entering into the realm of mortality and limitation as a creature in Christ Jesus. This is the first state of "Kenosis". The Eastern Church establishes that Christ has one nature full of humanity and divinity, he becomes the Son of God and that of man, retaining his bliss and yet undergoing sorrow, immortal yet mortal, in pain and sorrow yet in joy and bliss. Inseparable nature, the confluence of divinity and humanity moving and existing fully in each other. The divine son fills the mind of the human Jesus with divinity and the human Jesus empties the "ignorance" imbibed in him because of his connections with the traditions of mortal, evil sinful self-loathing man. His outlook of life divinizes as he grows. He is affirmed that he grew in wisdom and stature in favour with God and man. God approved of him and he was approved of man not because they loved him but because he was a servant to everybody. Such was the humility of Christ.
In his baptism he empties himself. He identifies himself with the sinful Human Beings around him without any restraint. He empties himself when he was exposed to the dimension of evil that ascended into the realm of time and space according to divine will for his glory.
He empties himself during his ministry when he identifies himself with the scum of humanity and proudly accepts the title "Jesus of Nazereth".
He empties himself so much that there is an deep intense thirst for him to wash the feet of his disciples. He places his divine palm upon the filthy feet of semi-barbaric men who were know for their un-hygienic ways that his disciple Peter cries out "Oh my Lord, I am not worthy' but Christ only says "I came to serve and not to be served and if you do not let me do this, you have no part in me."
He empties himself in his last meal when he offers his body as the bread for all Human Beings and his blood as their drink.
He empties himself when he prostrates at the feet of God in the garden of Gethsemane crying "Destroy my will and my desires completely and let thy will be done."
He empties himself when he allows himself to be tried by Earthy rulers.
He empties himself when he allows men to maul his body, tear his beard and spit on his countenance.
His final act of self emptying happens on the cross where there is nothing left in him to empty. He loses the favor and love of the divine, he is cursed by humanity, he is denied by his loved ones, he lies battered, bleeding, in shame and in torment. As the blood flows out of his body, he rejoices to see his whole being emptied as a sign to God stating that I have no more to offer to you or to man. It is finished.
In hades he stams his authority. God raises him up from the dead, he emerges in glory. He now sits in the presence of the Almighty beyond all dimensions mediating his grace to his creatures by the power of the Holy Spirit. All of creation, all creatures and all dimensions surrender to "THE SON OF MAN". All of creation awaits Chistification.
The glory seen in humility like never seen before.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Christ the Lord be praised forever. Amen
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A thought about Christmas
Christmas today is “Every Capitalist’s dream”. We often forget the person when we are in the midst of this joyous occasion. This reminds me of a scene in the movie “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” about the life of St Francis of Assisi. In this scent St Francis is in the Vatican, he was to meet the Pope and was given a pre-prepared speech in Latin but in the Midst of the speech St Francis busts out saying “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” This makes the “great” Pope think, for he knew that in the midst of this pomp and glory he forgot his Lord.
Jesus was born in a manger, the king of glory and the Lord of Lords did not have a place to lay his head, he was born in the midst of cattle and beasts. The wise men from the East saught him in the palace but the bright star of wonder stood above the manger. Today we are tempted to seek him in places that he is alien to, in churches, in cathedrals etc but he is right here in our hearts and to know this is to know the person. We might sometimes forget his humanity, yes Christ was fully human just like any one of us but in his humanity he never did have a single second of pride, even in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed saying “Not my will but thine be done”. The early Christians sang this beautiful hymn recorded by St Paul in the letter to the Philippians
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus himself says that “The son of man did not come to be served but to serve”. He does not seek to serve us but for us to love him. Peter found it ridiculous to allow his filthy feet be washed by “The Lord of Glory”, this is recorded in a beautiful hymn
“I am not worthy, Lord
How can this be?
You wash my feet
I should be washing Yours
Lord, I am not worthy.”
You created the universe
Almighty God yet servant of all
Man of humility
Lord, I am not worthy
"Unless, I wash your feet
you can have no part with me.
Unless I make you clean
you can have no part with me."
“If that is true, my Lord
not just my feet
not just my hands
wash my whole body too
Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy of Your Love.”
Jesus says that if we do not allow him to SERVE us then we are not worthy of him. Such is the depth of his grace and his love. This is the person we are to celebrate and worship this Christmas. The least in the kingdom of this world is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We serve this Lord who was the least among us. Even today he serves and he will never cease to serve us and we must never cease to love him.
Jesus was born in a manger, the king of glory and the Lord of Lords did not have a place to lay his head, he was born in the midst of cattle and beasts. The wise men from the East saught him in the palace but the bright star of wonder stood above the manger. Today we are tempted to seek him in places that he is alien to, in churches, in cathedrals etc but he is right here in our hearts and to know this is to know the person. We might sometimes forget his humanity, yes Christ was fully human just like any one of us but in his humanity he never did have a single second of pride, even in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed saying “Not my will but thine be done”. The early Christians sang this beautiful hymn recorded by St Paul in the letter to the Philippians
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus himself says that “The son of man did not come to be served but to serve”. He does not seek to serve us but for us to love him. Peter found it ridiculous to allow his filthy feet be washed by “The Lord of Glory”, this is recorded in a beautiful hymn
“I am not worthy, Lord
How can this be?
You wash my feet
I should be washing Yours
Lord, I am not worthy.”
You created the universe
Almighty God yet servant of all
Man of humility
Lord, I am not worthy
"Unless, I wash your feet
you can have no part with me.
Unless I make you clean
you can have no part with me."
“If that is true, my Lord
not just my feet
not just my hands
wash my whole body too
Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy of Your Love.”
Jesus says that if we do not allow him to SERVE us then we are not worthy of him. Such is the depth of his grace and his love. This is the person we are to celebrate and worship this Christmas. The least in the kingdom of this world is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We serve this Lord who was the least among us. Even today he serves and he will never cease to serve us and we must never cease to love him.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
A Practical History Of True Consciousness
In the beginning nothing but the Logos existed, the Logos was towards God and God was the Logos.
In the beginning the reason of the God was the only being.
In the beginning there was nothing but supreme consciousness, the consciousness was birthed from the absolute being and the absolute being was consciousness.
There can be many interpretations of this statement made by St John, according to me it is one of the greatest philosophical statements because he traces the origin of reason to the supreme being. Aristotle in his philosophy attributes all the knowledge of the universe to the Logos, the Greeks understood the Logos as the logic and the reason that governs the universe. When we look at the Greek definition of the God as the un-caused cause and the un-moved mover we can fit the concept of Logos as something that fundamentally drives the divine to act that is un-caused cause and the moving mover. Another reason why the Greeks may have regarded the Logos is such high esteem could be because of the visible harmony in the universe, that is if the laws that govern the universe did not have an absolute controller then there would be rebellion in the ranks which would result in chaos. The Greek urge to seek that which is outside of them has resulted in the scientific definition of the Logos. Thus Logos has a strong connection to scientific laws.
The Indians who represent Eastern thinking at its fullest have a great interest in consciousness, the primary question of an Eastern thinker would be "Do I exist?" "Am I real?" "Is this reality real?", thus two combat all these questions the answer was monism and that true consciousness arises from the realization that all reality is ONE then we would realize that we are the DIVINE being without attributes that is one who does not have consciousness and thus destroys the need for any questions. Buddha on the other hand saw the futility of this pursuit and reinterpreted it because he saw no reason for a God who is not truly conscious thus he said Nirvana comes from realizing that nothing exists. This was again an extreme statement by Buddha because he believed that perfect harmony can be found in the middle ground.
From these two schools of thought we can see that consciousness of the Greeks was defined in terms of reason and the consciousness of the Indians was realization of the truth. True harmony as Buddha believes lies in the middle ground, thus to build a sound philosophy for modern times we can define consciousness in terms of the reason that leads to salvation in other words the cause of salvation.
With this aside I would like to trace the history of consciousness from the concept of memetics with this statement of Rene Descartes as my tool "I think therefore I am and God is.". We can see that this statement of Descartes is a result of the evolution of Greek thought, the early Greeks were not much concerned about consciousness but only the logic of nature and science. Descartes tries to explain consciousness with Greek reason and logic as his only true ally thus he attributes the reality of his existence purely to his ability to think and reason. The major inconsistency of this statement was that he did not attribute his ability to think primarily to God as the result of his consciousness. The next question would be "What would it be like to be supremely conscious?" The answer would be simple we would have the ability to know EVERYTHING. We would have the capacity to know the truth about us, about nature, about science etc. The next question would be "How would we know what we are supposed to know?" the answer now is more complex. To trace this we need myth as our beacon to shed light on something untraceable that occurred in history. The most popular myth would be the myth found in the Bible that "God created man in his own image and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life". The interpretation would be that God shared his consciousness with man this can be seen when the Bible says that "God walked with man in the cool of the day." Man had this innate, indestructible urge to learn and God was his teacher teaching him of true wisdom and the fall of man can be attributed to the fact that he did not want God to be his teacher but wanted to be the master himself. He wanted to create an alternative Logos to control and rule over the universe but that led to his weakness and his diminutive presence in the universe but he seeks to know, that is knowledge through science, philosophy and even mysticism. Now this weak, diminutive, shallow consciousness that man possesses now is just a shadow of what he is made to be.
Consciousness can be attributed to society that is only when man comes in contact with other men will he have an understanding on himself. This is scientifically accepted because children in the past have been alienated from society for experiments but have failed to understand themselves and thus have perished for the lack of warmth and affection. Children who have been adopted by animals have the characteristics of the beast that adopted it. Thus man can be truly conscious only when he is among other men or in other words only when men dwell among other men their humanity is revealed. Thus Descartes view on individual thinking as the means to the knowledge of true personal consciousness is flawed, it can be reinterpreted by "I think because of the other, he thinks because of his fathers, they think because of their ancestors, they think because they are human beings and thought is the Logos." In other words "God is Logos therefore I am" the reason is because Logos was the creator of life and man is the physical expression of the consciousness of the Logos.
Thus being in the untruth is being in false consciousness and true consciousness comes from the realization of the fact that we are deceptive and mortal. This is the beginning to the path to truth and immortality.
In the beginning the reason of the God was the only being.
In the beginning there was nothing but supreme consciousness, the consciousness was birthed from the absolute being and the absolute being was consciousness.
There can be many interpretations of this statement made by St John, according to me it is one of the greatest philosophical statements because he traces the origin of reason to the supreme being. Aristotle in his philosophy attributes all the knowledge of the universe to the Logos, the Greeks understood the Logos as the logic and the reason that governs the universe. When we look at the Greek definition of the God as the un-caused cause and the un-moved mover we can fit the concept of Logos as something that fundamentally drives the divine to act that is un-caused cause and the moving mover. Another reason why the Greeks may have regarded the Logos is such high esteem could be because of the visible harmony in the universe, that is if the laws that govern the universe did not have an absolute controller then there would be rebellion in the ranks which would result in chaos. The Greek urge to seek that which is outside of them has resulted in the scientific definition of the Logos. Thus Logos has a strong connection to scientific laws.
The Indians who represent Eastern thinking at its fullest have a great interest in consciousness, the primary question of an Eastern thinker would be "Do I exist?" "Am I real?" "Is this reality real?", thus two combat all these questions the answer was monism and that true consciousness arises from the realization that all reality is ONE then we would realize that we are the DIVINE being without attributes that is one who does not have consciousness and thus destroys the need for any questions. Buddha on the other hand saw the futility of this pursuit and reinterpreted it because he saw no reason for a God who is not truly conscious thus he said Nirvana comes from realizing that nothing exists. This was again an extreme statement by Buddha because he believed that perfect harmony can be found in the middle ground.
From these two schools of thought we can see that consciousness of the Greeks was defined in terms of reason and the consciousness of the Indians was realization of the truth. True harmony as Buddha believes lies in the middle ground, thus to build a sound philosophy for modern times we can define consciousness in terms of the reason that leads to salvation in other words the cause of salvation.
With this aside I would like to trace the history of consciousness from the concept of memetics with this statement of Rene Descartes as my tool "I think therefore I am and God is.". We can see that this statement of Descartes is a result of the evolution of Greek thought, the early Greeks were not much concerned about consciousness but only the logic of nature and science. Descartes tries to explain consciousness with Greek reason and logic as his only true ally thus he attributes the reality of his existence purely to his ability to think and reason. The major inconsistency of this statement was that he did not attribute his ability to think primarily to God as the result of his consciousness. The next question would be "What would it be like to be supremely conscious?" The answer would be simple we would have the ability to know EVERYTHING. We would have the capacity to know the truth about us, about nature, about science etc. The next question would be "How would we know what we are supposed to know?" the answer now is more complex. To trace this we need myth as our beacon to shed light on something untraceable that occurred in history. The most popular myth would be the myth found in the Bible that "God created man in his own image and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life". The interpretation would be that God shared his consciousness with man this can be seen when the Bible says that "God walked with man in the cool of the day." Man had this innate, indestructible urge to learn and God was his teacher teaching him of true wisdom and the fall of man can be attributed to the fact that he did not want God to be his teacher but wanted to be the master himself. He wanted to create an alternative Logos to control and rule over the universe but that led to his weakness and his diminutive presence in the universe but he seeks to know, that is knowledge through science, philosophy and even mysticism. Now this weak, diminutive, shallow consciousness that man possesses now is just a shadow of what he is made to be.
Consciousness can be attributed to society that is only when man comes in contact with other men will he have an understanding on himself. This is scientifically accepted because children in the past have been alienated from society for experiments but have failed to understand themselves and thus have perished for the lack of warmth and affection. Children who have been adopted by animals have the characteristics of the beast that adopted it. Thus man can be truly conscious only when he is among other men or in other words only when men dwell among other men their humanity is revealed. Thus Descartes view on individual thinking as the means to the knowledge of true personal consciousness is flawed, it can be reinterpreted by "I think because of the other, he thinks because of his fathers, they think because of their ancestors, they think because they are human beings and thought is the Logos." In other words "God is Logos therefore I am" the reason is because Logos was the creator of life and man is the physical expression of the consciousness of the Logos.
Thus being in the untruth is being in false consciousness and true consciousness comes from the realization of the fact that we are deceptive and mortal. This is the beginning to the path to truth and immortality.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Confessions of My Faith
On the Nature of God
I believe in one triune God, inseparable in substance, co unity but different persons.
I believe in the Father, the light and the truth, whose substance is infinite, who dwells in spirit and in truth, is holy beyond imagination and is self existent, unbegotten, the uncaused cause and the unmoved mover and whose power is dynamic. In him lies no deception. The father is glorified by glorifying his son.
I believe in the Son, the truth of the father, his consciousness who proceeds from within him, not externally, begotten from all eternity and not created, the very reality of the father and from the father, who shares his glory equally and is one with the father in holiness, light and truth. The Son's pleasure is to do the will of the father. He is the only true revealer of the father.
I believe in the Holy spirit, the spirit of the father and the son, the river of God's pleasures, the only spirit who reveals the reality of the true God. He is
the spirit of life and truth and dwells in purity within purity only.
On Creation
It pleased the Triune God to express his love to creatures because of his (their) dynamic nature. Thus for the Good pleasure of the Son and through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit the father willed the creation of creatures both in matter and in spirit. Every creature save man was created impersonally but man was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of the Son, whose purpose was to do the will of the father in the created realm for the glory of the Trinity.
On Sin
The finitude of man was exposed when he chose the path of sin and death tempted by evil powers, by choosing this part man lost all his glory and his desire to please God but was filled with the lust to please himself. The pursuit of a sinful man was to attain total independence from God and to live by his own power. Since outside God there lies death, man was to reap its consequence. A sinful man can by his own freewill never seek the living God. His mortal body perished with time but his spirit and soul remain enemies of God in hell (for an unsaved man).
On Christ
It pleased the Triune God to save man from death and hell for his glory so the Son was sent into this world as a man, sinless and spotless to redeem man by atoning for his sin and exhausting the wrath of God.
Christ Jesus, the Son in flesh was born of a virgin by the power of the holy spirit, His will, desire and purpose was divine but his flesh was Human, born sinless but bore a body that was mortal, thus he was truly human and truly divine. Truly the Son of God and truly the Son of man in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was holy not by grace but by nature, he overcame all temptations successfully, had no physical bride but is spiritually Bridegroom of the church. His purpose was to reconcile sinful man to the Holy God and thereby uniting the fallen world to God. He is the only way, the truth, the life and the only true reveal er of the unseen God.
He was condemned to death falsely by Pontius Pilate, he died on the cross and on the third day rose again and is now with God ruling with him as his co-equal in a glorious body. He is the only sacrifice for sins, outside of him there is no salvation.
On Salvation
The only way to attain true salvation is through faith in Christ alone through the Grace of God alone. Man has not in his own freewill the ability to choose Christ whoever he may be, only by the grace of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit true search for truth occurs. A man is truly saved only when he understands the true nature of his sin and its consequence and confesses and wholly believes that Jesus Christ is co-equal with God and is the sovereign master of all creation. Only in this confession is the Father truly glorified because no man has seen him or known him thus by acknowledging the true nature of his Son, his death and resurrection is he well pleased.
Priesthood of Christ
There is only one God and one mediator between God and man, the real human nature of Jesus Christ.
On the Church
There is only one true Church of Christ, men and women who truly and rightly believe in their sinful nature and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ Jesus. The church is thus spiritually connected to the risen and ascended Lord and reigns with Christ over all creation to the Glory of the Triune God. The virtue of this high estate is not by their good works but the power of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. The purpose of the Church is to fight for the visible supremacy of Christ on Earth thereby making visible the invisible sovereignty of God.
On Holiness and Good Works
A true Child of God would seek with his own quickened will by the grace of God to be confirmed to the image of Christ. Thus holiness and good works are the visible fruits of salvation.
On the Return of Christ
I believe in the bodily return of Christ to bring to light the kingdom of God, to judge the nations, to punish evil men and spirits and to reward the Church. He will then reign forever with the Church to the glory of the triune God, in his kingdom there will exist no evil or death, the law of God will be written in the hearts of all mankind. Amen
On the Bible
The Bible is truly the authoritative word of God and is written by men who were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Thus the Biblical text and context should be judged and truth should be deduced and the rest should be measured critically. Any other writings of true saints can also be regarded as authoritative but measured with the same criticism.
The Holy Sacraments
Baptism and the Lords Supper (Eucharist) are the two most important Christian Sacraments. Infants of believing parents have to be baptized because the faith of the regenerate parents by the grace given to them from God acknowledges that salvation is not of their own flesh hence the salvation of the child is in the hand of God too, so by faith they offer the child as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.
In the Lord's supper the Bread by faith becomes the body of Christ spiritually and not literally and the wine, his blood (bread and wine can differ from culture to culture). This symbolizes that eternal life is from the sacrifice of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus and he will be our living bread and water forever.
I believe in one triune God, inseparable in substance, co unity but different persons.
I believe in the Father, the light and the truth, whose substance is infinite, who dwells in spirit and in truth, is holy beyond imagination and is self existent, unbegotten, the uncaused cause and the unmoved mover and whose power is dynamic. In him lies no deception. The father is glorified by glorifying his son.
I believe in the Son, the truth of the father, his consciousness who proceeds from within him, not externally, begotten from all eternity and not created, the very reality of the father and from the father, who shares his glory equally and is one with the father in holiness, light and truth. The Son's pleasure is to do the will of the father. He is the only true revealer of the father.
I believe in the Holy spirit, the spirit of the father and the son, the river of God's pleasures, the only spirit who reveals the reality of the true God. He is
the spirit of life and truth and dwells in purity within purity only.
On Creation
It pleased the Triune God to express his love to creatures because of his (their) dynamic nature. Thus for the Good pleasure of the Son and through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit the father willed the creation of creatures both in matter and in spirit. Every creature save man was created impersonally but man was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of the Son, whose purpose was to do the will of the father in the created realm for the glory of the Trinity.
On Sin
The finitude of man was exposed when he chose the path of sin and death tempted by evil powers, by choosing this part man lost all his glory and his desire to please God but was filled with the lust to please himself. The pursuit of a sinful man was to attain total independence from God and to live by his own power. Since outside God there lies death, man was to reap its consequence. A sinful man can by his own freewill never seek the living God. His mortal body perished with time but his spirit and soul remain enemies of God in hell (for an unsaved man).
On Christ
It pleased the Triune God to save man from death and hell for his glory so the Son was sent into this world as a man, sinless and spotless to redeem man by atoning for his sin and exhausting the wrath of God.
Christ Jesus, the Son in flesh was born of a virgin by the power of the holy spirit, His will, desire and purpose was divine but his flesh was Human, born sinless but bore a body that was mortal, thus he was truly human and truly divine. Truly the Son of God and truly the Son of man in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was holy not by grace but by nature, he overcame all temptations successfully, had no physical bride but is spiritually Bridegroom of the church. His purpose was to reconcile sinful man to the Holy God and thereby uniting the fallen world to God. He is the only way, the truth, the life and the only true reveal er of the unseen God.
He was condemned to death falsely by Pontius Pilate, he died on the cross and on the third day rose again and is now with God ruling with him as his co-equal in a glorious body. He is the only sacrifice for sins, outside of him there is no salvation.
On Salvation
The only way to attain true salvation is through faith in Christ alone through the Grace of God alone. Man has not in his own freewill the ability to choose Christ whoever he may be, only by the grace of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit true search for truth occurs. A man is truly saved only when he understands the true nature of his sin and its consequence and confesses and wholly believes that Jesus Christ is co-equal with God and is the sovereign master of all creation. Only in this confession is the Father truly glorified because no man has seen him or known him thus by acknowledging the true nature of his Son, his death and resurrection is he well pleased.
Priesthood of Christ
There is only one God and one mediator between God and man, the real human nature of Jesus Christ.
On the Church
There is only one true Church of Christ, men and women who truly and rightly believe in their sinful nature and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ Jesus. The church is thus spiritually connected to the risen and ascended Lord and reigns with Christ over all creation to the Glory of the Triune God. The virtue of this high estate is not by their good works but the power of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. The purpose of the Church is to fight for the visible supremacy of Christ on Earth thereby making visible the invisible sovereignty of God.
On Holiness and Good Works
A true Child of God would seek with his own quickened will by the grace of God to be confirmed to the image of Christ. Thus holiness and good works are the visible fruits of salvation.
On the Return of Christ
I believe in the bodily return of Christ to bring to light the kingdom of God, to judge the nations, to punish evil men and spirits and to reward the Church. He will then reign forever with the Church to the glory of the triune God, in his kingdom there will exist no evil or death, the law of God will be written in the hearts of all mankind. Amen
On the Bible
The Bible is truly the authoritative word of God and is written by men who were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Thus the Biblical text and context should be judged and truth should be deduced and the rest should be measured critically. Any other writings of true saints can also be regarded as authoritative but measured with the same criticism.
The Holy Sacraments
Baptism and the Lords Supper (Eucharist) are the two most important Christian Sacraments. Infants of believing parents have to be baptized because the faith of the regenerate parents by the grace given to them from God acknowledges that salvation is not of their own flesh hence the salvation of the child is in the hand of God too, so by faith they offer the child as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.
In the Lord's supper the Bread by faith becomes the body of Christ spiritually and not literally and the wine, his blood (bread and wine can differ from culture to culture). This symbolizes that eternal life is from the sacrifice of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus and he will be our living bread and water forever.
A Vision of the divine
One morning I woke up in fear and my heart pounding with dread, my soul felt something radical was about to happen on that day and my instincts drove me to 'GOOGLE' and my search was 'How does one run away from GOD' and the answer was 'You can never run away from God, go to mars he is there, travel the far reaches of galaxies his presence is ever near, go to the depths of Hades and you will find the Lord waiting for you.' I felt so helpless for it is terrible to meet the Living God for you are in risk of your infinitude revealed unto you are moreover you might die because of your sin. This led me to lock myself in my room, settle in a corner facing the room, my head between my folded knees and weep. I also tried altering my consciousness but it did not work, then the inevitable happened there was a power cut and I was all alone to myself. I then started pacing the room and then I saw the portals of time and space open, it was an invisible portal and the opening of the portal was not a descent into another universe but a vision into the 'Sovereignty of God'. It was something unimaginable I knew that the 'Great Lord, the great I AM' exposed his presence to me, I was in humble prostrate begging him to spare my life but there I found that he had no intention to destroy me he revealed that a sacrifice has already been made, flesh was crushed both the divine and human suffered so that there might be a moral union between the contingent dieing universe and the eternal God who waxes stronger with age. The mysteries that were revealed to me still hold me in awe. I saw nature prostrate and worship God, I saw that the all of nature conspired to do his will and everything belonged to him. I saw mysteries unfold in my presence I had a glimpse as Jesus said "I am the bread of life." I saw the earliest of creation, angels and spiritual creatures. It struck with with awe and worship. I saw that God was intended on the regeneration of the cosmos and that one day all of creation would be 'Christified'. This moment in time was just an early age but God can quicken our maturity if he wants to. We need a new spirituality all of mankind needs a new spirituality, we must mature in our love for God and we must die to perverse petty lusts, we must overcome evil with Good and then the end of age will come and we will be surrounded with immortality. After Jesus died on the cross and was raised up from the dead the embryo of the new creation took shape. This embryo was both divine and material, fully divine because of the incarnation and fully material because of its substance and when it is fully developed God's masterpiece would be completed, he would fully organically make something that was alien to him a part of his being. This is why I believe that the origin and purpose for man is a divine mystery and man has a mysterious connection with the divine. We need to realize this connection, empty ourselves of cheap passions and allow ourselves to be filled with the divine so that we might achieve our being for it is said that "The whole of creation groans for the children of God to be revealed." We will be revealed and God will destroy the veil of illusion that we have strengthened with our mind, will and being to hide his glory. When our eyes are opened we can proclaim that "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh Adonai and the earth is full of his glory."
Oh how mysterious are thy ways mighty God and how you rule men who are oblivious to your mighty reign and how you sway their minds with your sovereign rule, glory be to you mighty Lord for you have hid yourself away from the wise and lofty and have revealed yourself to fools making them truely wise and the wise you have made truely turned them into fools, glory be unto you O Lord for you have sent thy word to become flesh so that the mortal might become immortal and stones might be turned into the children of God. In the name of Christ my Lord I ask you this omnipotent all powerful father by the power of thy divine spirit Amen.
Oh how mysterious are thy ways mighty God and how you rule men who are oblivious to your mighty reign and how you sway their minds with your sovereign rule, glory be to you mighty Lord for you have hid yourself away from the wise and lofty and have revealed yourself to fools making them truely wise and the wise you have made truely turned them into fools, glory be unto you O Lord for you have sent thy word to become flesh so that the mortal might become immortal and stones might be turned into the children of God. In the name of Christ my Lord I ask you this omnipotent all powerful father by the power of thy divine spirit Amen.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
An idea on the incarnation
The incarnation does not me that the Human nature of Jesus served as a container of the Logos nor does it mean that the Logos was separated from the father during the incarnation nor does it mean that the Logos ceased to sustain creation but the Logos was united to Jesus Christ fully and permanently from his conception to death and resurrection.
Quote from Acts 2:22-24 " 22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
Here Peter did not preach the divinity of Christ but simply preached the perfection of a Human Being and that saved people another part in Acts says that the Christians are the followers of "The Way" which means that the man Jesus charted a path to God and following him leads to God. Peter also says that Jesus Christ was a man accredited by God but God approves of none apart from himself, this means Jesus Christ was a man not with "special privileges" but a man who pleased God and only absolute holiness can please God, this means that Jesus was absolutely holy and this can only be because he is the revelation of the Son of God in flesh, fully man and fully God.
The Trinity is complex and the persons are inseparable and dwell in spiritual bliss and harmony. Yet the son suffered on the cross not physically or even in blissful harmony but he did fully participate in the suffering of Jesus Christ. His human nature suffered physically but his divine nature suffered in a way incomprehensible to Human Beings. Jesus Christ died spiritually yet he shone with the Glory of the father this shows the inseparable union with God yet he died. His physical death is a mystery too it says he descended to hell.
What we can infer from his this is that God revealed himself completely in Human History, suffered spiritually and physically in such a way as to become a full propreciation for our sins in his own terms, satisfying his own standards of justice and righteousness. It is important to know this doctrine but it is impossible to articulate and understand it completely if we did then God would not be such a great mystery after all and man has an intellectual prowess which can challenge God and in ages to come have the power to challenge God.
God is a mystery and great are his mysteries, God is not a subject to study but a Being to be worshiped but we can be aware of his ways of old to build our faith and to fulfill our purpose and one day his children will enjoy is pleasures by all means available to us because he did give us a mind to understand and he did create us in his own image.
Quote from Acts 2:22-24 " 22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
Here Peter did not preach the divinity of Christ but simply preached the perfection of a Human Being and that saved people another part in Acts says that the Christians are the followers of "The Way" which means that the man Jesus charted a path to God and following him leads to God. Peter also says that Jesus Christ was a man accredited by God but God approves of none apart from himself, this means Jesus Christ was a man not with "special privileges" but a man who pleased God and only absolute holiness can please God, this means that Jesus was absolutely holy and this can only be because he is the revelation of the Son of God in flesh, fully man and fully God.
The Trinity is complex and the persons are inseparable and dwell in spiritual bliss and harmony. Yet the son suffered on the cross not physically or even in blissful harmony but he did fully participate in the suffering of Jesus Christ. His human nature suffered physically but his divine nature suffered in a way incomprehensible to Human Beings. Jesus Christ died spiritually yet he shone with the Glory of the father this shows the inseparable union with God yet he died. His physical death is a mystery too it says he descended to hell.
What we can infer from his this is that God revealed himself completely in Human History, suffered spiritually and physically in such a way as to become a full propreciation for our sins in his own terms, satisfying his own standards of justice and righteousness. It is important to know this doctrine but it is impossible to articulate and understand it completely if we did then God would not be such a great mystery after all and man has an intellectual prowess which can challenge God and in ages to come have the power to challenge God.
God is a mystery and great are his mysteries, God is not a subject to study but a Being to be worshiped but we can be aware of his ways of old to build our faith and to fulfill our purpose and one day his children will enjoy is pleasures by all means available to us because he did give us a mind to understand and he did create us in his own image.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Moses encounters YHWH on Mt Horeb.
Moses the Prince of Egypt was now a shepherd for forty long years, his youth was lost and he now lives a sedentary life tending sheep. He was the mighty prince of Egypt but he had to renounce his claim on the throne for the sake of justice. The people whom he protected also turned against him for reasons unknown. In this state of exile, he led a simple life looking forward to nothing but keep his family satisfied.
God on the other hand has seen the suffering of his people in slavery, the remembrance of his covenant with the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of the Hebrews is fresh in his mind. Israel was chosen by God to be his holy nation before creation. He was just in choosing Israel because they might have become a forgotten people in time and history. The Pharaoh of Egypt has ordered the killing of all the male Hebrew children and now they were slaves to a people who built their glorious civilization with the toil of people whom they will eradicate when their goals are accomplished. In this context God chooses Moses to deliver the people of Israel from the clutches of Egypt. The work of humbling Moses was already accomplished but now comes the time to reveal the eternal plan to Moses and what better way than meeting him personally.
In this chapter we find the richness of Hebrew theology, this is the encounter that inspires Moses to write the first five chapters of the Old Testament.
Firstly we notice an important character of God, he is always at the side of justice and his justice is seen when he chooses Israel, the lowest of all the people of the. Not a single cry of theirs was unheard but God chooses to shows all his glory when things look the most uncertain. God’s visible glory is manifest in the darkest of times when the justice of the oppressed might look uncertain but God unleashes his glory at the most opportune movement. Thus we can deduce that God’s time is the most appropriate and he does not ignore the innocent being persecuted.
Secondly when we look at the encounter with God we see that an Angel calls him from the burning bush. Many theologians like St Augustine, Haydock and John Calvin agree that the Angel is none other than YHWH himself. John Calvin says that since God has to diminish his glory to visit man he would be conceived to be an Angel but since the voice from the burning bush says that he is the Lord then we can assume that he is the mediator that is the Logos or the eternal Christ who speaks on behalf of God to all his Saints and Prophets. When we look at this person as the eternal pre-incarnate son we can also notice his involvement in the affairs of men, as he delivered the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he will one day deliver the world from the bondage of original sin and transgressions. When we look at the bush that burns but is not consumed, here we see an allegorical depiction of God- he burns with flaming fire eternally but is not consumed but it is his glory. The paradox here lies in the fact that everything that burns will be consumed but the living God is more fearsome than burning fire but this is not in anyway harmful for him. Moses has not beheld anything like this in his life so he turns to see what it is, but he is asked by YHWH to come in reverence, without his footwear. It is a symbol of humility in Eastern traditions, God instructs Moses to be in humble reverence to him always for him to be an instrument of YHWH. We notice here that God meets people not to help them in their own ends but gives them a call to do his will whereby making their name great.
Thirdly we can see God introducing himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This shows the personal connection he has with the ancestors of the Hebrews. This also shows the personal connection YHWH has with the patriarchs and it pleases him to be associated with them. God also pints out that he has been active in History too and his work of redeeming the Children of Israel did not begin now but began when he promised Abraham to give his descendents the land flowing with milk and honey.
Fourthly we see Moses asking God his name God introduces himself as YHWH which translates to “I am that I am”. We see that this God is different from other gods the people worshipped in those times, fertility gods, rain gods, sun gods of Egyptians but here God reveals himself to be YHWH the living God. Challoner says ” I am being itself, eternal, self-existent, independent, infinite; without beginning, end, or change; and the source of all other beings”. This shows the living God the uncaused cause and the unmoved mover. Many philosophical categories can also be associated with “I AM THAT I AM”, I AM being not only self existent but having chid (eternal and supreme consciousness), this can also be translated as God with the LOGOS in Greek New Testament terms. This name for God will continue to be the inspiration of the prophets of the Hebrew Old Testament and it is also used by Christian Theologians even today.
Thus to conclude, Moses encounter with YHWH may be debated by many schools of thought especially allegorical schools who do not believe in the literal interpretation of any portion of the scripture. Some theologians believe in the literal interpretation of scripture where it is intended to be. I conclude by saying that whatever the reason may be to believe both schools of thought, Exodus chapter 3 is an inspiration by itself to a nation of 13 million Jews and 2 billion Christians, it was this encounter that Moses had which inspired him to write the first five books of the Bible whereby laying the cornerstone to three major world religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
God on the other hand has seen the suffering of his people in slavery, the remembrance of his covenant with the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of the Hebrews is fresh in his mind. Israel was chosen by God to be his holy nation before creation. He was just in choosing Israel because they might have become a forgotten people in time and history. The Pharaoh of Egypt has ordered the killing of all the male Hebrew children and now they were slaves to a people who built their glorious civilization with the toil of people whom they will eradicate when their goals are accomplished. In this context God chooses Moses to deliver the people of Israel from the clutches of Egypt. The work of humbling Moses was already accomplished but now comes the time to reveal the eternal plan to Moses and what better way than meeting him personally.
In this chapter we find the richness of Hebrew theology, this is the encounter that inspires Moses to write the first five chapters of the Old Testament.
Firstly we notice an important character of God, he is always at the side of justice and his justice is seen when he chooses Israel, the lowest of all the people of the. Not a single cry of theirs was unheard but God chooses to shows all his glory when things look the most uncertain. God’s visible glory is manifest in the darkest of times when the justice of the oppressed might look uncertain but God unleashes his glory at the most opportune movement. Thus we can deduce that God’s time is the most appropriate and he does not ignore the innocent being persecuted.
Secondly when we look at the encounter with God we see that an Angel calls him from the burning bush. Many theologians like St Augustine, Haydock and John Calvin agree that the Angel is none other than YHWH himself. John Calvin says that since God has to diminish his glory to visit man he would be conceived to be an Angel but since the voice from the burning bush says that he is the Lord then we can assume that he is the mediator that is the Logos or the eternal Christ who speaks on behalf of God to all his Saints and Prophets. When we look at this person as the eternal pre-incarnate son we can also notice his involvement in the affairs of men, as he delivered the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he will one day deliver the world from the bondage of original sin and transgressions. When we look at the bush that burns but is not consumed, here we see an allegorical depiction of God- he burns with flaming fire eternally but is not consumed but it is his glory. The paradox here lies in the fact that everything that burns will be consumed but the living God is more fearsome than burning fire but this is not in anyway harmful for him. Moses has not beheld anything like this in his life so he turns to see what it is, but he is asked by YHWH to come in reverence, without his footwear. It is a symbol of humility in Eastern traditions, God instructs Moses to be in humble reverence to him always for him to be an instrument of YHWH. We notice here that God meets people not to help them in their own ends but gives them a call to do his will whereby making their name great.
Thirdly we can see God introducing himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This shows the personal connection he has with the ancestors of the Hebrews. This also shows the personal connection YHWH has with the patriarchs and it pleases him to be associated with them. God also pints out that he has been active in History too and his work of redeeming the Children of Israel did not begin now but began when he promised Abraham to give his descendents the land flowing with milk and honey.
Fourthly we see Moses asking God his name God introduces himself as YHWH which translates to “I am that I am”. We see that this God is different from other gods the people worshipped in those times, fertility gods, rain gods, sun gods of Egyptians but here God reveals himself to be YHWH the living God. Challoner says ” I am being itself, eternal, self-existent, independent, infinite; without beginning, end, or change; and the source of all other beings”. This shows the living God the uncaused cause and the unmoved mover. Many philosophical categories can also be associated with “I AM THAT I AM”, I AM being not only self existent but having chid (eternal and supreme consciousness), this can also be translated as God with the LOGOS in Greek New Testament terms. This name for God will continue to be the inspiration of the prophets of the Hebrew Old Testament and it is also used by Christian Theologians even today.
Thus to conclude, Moses encounter with YHWH may be debated by many schools of thought especially allegorical schools who do not believe in the literal interpretation of any portion of the scripture. Some theologians believe in the literal interpretation of scripture where it is intended to be. I conclude by saying that whatever the reason may be to believe both schools of thought, Exodus chapter 3 is an inspiration by itself to a nation of 13 million Jews and 2 billion Christians, it was this encounter that Moses had which inspired him to write the first five books of the Bible whereby laying the cornerstone to three major world religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
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