Why Does Jesus Matter?
In this fast paced 21st Century world that we all share, why do we still care about a young Jewish man who lived sometime around the beginning of the First Century CE? (common era, the new politically correct replacement for AD) Isn't Jesus rather irrelevant today?
I do not believe that Jesus will ever be irrelevant until love, joy, abundance and brotherhood are irrelevant. I hope that I do not live to see that time come. Here is what I think Jesus brings to us today.
Most of us were brought up on stories of where Jesus walked, what He did, and who His folks were. Not much about what Jesus taught was really emphasized. Jesus was annointed by God to go among the people of Judea and light a fire in the hearts of all he encountered. That fire was the revolutionary idea that might did not make right; that "an eye for an eye" no longer was a legitimate way to settle anything; that love is always the best course of action; that all of us are One in God and not really separate at all. This was heady stuff in the First Century and its still news today! From Judea, those ideas spread in somewhat corrupted form all across the Roman Empire and then around the world.
Jesus' ministry was about freedom. He came to free us from the "facts of life", the constant struggle to survive, the fear of death, the emptiness of the soul brought on by separation from the Most High God. When He told us about the lillies of the fields and the birds of the sky, he was reminding us what the source of our supply was. If God provides for the plants and animals, would He do less for his very children? He taught us that God is not in an image or statue, a tree or a rock, but is within us. God is as close as our own heart and mind. We no longer have to search for God for WE are the earthly expression of God. We do not walk alongside God, or behind God - we walk in the very shoes of God! He taught us that death is just another form of birth; just as what we call birth was the death of our previous beingness. We move from state to state of being - and each transition is a death, a birth and death again. It is all the same. Nothing to fear, nothing to dread. It is all a birth if viewed as God sees it.
Most importantly, He taught us that we are all made of the very stuff of God and that in truth, there is just One and that is God. He gave us the first glimpse of our Divinity. He gave us the first glimmer of understanding that we are all of the One. This central truth means that we may no longer judge another human because to judge anyone is to judge ourselves and, by extension, to judge God Herself.
He taught us how to unleash and to use the great power of God's Law - that as you believe, speak and do - so it is done to you. You get what you expect and will accept. Over and over, He reminded us that WE are the motive power of our life; that life does not happen to us, rather WE happen to life. He gave us the very keys to the Kingdom - the secret of life but still we struggle because we will not believe.
For the first time in recorded history, we were told that Life was simply a medium in which we operated the Law and created our life. We were no longer victims but directors and producers of our own production that we call Life! How's that for empowerment?
For the first time in recorded history, we were taught that our natural state is abundance. We were taught that we are here to live life more abundantly. No longer was poverty our proper lot in life! For the first time, we were taught that our state of being was our responsibility, not the work of fortune or Fate or some turn of the wheel.
Were we taught the whole truth by Jesus? I do not think so. I believe that He came to introduce the Truth to us; with more to follow when the next Christ arrives, which is not long in coming. Yes, there will be another Christ but not Jesus. The central error of fundamentalism, besides being unthinking and literal minded, is the confusion of Christ with the man Jesus. Jesus became the Christ - He was not born the Christ. Christhood is a state of being which Jesus attained. Another will come who will attain Christhood and will teach us another chapter of the Truth.
Why did not Jesus The Christ teach us everything when he was in flesh? We were not ready for the Truth that He did teach - we have misunderstood nearly every thing He taught. We certainly were not advanced enough spiritually to accept the truth of who we really are and why we are really here. The next Christ will unveil how the Universe really works and how we can live in harmony with it. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss this!
I do not believe that Jesus will ever be irrelevant until love, joy, abundance and brotherhood are irrelevant. I hope that I do not live to see that time come. Here is what I think Jesus brings to us today.
Most of us were brought up on stories of where Jesus walked, what He did, and who His folks were. Not much about what Jesus taught was really emphasized. Jesus was annointed by God to go among the people of Judea and light a fire in the hearts of all he encountered. That fire was the revolutionary idea that might did not make right; that "an eye for an eye" no longer was a legitimate way to settle anything; that love is always the best course of action; that all of us are One in God and not really separate at all. This was heady stuff in the First Century and its still news today! From Judea, those ideas spread in somewhat corrupted form all across the Roman Empire and then around the world.
Jesus' ministry was about freedom. He came to free us from the "facts of life", the constant struggle to survive, the fear of death, the emptiness of the soul brought on by separation from the Most High God. When He told us about the lillies of the fields and the birds of the sky, he was reminding us what the source of our supply was. If God provides for the plants and animals, would He do less for his very children? He taught us that God is not in an image or statue, a tree or a rock, but is within us. God is as close as our own heart and mind. We no longer have to search for God for WE are the earthly expression of God. We do not walk alongside God, or behind God - we walk in the very shoes of God! He taught us that death is just another form of birth; just as what we call birth was the death of our previous beingness. We move from state to state of being - and each transition is a death, a birth and death again. It is all the same. Nothing to fear, nothing to dread. It is all a birth if viewed as God sees it.
Most importantly, He taught us that we are all made of the very stuff of God and that in truth, there is just One and that is God. He gave us the first glimpse of our Divinity. He gave us the first glimmer of understanding that we are all of the One. This central truth means that we may no longer judge another human because to judge anyone is to judge ourselves and, by extension, to judge God Herself.
He taught us how to unleash and to use the great power of God's Law - that as you believe, speak and do - so it is done to you. You get what you expect and will accept. Over and over, He reminded us that WE are the motive power of our life; that life does not happen to us, rather WE happen to life. He gave us the very keys to the Kingdom - the secret of life but still we struggle because we will not believe.
For the first time in recorded history, we were told that Life was simply a medium in which we operated the Law and created our life. We were no longer victims but directors and producers of our own production that we call Life! How's that for empowerment?
For the first time in recorded history, we were taught that our natural state is abundance. We were taught that we are here to live life more abundantly. No longer was poverty our proper lot in life! For the first time, we were taught that our state of being was our responsibility, not the work of fortune or Fate or some turn of the wheel.
Were we taught the whole truth by Jesus? I do not think so. I believe that He came to introduce the Truth to us; with more to follow when the next Christ arrives, which is not long in coming. Yes, there will be another Christ but not Jesus. The central error of fundamentalism, besides being unthinking and literal minded, is the confusion of Christ with the man Jesus. Jesus became the Christ - He was not born the Christ. Christhood is a state of being which Jesus attained. Another will come who will attain Christhood and will teach us another chapter of the Truth.
Why did not Jesus The Christ teach us everything when he was in flesh? We were not ready for the Truth that He did teach - we have misunderstood nearly every thing He taught. We certainly were not advanced enough spiritually to accept the truth of who we really are and why we are really here. The next Christ will unveil how the Universe really works and how we can live in harmony with it. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss this!
posted by Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian at
2:16 PM
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