The year to start things- and to end things

I want to recap the last two posts because they are a part of a journey that both starts and ends here. In the first post (click here) I consider the effects of eating from the Tree of Life versus the Tree of Knowledge. After many hours pondering the path I chose to know God, I realized that I chose knowledge. In choosing knowledge, here is what my conversations with God were like.

"Dear God,
Please forgive me again for the sin(s) i have committed. Please teach me how to overcome this desire so I can be worthy of your love. Amen."

This was all from a place of knowing that Christ died for my sins, but not understanding what that actually meant for me. I was missing a key ingredient and that was life. It would be easy to mistake life as being alive, but that can be so different than the life that Christ wants for us, that is, His life. When we choose His life our conversations with him become a bit different.

"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your grace over my life that allows me to do the things I cannot do on my own. Your love for me surpasses all understanding and there is nothing in this world or the next that could ever separate that from me. Amen."

We have a choice to create our own life and destiny, or we can partake in the divine life and destiny that has been laid out for us since before time, hidden deep within the Father himself.

The second post (click here) I take a leap into the dark side to propose that sin does not exist. I cleverly defined sin under the context of the old law and don't really go into any detail about a new law. The reason I did this was I wanted to provoke you to really understand what law we are now under. Jeremiah puts it beautifully here: ""The time is coming" declares the Lord, "When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV84)

The law is not something that can be listed on a piece of paper, for that paper was burned at the death of Christ. Instead, the law has been written on our minds and our hearts, that way we may know our God. And under this new law, he will remember our sins no more. So do I believe you can sin? Yes. I believe you can violate your own heart. But since God will remember them no longer, we would be doing ourselves a favor if we forgot them too.

Like my example about division, I propose that this year, 2013, we throw away everything we have known and learned about Church, Jesus and community. Toss it in the trash and let it die. As you let what these ideals have become, in your own mind, die, I urge you to relearn what these truly are. No longer from the perspective that I AM a sinner, but from the perspective of I WAS a sinner. There are two sides of the cross, one - before resurrection and two - after resurrection. Side one views God's judgement as yet to come or incomplete and side two views God's judgement as complete, where we have been completely justified and our sins are remembered no more. Once you decide to view Christ, yourself and your community (Church) on the second side, the latter side, the proper side of the cross, you choose to partake in resurrection life. Any and all ideals you allow to die and be resurrected, you will be able to experience in a completely brand new way.

This is the year that I choose to end everything that needs to end, let die everything that must die and begin to live as one who has been completely resurrected and restored. No more will I dabble in the ideals of poverty and disparity, but will choose abundance and prosperity that go far beyond my earthly circumstance. No more will I teeter on the fence of faith because there is no grey area and there is no fence to ride, just that which is either dead or alive. No deed or piece of gold will hold me down, for my treasures lie in Christ and Christ is sitting on the other side of death. So let us not carry death any longer, let us hold on to resurrection life, for that is what Christ has bought for me.




Food for thought:
You have a lover waiting at your door. Are you going to wait until your bruises and scars have healed or will you open the door to say you are ready?

Life vs. Knowledge

What do you think this world would look like if Eve had brought Adam fruit from the Tree of Life instead of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Why do we value knowledge so much when that was the forbidden fruit in the garden? It begs the question, does it even matter to God what is right or wrong?

These are questions I mostly ask myself- but would love if others started asking these as well. It puts a new twist on what we view as right or good because I think all the father sees is that which brings life. All others are just death. Not all good things bring life as Paul mentions, everything is permissible but not all is profitable. So what really are the dividing lines? It certainly shouldn't be what we view as right or wrong because that is completely subjective- therefore not a valid argument. Should it be what God views as right or wrong? Yes and no. All that God sees is what is in his son- anything else is as far removed from him as the east is from the west. There is no gray area, no middle ground and no fence to ride. Just that what is and is not of Christ.

'I don't drink because I am a Christian.' 'I don't watch Harry Potter because I am a Christian.' 'I don't do [insert here] because I am a Christian.' Countless things we will take a stand against for the sake of being a Christian when in reality those things are just a result of our understanding of good and evil. No one would argue that you should do anything that will harm yourself- so don't read me wrong here. But what is it that God wants us to take a stand for? Is it to protect the law? Or is it to embrace life? On a daily basis what would you say you do most- weigh the pros and cons of a decision or simply choose Christ?

I know these are rather rhetorical- but start thinking! Paul urges us to continually renew our minds so that we can know the will of God and attest that it is good. When we step away from the boundaries of the law that is the only time we can truly see Christ in all his glory and attest that God's will is perfect and good. And lets not get on the bandwagon of what God's personal will is for our lives ok- for your own sake just please read John 6:40- he has one ultimate, governing will- that we would believe in his son and have eternal life. God's will for my life is not separate from the will for humanity. I am a part of this magical and mysterious secret made known to creation through Christ. Isn't it amazing?!

So- if I continue to eat of the Tree of Knowledge where will it lead me? I will become and expert on what is ethical, right, moral, good, pure and noble. But if I eat of the Tree of Life what shall become of me? I shall see resurrection, redemption, justice, salvation, love, hope, peace and don't forget, eternity. This is no contest. I choose to eat of life and I could care less on what you or I think is good or evil. There is no such thing when you are in Christ.

Until next time, enjoy the sweet and savory flavor of life being birthed in you each moment- Christ died to bring life! Not more knowledge, so get with it!