I heard a couple of good quotes that you might like:
Religion is trying to be something you already are
Religion is trying to establish a relationship outside yourself with something you consider important.
What you do you think about that? Can you identify with those concepts? Seems everywhere I turn I run into people who are trying to become something or trying to establish something as a “Christian.” The crazy thing is Jesus came to do everything and make us NEW. He came to eliminate our sin problem, bring us back into relationship with our Abba and reveal our true identity that God had planned from the beginning.
Eh 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (ESV)
Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life. Could it be that He accomplished everything in His life, death and resurrection and we have been hoodwinked into believing something different? Could it be that the deceiver, the liar has been lying to us since the very beginning? Could it be that the devil loves to challenge our identity just like he did with Eve in the garden? You know he suggested that Eve wasn’t already like God? That was a huge lie since Eve was in Jesus before she was in the flesh just like the rest of us. So I want to suggest that there is a “seeing” problem not a “being” problem. Check out what Paul said in this same passage:
Eph 1:16 But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! (The Message)
That is pretty powerful.
Jesus called Himself the light.
Jn 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “ I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (ESVST)
Let me suggest for a moment that Jesus isn’t talking about “good and evil” but “revelation and deception.” Want to take a short ride in revelation? Here we go.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (ESVST)
Wow! I could stop right there. God is so good that He reveals to our heart the knowledge of His manifest goodness in the manifestation of His goodness…JESUS! That is really good. But what about this passage?
Jn 3:19-21 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (ESVST)
Want to do some Greek? This is fun. (Well it is for me.)
Evil – ponērós (an adjective which is also used substantively, derived from 4192 /pónos, “pain, laborious trouble“) – properly, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil.
does – prássō – properly, the active process in performing (accomplishing) a deed, and implying what is done as a regular practice – i.e. a routine or habit (cf. R. Trench).
wicked – phaulos: worthless
exposed – elégxō – properly, to convince with solid, compelling evidence, especially to expose (prove wrong, connect).
true – alḗtheia (from 227 /alēthḗs, “true to fact”) – properly, truth (true to fact), reality. [In ancient Greek culture, 225 (alḗtheia) was synonymous for “reality” as the opposite of illusion, i.e. fact.]
light – phaneróō (from 5457 /phṓs, “light”) – properly, illumine, make manifest (visible); (figuratively) make plain, in open view; to become apparent (“graspable”). 5319 /phaneróō (“become manifest”) in 1 Jn 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that if He becomes manifest (5319 /phaneróō), we will be like Him, because (hoti) we will see Him just as (Gk kathōs) He is.”
And the last one is the best…Darkness. It comes from a Greek word meaning shadow and it is used here:
Col 2:16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (ESV)
So here is a paraphrase of the John passage (very very loose):
And this is what God sees in mankind…revelation came but people loved deception because of all their toil and effort in their “reality.” They didn’t want their futility to be exposed so they preferred “staying in the darkness,” living in the shadow instead of turning to see Jesus. But whoever lives in the reality of the Kingdom is revealed as from God. (LLT)
2000 years ago Jesus finished it all. We are all in Christ. The whole world is in Christ. Check this out:
Heb 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (ESV)
Col 2:9 For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]. 10 And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]. (AMP)
Even if you haven’t “said a sinners prayer” or “been baptized in water” or “made a confession of His name” you are IN HIM. Sorry for if that offends someone but it doesn’t make it less true. The “darkness” doesn’t want you to know this. The “darkness” wants to rob you of your joy. The great deception is Jesus didn’t get the job done and worse than that we are supposed to get it done for Him. Woah Nellie. I’m so glad Jesus brought the light.
“So are you saying everyone is saved?”
I don’t see that question like I used to. As stated it is misleading and full of assumptions. We have all been reconciled to God and are in Christ and are like Jesus and are filled with the fullness of God like Jesus and are His children like Jesus and can operate on this Earth as a Child of God like Jesus and have all the authority on this Earth like Jesus….so if that is being saved….Yes we all are. If the definition of being saved is “going to Heaven” then yes we will all go to Heaven but some will reject God even there and it will be Hell for them. The more disappointing issue is there are so many Christians who are not being “saved” right now. They are still living under the deception of the darkness instead of embracing the light. They are still “wrestling with a sin nature” that Jesus paid the price to kill and bury and destroy and eliminate and eradicate. People are still blaming God and trying to be better people when Jesus already made us Holy and perfect in His love. Come on. Of course not everyone is “saved” (sozo, living in wholeness and freedom). If they were then this would be a much happier place, wouldn’t it?
Don’t get all worked up. It is a 2000 year old problem:
John 3:5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. (The Message)
I am so blown away that Jesus did it all. I am so amazed that God did all He did and didn’t even ask my permission. Isn’t that awesome? I am so happy that Jesus killed me on the cross and brought me back as a NEW kind of creation so I am no longer just human. I could go on and on but that is the nature of walking in the LIGHT. It is a beautiful thing to “see” again.
Yay God!
Lance
alancetotheheart 