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When it comes to God, we've all been a little stupid...
2. Who am I?
Who are we in relation to God?
The bible frequently refers to God as the Rock. This makes perfect sense when you think of the qualities of rock. It symbolizes strength, security, and unwavering purpose. Rock purifies water that runs over or through it. It makes an excellent foundation to build upon, and a strong shelter to take refuge in. Metals of all types, used in nearly every area of our life, come from rock. It can be fashioned into a weapon to hunt for food, and can be used to defend yourself. Rocks were made into the first tools. Great energy/power comes in rocks under the ground - coal for fires, and even nuclear energy. Here are a few of the many verses in the bible that refer to God as our Rock...
"He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
-Deut 32:4
"Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee."
-Deut 32:18
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God."
-1 Sam 2:2
"For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?"
-2 Sam 22:32
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
-Psalm 18:2
Given this information, who does the Bible say that we are? The following verse makes it very clear who we are:
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: Look unto the Rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." - Isaiah 51:1
This astonishing proclamation clarifies once and for all who we are, and from whence we come. We are of the God Almighty. We are hewn from His Rock. If there were a cosmic DNA test, our DNA and God's would be a perfect match! Jesus emphasized this fact during his Sermon on the Mount, when he gave us the Lord's prayer, which begins with Our Father… Jesus made it clear that we are the children of God. Many of us have heard that since childhood, but have failed to realize the true significance of this fact. We are made of the same stuff that God is. If God is divine, then we must be divine as well. I'm sure I will get in trouble for saying that, but if you missed that point, you missed the whole point. If you do not recognize your own divinity, then you cannot acknowledge your God-given power, which of course makes you powerless and weak. Our true relation to God is proclaimed among the first words in the Bible...
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." - Genesis 1:27
The following verses also emphasize our relationship to God:
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. - 1 John 3:1
And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)--if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him - Romans 8:17
So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God - Galatians 4:7
Let me be clear about the point I am making here. I am saying that we are related to God in the same manner as Jesus; the Bible is clear about that. I am not in any way diminishing Jesus' role as the Messiah and Savior. Jesus did say that the "only way to the Father is through me." I do not dispute that in the least. In fact, I believe that the claims in this book align perfectly with what Jesus taught. While I'll not argue the point in this text, I will challenge the reader to consider the entirety of the book alongside the context of what they know about the Bible, and then apply the the test that the bible gives to identify false prophets: "..by their fruits you will know them." What type of fruit has your current understanding of God brought forth in your life? Has it been Grand and undeniable? Is your life a beacon to others proclaiming Gods infinite Power and Love? What sort of fruit are you reaping, and if it isn't grand - why not?
Why is the Fatherhood of God important?
di·vine1
di?v?n/
adjective
1. 1.
of, from, or like God or a god.
"heroes with divine powers"
synonyms: godly, angelic, seraphic, saintly, beatific; More
o
2. 2.
informaldated
excellent; delightful.
"that succulent clementine tasted divine"
noun
1. 1.
dated
a cleric or theologian.
synonyms: theologian, clergyman, clergywoman, member of the clergy,churchman, churchwoman, cleric, minister, man/woman of the cloth,preacher, priest; More
2. 2.
providence or God.
Once we have accepted that we are directly related to God, we must then consider the ramifications. It means that we are Divine. It means that we share the same aspects of God, just the same as we share the same genetic information and traits of or earthly parents (we were created in His image). Emmet Fox best described this by comparing it to a fire in the forest. To paraphrase, consider God a fire burning in the forest. A spark from that fire floats up and away from the fire from which it was born. It lands a ways away in a pile of leaves and creates a new fire, apart from the original fire. The new fire has exactly the same traits and properties as the original, but is also separate. It can be considered both the original fire and a separate fire. In the same sense we are spark of the Divine. We can be considered both an individual out picturing of the original God, and separate because of our free will. In either scenario, we possess the traits of the original Fire, which is God.
Lets consider some of Gods traits. He's the Creator; he yields great power. What is Gods power? How can you describe His awesome an infinite power adequately in a single book? As matter of fact, it can be described in a single word... Will. Gods power is His Will. Whatever He wills, is. His Power is infinite, there is no limit to it. This is a good place to remember the rules of power:
1. Its only Potential Power if there is no action associated with it.
2. In order for power to transmit, or become force, it requires at least two points... In this case "God to Not God, Light to Darkness, etc.
So how does God transmit His Power? Thought. When God wills something, he first thinks it, and then speaks it onto being... "let there be light... and there was light, and God saw that it was good." All thought its creative. God created heaven and earth by thinking them into being.
The word "let" is also extremely important here. God did not make heaven and earth, he let them exist. There was no force involved. He did not take something, add something to it, manipulate them, and apply some sort of external force to cause heaven and earth happen. (Like adding ingredients to a cake and whipping them into a batter to baked.) He let them happen. This is the pinnacle of creation at its purist - absolute something from absolute nothing. This is an important factor in your own creative thought, as we will learn a little later.
3. God is eternal... There its no beginning and end of God. He is not subject to the laws of time and space.
Now, how does that apply to us. If we were created in His image, we must possess the same traits. If that is so, do we possess His power? Yes. Gods power is His Will, and he gave us Self Will. We are able to think, and therefore "apply" that Will to whatever we choose. That's why it's called "free will." Our will has to be free because God's will is free, and we are like Him. No one tells God what to think into existence (Create), and in that respect, no one tells us what to think into existence - not even God himself. We are entirely free to think what we want, and therefore create the terms of our existence. Everything that exists in our individual consciousness, was directly created by the sum of thoughts we chose to think. Everything you experience, where you live, the home you live in, its furnishings, how much money you have, what you do for a living, and even the people who surround you, are all originally created in your mind. You did not create the people in your life, but you did create the conditions that allow them to be there. I know that sounds a little outside the box, but it is entirely true. Understanding that fact will allow you to consciously use your God-given power in the manner that God intended, and commune more closely with Him. It will bring about the enduring happiness and soul satisfaction that so many of us long for but never achieve. It will reveal your Divine Purpose - your reason for Being. You will cease to want for anything because God's power will supply everything you need. You will in fact experience Heaven in this life.
Who are we in relation to each other?
" For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
The Bible refers to the "Body of Christ", and asserts that we are all part of it; that each of us are important in God's eyes, and we each have a responsibility to fulfill our personal divine purpose, or destiny. We are responsible to purify ourselves so that God may dwell in us, and work through us to fulfill His Great Purpose. We are commanded to help create Disciples, and work together for His Glory. We are told not complain about our lot in life, because we cannot know God's Divine reason for us. We are to strive to surmount our difficulties and increase in understanding and spiritual power, so that God might use us for His Purpose - His Glory (which is ultimate victory over evil).
Stated another way:
Each one of us is a "cell" in the "Body of Christ" (God), with a particular purpose in the function and health of that body. The only perspective that we can see is our own. We see others as separate from us, and find it very difficult to see "life" from their perspective, or the impact that each of our sphere's of influence have on each other, and eternity. We cannot see how our life purpose interconnects with theirs to form a common purpose. We are under an illusion that others see the world as we do, and often base our opinions and beliefs on that incorrect understanding. To illustrate this, imagine yourself at a party with 99 other people. Each of you can agree that you were at the same party, and would probably agree on what happened at the party in general. But no two of you had the same experience at the party. The DJ understands what it is like to perform and entertain at the party, while the others do not have that experience. The Hostess knows what it took to prepare and decorate, who to invite, and what kind of mess needed to be cleaned up the next day. If it was a particularly rowdy party, then the guy who drank too much won't remember much of the party, but will remember what its like to wake up with a hangover in jail. The police will know what the party looked like from the outside. The neighbors will have their own perspective as well. They all experienced the same event together as one, but each held a different purpose and understanding of the same experience.
To get just a small glimpse of God's Grand Perspective, let's look at the same people at the party under a few more layers of perspective:
The DJ:
" He's 27 years old
" He has black hair, that's starting to thin, and Grey. He is self conscious of it, and tries to hide the grey and thinning areas
" He's really tired of DJ-ing parties, but he never could get a good band together. He really loves music, and being a DJ at least keeps him around music.
" There's this one girl at the party who is drunk, and just wont leave him alone. But he's the DJ, and he cant get away from her. He just smiles and hopes she'll pass out soon.
" His equipment puts off a lot of heat, so he is hot and uncomfortable most of the night
" The money is hardly worth it, but his rent is due.
" Going deeper, he brings with him every memory of every experience he has ever had.
" He needs glasses, but he's too cool for them. He doesn't see the same colors everyone else does, but is unaware of that.
" He saw the drunk guy fall into the glass table and cut his head.
" He cant stop thinking about the girl who spoke to him so long at the last event, and is mad at himself for not getting her number.
" He wears size 13 shoes..... and on, and on ad infinitum.
Each of these variables in his life experience are unique him, and his experience of the party. The hostess cannot know what it is like to be a man at the party, let alone what it is like to be a DJ that isn't really thrilled about being here. The DJ cannot know what it means to be a woman hosting the party, or what has happened in her past that may affect how she sees her surroundings. Neither of them drank anything at the party, so they have no idea about the experience of the guy in jail. They do not know what the outside of the house looked like from the police car, or what the loud stereo sounded like through the neighbors walls. No one at the party saw it from family dog's perspective, or the owl flying overhead around 9:37pm. Nor do they comprehend what it is like to be a blade of grass in the lawn, a board in the wall, dust in the air, or the glass table that met its end that night. There are an unknowable number of perspectives of just that one event. What was happening at a small farm house near Beijing China that night at that time... who lives there, and what their experience that night. Who died that night around the world, how did they die, and who will miss them? What about the the astronauts manning the International Space Station... where they aware of the party as they flew over? What about the capsule that just entered Saturn's rings for the first time, what was that like? What does our solar system look like from another one? What did the universe look like from God's perspective... What did the people at the party look like from God's perspective that night, being that he knew EVERYTHING there was to know about EVERYTHING at that moment... even the fact that a "moment" is a man-made measurement of time that does not apply to Him. He lives in eternity, and is aware of everything in it. It will hurt your mind trying to understand the utter vastness of it all - you cannot know. But God does.
Now bring that back to your life today, and try to imagine how many different perspectives there are of it. We are usually only aware of ourselves. We occasionally catch glimpses of what it may be like to be someone else through empathy, but usually, all we ever see is world as it relates to us, and the impact it has on us personally. We are aware of our own strengths and weaknesses, and live our lives according to our own minuscule perspective. Our idea of a successful, useful life is usually limited to acquiring stuff, surrounding ourselves with people that make us happy, raising strong, intelligent, healthy children, and being able to retire at 65 to do whatever makes us happy until we die. Some of us think of others enough to leave our stuff to them when we pass on. Some of us, feeling that there may be something larger than us out there, find a suitable religion and try to follow its rules so we can retire in heaven with God in the end. Heaven will mean perfect joy, and our hearts desires for eternity (or 72 virgins, etc., depending on the path followed and the goal desired). The long and the short of it is: we try to be good long enough to be rewarded by our God for our good behavior and therefore feel good forever. That sounds kind of petty when you think of it that way doesn't it? Does it really make sense that God Almighty, Creator of All, Knower of All, aware of every cell, in every body, that ever was, and will ever be; aware of the past, present and future; aware of the vastness, and contents of time and space - and His entire goal and purpose is to let you set at the "Big Table" with him if only you behave and eat all of your peas? Really?
Consider this: We are each but a single cell in the entire "Body of Christ", or more simply - GOD. Just as a heart cell has a particular purpose, but it is not aware of the brain cell and its purpose. To the heart cell, there is no brain cell, even though that brain cell may be the one cell that directs the function of that very same heart cell. Both are equally important in the proper function of the Being in which they each are combined to form, as well as to each other - but they are both unaware of that. They are only self-aware. They both have an unknowable number of brothers and sisters who make up that same body, each with an important, meaningful purpose. When each of the cells in the body fulfill their purpose, the body as a whole is healthy and well. The body experiences peace and harmony. The reward for the cells that make up the body is the very fact that they exist! That they are privileged to be a functioning part of the greater purpose - what glorifies one, glorifies all. That's the Big picture.
What is Sin?
Sin is "Not God". It is any thought/understanding that repels God. Hate & Love cannot be in the same place. Since God is Love, hate and anger repel Him. Since we are "of God", or more simply Divine, we obtain our energy, strength and guidance from God. When we allow "Not God" thought, understanding, or action into our consciousness, (Sin), it necessarily repels God, which robs us of the very thing we require to live and flourish - conscious contact with God. We become spiritually sick.
When a cell does not perform its purposed function, it becomes sick. A single cell functioning incorrectly, can cause the the cells around it to malfunction, and the body becomes sick. If the sickness is not addressed, then the entire body is in danger of dying. That's how evil functions. It makes you sick and unable to perform your divine function/purpose. When a single cell gets sick, it can cause others around it to become infected as well - this is a spiritual disease that can threaten the entire body if not addressed. To allow Not God (Evil) thought in for even a moment repels God like opposite poles on a magnet from your consciousness, which robs you of His essential Guidance and Power. Without guidance on how to function toward your divine purpose, you malfunction. If you continue to allow Not God to run the show, your spiritual sickness becomes a cancer destined to spread spiritual disease and even physical death to those surrounding you and beyond. The entire body is threatened.
NEXT: Why Am I?
Who are we in relation to God?
The bible frequently refers to God as the Rock. This makes perfect sense when you think of the qualities of rock. It symbolizes strength, security, and unwavering purpose. Rock purifies water that runs over or through it. It makes an excellent foundation to build upon, and a strong shelter to take refuge in. Metals of all types, used in nearly every area of our life, come from rock. It can be fashioned into a weapon to hunt for food, and can be used to defend yourself. Rocks were made into the first tools. Great energy/power comes in rocks under the ground - coal for fires, and even nuclear energy. Here are a few of the many verses in the bible that refer to God as our Rock...
"He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
-Deut 32:4
"Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee."
-Deut 32:18
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God."
-1 Sam 2:2
"For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?"
-2 Sam 22:32
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
-Psalm 18:2
Given this information, who does the Bible say that we are? The following verse makes it very clear who we are:
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: Look unto the Rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." - Isaiah 51:1
This astonishing proclamation clarifies once and for all who we are, and from whence we come. We are of the God Almighty. We are hewn from His Rock. If there were a cosmic DNA test, our DNA and God's would be a perfect match! Jesus emphasized this fact during his Sermon on the Mount, when he gave us the Lord's prayer, which begins with Our Father… Jesus made it clear that we are the children of God. Many of us have heard that since childhood, but have failed to realize the true significance of this fact. We are made of the same stuff that God is. If God is divine, then we must be divine as well. I'm sure I will get in trouble for saying that, but if you missed that point, you missed the whole point. If you do not recognize your own divinity, then you cannot acknowledge your God-given power, which of course makes you powerless and weak. Our true relation to God is proclaimed among the first words in the Bible...
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." - Genesis 1:27
The following verses also emphasize our relationship to God:
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. - 1 John 3:1
And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)--if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him - Romans 8:17
So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God - Galatians 4:7
Let me be clear about the point I am making here. I am saying that we are related to God in the same manner as Jesus; the Bible is clear about that. I am not in any way diminishing Jesus' role as the Messiah and Savior. Jesus did say that the "only way to the Father is through me." I do not dispute that in the least. In fact, I believe that the claims in this book align perfectly with what Jesus taught. While I'll not argue the point in this text, I will challenge the reader to consider the entirety of the book alongside the context of what they know about the Bible, and then apply the the test that the bible gives to identify false prophets: "..by their fruits you will know them." What type of fruit has your current understanding of God brought forth in your life? Has it been Grand and undeniable? Is your life a beacon to others proclaiming Gods infinite Power and Love? What sort of fruit are you reaping, and if it isn't grand - why not?
Why is the Fatherhood of God important?
di·vine1
di?v?n/
adjective
1. 1.
of, from, or like God or a god.
"heroes with divine powers"
synonyms: godly, angelic, seraphic, saintly, beatific; More
o
2. 2.
informaldated
excellent; delightful.
"that succulent clementine tasted divine"
noun
1. 1.
dated
a cleric or theologian.
synonyms: theologian, clergyman, clergywoman, member of the clergy,churchman, churchwoman, cleric, minister, man/woman of the cloth,preacher, priest; More
2. 2.
providence or God.
Once we have accepted that we are directly related to God, we must then consider the ramifications. It means that we are Divine. It means that we share the same aspects of God, just the same as we share the same genetic information and traits of or earthly parents (we were created in His image). Emmet Fox best described this by comparing it to a fire in the forest. To paraphrase, consider God a fire burning in the forest. A spark from that fire floats up and away from the fire from which it was born. It lands a ways away in a pile of leaves and creates a new fire, apart from the original fire. The new fire has exactly the same traits and properties as the original, but is also separate. It can be considered both the original fire and a separate fire. In the same sense we are spark of the Divine. We can be considered both an individual out picturing of the original God, and separate because of our free will. In either scenario, we possess the traits of the original Fire, which is God.
Lets consider some of Gods traits. He's the Creator; he yields great power. What is Gods power? How can you describe His awesome an infinite power adequately in a single book? As matter of fact, it can be described in a single word... Will. Gods power is His Will. Whatever He wills, is. His Power is infinite, there is no limit to it. This is a good place to remember the rules of power:
1. Its only Potential Power if there is no action associated with it.
2. In order for power to transmit, or become force, it requires at least two points... In this case "God to Not God, Light to Darkness, etc.
So how does God transmit His Power? Thought. When God wills something, he first thinks it, and then speaks it onto being... "let there be light... and there was light, and God saw that it was good." All thought its creative. God created heaven and earth by thinking them into being.
The word "let" is also extremely important here. God did not make heaven and earth, he let them exist. There was no force involved. He did not take something, add something to it, manipulate them, and apply some sort of external force to cause heaven and earth happen. (Like adding ingredients to a cake and whipping them into a batter to baked.) He let them happen. This is the pinnacle of creation at its purist - absolute something from absolute nothing. This is an important factor in your own creative thought, as we will learn a little later.
3. God is eternal... There its no beginning and end of God. He is not subject to the laws of time and space.
Now, how does that apply to us. If we were created in His image, we must possess the same traits. If that is so, do we possess His power? Yes. Gods power is His Will, and he gave us Self Will. We are able to think, and therefore "apply" that Will to whatever we choose. That's why it's called "free will." Our will has to be free because God's will is free, and we are like Him. No one tells God what to think into existence (Create), and in that respect, no one tells us what to think into existence - not even God himself. We are entirely free to think what we want, and therefore create the terms of our existence. Everything that exists in our individual consciousness, was directly created by the sum of thoughts we chose to think. Everything you experience, where you live, the home you live in, its furnishings, how much money you have, what you do for a living, and even the people who surround you, are all originally created in your mind. You did not create the people in your life, but you did create the conditions that allow them to be there. I know that sounds a little outside the box, but it is entirely true. Understanding that fact will allow you to consciously use your God-given power in the manner that God intended, and commune more closely with Him. It will bring about the enduring happiness and soul satisfaction that so many of us long for but never achieve. It will reveal your Divine Purpose - your reason for Being. You will cease to want for anything because God's power will supply everything you need. You will in fact experience Heaven in this life.
Who are we in relation to each other?
" For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
The Bible refers to the "Body of Christ", and asserts that we are all part of it; that each of us are important in God's eyes, and we each have a responsibility to fulfill our personal divine purpose, or destiny. We are responsible to purify ourselves so that God may dwell in us, and work through us to fulfill His Great Purpose. We are commanded to help create Disciples, and work together for His Glory. We are told not complain about our lot in life, because we cannot know God's Divine reason for us. We are to strive to surmount our difficulties and increase in understanding and spiritual power, so that God might use us for His Purpose - His Glory (which is ultimate victory over evil).
Stated another way:
Each one of us is a "cell" in the "Body of Christ" (God), with a particular purpose in the function and health of that body. The only perspective that we can see is our own. We see others as separate from us, and find it very difficult to see "life" from their perspective, or the impact that each of our sphere's of influence have on each other, and eternity. We cannot see how our life purpose interconnects with theirs to form a common purpose. We are under an illusion that others see the world as we do, and often base our opinions and beliefs on that incorrect understanding. To illustrate this, imagine yourself at a party with 99 other people. Each of you can agree that you were at the same party, and would probably agree on what happened at the party in general. But no two of you had the same experience at the party. The DJ understands what it is like to perform and entertain at the party, while the others do not have that experience. The Hostess knows what it took to prepare and decorate, who to invite, and what kind of mess needed to be cleaned up the next day. If it was a particularly rowdy party, then the guy who drank too much won't remember much of the party, but will remember what its like to wake up with a hangover in jail. The police will know what the party looked like from the outside. The neighbors will have their own perspective as well. They all experienced the same event together as one, but each held a different purpose and understanding of the same experience.
To get just a small glimpse of God's Grand Perspective, let's look at the same people at the party under a few more layers of perspective:
The DJ:
" He's 27 years old
" He has black hair, that's starting to thin, and Grey. He is self conscious of it, and tries to hide the grey and thinning areas
" He's really tired of DJ-ing parties, but he never could get a good band together. He really loves music, and being a DJ at least keeps him around music.
" There's this one girl at the party who is drunk, and just wont leave him alone. But he's the DJ, and he cant get away from her. He just smiles and hopes she'll pass out soon.
" His equipment puts off a lot of heat, so he is hot and uncomfortable most of the night
" The money is hardly worth it, but his rent is due.
" Going deeper, he brings with him every memory of every experience he has ever had.
" He needs glasses, but he's too cool for them. He doesn't see the same colors everyone else does, but is unaware of that.
" He saw the drunk guy fall into the glass table and cut his head.
" He cant stop thinking about the girl who spoke to him so long at the last event, and is mad at himself for not getting her number.
" He wears size 13 shoes..... and on, and on ad infinitum.
Each of these variables in his life experience are unique him, and his experience of the party. The hostess cannot know what it is like to be a man at the party, let alone what it is like to be a DJ that isn't really thrilled about being here. The DJ cannot know what it means to be a woman hosting the party, or what has happened in her past that may affect how she sees her surroundings. Neither of them drank anything at the party, so they have no idea about the experience of the guy in jail. They do not know what the outside of the house looked like from the police car, or what the loud stereo sounded like through the neighbors walls. No one at the party saw it from family dog's perspective, or the owl flying overhead around 9:37pm. Nor do they comprehend what it is like to be a blade of grass in the lawn, a board in the wall, dust in the air, or the glass table that met its end that night. There are an unknowable number of perspectives of just that one event. What was happening at a small farm house near Beijing China that night at that time... who lives there, and what their experience that night. Who died that night around the world, how did they die, and who will miss them? What about the the astronauts manning the International Space Station... where they aware of the party as they flew over? What about the capsule that just entered Saturn's rings for the first time, what was that like? What does our solar system look like from another one? What did the universe look like from God's perspective... What did the people at the party look like from God's perspective that night, being that he knew EVERYTHING there was to know about EVERYTHING at that moment... even the fact that a "moment" is a man-made measurement of time that does not apply to Him. He lives in eternity, and is aware of everything in it. It will hurt your mind trying to understand the utter vastness of it all - you cannot know. But God does.
Now bring that back to your life today, and try to imagine how many different perspectives there are of it. We are usually only aware of ourselves. We occasionally catch glimpses of what it may be like to be someone else through empathy, but usually, all we ever see is world as it relates to us, and the impact it has on us personally. We are aware of our own strengths and weaknesses, and live our lives according to our own minuscule perspective. Our idea of a successful, useful life is usually limited to acquiring stuff, surrounding ourselves with people that make us happy, raising strong, intelligent, healthy children, and being able to retire at 65 to do whatever makes us happy until we die. Some of us think of others enough to leave our stuff to them when we pass on. Some of us, feeling that there may be something larger than us out there, find a suitable religion and try to follow its rules so we can retire in heaven with God in the end. Heaven will mean perfect joy, and our hearts desires for eternity (or 72 virgins, etc., depending on the path followed and the goal desired). The long and the short of it is: we try to be good long enough to be rewarded by our God for our good behavior and therefore feel good forever. That sounds kind of petty when you think of it that way doesn't it? Does it really make sense that God Almighty, Creator of All, Knower of All, aware of every cell, in every body, that ever was, and will ever be; aware of the past, present and future; aware of the vastness, and contents of time and space - and His entire goal and purpose is to let you set at the "Big Table" with him if only you behave and eat all of your peas? Really?
Consider this: We are each but a single cell in the entire "Body of Christ", or more simply - GOD. Just as a heart cell has a particular purpose, but it is not aware of the brain cell and its purpose. To the heart cell, there is no brain cell, even though that brain cell may be the one cell that directs the function of that very same heart cell. Both are equally important in the proper function of the Being in which they each are combined to form, as well as to each other - but they are both unaware of that. They are only self-aware. They both have an unknowable number of brothers and sisters who make up that same body, each with an important, meaningful purpose. When each of the cells in the body fulfill their purpose, the body as a whole is healthy and well. The body experiences peace and harmony. The reward for the cells that make up the body is the very fact that they exist! That they are privileged to be a functioning part of the greater purpose - what glorifies one, glorifies all. That's the Big picture.
What is Sin?
Sin is "Not God". It is any thought/understanding that repels God. Hate & Love cannot be in the same place. Since God is Love, hate and anger repel Him. Since we are "of God", or more simply Divine, we obtain our energy, strength and guidance from God. When we allow "Not God" thought, understanding, or action into our consciousness, (Sin), it necessarily repels God, which robs us of the very thing we require to live and flourish - conscious contact with God. We become spiritually sick.
When a cell does not perform its purposed function, it becomes sick. A single cell functioning incorrectly, can cause the the cells around it to malfunction, and the body becomes sick. If the sickness is not addressed, then the entire body is in danger of dying. That's how evil functions. It makes you sick and unable to perform your divine function/purpose. When a single cell gets sick, it can cause others around it to become infected as well - this is a spiritual disease that can threaten the entire body if not addressed. To allow Not God (Evil) thought in for even a moment repels God like opposite poles on a magnet from your consciousness, which robs you of His essential Guidance and Power. Without guidance on how to function toward your divine purpose, you malfunction. If you continue to allow Not God to run the show, your spiritual sickness becomes a cancer destined to spread spiritual disease and even physical death to those surrounding you and beyond. The entire body is threatened.
NEXT: Why Am I?