Who Are We…..Really Pt 2
This was written in 2015 after I had left the church. My thoughts have changed somewhat since then in some regards, but much of what I have written here I still believe. Regarding homosexuality and gay marriage which I touch on towards the end as it was much in the news at that time and played a key role in my departure from the Church due to their self righteous attitude and our role in condemning it and those that are in that lifestyle let us look to Jesus and His example regarding the lost. The Lord has shown me that we are not called to point out condemn others sins, but rather, to lead people to Christ who is the Word and let Him correct us where we are lost.
I also touch briefly on Eastern religion and their connection to God or the light. Of course I was taught that these religions are of the devil, but I'm pretty sure there is no light emanating from the him. Today it is my feeling that God will meet us where we are if we are truly seeking him. Hebrews 11:6
As well I never did get to the science again and today in 2021 am not sure what that science was.
I initially titled this “Ye are Gods”, but as I thought about it this week and what I wanted to add to it I realized it was really a continuation of the last piece and as such I changed the title .
I want to continue to explore who or what we really are in light of what scripture says and may get into the science as well, although the science could be a whole piece in and of itself.
Throughout the Gospels of Jesus He is accused again and again of Blasphemy for not only making Himself equal to God but claiming to actually be God. Of course in most of Christianity today we understand that it was because He was the Son of God, that he came directly from God and that ultimately He was God incarnate in the person of Jesus having come from Heaven to earth in the flesh. We understand that although there is One God, the Father, there is also God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Three distinct individual persons all equal, yet somehow, beyond our human reasoning and ability to comprehend they are One, hence the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. What I hope to continue here though, is get us thinking and maybe even questioning what we have been taught to believe about who we really are, our place in this world and in this universe and how to change our lives for the better, to be all that we were meant to be, our very purpose for being.
So let us jump in as we start in the 10th chapter of the Book of John at verse 30, where at times I’ll paraphrase as we move through this passage, although in order to set the stage I think we should probably go back a few verses to where it indicates it was the feast of dedication, Jesus was walking in the temple of the portico of Solomon and the Jews gathered around Him asking Him how long he was going to keep them in suspense, if you are the Christ then tell us plainly. Jesus explains to them, saying look I’ve already told you and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they testify of me yet, Jesus says, you don’t believe because you are not my sheep. His sheep hear His voice, follow Him and as a result He gives them eternal life, saying they shall never perish or be snatched from His hands. It is the Father, who is greater than all, that has given them to Him and that no one will be able to snatch or take them from the Father. Then Jesus make the audacious claim (v30) that, “I and the Father are one”. The result of which causes the Jews to immediately pick up stones to stone Him, whereby Jesus says I have done many works or miracles from my Father for which of these do you stone me. The Jews respond we stone you not for the works, but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, make yourself God or claim you are God.
And then I just love the way Jesus always turns it back around on the religious leaders by taking them to a passage from their own scriptures in Psalms 82:6.
John 10:34-38 Jesus answered them,
"Has it not been written in your Law, `I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'? "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'? "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."
In essence he says, “Look you want to stone me for blasphemy for declaring myself to be God when it says so in your own Book of the Law. Now once again based on how we’ve been taught to understand and interpret this we’re likely to say, yes, but that is because Jesus is the one and only unique Son of God, he is God incarnate, come in the flesh. He is One with the Father and the Father is inside Him as they are one and the same. We are not, because we are fallen, sinful lesser beings, saved or not, born again or not. But if we reason this out and take a trip over to the scripture on Psalm 82 and put it into its proper context I think we’ll discover something very few believers realize, understand or would ever dare to acknowledge publicly.
Now this is one of those times where one needs to look to the original Hebrew to realize what is being said here. Christianity claims that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and that the translation is accurate and has not been altered, but, this is one example in my own personal view where it has been changed in many of the English translations, because of the implication.
The King James Version of Psalms 82 with Strongs reads;
A PsalmH4210 of Asaph.H623 GodH430 standethH5324 in the congregationH5712 of the mighty;H410 he judgethH8199 amongH7130 the gods.H430
How longH5704 H4970 will ye judgeH8199 unjustly,H5766 and acceptH5375 the personsH6440 of the wicked?H7563 Selah.H5542
DefendH8199 the poorH1800 and fatherless:H3490 do justiceH6663 to the afflictedH6041 and needy.H7326
DeliverH6403 the poorH1800 and needy:H34 ridH5337 them out of the handH4480 H3027 of the wicked.H7563
They knowH3045 not,H3808 neitherH3808 will they understand;H995 they walk onH1980 in darkness:H2825 allH3605 the foundationsH4146 of the earthH776 are out of course.H4131
IH589 have said,H559 Ye are gods;H430 and allH3605 of youH859 are childrenH1121 of the most High.H5945
ButH403 ye shall dieH4191 like men,H120 and fallH5307 like oneH259 of the princes.H8269
Arise,H6965 O God,H430 judgeH8199 the earth:H776 forH3588 thouH859 shalt inheritH5157 allH3605 nations.H1471
Now I have purposely left the Strong’s numbers attached to each word as we will be looking at specific words and their meaning in the original language. In the first verse we see the word God with a capital G. The Hebrew word here is 'ĕlôhı̂ym pronounced el-o-heem'. What we’ll discover is that the word is defined with several different meanings depending on which dictionary you refer to and its implication. Strong’s defines the word as the Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.
The New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance; pl. of H433; God, god: - divine (1), divine being (1), exceedingly (1), God (2326), god (45), God’s (14), goddess (2), godly (1), gods (204), great (2), judges (3), mighty (2), rulers (1), shrine *(1).
And Browns-Driver-Brigg’s Hebrew Dictionary; (plural) 1a) rulers, judges,1b) divine ones, 1c) angels, 1d) gods
2) (plural intensive - singular meaning), 2a) god, goddess, 2b) godlike one, 2c) works or special possessions of God, 2d) the (true) God, 2e) God
A quick side trip to briefly point out that it is the same word found all throughout the first Chapter of Genesis in reference to God the creator. In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth, And Elohim said Light be, and Elohim said, He spoke every part of the creation into existence by His words and in v26 Elohim said let Us (plural) make man in Our (plural) image, after Our (plural) likeness. Now once again if we only look at these different passages selectively and don’t tie them together with the rest of scripture then we never get a complete picture, for if you’re like me, you’ve been told that yes it is plural because it’s referring to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But yet in verse 26 Elohim created man, in the exact same image and likeness. A duplication in kind and we were to be rulers or god’s over this planet earth, over the creation. Oh yes we were, but…..Adam messed it up.
That aside for the time being and getting back to Psalm 82 we see God, Elohim, the same God of the creation is standing in the congregation of the mighty. This is the second word I want to look at, mighty which is the Hebrew word el, and is generally defined as god, godlike, a mighty one, God, the one true God Jehovah, strength, power, but can also be used of any deity. And this God, Elohim, is judging among the gods, Elohim. It is this second word gods that you’ll discover, in some English translations, has been changed from gods to magistrates, rulers or judges. Now I have heard it said and Charles Capps has indicted that it has been taught, as in Genesis, that the gods being talked about here is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If that is the case than to which one, the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit are they referring to in verse two when they ask, “How long will you judged unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Does, the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit judged unjustly, I think not? But man as gods of the earth sure does and what God is telling us in this passage is that we are to pull up our socks and to quit judging unjustly and showing partiality to wickedness. The key point I want drive home though is Jesus’ reference to verse 6 of this Psalm in John 10 in defense to the Jews that he is God and not only Him but all of man when you read this Psalm in its entirety and context. As verse 6 states when God says, “I have said you are gods, and all of you are children of the most high.”
But then, how can it possibly be any other way when we have been created and born of God and God breathed His spirit into man and he became a living soul. Gen 2:7 The religious mind will almost certainly misunderstand what I’m saying here, that somehow we are all our own gods. That was the mistake or deception Adam and Eve made in listening to the serpent when it declared, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Gen. 3:5
When you look at this and what verse 6 of Psalms 82 says they almost look the same, but, there is a distinction. The deception of the serpent in the garden I believe was convincing man that they would become their own gods, separate from God knowing good and evil. We’re taught that prior to the fall all they knew was good and that it wasn’t until they ate of the fruit that they were able to recognize good from evil But I think we can all understand that our world is a world of polar opposites and needs to be, for how could we know what good is without experiencing evil, or hot without cold, hate without love, light without darkness, selfishness with sacrifice etc. But ultimately that is exactly what happened in the fall. Man became his own god ruled not by the Spirit of God but rather by his Ego or the god of this world. I like the way the Urban Dictionary defines Ego as it sums up humanity and us as individuals quite accurately
The part of you that defines itself as a personality, separates itself from the outside world, and considers itself (read: you) a separate entity from the rest of nature and the cosmos. Perhaps necessary for survival in some evolutionary bygone, in modern times it leads only to (albeit often disguised) misanthropic beliefs and delusion. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ego)
The message of the Bible, if taken down to its simplest form, and rightly divided (interpreted), is a brilliant piece of literature and truly does come across as supernatural work. But, it is as the writer of the first verse of the Gospel of Thomas states, "Whoever finds the correct interpretation of these sayings will never die." The correct interpretation is the key because I mean when you read the Old Testament full of its rules, regulations, killing, incest, adultery, polygamy and everything under the sun that today most of us would and do consider wicked and evil. A Testament that displays an angry, hateful, spiteful, judgmental, murderous God, one completely removed from the God of love displayed by Jesus and the New Testament where we have been set free. Let’s face it I know it is something I have struggled with through my whole 12 year journey of reading and studying the Bible. You read the Old Testament and New and wonder how this can possibly be the same God. But I see now that that God of the Old Testament is or was nothing more than a mirror image or reflection of our humanity then and where we were in our growth as conscious beings at that time, yet, in spite of all that and if able to see past all that there is a message within the pages, a story of redemption, restoration, love and compassion, a story of man becoming who we were meant to be. I think we understand though through the archeological records that for the most part it was a dog eat dog world back then, survival of the fittest. We certainly didn’t have the knowledge, wisdom, understanding and technology that we have today about how our universe works and operates, about the nature of our reality. Yet in all the ugliness and junk there are hidden treasures, deep wisdom and life principals laid out, that tell us how we can live a prosperous, healthy, whole life and operate in this world. The message of the Bible as I understand it is that however we came to be in this Universe and on this planet, whether through creation, intelligent design, evolution or some combination of these the Bible says we came knowing we were One with the creation, the Universe and the Creator. But that through a deception of a serpent (our ego) that is referred to as Satan, the devil, a fallen angel, that at one time was also One with God, decided he wanted to be his own god and rule his own world and nations. Isaiah 14 speaks of this one called Lucifer. Isaiah 14:13-14. A thief that according to Jesus at the beginning of John 10 comes only to kill, steal and destroy. Satan in my opinion is really as allusion to or a reflection of humanity as represented by the self-centered ego. A lost humanity separated from the Creator, wanting to be its own creator, its own ruler, its own god, the results of which history shows has left a sordid legacy of death, destruction and bondage. So as the story goes God had a problem on His hands, how does He restore things back to the original creation and to Himself. When one is able to see beyond the literal interpretation of many of the Old Testament stories and understand the foreshadowing that is taking place, the stories of Cain & Abel, Noah and the Ark, Abraham and the sacrifice of his son, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, King David and ALL the stories with their deeper meanings one will discover that the whole Old Testament points to Christ. That gets further laid out in the Gospels through the teaching of Jesus and the teachings of Paul and the other Apostles in the New Testament. Ultimately the Bible shows a story of a species that is evolving in its consciousness, its humanity, knowledge and understanding of itself, its planet and universe. Very slowly over eons and centuries growing as Paul explains in Ephesians 4:13-16
And then our immaturity will end! And we will not be easily shaken by trouble, nor led astray by novel teachings or by the false doctrines of deceivers[c] who teach clever lies. 15 But instead we will remain strong and always sincere in our love as we express the truth. All our direction and ministries will flow from Christ and lead us deeper into him, the anointed Head of his body, the church.
For his “body” has been formed in his image and is closely joined together and constantly connected as one. And every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all; and as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we are built up and made perfect in love." _ The Passion Translation
Footnotes;
[a] The Greek literally means “until we have the full knowledge of the Son of God.”
[b] The Hebrew and Aramaic word for “perfect” is gamar, and the word implies that perfection cannot come to the body of Christ without the example and teaching of these five ministries—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. To ignore these five ministry gifts of the ascended Christ for today is to despise the gifts that God has given to the church.
[c] The Greek literally means, "dice-playing gamblers
The above verses in essence are talking about a species growing up into maturity or awakening to who they really are using the analogy of a body. A body has many parts but it has been designed to work in unity and harmony. When one part rebels or becomes defective or breaks down it impacts the whole body. Now some, especially lately and in light of the recent ruling on Gay marriage, will cherry pick the bit that says speaking the truth in love combine it with some other scripture such as homosexuality, so as to condemn a person or their lifestyle and then declare they are just speaking the truth in love. Give me a break, this attitude is hardly displaying at attitude of Christ and I have already covered this subject.
The word unity here in the Greek means Oneness, oneness in the faith, moral conviction or truth and the knowledge of what it means to be a true son or daughter of God. Maturing to fullness of Christ likeness, not to be children any longer, that are tossed about and deceived with false teachings and the doctrines of men Jesus came more than two thousand years ago to teach us what it means to be human. A life of love, compassion, sacrifice, unity, He showed us the deception and bondage that religion wrought. He showed us using natural examples how things work in the spiritual realm, how we are the creators of own world and reality by our thoughts, beliefs and emotions. But as in Jesus’ day men took his message and made a religion out of it, to keep humanity enslaved and ignorant. And isn’t that really what the devil/Satan is all about, keeping us ignorant, enslaved, beat down and in bondage.
As I said further up there are probably more people practicing Eastern forms of meditation or other like forms where one empties himself of self, experiencing God than many Christians.
Jesus used an analogy of a narrow and wide gate in Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
As I stated in part one, I can’t count the times throughout history and even in my own lifetime the number of preachers, teachers and religious organizations proclaiming the return of Christ when the Bible so clearly states in Hebrews 10:12-13 that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool. Why would Jesus ever come back to a sick, defeated, separated, self-righteous and dysfunctional body when he expects a glorified body? And that aside if one where to look at this more as a metaphor rather than taken literally one might suggest that the return of Christ and heaven to earth will arrive when man puts himself underfoot, that is his self-centered ego, this notion or illusion that we are somehow separate from each other and from oneness with Christ or God and our universe is just that, an illusion, deception. We are a species that still divides, conquers, pushes our own agenda’s and doctrines and what some nations like to call democracy through continual wars, we feed on the weak and marginalized in society where the rich continue to get richer and the poor poorer. Greed, hatred, racism, ignorance, self-centeredness, still reign supreme and in fact, I would argue, seem to be increasing. The 20th century was the bloodiest, ugliest century in our history as a species.
This new millennium is not starting out much better as the US continues to try and shove its neo con views down the world’s throat, portraying nations such as Russia and China as the enemy while displaying complete ignorance to their own sins. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism).
It is my belief that the return of Christ will not be Jesus the man of the Bible, but Christ as that of humanity coming to full maturity, becoming fully awakened in our consciousness to what it truly means to be human. Who are we…..really? We are gods but not above God, rather One with God, One with Christ, One with the Spirit, it's just that the vast, vast majority of us haven’t awaken to that truth yet. If God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent and His Spirit infuses all of creation and we reside inside that creation than how can we possibly be separate from God aside from our lack of knowledge.
As God prophesied through Hosea 4:6,
“My people are destroyed, from a lack of knowledge.”
In my next piece I will explore just exactly what I have come to discover about what righteousness and sin are according to the Bible.
Love in Christ, Rob.
Love in Christ, Rob.
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