Does God Have Form?

While reading through the gospel of John, I came across John 5:37, which I've probably read hundreds of times. I was prodded to stop, and think about it more deeply. The scripture reads as follows: "And the Father who sent Me, He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form" (John 5:37 NASB). Well, God is Spirit (John 4:34), and doesn't have form. Or does he? 

In the Old Testament, we read that Moses saw the back of God (Ex. 33:20-23), and Jacob encountered and wrestled with God (Gen. 32:24-30). Jacob struggled with God, and saw him face to face. "Face to face" is a metaphor. It's a better, deeper, and more authentic relationship. Moses, and Jacob had a revelation of what was to come in Jesus. They saw shadows that point us to Christ; when God would come to us in Jesus - Emmanuel, God with us. As John the Baptist said, "No human eye has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom - He has made him known (John 1:18 WEY). Brad Jersak tells us that "Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and the exact likeness of God's nature."¹ God is invisible, except that he is revealed in Jesus (Col. 1:15). As I like to say, the only true God is revealed in Jesus Christ. There is no other God, but the God revealed in Jesus. Yes, God is triune, but Jesus is the only revelation of God. We can't find God. God has chosen to reveal himself in Jesus.² 

When Philip asked Jesus to show them (the disciples) the Father, Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father" (John 14:7-9). When Jesus told his contemporaries that he was one with the Father (John 10:30), they picked up stones to stone him. Most of the people of Jesus' day rejected Jesus; who is the "face to face' encounter with God. We do too, when we replace the God of love revealed in Christ with a more "holy" God, an angry God, and a God of vengeance. The true God is revealed and encountered "face to face" only in Christ. He is the [true] image of the invisible God.  

Watch my latest video on You Tube: 

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1. Brad Jersak, "Of Heretics, Kings & Foxes," CWR Magazine, October 2021.

2. John Crowder often talks about this in his "Inner Sanctum" webcasts, https://www.thenewmystics.tv/.

Redeem the Time

Redeeming the time is living in the Reality of God. As his divine children we live, move, and exist in him (Acts 17:28-29). God stands outside of time and space. Time and space is God's creation. Yes, we exist inside of God's created world because we are part of his creation. But the greater Reality is that we live, move, and exist in him. In him we too stand outside of time and space - we are seated with him in the heavenly realm (Eph. 2:5-6). This is the great Reality. I know I talk, and write about the great Reality all the time, but it is very important that we understand what this means. Redeeming the time helps us to focus on the great Reality of who God is, and what it means for his children. Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, and whether we act like his children or not, we are his children. So the gospel is awakening to this Reality - knowing who God is, and living in that Reality as his divine children. 

If all that matters is faith expressed through love (Gal. 5:6), then redeeming the time is making a conscious effort to meditate, and think about Jesus living his live of love within us. Redeeming the time is living in the love of Christ Jesus. He is our life, and by faith he lives his life of love in and through us.  

All That Matters

According to the Apostle Paul, all that matters is faith expressed through love (Gal. 5:16 Berean Study Bible). If our faith is genuine, it must lead to love. For after all, it's Christ's faith in us, and we know that God is love (1 John 4:16). We know that Jesus entered this world to give us life (John 10:10). He willingly gave his life so that we can share in the life of God. I've heard Dr. Steve McVey call it the exchange life. In other words, Jesus exchanged his life for our life, and in so doing, he took on our sufferings, grieving, pain, and death. Jesus taught his disciples to lay down their lives for others (John 15:13). In essence, Jesus continues to live his life in his followers - those who are living in the greater Reality of the new world pioneered by Jesus. This new world is based on the cruciform love of God. Cruciform means cross-shaped, and the cross symbolizes the greatest expression of God's love. Everything that God has ever done, and will do, as he works in and through his followers, is based on cruciform love.   

Now we might think that our faith should lead to mighty works, or miracles. However, there is no work that is a good work, unless it is a work of love. The fruit of our faith is love, and always will be love. There is no exception. True faith - is the faith of Christ, and his faith is always performing acts of love because love is the life of God. God has called us to awaken to the new creation Reality, and to live out our faith. Faith is more than a belief system. Faith is the life of God, and his life is love. So as the Apostle Paul proclaims, I proclaim to you, "All that matters is faith expressed through love!

Watch my latest video, "All That Matters." 

To Be Absent From the Body is to Be Present with the Lord - 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord…

If we try to squeeze what the apostle Paul was saying into our religious paradigm, we will automatically think that Paul is saying that when we die we leave our sinful human body behind and our spirit goes to heaven to be with the Lord.

But that’s not what Paul was saying. The Apostle Paul was not a Gnostic. This is the same Paul that said: to whom God willed to make known what is riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory (Col. 1:27 NASB 1995). Here again:   I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20 KJV). 

It is obvious that Paul didn’t have a Gnostic mindset. He didn’t believe that the human body is evil. He didn’t believe that the physical realm is evil. He didn’t have a dualistic mindset. He didn’t believe that the physical world is separate from the spiritual world. But this is the paradigm on which many believers base their faith.  

Paul is saying that at the resurrection of the dead our body will be changed from mortal to immortal, and we will experience the full manifestation of the glory of God. God’s glory will be made fully manifested to us, while at the present time, while living in this tent, it is hidden (Col 3:3-4). 

In this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven (the resurrected body) (2 Cor. 5:2 NASB see the notes for vs 2 in NASB). 

While we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord [from the fullness of the glory of God – because we live in the tent or the temporary dwelling and not in the house – the immortal glorified body] (2 Cor. 5:6 NASB with my clarification). Obviously, Paul can't be talking about absent in the sense of our oneness. Go back and reread Col. 1:27, and Gal. 2:20.

For we walk by faith not by sight [believing that the gift of life will be fully manifested in us even though at the moment we don’t see it. Because we are still in this tent or the physical mortal body]  (2 Cor 5:7). 

But we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body [having already been changed from mortal to immortal and living in the glorious new body - God being fully manifested in us.] and to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8 NASB).  

Even though the abundant life is a present reality, it will be fully manifested when we go through our metamorphosis - when we are changed from mortal to immortal. “I have come that they might have life, and life more abundantly” (John 10:10). 

The time will come when we experience the fullness of life in our immortal, imperishable, body. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).  

Watch the video on You Tube: 

Love Never Fails

Light of the world shine on me, love is the answer. Shine on us all, set us free, love is the answer.¹ 

I do believe love is "the" answer. For the Apostle Paul tells us that love never fails (1 Cor. 13:8 NIV). Now think about that for a moment. Love.... never.....fails!  That means in every situation where there is a disagreement between neighbors, or between nations; love is "the" answer. God in Christ Jesus showed us what that love looks like.  Jesus is love personified.  He said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13 ASV). Then he proceeded to do just that. He laid down his life not only for his close friends, but for his enemies as well. Jesus' followers are known by this love (John 13:35). This love is not just a cure for the world's problems. This love is a way of life.  

For God himself is love. God has always existed in other-centered love.  Love is the truth of our being. It's who we are in Christ. We are his divine children (Acts 17:28-29 AMP). The apostle John writes, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7). John tells us that love is the identifying trademark of those who live in this reality.  

We were created in love, and because of love. God became man in Christ Jesus because of love. He lived his life for us, and as us, because of love. He went to the cross because of love. He rose from the dead because of love. He is seated in the heavenly realm because of love. He sent the Holy Spirit because of love. He shares his life with us because of love. He will come again, and his kingdom will have no end, because of love. 

But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13 NASB).

Watch my video, "Love Never Fails."

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1. Todd Rundgren and his band Utopia, "Love One Another" (music video, REDUX, Live at the Gotanda Kani Hoken Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1992), posted July 6, 2011, accessed April 3, 2021,  https://youtu.be/uSOaLugmdSY. 

The Result of A Non Inclusive Mindset

The result of a non-inclusive mindset is division. We see it in religion, politics, and the world. The tribal mindset is a result of a non-inclusive mentality. Jesus has come that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly (John 10:10). This abundant life that Jesus speaks of is the life of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's a life of other-centered-love; and other-centered-love, is inclusive love.

Christendom is guilty of this non-inclusive mindset. In Christendom, bad theology is prevalent. The bad theology that results from a non-inclusive mindset includes these two religious ideas: "I do it with God's help."  "I do my part, and God does his part." These are bad ideas, that lead to a non-inclusive mindset, and division. 

Let's look at the first phrase, "I do it with God's help." The "I do it" part, involves things that one must do to add to what  God has accomplished in Christ Jesus. This mentality comes from not understanding what the incarnation means. Many believe that after they do whatever it is they must do, then they are included; and since their inclusion is based on what they do, they can easily become excluded if they fail to do whatever it is they're told they must do perfectly enough. Different tribes say there are different things you must do if you want to be included, and stay included. This concept says that God wasn't God enough to do what he did - finish the job. It also denies that the incarnation is the union of God and man in one person. It denies that Jesus isn't really God in the flesh. Jesus is only an example that one must follow. It's Gnosticism, which says the holy God can never be united to man! So man must strive to reach the elusive God who continues to live in heaven; at a very great distance from human beings. 

Now let's examine the second phrase, "I do my part, and God does his part." This religious idea says that salvation is a fifty-fifty deal. God made a deal that you can "get to heaven" if you fulfill your part of the bargain. This is another bad idea. Again, Christendom determines what your part of the bargain is, and every denomination has different ideas. Again, this mentality denies what God completed in the incarnation, and atonement (at-one-ment). Salvation isn't a deal, it's a free gift (Rom. 6:23).

So what does inclusion really mean? We are included in the life of the Trinity, by what God has done in Jesus, the Christ. Jesus is the God-man. He is perfect theology. He is God's yes to man, and man's yes to God. Jesus is Reality! He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6 KJV¹). "For in him we live and move and exist." We are his children (Acts 17:28-29). There is no Reality outside of this. Everything that is real, is based on this Reality! As God's divine children, we're called to live in this reality. "This is eternal life," Jesus said, "that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Only in your own mind can you live outside of Reality, because God's love for us is greater than our denial or ignorance of him. God has included you and me because he is other-centered-love; that's who he is. He's made himself one of us, and he will never change his mind. 

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1. Scripture references are in NASB, except where noted. 

This Is Eternal Life - Part 3

Not knowing the true God of John 17:3, and not knowing Jesus leads to a murderous spirit. Notice what Jesus said, "...the hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or me (John 16:2-3). 

Sometime later, Stephen was murdered. Stephen saw heaven opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). This so upset the religious paradigms of their day, that the Jews, drove him out of the city, and stoned him to death. Saul had consented to his murder (Acts 7:58). 

Saul obtained approval from the religious elite to continue persecuting the church. He was on his way to Damascus with the mission of arresting believers in Jesus, and bringing them back to Jerusalem to have them put in prison, and or killed. Along the way, he saw a light from heaven, and heard someone say, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4). Saul replied, "Who are you Lord?" (Acts 9:5). He responded, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5). Saul did not know the God revealed in Jesus; distinct from Jesus; and at one with Jesus; the true God of John 17:3. Saul was blind for three days, and during that time, he neither ate nor drank. He had a great awakening, and became the Apostle Paul. He was sent by the risen, and ascended Lord, to the Gentiles, Kings, and the sons of Israel (Acts 9:15). 

The Apostle Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the true God of John 17:3 to the men of Athens. He said to them, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, "To An Unknown God." Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you (Acts 17:22-23). The true God revealed in Jesus, distinct from Jesus, and at one with Jesus, was unknown to these people. Paul wanted them to know this God, that they may experience eternal life. Paul goes on to proclaim, "for in him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are his children.' Being then the children of God..." (Acts 17:28-29). Paul tells these people who did not know the only true God, that they lived and moved and existed in him. He then called on these people to have an awakening. To wake up to the reality of what is already true. We live move and exist in God. We are his children. Even though they did not yet know the only true God, he did not exclude them from being God's children. He called upon them to wake up.

God is the lover of humanity. He is the lover of the human race. We are his children. We are made in his image, after the God-kind. Human beings are made after the God-kind. We are being wooed by the lover of the human race, the Holy Spirit, the "other member" of the trinity, so that we would experience eternal life in him. The apostle John writes, "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us, God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). "For God so loved the world [the entire human race] that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17). 

The prophet Jeremiah foretells about the awakening that was to come. He tells us, "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jer. 31:34). They will all know the true God of John 17:3. So they will all experience eternal life!

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the Jeremiah's prophecy. He tells us, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. "And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more" (Heb. 8:10-12).

The Great Awakening is happening before our very eyes. Like the apostle Paul experienced on the road to Damascus, the scales are falling from our eyes. We have been anointed to see again, and to know...

"This is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3).


 

This Is Eternal Life - Part 2

At the Last Supper, before Jesus was crucified, he was gathered with the twelve disciples. Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him. After he had dipped the morsel, and gave it to Judas, Satan entered Judas. Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly" (John 13:27).  After Judas departed, Jesus told the eleven disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me (John 14:6). There it is again, life. Jesus is life. Remember John 17:3, "This is eternal life." Jesus is real life. The bread of life (John 6:35). The resurrection, and the life (John 11:25). There's no substitute. He is the reality of everlasting life. Jesus is speaking about both, quality of life, and never-ending, everlasting life. Jesus goes on to say, "If you would have known me you would have known my Father also; from now on you know him and have seen him" (John 14:7). Philip confused by what Jesus said replies, "Lord show us the Father and it is sufficient for us" (John 14:8 NKJV).

In the last post we learned that the sheep know Jesus, and Jesus knows his sheep. The Father and Jesus are one (John 10:30).  The Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father (John 10:38). So where was Philip when Jesus spoke these words? Jesus responds, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father, how can you say show us the Father" (John 14:9). Knowing Jesus is knowing the Father. Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. The Father is revealed in Jesus. Jesus reveals the Father in his person, and in his work. Jesus continues, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me (John 14:11).

Here we see that the eleven disciples also know Jesus, and Jesus said that they know the Father, and have seen him. Remember this is before Pentecost, and before Peter denies Jesus three times; and before the other disciples abandon Jesus. The eleven disciples know Jesus, and the Father. They have seen Jesus, and the Father. According to what Jesus told us in John 17:3, they have eternal life.

The disciples, Peter, James, and John, have a closer relationship to Jesus than the remaining eight. Jesus had  brought the three up into a mountain (Mat. 17:1-9). While they were there they saw a vision of Jesus in his resurrected body. His face shone like the sun, and his garments were as white as light. He appeared with Elijah, and Moses. Peter wanted to build tabernacles for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. Evidently, Peter saw Jesus as an equal to these prophets. Then they heard the Father's voice from heaven declare, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him! (Mat. 17:5). Peter, James, and John had fallen to the ground because they were terrified. When they looked up, they saw only Jesus. Moses, represents the Law, and Elijah the prophets. All the Law, and prophets point to Jesus, and are fulfilled in Jesus. Essentially, the Law and the Prophets tell us what Jesus and the Father tell us. Hear Jesus!

Before Jesus was crucified, he took his disciples with him to the Garden of Gethsemane. He went further on to pray, taking with him his closer friends, Peter, James, and John. Jesus was deeply distressed, and in this difficult time before he was betrayed, and arrested, he sought comfort. But all three of his disciples fell asleep while Jesus was praying (Mark 14:32-42).

John, the beloved disciple had a unique bond with Jesus. After Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him, it was John who leaned on Jesus' chest to ask Jesus who it was that he was referring to. Then, before Jesus died, he gave John the responsibility to care for Mary, Jesus' mother (John 19:25-27).

Mary of Bethany appears to be the only one that understood that Jesus was about to be murdered. Mary was the sister of Martha, and Lazarus. It was Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead. Before Jesus was betrayed, and crucified, Mary anointed Jesus' feet with expensive oil, and then wiped his feet with her hair, preparing Jesus for his burial (John 12:1-8).

Mary the mother of Jesus, did not know a man, but by the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Savior of the world; God incarnate. Jesus was born not from her knowing a man, but from the intimate relationship that she shared with the Holy Spirit. In giving birth to Christ, the whole creation has been made new.  So it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy, the second man is from heaven (1 Cor. 15:45-47 ). 

Mary Magdalene was the first person that witnessed the resurrected Jesus. She came to the tomb early Sunday morning, and found that the stone that was at the entrance of the tomb, had been rolled away. When she entered the tomb. She saw two angels, one at the head, and one at the feet. She was weeping because she thought that someone had taken the body of Jesus. Instead she met the risen Lord. Jesus sent her to the brethren with this announcement: "I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and my God, and your God." So Mary went and proclaimed, "I have seen the Lord" (John 20:11-18).

Jesus has revealed some of the mysteries of God. Knowing the true God of John 17:3, is understanding these mysteries. In some mystical way:

                   1) Jesus and the Father are distinct from one another.
                   2) Jesus and the Father are at one.
                   3) Jesus and the Father mutually indwell one another.
                   4) Jesus is the perfect revelation of God the Father; revealing the Father in his person, and in his work.

The final post is next.

This Is Eternal Life

When Jesus came down from heaven, and became a man, he turned religious paradigms upside down. Praying to the Father before he was crucified, he said, "This is eternal life that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3¹ my emphasis²). Jesus was sent by the Father. But why? "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 NKJV). The life that Jesus was sent to share with us, is the life of God. According to Jesus, knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, is eternal life. 

So we need to clarify two things. What does it mean to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, and secondly, who is this true God that Jesus refers to? 

Let's look at those who know the only true God, and then we can decipher what "know" means. 

In the parable of the Good Shepherd, Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; (John 10:14-15). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his own, and his own know him. The Father knows Jesus, and Jesus knows the Father. We have a parallel relationship between Jesus, and those who know him, and Jesus and the Father. Jesus is distinct from the Father. Jesus goes on to say, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). Again, Jesus knows the sheep. In addition, the sheep follow Jesus. So knowing is more than a mind thing. Knowing is responding to Jesus. So we can conclude that the sheep know the true God of John 17:3, because eternal life is knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ. 

The Jews are already confused, and frustrated with Jesus, and his teachings, when Jesus turns all their paradigms upside down by telling them, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It's then that the Jews pick up stones to stone Jesus. They consider it blasphemy, that Jesus, being a man also makes himself out to be God (John 10:33).  So Jesus is distinct from the Father, but also one with the Father. So far this is what we know about the true God of John 17:3. Jesus goes on to say, "the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38). Again the Jews were offended by what Jesus said, and  tried to capture him, but he eluded them. So Jesus and the Father mutually indwell one anther. Jesus and the Father are distinct from one another; at one with one another, and also mutually indwell one another. This is what we know thus far about the true God of John 17:3. 

In the next post I'll pick up where we left off. 

¹All scripture references are New American Standard Bible, (NASB), except where noted. 

² Bold print is my emphasis throughout.

The Death of Religion

The death of religion is good news for all! It was religion that killed Jesus. But God raised Jesus from the dead, and put an end to religion, and death. 

God took ancient Israel into the Promised Land despite their resistance. They refused to enter God's rest. Israel wanted to continue to labor and so does religion today. God has given us the good news of Jesus the Christ. Israel would have rather returned to Egypt (symbolic of religion ) and labor. They would have rather lived in bondage - in slavery. They died in the wilderness because they refused to rest.

God gave Israel the Sabbath. It was a shadow of what was to come in Christ. The lesson from the sabbath was rest. Israel was to rest in the provision of God. The days of their laboring, toiling, and being enslaved were over! They were to enter the Promised Land - a land flowing with milk and honey; a type of rest, or salvation, pointing us to Jesus and his finished work. Realizing that it is finished means that we can rest assured of our salvation because Jesus himself is our salvation, and "he ain't going no wheres."

He "sat down" (Heb. 1:3¹). He has "taken his seat" (Heb. 8:1). He "sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12). [Jesus] "has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).

He's not "restless," he's "resting." Sitting is a metaphor for Jesus finishing the job (Heb.4:3,10). Even in unbelief we participate in his life, because his grace is much more than our resistance. Jesus is the meat, the solid food of the gospel. He is what the good news is all about.

Jesus has "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26). "He having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time" Heb. 10:12). "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Heb. 10:18). "I will remember their sins no more" (Heb. 8:12). "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10).  "For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).

We are truly free! Praise God! However, our freedom was costly; it cost Jesus his life, and it cost us our life (2 Cor. 5:14-15). That's right, we died together with Christ (Col. 3:3). But the good news is, we've been raised as new creations in Christ. Now here it comes. Are you ready? We're also seated with him in the heavenly realm (Eph.2:5-6). We along with Christ are resting from our toil and labor (Mat. 11:28-30). We are called to fix our eyes on Jesus. Even though the full manifestation of our glory isn't yet visible, the apostle Paul tells us, "When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory" (Col. 3:4).

Religion died when God became man, and lived and died for us, and as us. We enter his rest when we trust in him, and what he has already accomplished. We deny him when we continue to labor, and toil for what he has given us by his grace, and kindness. God has raised us up with him, and now we are called to live in this reality.

Religion is dead because man's attempt to understand God apart from the revelation in Christ Jesus, is dead!

Religion is dead because man's attempt to to see himself apart from the revelation we have in Christ Jesus, is dead!

Religion is dead because man's attempt to draw closer to God apart from the oneness given to us in Christ Jesus, is dead!

Religion is dead because man's attempt to enter the heavenly realm apart from what Christ has already accomplished for us and as us, is dead!

Religion is dead because man's attempt to see and live in Reality apart from the revelation of the new creation  Reality in Christ Jesus, is dead!

Thank God religion is dead. But the good news of Jesus lives and has no end.



¹All scripture references are New American Standard Bible (NASB).

Free, Free, Free

The apostle Paul tells us, "It was for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Gal. 5:1). Are we free to sin? Absolutely not! How can we who died sin any longer? (Rom. 6:1-11). The body of sin, the old man in Adam, has been (past tense), crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). The good news, or the gospel, is that we have been raised up with or in Christ, not after we figured it out, but while we were still sinners - still dead in our sins.

even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ [two early manuscripts have in Christ not with Christ] (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Eph. 2:5-6 NASB).

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses (Col. 2:13 ESV).

God didn't wait for you to say the sinners prayer!  God didn't wait for you to say the Hail Mary prayer! God didn't wait for you to have a born again experience!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8 NIV). 

Sin no longer has any claim on us! We are free, free, free, hallelujah, amen! We have been freed from the body of sin, and therefore we are free from sin. However, we are not free to sin. How can we who died sin any longer? 

Oh sure, but you have to believe!

Did your believing have anything to do with Christ being born? Did your believing have anything to do with Christ going to the cross? Did your believing have anything to do with Christ being raised from the dead? We believe what has already happened. We believe what God has already done in Christ Jesus. We believe that what he has done, he has done for everyone.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV).  

We are dead to sin, but alive in Christ Jesus! Therefore we live, and move, and exist in him (Acts 17:28-29). Our life, and our identity is in Christ Jesus who has been raised from the dead and is seated in the heavenly realm. The heavenly realm is the reality of the new creation that exists in Christ. We have been called to live in that reality. There is no other reality. What we see around us, in this world, is a facade, and will disappear when Christ returns to make reality visible.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3:10-13 KJV).

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now (Rom. 8:19-22 NASB). 

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2 NASB).

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col.3:4 NASB).

The good news is we are (no one is excluded) new creations in Christ Jesus. It's already done! It's already finished, because God in Christ finished it for us, and as us! We have been raised up not to die in our sins again, but raised up to victory - a brand new life in Christ! This is reality! Now we are called to live in this new creation reality, and to forsake the facade of this world which is quickly fading away, and will soon be no more!

The New Reformation

In case you are missing it, the "New Reformation" is underway. At the forefront of this reformation, the church is moving from a self-centric focus, sin-centric focus,  and prophet-centric focus, to a Christo-centric focus. 

Those who believe in taking the self-centric focus, and sin-centric focus, often say that Jesus came to help us live the Christian life, and we follow him. That is, we ask, "What would Jesus do?" and then we try, with God's help to do the same thing. The problem with this approach is that it places all, or most of the emphasis on self, sin, and Old Covenant teachings, instead of on Christ, and what he has accomplished for us, and as us.¹

Experiential Reality or Experiential Lie

There are two lies that the devil has propagated. The first lie, is that we must work to get sin out of our lives, and to become holy. It's the lie that was told from the beginning. The lie that says you need to partake of certain knowledge, and embark on a journey to become like God. But this is a false paradigm. The reality is that from the beginning God created us in his image, and in his likeness.²  

The gospel is the good news of Jesus. It isn't a path to a successful life. We are deceived into thinking that similar to achieving the American dream, our own efforts, combined with God's help, will allow us to achieve salvation. So under the old paradigm, believers incorporate the same philosophy that they have about achieving the American dream into the gospel. They believe that it's mostly about being smart, working hard, and being diligent. They say the more diligent we are in praying, studying, attending church services, etc., the more successful we will be at becoming like God. But that's a lie. Nothing we do can make us become like God. Nothing we do can make us holy. God alone has made us in his image, and in his likeness. God alone makes us holy. Jesus came to remind us of who we already  are in him, to give us abundant life, and to bring us back into relationship with the Father, through the Spirit.³

The second lie is believing that since God alone makes us holy, we can live outside of the truth as a dead man and not live as the resurrected son or daughter that God has made us to be. We are deceiving ourselves or just neglecting our salvation. We are called to live in the reality of who we are as the sons and daughters of the Living God,⁴ not as captives held in bondage by the father of lies.⁵      

Those who believe in the New Reformation, are Christ followers, who by the grace of God, have come to acknowledge that Christ is the only one who can live the Christ life⁶, and it's Jesus who lives his life within us.⁷ They believe that it's Christ who has saved us in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Spirit.⁸ That when he said, "It is finished," he actually meant it. The difference between a believer, and a non-believer, is that the believer believes it, and makes a conscious decision to yield to Christ, and the unbeliever has not yet had his eyes opened to the "Way, the Truth, and the Life." 

Those who believe in the New Reformation, are Christo-centric, or Christ-centered. They believe that we are all children of God. There's no way of being "in him," without being in Christ. For being "in him," means being in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.⁹ Those who go off into a far country are still sons and daughters. The prodigal was living outside of his true self as a son. He didn't lose his identity when he lived outside of it. He may have been lost, and living as a dead man, but in reality, just like you and I, he was always a child of his loving Father.¹º 

Watch my latest You Tube video, "Reality, Can You Handle the Truth?"

¹ Those who believe in the New Reformation take a highly Christocentric view of the gospel. They believe that Jesus is our life, and they place more weight on him, the resurrected, last Adam, than on the dead, first Adam.  

²Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good  (Gen 1:26 first part-27, 31 first part NASB).

³The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 10:10; 17:3 KJV).

⁴The Psalmist wrote:  I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High (Ps.82:6). When Jesus quoted the Psalmist he knew that his listeners would be familiar with the entire Psalm, so he quoted only the beginning of it, and said, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? (John 10:34 NASB). The Apostle Paul wrote: For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Rom. 8:14 NASB). The Apostle John wrote: See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:1-2, 10 NASB). The devil is a created being, a fallen angel, and in reality isn't the father of anyone. What the Apostle John meant, is that although everyone is a child of God, some knowingly, or unknowingly, live in captivity, in the lies of the devil. Thus they are living as though they were his children, and not in the reality of who they really are. 

⁵Jesus speaking to the Jews who rejected him, and his teachings: You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44 NASB).


⁶When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:4 NASB).

⁷I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20 KJV).

⁸who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (2 Tim 1:9-10 NASB).

⁹The Apostle Paul preaching to the idol worshiping Athenians said, for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  Being then the children of God…(Acts 17:28-29 NASB).

¹ºBut when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:17-24 NASB).

Inside Jesus' Relationships

Jesus' relationship with the large crowds that followed him

Jesus hung around the large crowds that followed him. Jesus had compassion for them, fed them, healed their sick, and taught them.¹

Jesus' relationship with the twelve apostles

Jesus gathered with the twelve apostles in a secluded place to rest (Mark 6:30-32). Jesus ate his last meal and ushered in the New Covenant with the twelve apostles (Mat. 26:20, 26-30; Mark 14:12, 17, 22-26; ). Jesus remained with the twelve until he was taken by a large crowd that was sent by the chief priests, and elders (Mat. 26:36, 45-47).

Jesus' more intimate relationship with Peter, James, and John

Jesus had a closer relationship with Peter, James, and John than he did with the other apostles. He took them up with him to a mountain, and they saw Jesus transfigured; they saw the vision; and heard the voice out of the clouds (Mat. 17:1-9). He took Peter, James, and John with him to pray before being turned over to the chief priest and elders (Mat. 26:36-39; Mark 14:32-42).

Jesus' closest friend, the Apostle John

Of Jesus' apostles, and contemporaries, John had the most intimate relationship with Jesus. It was John who leaned on Jesus' chest, and asked who it was that would betray him (John 13:23-25). It was John to whom Jesus gave the responsibility of taking care of his mother (John 19:26-27).² It was John who ran to the tomb first and stooped in to see only Jesus' garments, and facecloth (John 20:1-10).

Jesus' most intimate relationship of all with God the Father

Jesus most intimate relationship with the Father, is a mystery. The Father is revealed only in and through Jesus. Jesus said, "no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (Mat. 11:27). Jesus said to Thomas, " I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; from now on you know him, and have seen him" (John 14:6-7). Phillip then asked Jesus' to show him, and the other apostles the Father. Jesus replied, "He who has seen me, has seen the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? (John 14:9-10). 

Jesus told the Jews, "I and the Father are one" and "the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:30, 38).   

Eternal life is about relationship. It's knowing the only true God, and Jesus the Christ (John 17:3). The good news is that God in Christ has embraced us all, and his desire is to share his life with us forevermore. 

¹In one account Jesus fed over five thousand men, women, and children (Mat. 14:13-21; Mark 6:33-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14); in another instance over four thousand men, women and children. Some, if not all of the crowd, stayed with Jesus three days (Mat. 15:29-38; Mark 8:1-9). The number three is significant, and seems to indicate a fulfillment or completion. Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, before being vomited out to complete his mission (Jonah 1:17; 2:10). Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was turned over to the high priest and falsely accused (Mat. 26:36-68). Jesus was in the heart of the tomb for three days, and three nights before being raised to new life (Mat. 12:40). Most importantly, God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

²Some argue it's someone other than the Apostle John, but that argument is without merit.