In order for you to mature and perfect your walk with the Lord, it is absolutely imperative that you possess the knowledge of the sacred truths that Jesus taught his faithful disciples -- truths that are referred to as being revealed only to those who were with Jesus “in the house”. In view of the fact that it has already been demonstrated that your own physical body is the house which the scriptures speak of, then you must first embrace the milk, and then the meat of the Gospel in order to learn directly from the Lord.
The Bible is neither a chronicle of history, or a declaration of what to believe -- but rather, it is a handbook that directs the prodigal sons on their return trip home. In order to begin the journey, you must recognize that neither the church of this world, science, nor the philosophy of men, can provide you with the answers to the many paradoxes of life that can only be overcome by expanding one's vision and understanding of life and ones own self. If the church, science, or philosophy assists you in opening the door to the Kingdom within you -- then it is beneficial. If the church, science, or philosophy focuses your attention of the things created, instead of the Source of Creation, then it is not good -- and this is the message of Paul in the first chapter to the Epistle to the Romans.
The philosophy of Darwin conveys to us that man had his genesis in the slime of the earth. While it is true that man’s physical body is comprised of the elements of the earth, his soul and spirit is not of this world. In view of this fact the Essenes and earliest of Christians viewed the physical body as a prison from which the soul and spirit of man must overcome the limitations of. This perception of the physical body is especially taken note of by the first century Jewish historian Josephus who writes of the doctrines of the Essenes: “For their doctrine is this, that bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever: and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; but when they are set free from the bonds of flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward…”.
In order to comprehend the higher reality which is revealed in the scriptures, we must begin to understand that man is born from the essence of two worlds -- i.e., the body that is his vessel in this realm is very much of the earth; but his mind which is an embryonic image of his pre-existent soul, is a reflective expression of its source that originates in spiritual realms. If, then, you desire to increase your conscious awareness of your true self, you must begin to open your mind to the reality that, like the prodigal son, you originated from another world -- that you are positioned in your present station of life in accordance with your own past accomplishments -- which past has triangulated in the present with your future -- whereby your past is presently working in conjunction with the direction you are moving to bring about the process of your arrival at your eventual destiny -- which destiny is the return of the prodigal son to the Kingdom of his Father.
In bringing your past and future together into the moment of the present time, you must become consciously aware that you are the person you are today, because of the Hand of God acting upon your mind and being to bring about your maturity and destiny in accordance with your soul’s own past actions and accomplishments? While the Apostle’s words are true when he wrote: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” (Rom 3:23 KJV), it is also true that the old world of sin passes away for those who have been born in Christ: “…knowing this, that our old self was crucified… that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Rom 6:6-7 NAS).
This total transformation of the carnal self is perhaps best captured in the words of Paul where he wrote: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:5-10 NIV). The key, then, to putting away the old self who was of the flesh, is seen in the words of Paul when he states that we must be “…renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” -- which is our indwelling spiritual nature that is not of this world.
We make progress when we take what God gives us, and make the most of the opportunity. What this means is that you are predestined to your present station in life because of your own past -- and the exercise of your freewill is the determining factor with regard to your future. Simply put, if you have used your freewill in the past to bring you into the jungles and ghettos of life, why do you attempt to place the blame on anyone other than yourself?
What the Bible states with regard to predestination is that as you progress from life to life in the journey of the soul, you will reap exactly what you have sown in your own past. That the church while under the control of Pagan Rome had thrown away the keys of knowledge, and no longer understood the process by which the soul of man is perfected, is not a fault which can be attributed to God. That the Lord's Anointed -- His Christ/Messiah -- has come and demonstrated with his own life the manner in which we must live in order to change our direction in our quest to return to the Kingdom -- and that we instead remain attached to this realm and refuse to follow in his footsteps -- is not the fault of our Heavenly Father. That this process of perfection will continue -- indefinitely -- until we do follow the pattern of return, is a reality that we must come to terms with.
There are no accidents -- and you have been predestined into the life you are living based upon your past in conjunction with the requirements that must be met in order to embrace your future destiny. It is therefore paramount to ask the question: What are you presently accomplishing with your gift of life? If you are a religious person and go to church, then you must ask yourself the question: If it is the Hand of God that has brought you into the church, does it mean anything that you are not there on your own accord, but of God's direct influence? If you are a non-believer, and like many modern non-believers today, you see yourself as being enlightened, and you feel that you are intellectually superior to the believer because you are able to recognize the many flaws in church doctrine -- unless you recognize that it is the Hand of God that has enabled you to see these flaws, your limited knowledge is meaningless. The question that you must ask yourself is this: Does it mean anything that you possess this insight to see either the merits or the fallacies of modern religious doctrine, only because God wanted you to see certain facts more clearly than the other person? Moreover, in our very limited understanding of Creation, doesn’t each person’s individual perception also contain a germ of truth?
In the parable in the twenty second chapter of Matthew where the king invites those called to the wedding feast of his son, and those invited do not come because of the cares of this world, and others are instead invited, what we must understand is that all roads in life lead to the Kingdom -- whether in the church or out -- but the Hand of God can only bring us so far before the journey becomes a mutual endeavor where the Lord directs and we must follow.
If you will accept that the scriptures are correct, and the Hand and Will of God impacts every aspect of your life -- regardless of the fact of whether you are a believer, a non-believer, or even a confirmed Atheist -- what is important to each of us is to begin to understand to what degree you are responsible for the result of your choices? That God desires you to see and experience life from a certain perspective -- as the scriptures affirm -- is responsible for your present station in life. Now that you have arrived at the starting point of your journey, we must then pose the next question: Do you know what is expected of you?
