Outside of this Divine Human Nature, who is Jesus Christ, there is no healing/salvation. There is religion, there is philosophy, there is emotional experience, and rational speculation. Some of it is experienced quite piously, and some of it is quite unseemly. While a lot of "religious experience" can lead one to "become a better person" more thoughtful, even, more sensitive to the needs of others, more insightful and compassionate, none of it is connected to Eternal LIFE. The great pagan philosopher explaining the value of "religion" said, "God the father and the fashioner of all that is, older than the sun or sky, greater than time and eternity and all the flow of being, is unnamable by any lawgiver, unutterable by any voice, not to be seen by any eye. But we, being unable to apprehend His essence, use the help of sounds and names and pictures, of beaten gold and ivory and silver, of plants and rivers, torrents and mountain peaks, yearning for the knowledge of Him and in our weakness naming after His nature all that is beautiful in this world . . . If a Greek is stirred to the remembrance of God by the art of Pheidias, or an Egyptian by worshiping animals, or another man by a river or a fire, I have no anger for their divergences; only let them note, let them remember, let them love." If you are a Christian and you more or less agree with our pagan friend, Maximus, then you are not really Christian.
Through "religion" disciplining of the will, a great many have proved that they may come to do amazing things, but without Jesus Christ they cannot come to be eternally alive. Also let us state it clearly, even bluntly, one cannot become eternally alive by holding a concept of Jesus Christ and even acting in his name by faith and performing great, powerful and wonderful works. Jesus himself dispelled the false teaching that "Faith Alone" can create in one eternal life. Matthew 7:21ff "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
We could state it this way, we are born naturally, given what I call the Primary Grace of BEING, which is a very GOOD thing. In fact, existence is a huge thing when you think of it; to exist or not to exist, that is the question. Is it better to exist and struggle with the questions of existence or to never have existed at all? For me the answer is simple, but each person has to answer that question for his or herself. In a culture that does not value life/existence, and easily robs others of the opportunity of existence for the mere sake of convenience, greed, and power, maybe the answer is not so easy, for some.
Existence is firstly the "light in our eyes," our simple cognition. What is it? Where does it come from? What does it mean? Saint John in that cosmic first chapter of his Gospel explains that Jesus, the Eternal Word of the Father, through whom all things came to exist, places the light in the eyes of every human coming into this world. "(He) was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. In the world he was and the world through him came into being, and the world knew him not."
This is the crux of the Christian Faith that is not as some claim, "simple" but complex as any physics, holding multi-dimensions that are opened to our understanding as we grow in Him, but begins with this simple premise: All Life is through Him. "The universe hangs together by the word of his power" every atom of energy ever molecule formed, here and in every far-flung corner of the universe. All being is through Him, empowered by him but not all being is IN Him. All cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. For brandy to become cognac, it has to give up its life as brandy and submit to further distillation, further refinement. This is analogous!
(1) The primary grace (blessing) of being, is by God's Created Energies; it is an artifact, by the artificer the Creator God, expressed in all things seen and unseen. "I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth and all things visible and invisible" . . . this reality/history of the universe and humanity is almost completely dismissed by modern theologians and philosophers. The very idea is passe' and foolish for "materialists" who have made the object of creation, the artifact (the material universe) their God. For them as insane as it is, matter and time created all things.
What is the insane part?
They never ask "From whence comes Matter?" Or if they do they answer, "From pent-up energy." (The Big Bang Theory) But they never ask, "From whence comes this energy?" or if they do they answer, "From highly condensed and compress matter." You see it is a closed circle, no more sophisticated than the imagination of ancient pagans, since in fact, with all its scientific pretensions, it is just that, perennial paganism.
This existence that so many take for granted, AS SELF INVENTED, is of huge interest to me and it would seem by common sense it should be for everyone. This seems to be the first era and culture where a great many people simply accept the reality of their existence without giving any real thought to its origins, or the POWER of it. They dismiss the origin of existence, and thus the meaning of their own existence with the great wisdom "that it just is, deal with it." Without this primary God GIVEN grace given to the entire universe of things, from non-existence into existence, I would not be writing this, you would not be reading this, we would not experience the joys and pains of living; gone would be every moment of joy, every love, every pleasure, every inspiration. Understanding, or at least having some concept of the enormity of the very fact of existence, of being, is the very first step in the knowledge of God. Saint Paul talking about SANE people said, Romans 1:19ff "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
Something bad happened to this primary grace of being for humans. Due to the failure of man, (sin) death entered the experience of humans. Humanity and this place: our universe became corrupted and all of it is cycling towards death. In the first instance it cycled toward death so quickly that by the time of Noah, humanity had become so corrupt, for human life to survive on earth all except a very few who were not so terribly corrupted had to be completely wiped out. (Read the Story of Noah in the in Genesis the 6th chapter.)
(2) Seeing this death trajectory, which acted like a prison, holding us away from God and eternal life, God decided before we were created "before the worlds existed" to provide a "New Creation", this new creation would be the old creation purified, "sanctified" and imbued/renewed to exist eternally IN HIM. In fact, he said, "I will draw all THINGS unto me."
When Jesus was praying to the Father about all the Father had and would give to him, being "as one" he was NOT talking about the fake theology of "Christian Unity" or worse pan-religious unity. How many times have you heard it missed used this way? No, he was speaking about a reality of the New Creation. John 17:13ff "And now come I to thee; (to the Father) and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one" Jesus was speaking out loud to the Father, so that his disciples could hear what he was saying, yet he had to speak in an "intermediate way" since when he speaks of "thy word is truth" he was talking about himself. HE is The WORD, HE is Truth. He is the Sanctification. He is the LIFE. He was saying, again and again, I AM, I AM, I AM, so that you also can be. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Through me, connected to me, in me. The new life, this new creation is and will be a reality, familiar, yet a completely different ontology. (Ontology - the study of the nature of being.) An ontology not OF this world, but also not removed from it. The first creation was held together by God's created energies. The new creation will be encompassed and permeated with the sanctity of God's uncreated energy, that is eternal energy. It will be without confusion or admixture, part of God's very being. The apostles used the term, "Christ's Body," to try in the language of the time to describe this organic "reality" of existing symbiotically IN HIM.
How one becomes ONE WITH JESUS CHRIST, One with the Father, in the Holy Spirit, is the story of salvation and in the second part we will talk about how people who existed before Christ's birth "came to be saved." It will give us greater understanding and appreciation how much easier it is for us.
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