Article 5: Salvation in Bullet Points
The Drama of Salvation in Bullet Points *Out of an incredible perfect Love (called Holy Spirit) between the Father and the Son, creation was born. *First creation were the Angels; pure spirits, very smart, very powerful, ability to Love, very much like God except… *Lucipher, angel of light, most powerful of the Angels and in that way, Most Like God except… *God decides to make stuff - very different than spirit…always changing, living, dying, heading in a certain direction of growth *And God decides to make a certain kind of stuff,humanity, that were a unique combination of Stuff and Spirit and thus had the ability to Love, just like God and the Angels *And further, God gave these humans a power that not even the Angels, not even Lucipher had….the power to create new life out of Love. *Specifically, when a Man and Woman came together in Love, God joined with them to create something Eternal out of Nothing. *In this way, humans more Like God than the Angels, more Like God than even Lucipher….and this made Lucipher Jealous and Angry *So Lucipher rejected God’s plan for Humanity, rejected Humanity and worked hard to get Humans to reject God and most importantly….tried to get Humans to abuse and disuse this most fundamental power….the power of Creative Love *Humans created in a state of Original Innocence where they fully appreciate that God has given them all they need to be happy in the Gift of the other person…the person that gives them the opportunity to excercise their full humaness, their power to love. *And Humans recognize that the other person is a Great Gift and so treat the other person as a person, wondering what they could do so that the other person can experience happiness. *To get humans to reject God, Lucipher gets sneaky smart….instead of just asking Humans to disobey God…Lucipher first gets them to start Doubting God. *Lucipher gets them to Doubt that God has really given them all that they need to be Happy, and consequently gets them to Doubt that the other Person really is All they need to be Happy. *And so, Humans, doubting God’s generosity as a Gift Giver and doubting the other person as Gift….decide to Take what they Believe they Need to be Happy…..thus disobeying God and inflicting a great wound on the other person. *In this way, Original Innocence is destroyed and Sin enters the Physical World, the world of Humans. *From this point on, no humans will be born into Original Innocence and thus none will ever have Perfect Love as their example for Love. *Death enters the world. Perfect God by his nature demands Perfect Love in order to be in Communion with Him. But now lacking perfect Love, these Humans will die without being in Communion with God. And at the moment of Death, there is either Communion or there is NonCommunion. *Humans still experience the Presence of God while living out their Earthly lives for God’s presence is mediated to them throughout the physical world. But this changes at death. *The Moment we leave this Earthly Life, the only way we can experience any Communion, is by experiencing Communion with God; and lacking perfect Love of God, this Communion is not possible. *So Humans are resigned to a destiny in which at the moment of their deaths, they experience eternal NonCommunion, eternal Loneliness. *The Ancient Hebrews refer to this State of NonCommuion as Sheol, a place where all go after death, but a place where you exist only as a Figment of your former self; as a Shade. *Years later, God chooses creates a Special Woman for a Special Task. *When the time is ready, he asks this Special Woman, Mary if she is up to raising this special Son of God. She says Yes. *This Boy Jesus lives a simple life in which he does what has never been done before, he Loves God Perfectly! *In his 30’s this Man Jesus calls disciples and spends 1-3 years ministering mostly in the countryside of Galilee and Judea, teaching and healing poor people…his message - God is Close, Repent and Believe! *People who are with him are Amazed! Not only does he teach with Authority But…somehow, in his Ministry, people are experiencing the Radical Presence of God in their Lives in a Whole New Way….in a Way that is Making a Profound Difference in Their Lives! *Jesus is Perfectly Obendient to God the Father…even when he realizes this Path will lead to Death…even when Jesus realizes this Path will Lead to Death on a Cross…the worst kind of death imaginable. *Jesus is ridiculed and tortured…and tortured…and yet still Obeys the Father. Finally, Jesus Dies. *Jesus achieved what nobody had ever achieved, Perfect Love of God while on Earth. But through his Obedience that Led to the Passion and the Cross, Jesus did something else. He waged War on Lucipher’s Sneaky Smart strategy of Doubt. *The core of humanity’s first sin and of all Sin afterwards, is that we Doubt that God has given us Everything….there must be something else, which I must take. *But when we look at the Cross, there can be No Doubt that God has really given us Everything. God emptied himself to take on our Humanity and he died a wretched awful death on a Cross not just to Successfully achieve perfect Obedience but also to Prove to Us without any Doubt; that God is a Most Generous Gift Giver, that God gives us Everything….that we need to be Happy. *The Dead Jesus goes to Hell, the State of NonCommunion…..and takes those Souls that have been Righteous, who had been good servants of the Lord. Jesuse takes those Souls into himself. Those Souls are with Jesus. *God the Father rewards Jesus for his Perfect Obedience with the gift of Resurection. All “Stuff” is headed towards a direction where “Stuff” will be transformed. That includes the Human Body. And the Resurrected Jesus shows us the Way in which the Human Body will be transformed. *The Human Body, originally united with the Spirit in an imperfect way, upon Resurrection will be united with the Spirit perfectly. *This Body will not be bound by Space nor Time in the same way that stuff normally is. This Body, like Spirit will live forever. *The Disciples learn that Jesus is Alive! *Their Joy is immeasurable…not only do the disciples get their Friend and Teacher Back….most importantly, they get the experience of being in the Radical Presence of God….Back. God is Close….again! *The Resurrected Jesus ascends to Heaven = Stops appearing to the Disciples in a Bodily Way. *Disciples might be bummed accept that Jesus promises them…a Gift. *The Gift is the Gift of the Holy Spirit, the very Essence of God; the love that binds the Father and Son. Jesus is giving his Holy Spirit to the Disciples so that they can continue to experience the Real Presence of Jesus; the Radical Presence of Jesus. *Jesus invites everyone to Follow Him in order to Know the Father. And when you mess up, you Repent, take up your cross and Keep Following Jesus. *The Disciples receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. *With renewed Strength and Courage, the Disciples tell new people that Jesus is Alive. That if you start following Jesus you will experience the radical presence of God. That Jesus Loved the Father perfectly, because you can’t. That Jesus is a real person. That, through Faith and a Live of Discipleship, you can enter into a real relationship with Jesus. That through this relationship you will experience Communion with God. That this Communion with God, changes everything. *If you follow Jesus, and live a life of Repentance, then you will experience Communion with God through Jesus and at the moment of your Death, this Communion with God will allow you to continue Living….in Heaven. *And as you are taking up your Cross and Following Jesus, there will be times when his Way seems less preferable to Your Way. You will be tempted to do things according to your Plan. You will be tempted to take what you think you Need to be Happy. It is at these times that you must Look to the Cross. You must remember, that even if you don’t totally understand it, you must have Faith that God the Father has really, really Given Us ALL That We Need to Be Happy! *And then as you turn your eyes from the Cross back to your wife or even your enemy….you remember that in the Gift of this other person, God has given you your Canvas….by which you can paint your Masterpiece. *For in God’s plan for Humanity, his greatest wish for Us is that we Be Just Like God. He gave us the power to Love. He gave us the Power to come together with other persons and Create New Life. *And so we are asked to accept the invitation to Follow Jesus. When we sin, we are asked to repent. We are asked to treat other persons like we would want ourselves to be treated. And when we are tempted to follow our Own Plan for Happiness, we are asked to Look to the Cross and Believe…..that Father Knows Best. *And at the moment of our death, if we have followed Jesus and if we are repentant, then we will experience the Communion with God that allows us to continue living. And someday, we will experience the fullness of Salvation…that Jesus and Mary already experience. We will experience Resurrection, whereby our Spirits will be perfectly united to our Bodies. And then Lucipher’s defeat will be complete and total. *There is nothing more important than accepting God’s free invitation of Salvation. Take up your cross and repent. And Love! Happy Easter
