Genesis 3:22-24 KJV
[22] And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: [23] therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. [24] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
We've created our own eden have we not?
Once God chased Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden
He recognized that we've become more like him
To be able to know good and evil
He didn't want to us to enter a state of regression
As since they've eaten the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
Gaining extended capacity
They were pushed out of the boundary of Eden
For this evil act he gave the adequate consequences
One might say they incured his wrath
An adequate punishment for their new mode of being
Isaiah 45:7 KJV
[7] I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
One must be aware of God's omnipresence
When we recognize what see as good and evil
One might even say what we deem as good and evil
If we seek to not become like the pharisees
Matthew 7:1-5 NIV
[1] “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. [3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
We can at times be so quick to judgement, towards those that are not of the flock of Christ or knowledge and wisdom that feel even foreign to what we know of God
As we get more involved in the word of God
We get blinded by its symbols which is supposed to be a reflection of our clean heart before God , if at all the journey to a clean heart and holiness.
Instead we hide behind these symbols, performing them through ritual like going to church , reading the bible, giving to the needy
The word of God now becomes a rulebook where loopholes can be found with the performance of a "true" believer and not embodying the true essence of being in Christ, that requires more self knowledge, something that most of the pharisees interacting with Jesus lacked, as priest/clergymen mind you.
(An example i can give personally is my disregard towards people that inadvertently say something that is illogical added bonus if it hurts me because you dont see how wrong you are or one might say what you're missing, and i take it upon myself to rectify the error instead of paying more attention to why its triggering to me)
Mark 3:1-5 NIV
[1] Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. [2] Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. [3] Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” [4] Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. [5] He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
We can see from this passage,a core tenet of Jesus's philosophy,his way of action, becomes a reoccurring theme of his interaction with the pharisees.
Jesus mocks how we get to stuck up with the symbols and signifiers of the word of God
Things we get too hung up about inadvertently that create our own hell
Matthew 5:22 NIV
[22] But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Hell that is created from stagnation of perspective
To not become stuck in the Word, but in continual renewal
Romans 12:2 NIV
[2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
A good example is how we create distance with what we deem as secular culture which i always found absurd because if God is all knowing and omnipresent aren't we all under God's creation?
Isn't that why we have other forms of knowledge?
Isn't "God's world" still not part of the world?
We have to better understand this world we were created in
That has been my real inquiry and observation
Obviously there's poison in the well of our understanding that perptuate harm and domination, there's no denying that, but we should recognize there's also good too
Now i have prayer
The power to communicate to God
Ask to realize my innermost desires
And modern medicine to keep me alive and healthy
The problem is now how to dicern from asinine/confusing ideologies that perpetuate harm and domination
Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
[13] “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. [14] But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
This narrow road is not built for everyone
It is only for you
This eden we've created with the safety of symbols we've accumulated which might benefitted us at a time
Might ultimately lead us astray to the wide road, without our discernment.
Do not be like pharisees who see the truth of Jesus and deny it calling it blasphemy
Stuck into doctrines that take you away from having a fuller understanding of God and his creations
This is of course also understanding the importance of the social and power dynamics we have with one another as individuals, groups and institutions
Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV
[10] Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Like Jesus we have to be critical and discerning in the spirituality of our faith tempered by the lenses of our psychophysical reality with the harm that it perptuates
To distance ourselves from the attitudes of the pharisees that are so fast to deem people worthless and foolishness, in our present case those we deem ungodly, the stupidity of poor people, of drug addicts and so on.
Instead we should seek the truth, having space to reason doubt in our faith especially with the transparency of evil that leads us into the pits of hell
John 14:6 NIV
[6] Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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