Friday, March 11, 2011

Living The Paschal Mystery: Basis Of New Life In Christ


Reference Text: Romans 5:16-21, 'Death in Adam, Life in Christ'
In today's Epistle, the apostle Paul steadfastly affirms that through one man, the historical Jesus, God's free gifts of deliverance from slavery to sin, salvation, redemption, grace, love, truth, righteousness and abundant life have been revealed and made available to all mankind. Down through the ages and generations however, by carnal, mortal and worldly human choices, mankind continues to follow Adam in disobedience, sin and error thinking. We continue to reject God's unique plan for our human lives individually and collectively. The mind of the flesh, continues to inappropriately dominate human souls, hearts, minds, relationships and lives.   
In Romans 5:17, the apostle Paul summarizes God's universal solution to the awful human problems of slavery to sin and alienation from God and one another. He declares, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death remained through the one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and free gift of righteousness [putting them in right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the One man, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

God's universal liberation from slavery to sin and passing over into the new life in the Christ of faith, is available to all mankind in all religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups, through repentance, faith, humility, proper alignment and the incarnation of the indwelling Christ of Faith, through one’s own spiritual body. The historical Jesus has pioneered, revealed and facilitated this most awesome, decisive and drastic transformation and change in human spirituality, morality, ethics, behavior, relationships and lives.

Jesus as Messiah, taught and modeled the proper human spiritual, mental, emotional, ethical and physical alignments, needed to experience the full incarnation, effective appropriation and magnificent glory of the indwelling Christ of Faith, the hidden image and likeness of God, in the spiritual body of every person, through their own religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups. In his life, suffering, crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension the historical is the physical man, who literally lived the parable, metaphor and mystery of mankind's universal repentance, deliverance from slavery to sin, as the Paschal Mystery.

The historical Jesus is the man who initially, revealed, taught and modeled the universal human initiatives of faith, humility, obedience, agape love and truth, which all mankind need, to be healed of spiritual blindness, spiritual lameness, and spiritual deafness. Jesus revealed and taught the metaphysical and mystical truth found in all religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups, which are  needed to awaken mankind from spiritual sleep. The historical Jesus revealed and modeled the divine initiatives of God's grace, mercy, love and truth needed to resurrect all mankind from spiritual death.

Have you stopped following Adam, in living under the dominion of the mind of the flesh, within your own religion, culture, ethnic and secular group? Have you through repentance, faith, humility and obedience, chosen to put on the mind and nature of the Christ of Faith, the image and likeness of God, in your spiritual body? Have you decided to follow the historical Jesus, in living the Paschal Mystery? Will you with God's help, seek and serve the Christ of Faith in all persons, and practice kingdom living here on earth, as it is in heaven?

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