From: b645zaw@utarlg.uta.edu (Stephen Tice)
Subject: (  One man's view  )  Re: ** The Birth of NEW-ISRAEL **  (
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: The University of Texas at Arlington
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 04:51:00 GMT

General Steamship <gss@igc.apc.org> writes...
> 
>Hey Stephen, who do you say Jesus is?  (Long explanation please)

Thanks for the opportunity to speculate GS. What follows is my
own belief as best I've been able to figure out so far -- and
I think the "truth" is infinitely grander than I can conceive 
or convey, as a mere human.

Jesus *was* a human being, now is the Messiah and one with GOD.

Jesus was a lowly person by human reckoning, but very cherished
by GOD who took the gift, freely given, of a person who gave all
they *are* to GOD: mind, body, soul, self, spirit, and heart.

And GOD joined with Jesus transcendently, throughout time, space,
and all reality. And GOD walked this earth as JESUS, 2000 years
ago and will do so again, as Jesus, but more importantly as The
MESSIAH -- GOD come to live with us in the flesh, Lord or Lords,
and King of Kings. I think Jesus was surprised that GOD took him 
up on the offer.

And I'm overjoyed that GOD would even bother to find one of us
worthwhile. To me, it'd be like picking a character out of a nin-
tendo game, and then literally entering into that game to experience 
it from the viewpoint of one very limited, program controlled, mini-
malist software construct. Even more amazing to me is that Creation 
itself seems to be like a prototype, or a beta-version which is buggy 
-- yet GOD even knowing that it's going to be redone, still hangs on 
to it, like a parent does a child's crayon pictures, purely as an 
expression of love.

The point though is that there are bugs in the setup. Something to 
do with a feature of individual-free-will perhaps, that allows a person
to turn away from GOD completely, and in doing so, damn themself to 
utter solitude. Nor am I talking about purely material persons. The
same goes for the angels and those of us born of the spirit as well. 
To me, GOD so loves each and every person, individually, intimately,
and directly, that the greatest pain will *always* be GOD-felt, for
the loss of those who have walked off into the pit. And that includes 
Satan, a glorious angel of GOD who is lost in himself. And it includes 
Adam, the first homo sapiens that GOD enabled to experience spiritual
birth. Ditto for Eve. And it includes all of us since then, who for 
some weird reason would rather choose our own way, rather than GOD's 
way. We are all hopelessly lost when on our own.

It seems to be something emergent about this proto-creation that allows 
us to get completely lost in ourselves. I think it has something to 
do with being made not only in-the-image, but as-the-image of GOD. 
So that when we look on ourselves, we see not only GOD's reflected 
glory, but the reflection of a reflection of a reflection...

Which brings me back to Jesus, who somehow, probably by relying 
totally on GOD, was able to look only to GOD, to depend solely on 
GOD, to love GOD first and foremost, and curiosly -- it all works 
out then -- 'cause GOD is so in love with each of us. In loving GOD, 
and GOD us, the results spill over onto everyone else. And Jesus did 
that. 

Jesus, flesh of our flesh, and blood of our blood saved all the rest 
of us. And so became one with GOD. Jesus submitted, as GOD, to death,
no big deal, GOD already raised Lazarus, 4 days dead and rotten. GOD
raised Jesus as well. And I believe GOD took Jesus, as Jesus, in the 
flesh, beyond all possibility we could ever understand, into Heaven,
a spirtual/non-material domain. Jesus, just as we are, with the same
emotions and joys, and experiencing time as we do, lives there now, 
and will do so until the end time -- when GOD's great city is brought
from the new heaven down to the new earth.

Which is strange, 'cause it seems that GOD wanted us to live in a 
garden -- but human's have this hang-up about cities. Jesus as GOD
has changed all cosmic reality, and I believe, so as to fix what I 
loosely think of as "moral entropy." In so doing, Jesus allows us 
to be salvaged from proto-creation, and reborn in the flesh again 
into the new world.  (note: Moral entropy is simply where we use 
our own ways to try to fix things and end up creating a bigger and 
more complicated mess.) 

GOD has a different approach, as I am persuaded by Vernard Eller, who
wrote in _Christian Anarchy_ that GOD uses "Death and Resurrection" 
to fix things. Which seems to be a wonderful way of letting the ripples 
and feedback die out in this grandly GOD-reflective system we exist in. 
And then starting over.

YAHWEH-JEHOVAH-ELOHIM-ALLAH-GOD-CHRIST-MESSIAH-HOLY SPIRIT-SHIVA-BRAHMA-
VISHNU-CREATOR-KING OF KINGS-LORD OF LORDS-THAT BEING BEYOND CREATION 
FROM WHICH WE CAME AND OF WHICH ANY DESCRIPTION OR NAME FALLS SHORT OF 
THE TRUE GLORY OF  --==** GOD **==-  is also Jesus as a human being.

I best know GOD through Jesus who shares my heart and in whose blood
I am kin. Jesus, I believe, is the bridge from us to GOD. I don't know
how or when each of us comes to that opportunity to cross over, but 
I believe we all do. It's not like we can get there by ourselves, but 
it's not hard:  call on the name of Jesus for help, and flesh of our 
flesh, and blood of our blood -- and likely more accurately, we, who 
are flesh of GOD's flesh, and blood of of GOD's blood, will be heard 
-- and through The Messiah reborn. GOD's got it all worked out.

Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life. 

Jesus is my Master, my Love, my Friend, my Family, 
and GOD-willing my Salvation, or if need be, my 
destruction. As GOD wills in loving truth so shall 
it be done.

Ask GOD through Jesus if Ye would be saved, and
my faith is that it shall be done. 

Such is Jesus, I believe. Amen.

GOD correct my misconceptions.

   |
-- J --
   |
   |  Stephen    "Thanks most sincerely GS"