Post # 10.
The following is a comment posted by a St.Pixels member that I agree with on the subject of “The Body In Question” at www.StPixels.com .
“From what I understand, to serve as Christ served (if any of us could ever really do that) is to acknowledge God’s place as creator and master over your life.
I know many people who ceaselessly serve others (one could say in a “Christ like” manner) but they are fierce atheists (often due to what they see whilst serving). I know many such nurses and doctors. There is a difference (in my opinion) between Godliness and goodliness. It is the acknowledgment of your position in the scheme of things. A good person can still go to hell if they refuse to acknowledge God in any way.. even if they are really nice (sorry to bring it up, but it is “the crux” of the matter, what the cross was about).God can work in and through anyone. But “all things work together for the good of those who love Him according to God’s purpose” – Rom. 8:28. Not “those who love anyone” but “those who love God”. Its a subtle but important difference, and something that is so difficult to get across to a person who is basically a nice, and “sorted” individual who is happy and secure.
Many times I have had people say “what difference would God make to my life” and they just don’t buy it because they do not see themselves as needing God in any way. If we believe that we are all (Muslims, Christians, Jews, Atheists, Jedi’s, Satanists) the body of Christ, with Christ within us.. then we are just a step away from swallowing the whole eastern (Buddhist) philosophy that states that we are all God and God is within us all and everything. Also, if we all have Christ within us, it negates the aspect of choice and therefore the free will to accept Christ or not. Personally, I believe that to become a Christian or not is a choice we make, not a condition we inherit.
I believe that, in order to really understand humanity, God had to become human. That was the whole point of Jesus. God could have taken away all our sin without Jesus. Why not? He is God after all, He can do anything. But God loves us and wanted to understand us, He wanted to be able to empathize in the most complete way possible. So He literally stepped into our shoes for 33 years and at the end of it all as a grand finale, experienced all the evil life had to offer whilst on the cross, defeating death in the process. If Jesus was to be credible, He had to be Human, but He was also divine. He had a divine connection to God.. but it was limited by Jesus’ condition on Earth living as a man.
So Jesus experienced all the shortcomings and boundaries to God that being human entails… as well as being closer to God than anyone ever was or will be. He was historical, there’s plenty of evidence for that. Historians use Jesus stories to help with Roman history. I think the fact (in my opinion) that Jesus was real and physical is empirical because.. without that experience of life on Earth, God is just faking it. But nobody can turn to God and say ‘you don’t know what it’s like’ – because He does – He’s lived it.”
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Comment by Mymoss – Thanks St. Pixels online Church. In conclusion, I would just like to add that Romans chapter 8 is required reading to review this huge topic. Let’s consider a few pertinent verses. Rom.8:13-17 says, “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die (eternal death): but if you through the (Holy) Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live (eternal life). 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
We need to keep in mind that this post is concerned with those being called to conversion now, who believe in the gospel by grace through faith, and who (all being well) will be resurrected to eternal life and serve God under Jesus for 1000 yrs on earth. Those living goodly lives while being led only by their human will and strength (according to this thesis), will be resurrected after the 1000 yr Kingdom of God and given an opportunity to meet Jesus face to face, and can choose to believe (or not) and receive the gift of eternal life.
To read more comments on this or other interesting subjects see http://www.StPixels.com . >Discuss.
