Jesus Christ's Superderterministic, Cosmological, Magnum Opus.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by MamaJ

 

His story is "the hero's journey" (read Joseph Campbell's "A Hero with a Thousand Faces"). However, he did such a perfect job of it in blazing the trail, that all the work is done for our mutual benefit, and enjoyment ie: we don't have to go into the desert for 40 days and nights, nor get whiped, beaten and hung on a cross to die. What interests me is his great triumph and how that is beneficial to the recipient of his free gift..

I enjoy Joseph Cambell and have read a preview.

At present I'm listening to Manly P. Hall give a lecture about the Will of God and going accordingly with nature instead of against it.

I'm a philosopher at heart! :-)

reply to post by MamaJ

As a philosopher, what did you think of this?

Originally posted by NewAgeMan

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Cosmic

God the creator of all, is quite obviously willing to go to great lengths in time and space to love and be loved, so why can't we, as the object of this entire process, not simply co-operate and go along with the plan and the purpose - by loving (appreciating) God with all our heart, with all our mind, all our soul and all our strength, and, our neighbor as ourself even as we were and are first loved by God in Christ as the son who was always loved by the father, yes even before the very foundation of the world, because by its very nature it is a timeless, spaceless and therefore eternal, love.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you."
~ John 13:34

Joy to the World

reply to post by NewAgeMan


I connect with it. The love for our self, for God and one another is all we have to give that's of true value.

I was thinking today while at work and almost began to sob. No one was around, however I held back.

My heart feels sorry for God and for mankind because we have lost our way.

We are so content to be slaves to our system we don't stop to appreciate the wonder and amazement we see with each second we are alive.

We are hustling to and fro trying to acquire better things, better cars, better houses, upgraded phone or pc, and we have failed as a species by which we were created for.

The desire of the apple evolved to love in and with Jesus. We are to follow but we have yet to obey the simple command of love your neighbor as yourself.

If we had, there would be no hunger, there would be no wars, there would be no draining our planet for its resources/ blood. Who knows, our climate may be stable and there would be no religion that claims its people are the chosen ones as God made us all to not perish and to go in the good order of nature with all things.

Man is killing his brother and sister, we are nations addicted to material wealth and it's driving people apart more now than ever before as we have sooo many people against one another on the planet today.

This is not Gods will. This is the will of people who do not love their neighbor as their self!

It saddens me and all I know to do is try to create love and heal the division.

Jesus brought division for a reason and the coming of Jesus may not be something people expect. He has created an army that is within people that follow him. In the heart! Those are Jesus true followers, the ones who have love for their neighbor as their self and sets no man apart from God or their self.

We have become an even more selfish species.

reply to post by MamaJ

I think many people forget that they're actually walking around on a planet circling a star in a galaxy of stars, and just take "life" for granted, or have the audacity to say that "life sucks" while their soul might have waited in line for a million years to have the rare priviledge of being born here of all places..

reply to post by MamaJ


Yes! God / Elohim = Creator - Father - Son - Holy Spirit = Pure Light / Pure Love / Pure Truth ~ (Eternal)

OT man was under the Law - 10 Commandments

NT = Grace...Through Faith...Relationship...Spiritual Connection / Through Holy Spirit / Connected To our spirit...

Process Daily Growth....Learning! We Learn To Love God - Through Spiritual Relation...This is Reality, And Will-

Bring Peace / INNER PEACE! Then We Can LOVE and Share With Other's...Who are Open To Receive...

Everyone At Their Own Rate of Growing and Receiving...Shalom~

Highlights from the Revelation of John

Revelation of John
by John of Patmos


John of Patmos is the name given, in the Book of Revelation, as the author of the apocalyptic text that is traditionally canonized in the New Testament. According to the text of Revelation, John is living on the Greek island of Patmos, where by some, he is considered to be in exile as a result of anti-Christian persecution under Roman emperor Domitian.
In Christian denominations, John of Patmos is regarded as a prophet and a saint who receives divine revelation. He has been referred to as John the Divine, John the Revelator, John the Theologian, Eagle of Patmos and John the Seer.

Island of Patmos

John is considered to be exiled to Patmos, undergoing a time of persecution under the Roman rule of Domitian. Revelation 1:9 states: “I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation... was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Adela Yarbro Collins, a biblical scholar at Yale Divinity School, writes:
"Early tradition says that John was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is credible because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, would have been perceived as a threat to Roman political power and order. Three of the islands in the Sporades were places where political offenders were banished." (Pliny Natural History 4.69-70; Tacitus Annals 4.30)

en.wikipedia.org...

Revelation (Apocalypse)

This introduction to the book of Revelation reports on the author, date, occasion, purpose, literary form, distinctive features, interpretation, and outlink. For an adequate understanding of Revelation, the reader must recognize that it is a distinct kind of literature. Revelation is apocalyptic, a kind of writing that is highly symbolic. Although its visions often seem bizarre to the Western reader, fortunately the book provides a number of clues for its own interpretation.

www.biblica.com...

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The Throne in Heaven

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

The Scroll and the Lamb

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The Great Multitude in White Robes

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

The Angel and the Little Scroll

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

The Seventh Trumpet

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

babylon the great
the mother of prostitutes
and of the abominations of the earth.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
“This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

Lament Over Fallen Babylon

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted:

“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup.
Give her as much torment and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;
I will never mourn.’
Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

Threefold Woe Over Babylon’s Fall

“When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
you mighty city of Babylon!
In one hour your doom has come!’

“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore - cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
“They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’
“Rejoice over her, you heavens!
Rejoice, you people of God!
Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
with the judgment she imposed on you.”

The Finality of Babylon’s Doom

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No worker of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s important people.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,
of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon’s Fall

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:

“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
And again they shouted:
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty

The Thousand Years

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Judgment of Satan

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The Judgment of the Dead

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Eden Restored

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

John and the Angel

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

Epilogue

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

The End.

www.biblegateway.com...

edit on 22-9-2012 by NewAgeMan because: edit

from another thread - I would like to include the following info, to show, among other things that what goes on here, no matter how vast the universal framework, is of the farthest reaching significance and cannot be considered insignificant, particularly not when we see and recognize in the design, the hand of the designer (which we shall be exploring further, using the moon as an example of God's handiword).

The God Theory

"The God Theory" by Bernard Haisch
www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249274834&sr=8-1

Haisch is an astrophysicist whose professional positions include Staff Scientist at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Deputy Director for the Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, and Visiting Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. His work has led to close involvement with NASA; he is the author of over 130 scientific papers; and was the Scientific Editor of the Astrophysical Journal for nine years, as well as the editor in chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration.

an excerpt

If you think of whitte light as a metaphor of infinite, formless potential, the colors on a slide or frame of film become a structured reality grounded in the polarity that comes about through intelligent subtraction from that absolute formless potential. It results from the limitation of the unlimited. I contend that this metaphor provides a comprehensible theory for the creation of a manifest reality (our universe) from the selective limitation of infinite potential (God)...
If there exists an absolute realm that consists of infinite potential out of which a created realm of polarity emerges, is there any sensible reason not to call this "God"? Or to put it frankly, if the absolute is not God, what is it? For our purposes here, I will indentify the Absolute with God. More precisely I will call the Absolute the Godhead. Applying this new terminology to the optics analogy, we can conclude that our physical universe comes about when the Godhead selectively limits itself, taking on the role of Creator and manifesting a realm of space and time and, within that realm, filtering out some of its own infinite potential...
Viewed this way, the process of creation is the exact opposite of making something out of nothing. It is, on the contrary, a filtering process that makes something out of everything. Creation is not capricious or random addition; it is intelligent and selective subtraction. The implications of this are profound.

If the Absolute is the Godhead, and if creation is the process by which the Godhead filters out parts of its own infinite potential to manifest a physical reality that supports experience, then the stuff that is left over, the residue of this process, is our physical universe, and ourselves included. We are nothing less than a part of that Godhead - quite literally.

Next, by Ervin Laszlo

Science and the Akashic Field, an Integral Theory of Everything, 2004
www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249275852&sr=8-1

And, his other seminal work
Science and the Reenchantment of the Cosmos: The Rise of the Integral Vision of Reality
www.amazon.com...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1249275852&sr=8-6

Ervin Laszlo is considered one of the foremost thinkers and scientists of our age, perhaps the greatest mind since Einstein. His principal focus of research involves the Zero Point Field. He is the author of around seventy five books (his works having been translated into at least seventeen languages), and he has contributed to over 400 papers. Widely considered the father of systems philosophy and general evolution theory, he has worked as an advisor to the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in both 2004 and 2005. A multidisciplinarian, Laszlo has straddled numerous fields, having worked at universities as a professor of philosophy, music, futures studies, systems science, peace studies, and evolutionary studies. He was a sucessful concert pianist until he was thirty eight.

In his view, the zero-point field (or the Akashic Field, as he calls it) is quite literally the "mind of God".

Naming Hal Puthoff, Roger Penrose, Fritz-Albert Popp, and a handful of others as "front line investigators", Laszlo quotes Puthoff who says of the new scientific paradigm:

[What] would emerge would be an increased understanding that all of us are immersed, both as living and physical beings, in an overall interpenetrating and interdependant field in ecological balance with the cosmos as a whole, and that even the boundary lines between the physical and "metaphysical" would dissolve into a unitary viewpoint of the universe as a fluid, changing, energetic/informational cosmological unity."

an excert from Science and the Akashic Field, an Integral Theory of Everything

Akasha (a . ka . sha) is a Sanskrit word meaning "ether": all-pervasive space. Originally signifying "radiation" or "brilliance", in Indian philosophy akasha was considered the first and most fundamental of the five elements - the others being vata (air), agni (fire), ap (water), and prithivi (earth). Akasha embraces the properties of all five elements: it is the womb from which everything we percieve with our senses has emerged and into which everything will ultimately re-descend. The Akashic Record (also called The Akashic Chronicle) is the enduring record of all that happens, and has ever happened, in space and time."

Laszlo's view of the history of the universe is of a series of universes that rise and fall, but are each "in-formed" by the existence of the previous one. In Laszlo's mind, the universe is becoming more and more in-formed, and within the physical universe, matter (which is the crystallization of intersecting pressure waves or an interference pattern moving through the zero-point field) is becoming increasing in-formed and evolving toward higher forms of consciousness and realization.

------------

According to James Oroc's experiences (Tryptamine Palace), when the ego is dissolved in consciousness through the temporary formation of a type of neurological "Bose Einstein Condensate", there is no real dilineation or distinction between individual consciousness and God-consciousness or the universal "akashic field" (Lazslo) aka Zero Point Field.

------------

Amit Goswami, author of "The Self Aware Universe"

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
I believe.

If true, the implications, particularly for us for we ourselves as intentionally evolved beings in the creation, are utterly astounding because it would mean that our true place and stature isn't that of an insignificant nothing, but intrinsic to a very significant process even standing next to the very Godhead. Furthermore, even if we do inhabit a non-localized, holographic type universe, and mind (see the works of David Bohm and Carl Pibram), then by God LOCAL MATTERS!

It means everything, and it means everything that it means everything, at least to me it does, as I can't speak for anyone else, who may hold to the opinion that life is absurd and meaningless and without a standard, even a universal standard of truth and justice and that they inhabit a small sphere inside their scull (forget about the heart) quite literally in isolate consciousness or completely and utterly separated from both the world (creation) even from some people, from their authentic and freely self expressed relationship to others, including themselves - but what if that's altogether the wrong paradigm? the one we've been living in and into because that's how we were taught because it's how we take the world or assume it to be - what if IT is absurd and ridiculous, and the ALL-IN-ALL as love and forgiveness and inclusion and an eternal process (eternal life?) of reintegration the actual process within which we are already emersed, where at the end and in the final analysis, seeking finds what it's seeking at the end of seeking (which is what it was seeking all along ie: the end of all seeking!) - or the beginning of real knowledge and understanding where the only real knowledge is the knowledge of experience and of increasing degrees of awareness, including self awareness and self knowledge ("the kingdom lies within"). What some have called, including myself the humor of understanding. Jesus likened it to finding the buried treasure or the truth that sets you free or if you happen to be an industrious merchant in fine things, the prescious pearl you've been looking for all your life! (Jesus was funny, I'm convinced of it).

"The unexamined life is not worth living."
~ Socrates

Oh no, did I say Jesus?

Now I'm in trouble with the science buffs, or maybe not, because the new paradigm reveals something rather extraordinary about the true nature of the human being as a self aware and evolving being, even one that is capable of evolving spiritually or psychologically.
I know there's not much value in looking back (unless it's of value), but great value in hope and bright optimism for something infinitely better by comparison, where what's gone before, for the most part, being unreal yet taken for reality, is nothing but the comedic material of a lifetime and the brunt of much future humor in the light of reason and self knowledge.

Mods: If this topic ought to be moved feel free to move and edit out this line, but it just seemed to me to be in alignment with modern science and technology and I dind't know where else to put it. Thanks, NAM.

Re: Man's evolved relation to the eternal, cosmological Godhead

Jesus Christ is the Phi Ratio Son of God

The Golden Proportion is analogous to God’s relationship to creation

The Golden Section, or Phi, found throughout nature, also applies in understanding the relationship of God to Creation. In the golden section, we see that there is only one way to divide a line so that its parts are in proportion to, or in the image of, the whole:

The ratio of the larger section (B) to the whole line (A) is the same as the ratio as the smaller section (C) to the large section (B):

Only “tri-viding” the whole preserves the relationship to the whole
And so it is with our understanding of God, that we are created in His image. Not by dividing the whole, but only by tri-viding the whole does each piece retain its unique relationship to the whole. Only here do we see three that are two that are one.

The Book of John begins with these words that capture the essence of this:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

Jesus, in John 14:9, expressed a similar thought:

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.


Conclusion:

The human Jesus (the Son of Man) is to the divine Jesus (the Son of God) as the divine Jesus (the Son of God) is to God (the Father or whole).

www.goldennumber.net...

I purport, that during the "lost years" Jesus was indoctrinated into just about all the streams of philosophy and thought and spiritual tradition, without forsaking his Jewish heritage, which was at the core of his system of thinking and beliefs, which would have included:

Greek
Egyptian (Pythagoras)
Toaism and Buddhism
Zoroastrian (which emphasized the incompatibility of good and evil)
Mithriasm
Hindu
Jewish Mysticism (Tree of Life)
etc.

On Buddhist thought, he repudiated it's rather nihilistic conclusion, when he said

"What does it profit a man to gain the WHOLE world, but lose his own soul." (character, passion ie: desire, selfhood)

People ask, and rightly so - how could a man be one with God or God's son? This is how (see above) because it's how we were made, by design, to contain nothing less than the Godhead itself, as we continually evolve and INvolve, which is to evolve spiritually and psychologically, whereby Jesus can be seen as a model of authentic leadership into that human-divine relationship we were meant for in the fullness of time and history. In other words, someone among us had to go first AND do it right, all the way down the line without yielding. To understand this and recognize it's value is a real marvel, because it puts us back into right relationship with God and invites to begin to move, however fast or slowly, into a whole new domain of new life and new possibility, even from life to life in eternity, since that which we really are ("thou art that") is eternal and therefore can never die.

"Store up your treasure in heaven (first/last cause - God), because where your heart is, there will your treasure be also."

Interesting how we all see truth as it relates to ourselves and various icons.

This thread: Jesus Christ's Superderterministic, Cosmological, Magnum Opus. compares santa as the imitation of the christ.

While this thread :Aliens. Demons. UFO's. Area 51 Exposed
realtes (in the first 5min of the first video) santa claus to the clown which is the imitation of the master of illusion.

Not to say which is truth; that is up to each of us...and the truth of Jesus is up to each to discern...but it is obvious that we see the same thing with different eyes.

Let your heart/mind/body be your guide.

LOVE ∞

mayallsoulsbefree*

reply to post by NewAgeMan


Awesome analogy.

This thread may be pertain recently: The colors of the soul and the white fire that can never be extinguished.

White fire/white light ~ the Sun may be the lens of divine eye of God sending us the pure codes of creation...for without this would we see a thing~

LOVE∞

mayallsoulsbefree*

reply to post by awake1234

I think re: the idea of Jesus as the first real Santa that those interpreters of Santa as trickster/clown/illusionist might not have had access to the whole picture, as I suspect St. Nicholas of Myra did whereby Jesus, during his post-resurrection years would have recognized in himself and his Great Work something symbolized by, yet transcending the Winter Solstice, and thus, the distinct possibility that he might have celebrated it annually by dressing up in his red cloak with white trimmings (over his shiny white suit?), to recieve and bless the children, giving gifts, and who knows maybe even passionate kisses (in memory of his wife Mary) in a doorway hung with mistletow, and a lineup of predominantly East Indian women (where Jesus "retired" in what is now Kashmir) from that doorway to as far as the eye could see (to kingdom come)!

reply to post by NewAgeMan


And Jesus of all people would surely have been a belly laugher as he grew older, never losing his mirth and charm, nor his place in the grand scheme of things. For him it would have been only appropriate to play the role of a santa type figure during Winter Solstice each year, and of loving children and seeing their eyes sparkle, given his most certainly very difficult early childhood, that too would be only appropriate. I can almost feel his presence now - HO HO HO!

Originally posted by queenannie38
reply to post by NewAgeMan

 

....said the night wind to the little lamb....

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
A Song, a song, high above the tree, with a voice as big as the sea
with a voice as big as the sea..



"Ho Ho HO!" [HARK! Are those bells I hear...?]


Best Regards,

NAM
October 1st, 2012 (OMG?)

That one always gets me every single time..

The coming of Christmas

Although perhaps a little on the earlier side this year, to bring us into the Christmas spirit of the coming 2012 winter solstice (yes, it's finally arrived), I would like to present the following, but not just as a mundane celebration of the changing of the seasons and all the typical Christmas mumbo jumbo, but here as an insightful allegory with the young boy Jesus and any and all children who were/are bullied or scorned or abused in any way, clearly in mind (think of the red nose as a bloodied nose) that we might better understand the deeper nature of his sacred heart, even in it's formation.. of the man who became Jesus Christ the lamb of God and the savior of the world (God works in mysterious ways).

O Come All Ye Faithful

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God's holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

I don't know about you, but sometimes it brings me to tears, both of sorrow and of joy.

And there all you're left with is the mirth and the charm of all possibility restored, like a child with eyes gleaming over what to us, as adults was utterly meaningless and insignificant, and then we get to laugh again for real, and play, and marvel, as if for the first time, and then there it is and once "grokked" once the mind and heart changes shape, it can never go back to it's original configuration, even though it was never an imposition upon the mind of man to begin with!

That's the strangest part about it, that it's an already-always state of mind and being, and thus like a great joke, everything else (what was before) becomes utterly absurd and ridiculous in the light of truth by compare, and that's the hand that wipes away the tears from our eyes and calls us, his son, in SPITE of ourselves, and then we realize that God's own sense of humor by far surpasses our own or in other words once gotten, it's the joke that just keeps on giving and gets ever funnier the more we (one and all) really consider and examine our true predicament, yes even as children of a loving God in the the midst of an eternal cosmic evolutionary process even one that began with the end in mind and is thus always and forever one step ahead of everyone, everywhere!

This is why I say that the joke of the ages starts here, but doesn't end here, except in the final and inevitable knowledge of God and of his infinite intelligence and forethought to have gotten us to this place in the first place, for the sake of love, the love of a faather (first father) towards a son, and to share in the son and with the son, the fullness of joy, and the love, capable of completing the circle within the context of an eternal relationship between one's own person and the person of God. Jesus did this, framed himself and God correctly and with perfect understanding and wisdom.

It's an indespensible I-thou relationship, because to dispense with it, would dispense with both the truth, and the possibility for love as the very reason and M.O. (by design "modus operandi") of the very circumstance we presently find ourselves in.

It is the love between the beloved and beloved other (without which there is no love), and as we can clearly see, from God's perspective towards us - it is a love that is surely, because it's there to begin with by virtue of our very inclusion (already always) by far and by many many orders of manitude GREATER than we might previously have imagined... It would have to be.


All the treasure is in Christ and the treasure is his love.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
That's the strangest part about it, that it's an already-always state of mind and being, and thus like a great joke, everything else (what was before) becomes utterly absurd and ridiculous in the light of truth by compare, and that's the hand that wipes away the tears from our eyes tears because they are tears of joy and laughter and happiness without worry

Jesus the Sympathetic Sufferer

So from where he stood, he found the higher love, and embodied it as the will of the father as the first father of all creation fully informed in eternity, without end. His was an intimate and deep, personal, and meaningful connection-relationship with God as the Absolute. He maintained and was formed (informed) by (pruned) his growing Sacred Heart (by both circumstance and fate) made (reborn from above) increasingly more and more without measure, filled, unto overflowing, with the spirit of God (as the love of beloved to beloved other) whereby man was first created by God to be in this very ralationship, as the original intent of the creation (before the foundation of the world), so that the love of father and son can be realized, and shared and made known without reservation and without any compromise whatsoever, and willing, as need be, to go all the way to the wall in order to preserve everything of value and cut away the rest, not unlike a threshing floor where the wheat is sifted from the chaff that is blown away.

Yet even as the king of the universe, his was a sympathetic love not unwilling to also suffer for the sake of love and righteousness, a love that comes not to be served, but only to serve ie: real love.

He was authentic and genuine. People must be given to know him in this way, from the POV of a shared, sympathetic love, that understands, and that's so one, in "oneness", that we come to know just who Jesus really was and what he embodied and personified, and most of all, who sent him as a God of love, even the God of a wholly new covenent with man. That's quite extraordinary, for those who are given to grok of it.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Interlude

He's also the very best part, of YOU!



Oh that's so funny, enough to wipe away those tears of sorrow and suffering and strife, until they become the tears of ecstatic humor, and then we know, and once you do know then you also know the truth that sets you free, free to be the best and happiest you you can be.

Thus, our humor, our charm and our creative playfullness and authentic self expression (vitality), is restored at last (without any loss in terms of justice). This is the ressurection of the re-born life in Christ. It's a now thing, it's got to be, because there's no other time but the eternally unfolding present moment, and Jesus he was urging us to find the gate in him and enter through him into a new domain of possibility, as a psychological and spiritual realization, not just something only to be anticipated at some other time or in the "next" life.

If you know him, and grok him (integrate ie: eat), and in some way reflect to the world his spirit of love and compassionate understanding IS to experience something of heaven (it's its own reward), even if you can only eat it one slice at a time, you know it's a buffet and one that just keeps on getting better and better, with nothing lost and everything gained. It's already been done and summed up by the Great Work of Jesus Christ. Done.

Thus, all we CAN do is but to come into an inheritance prepared for us ALREADY (already always) from before the very foundation of the world, even in SPITE of ourselves, and that's pretty darn funny, to get that and actually have the courage, and the wisdom, to freely recieve the unmerited gift of incaculable value, and I mean who wouldn't?

It is our humor restored, not merely as our good-willed good-natured humor, and playfulness, but also the humor of true understanding which surely lit up the face of Jesus with a radiant and genuine smile.


God Bless,

NAM
Saturday, October 13th, 2012 (tick tick tick..lol)