Pneuma- Part One

Pneuma- The Higher Reality
(part 1)

JOB 33:4

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Have you noticed that through our sufferings we come to see God more clearly? Like storms that clear the air, our sufferings clear our lives of all that clutters them, and only then can we see what truly matters. This was true in the life of Jesus, and surely the story of Job gives us a wonderful and enlightening example of this. However, this writing is not about suffering; it is more about where we find its ultimate opposite- contentment. Job, Jesus and everyone can find peace and joy in the higher reality of the spirit. Do not think that Job’s declaration here is for him alone. His revelation and, for that matter, his entire saga is universal to every soul who will ever seek to know and please God in a higher, spiritual way.

So then, I see the story of Job as an allegorical blueprint for every child of God that has come into this world who is left wanting more than it can offer. Job had it all- friends, family, land and many possessions, but he knew there was something more to life. When God removed the clutter of possessions from his life, he could then clearly see all that was left and all the truly mattered- SPIRIT. Like Job, we are being tested, qualified and then surely restored. Job, the faithful and patience one, learned perhaps the most important lesson of all- one that each of us must. God has given us life, His life. I find it very humbling to realize that it is God’s very “breath,” which animates us. Moreover, this fact should give us good reason to pause and deeply reflect upon the real purpose of our existence.

The truth is this- spirit is needed for life, and God is source of all spirit. Therefore, God’s life is present in EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. As intended, the depth of this fundamental absolute reaches just beyond the understanding of the natural mind. Indeed, many religious minds are confounded by the universality of God. This was essentially the theme of God Is- Everything Else Isn’t, which seems to be more than many can accept right now perhaps because they have been taught differently. Religion is taught to us, but spirituality is sought after and discovered. Even today many who are being fed the conventional teachings of Christianity are receiving a kind of spiritual baby food. Too many stay on this infantile diet to the point where they will eat nothing else. If our faith doesn't grow and mature, we will have a difficult time biting off and then chewing the “meat of the Truth.” It seems that religious minds would rather starve than begin to eat this more “solid” food.

Certainly the religions of man vary greatly, and yet, they are all built on the same desire to know the spiritual world. However, to know the spirit in any meaningful way, one must have a spiritual mind. This apparent Catch-22 fosters many of the ills we find in the world’s religions. Commonly, we find that those with unspiritual minds seeking power find their outlet by becoming very religious. This dangerous combination has often times created a person who is pigheaded, prideful and, of course, even violent. I hope it is clear that under no circumstances would any soul being led by the Spirit of Christ use violent methods to promote their message. Yet sadly, even the noblest religion is responsible for inflating egos, scaring souls into submission and creating legions of uncompromising lunatics.

While everyone wants to believe they are right, many religious souls, in their quest to be special, are utterly convinced that their particular religion has exclusive rights to the Almighty. This strong sense of pride that believes “our God is the TRUE God” has led to countless conflicts, wars and sufferings. Even today we can hear the so-called “born again” Christians claim that they ALONE have God’s Holy Spirit within them because they have been baptized or because they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Well, demons also believed that Jesus was the Son of God; and the earth is baptized every time it rains. History has proven that religion tends to go hand in hand with pride, which leads to hate and eventually violence. Well, the truth of the matter is that man has never created a single religion big enough to contain God. The word “God” is such a small word, but the concept should blow our minds away- at least our natural minds. Try and explain to the natural mind that God is everywhere but cannot be seen. This is nothing less than confounding for the natural mind, so religion mixes a small amount of truth with rules, rituals and regulations to make a kind of baby food mush! Eat it if you must because it can provide some nourishment, but if you are ready to grow up then seek the meat.

So then seek, find and feed on the central truth of life in the higher reality of the spirit. God is all in all because God is the Father of all spirit. And there is absolutely no life of any kind without SPIRIT. What has come into existence outside of God, God’s will or God’s spirit? Many are taught that God is only THREE “spirits“- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christianity’s explanation of the Trinity is vague and even nonsensical. I have written about this before in God Is- Everything Else Isn’t when I described how the Trinity of God is much like the trinity of man’s being. We are spirit, mind and body that function as one in the world. God is one that having three dimensions of being- Father (Spirit), Son (Mind) and Holy Spirit (Body). From the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit, life came upon the earth. We read it, but do we believe it?

It does seem easier to understand that the “breath” of the Almighty has given us human beings life, but harder to accept that this divine life also emanates from ALL things be they great or small. To completely comprehend the immensity and life-changing implications of this fundament of truth we have to wrap our minds around the following principle. Every man, woman and child-- every animal, plant and living thing has life ONLY because God’s breath (spirit) exists within them. God is the only life-support system sustaining every heartbeat and every breath of every thing. This means that when a sparrow falls to its death, God knows. And yet, God’s life-giving energy even permeates the lowest, smallest levels of creation including every atom, every quark and every subatomic particle moving in the universe. Even in this unseen level of creation, God’s will is being carried out purposefully. It should come as no surprise that God’s life (spirit), design and purpose are embedded within everything seen or unseen if you accept what Paul and others taught.

As many Bible studiers may know, the Greek word for spirit is PNEUMA, which essentially means “current of air” or “breath.” Long ago ‘breath’ was associated with those creatures that had conscious life and with good reason. The ancient wisdom regarding spirit and much more is found in the Scriptures of the Bible along with other holy documents. Those prophets of God were certainly on to something, so we should keep building upon the truths they realized. Like a breath that fills our lungs and brings life to our blood, the spirit is the unseen life within us. And like our breath, when spirit leaves us so does our life. Was it not God’s breath in the Beginning that went into the void to form all of creation? This was the moment when the Father gave the Son the purpose of creation and consciousness- to create the divine image of God.

This is why we are here my friends. So this latest writing is an attempt to show the workings of the higher reality of the pneuma. In a sense then this is also a sequel to Shadows of a Higher Reality where I wanted to show that God’s fingerprints are on all of creation. The myriad of shadows created by higher reality of the spirit are seen in nature and everyday life to be signs that can help us find our way back to the Father.

Through the prophets from every religion it has become more and more apparent that mankind’s spiritual awareness is growing. With each age and with each incarnation, we are all climbing higher into the hidden dimensions of the spirit that were hidden from mankind for millions of years (Ephesians 1:9, Colossians 1:27), but no longer. As Paul proclaimed, Jesus, the anointed One, has changed all of this! Jesus connected with this higher dimension of the spirit and remains our conduit to God’s love and power. Only through this divine power will we ever hope to ascend beyond man’s dogmatic deceptions, religious rampages and unholy hatreds. I see God calling souls from every religion and every walk of life to go higher into the life of the pneuma. This is the Way of Christ that will lead us into that Promised Land. These enlightened children of God are fully aware that this spiritual territory they seek is not “land” at all or even of this world! It is a higher state of mind and spirit where the worries and pains of the lower world are transcended. Now is the time for us to quit cowering in the darkness of Hades. Let us together rise up to experience a wonderful new glory- yes, a new life where the spirits of mankind are no longer hiding in fear!

Spirits in Hiding

Genesis 3:8

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Is humanity still hiding from God? And for that matter, are we also still ashamed of our nakedness? It should be apparent to every truth seeker who has ever read the Bible that there are various levels of wisdom hidden within its words and stories. Nowhere is this truer than in the famous story of Adam and Eve. I know that some still religiously cling to their traditional teachings that God created the first human being out of dust. POOF! There’s a man! Then take a rib out, and POOF, there’s a woman! Along with this very dubious dogma, some are emphatic that this miraculous event happened about 6,000 years ago in spite of literally “mountains” of contrary evidence.

While I completely understand that the Bible was never intended to be a science book, it is certainly one of the best sources of spiritual wisdom I know. Moreover, it is a moral and spiritual guide that has stood the test of time only because it was written by divinely inspired souls throughout the ages. It should be clear that in my quest for truth, I have drawn heavily upon it including the story of man’s genesis. Being a scientist myself, I demand that all truths harmonize. This means that the truth discovered by science must harmonize with the truth revealed through inspired writings. I have found that this harmony should be expected because this world is a shadow of a higher, spiritual world. Yet to see beyond the shadows, we must have a higher perspective and understanding. To achieve this reconciliation between the natural and the spiritual, we are often times required to look beyond the literal interpretations that have been handed down through our traditions and teachings. Now even though I will occasionally make a little fun of those traditional (and painfully literal) interpretations, I can discern that there is actually some natural/scientific validity in the Bible’s depiction of mankind’s genesis. However, even then we must have the right perspective to see this. While natural minds think naturally, only spiritual minds understand the ways of God. Acknowledging this, let us take a closer, spiritual look at who Adam and Eve were and why they there were hiding.

Adam and Eve-

I suppose most everyone living on this planet (especially in the western hemisphere) is familiar with the adventures of Adam and Eve, but what about the story ABOVE the story? Unfortunately the dark ages still exist because there are still some Christians who refuse to look at this story in any other way than the fairytale they have been taught. However, there are those, even of entirely different religions, who are able to see this story in a much different (brighter) light. As I have discussed many times before in other writings, the story of Adam and Eve should be taken metaphorically or, better yet, spiritually. What a novel idea! Yes, surely our quest for spiritual knowledge must always be predicated on the fact that our God (and Father) IS SPIRIT! By accepting this simple truth, a very important clue is revealed. Surely it makes perfect sense that the one who is first called the “son of God” is also a spirit like his father. If you didn’t know this already, Adam was the first one on the earth called the “son of God” (Luke 3:38).

Yes, Adam was the first “son of God” to walk on the earth, and Adam was SPIRIT. So this is where we begin. Genesis is really the story of “man” from the time of becoming self-conscious. Man’s spirit has evolved from the animal kingdom and is being made ready for a higher kingdom. Our present form is human, but it is our spiritual evolution that we should concern ourselves with right now. Understanding that Genesis is describing our spiritual, self-conscious beginning then, it should be easier to understand that Adam (male) represents the spirit of the self-aware man while Eve (female) represents the soul. This means that Adam and Eve are only ONE spiritual self. God later covered them with skin (Genesis 3:21) because they felt naked, which will be discussed later. For now, we should recognize that spirit is characterized as being male while the soul is female. This is our spiritual foundation, and for this reason, I will often times refer to the soul as “she” and the spirit as “he.” So when we read that God created them (human beings) male and female, we should understand that everyone comes into this world as male/female (spirit/soul) beings.

This higher understanding of gender in Genesis will reveal a myriad of spiritual revelations all throughout the Bible. I have written about many of these before in other articles. An example of this would be when we read about the “sons of God” in Galatians 3:26. This is not speaking of just men because we know that women were also part of the ministry, and, in fact, this passage also states that there is no male or female in Christ. It should be clear then that “sons’ are those living and being led by the spirit for God. On the other hand, the “daughters of men” in Genesis are those who were living by way of the soul (mind), which is most of mankind.

There is also the term “daughters” of God (2 Corinthians 6:18) referring to those soul-dominated persons who desire to know and serve God. Often times they become quite devout within their particular religion like John the Baptist who was such a soul. Though he was a “natural” man, he was still considered the greatest man of the flesh to ever serve God (Luke 7:28). In essence then, he was the best the animal kingdom could ever produce by upholding God's law. In this way, John proved himself the greatest servant of God to have ever lived, and yet, he was still a man of flesh, not spirit. What God wants more than servants are sons! “Sons” means males; “males” means spirits! Paul taught that the hope of the world depended on the sons of God coming into maturity, but he also wrote that in Christ there is no distinction between male or female (Galatians 3:28). Clearly, he was telling us that there is no difference between men and women (natural) when in Christ (spiritual) because in Christ, we are SPIRIT and not flesh. With this and all we have already considered in mind, let us look upon Paul’s first letter to Timothy in a different way.

1 Timothy 2:11

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

On the surface this passage from Paul sounds very sexists especially by today’s standards. While given the era and social climate when this was written, it wouldn’t be outlandish to think that Paul was speaking naturally here. However, I give him more credit than that. Paul had a spiritual mind, and it is therefore likely that he had spiritual intent within this and other letters that may seem to put women in a lesser light. However, by interpreting this two thousand year old passage in a purely spiritual way, it makes perfect sense and harmonizes with our theme here! It then becomes easy to agree with the prophets of God who wrote about Eve (soul/mind of man) causing all our troubles. Unfortunately not all who read these words were spiritually minded and used passages like this to further demean and suppress women. It wasn’t a woman that caused the fall of mankind, it was the hungry mind of man that did.

Yes, it was indeed the appetite of the “woman” (soul/mind of man) that led us all into the darkness, deception, and kind of spiritual death of this world. Let’s not assume that it was one person’s fault because each of us, being spirit in the flesh, made the same choice at the dawn of mankind. We (spirit) all made the choice to eat of the tree of knowledge. We all have to go through death to know life; this is as God intended it. This is an important point that so many fail to see- God gave us the nature (inclination) to sin (disobey). If God didn’t, then WHO did! So we should never let God off the hook regarding our condition be it past or present. If God isn’t responsible for EVERYTHING He has created, then He is no God! It is God who created the universe and man. There have been no mistakes. The sooner we accept that this is the way God has designed for us to become His image, the sooner we can move forward into His fullness.

So when “Adam and Eve” chose to eat the knowledge of this world, this is exactly what God knew they would do and even intended them to do. Can one know without “eating” knowledge? As a result of a “diet” high in scientific discoveries we now know that humans have been walking this earth for millions of years. It was then at some point in time when we separated ourselves from the apes of the animal kingdom from which human had evolved. This was done not merely in form, but more importantly in consciousness. Mankind did this as a result of growing both spiritually and intellectually to a point where he became self aware and therefore spirit-aware. So, the spirit and mind of man made that critical decision long ago in our history to separate from the life (animal kingdom) he had known for so long. For eons upon eons, human beings lived with no need of fancy clothes, jewelry or mirrors. The ape-like man didn’t care about these things, but that certainly changed. In relatively quick fashion, man began letting go of his innate animal instincts and began trusting in the knowledge gathered from the world around him.

One could then say then that it was this moment of self-awareness when Adam and Eve were “created.” So after millions of years of evolution, God patiently brought forth a living being with whom He could have a personal relationship. This is our purpose and the first stage of God’s plan to bring His image and Kingdom to earth. The creature called man was no longer merely a highly intelligent cousin of the apes who walked upright. No, for the first time, the creature stood up before its Creator and called Him Lord. For the first time, the creature had a comprehension of “self” and an inner desire to know his creator. Yes, this moment of our spiritual and intellectual evolution had brought us the ability to create and then retain an image of self. However, as it was intended from the beginning, man’s first self-image was to be a deception that was merely skin-deep.

It’s All About Image-

One of the most basic tenets taught in the Bible is that man was created in the image and likeness of God. However, what far too many fail to understand is that God is NOT flesh. Herein hides the deception that has gripped mankind since the fall in the garden. As I was flipping through the channels on the TV the other day, a preacher was spouting off about creation (good) vs. evolution (evil). As he showed the picture of a chimp, he asked his viewers if they believed this was their “grandfather.” He said that Christians should be offended by this and the other claims of evolutionists. He sincerely and adamantly stated that man was made in God’s image and not in the image of an ape.

Oh, dear God! I can hardly bear the spiritual ignorance of those claiming to be teachers of truth! Far too many of these so-called “men of God’ are simply men of the flesh! How can those thinking and living so carnally call themselves children of God? What may be even more perplexing and disconcerting is that these natural thinkers stubbornly reject the truths (natural) of science. So not only are they spiritually blind, but also refuse to acknowledge the scientific truths placed right before their eyes! They only know what they have been taught and like many before them have become slaves to their dogma. To break this cycle of ignorance and deception they must first grasp the most basic principle Jesus taught- those who are born of flesh are flesh, but those born of the spirit are spirit.

So when it is said man was created in God’s image, we do well to remember that most essential truth about God- God is, in fact, SPIRIT. It is not the form of our flesh that is made in God’s image, but the form of our spiritual self. God created us to become His image- a reflection of Himself. Man’s need, even nature, to have an image of “self” is an absolute necessity that has been handed down from our Father. In the Beginning, the Father spoke His Word (sent His Son) into the void to create an image of God. To accomplish this, the Son created the universe and all that lives in it, including man. We are now called to our highest purpose in life- to be the image of God (the Word). Spirit begets spirit and since we are spirit from God, this divine directive to create an “image” continues into our lives as well, including even natural levels.

The very nature of life is to reproduce itself. This is witnessed when every cell of the body undergoes cellular mitosis. This is why males are so anxious to copulate and often. Not only does the flesh desire to procreate itself, but so also does the mind. We see this in minds when others want to change our thinking to match theirs. These minds want other minds to conform to their ideology. This fact is painfully and sometimes brutally obvious in the areas of politics, morality and, of course, religion. However, it is not our fault. God has given us this desire for unification. God wants us to conform to His image, which is His Logos- His Word. After all, this is what parents do, right? Yes, surely we know that as parents we knowingly or unknowingly try to shape our children into our own image. Our beliefs, attitudes, habits and ways of life seem to mold them into another version of ourselves.

Yes, it is all about image, but not our physical appearance, as many in this world believe. It is about our spiritual self (spirit/soul) becoming anointed to be the Spirit and Mind of Christ. You see, we are being led to become the image of God just as Jesus did. This is our purpose for coming into this world. We are spirit on the journey of consciousness coming from Adam and becoming like Jesus- from Alpha to Omega. The Spirit of Christ was the first Adam and the last Adam. Adam and Jesus are one spirit- the Spirit of Christ. Adam was the birth of God’s son and Jesus was the fulfillment of a mature son taking on the image of his Father. So to become like Jesus, we too must have the Spirit and Mind of Christ. Some might think that this is unobtainable because they are terribly ignorant of Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings. We have the nature of God, but have to learn this. In time and through experience, our spirit becomes mature and strong while our soul becomes wise and devoted.

Of course, the word “soul” used in the New Testament writings comes from the Greek word “psuche,” which is where we get our word psyche. This is to say that “soul” is akin to the psyche, mind or consciousness of an individual, which again makes perfect sense. You see, once human beings had reached self-conscious, the mind of man went “looking” for knowledge of self in the world. Up to this point, man had not known death in a personal way because he had not known himself. In other words, he had no sense of his own mortality because he had no sense of self. For the same reason, we will not see apes worrying about dying. No other creature (including the ape) looks into the future and fears death. Instead, they live in the moment. However, man stopped doing this and became a slave to fear. He began to worry about what he would eat and what he would wear. Thinking of the past he felt regret and while thinking into the future he became anxious. Yes, essentially man became afraid to die AND afraid to live.

All of this is the result of man’s image of himself- the ego. The ego can truly be called a “necessary evil” that is the result of becoming a “self”- albeit a false self. By simple definition for man to be SELF-conscious he must first have a SELF image; hence, the ego was born in the consciousness of man. It was this very ego that gave the serpent a voice in the Garden of Eden. Yes, Eve (the mind) was led astray by temptation of the devil’s advocate and mouthpiece- the ego.

We need to understand that the adversarial spirit of the lower world (a.k.a. Satan) was already present on the earth before man became self-conscious. By becoming self-consciousness, the ego gave Satan a voice in the head of humanity. Even though the ego became man’s image of self, it was a false image in the eyes of God and Truth. Thinking it to be God, the ego falsely claims that “I AM,” but it is nothing but a temporal projection of man’s natural image. Because the ego is based on worldly features like physical stature, social power and natural intellect it is merely a shadow of a shadow. In other words, here in our natural state we are merely shadows of God, so then the ego is a shadow of a shadow. It can only survive by holding us in the darkness- the deception and ignorance of hell. However, do not think of the ego as a mistake because the ego is not without divine purpose. It is like a shell covering our true self and will be used to “contain” us as we grow in spirit and consciousness.

Ultimately, our goal is to be God’s image of light and not a shadow of darkness. However, before this comes to be, the ego continues to “play god.” We are the temples of God, but the ego is the false prophet residing in the human temple. It, together with the carnal mind, is united with power in the art of worldly deception. Early in the age of self-consciousness, the ego began using man’s outer layer as its first level of deception, which is the flesh. In early man, the ego convinced the mind of man that he was flesh, so that first self image of man was based almost entirely on his physicality (and for some it still is). As mankind grew in intelligence, the ego had another weapon to use to keep man in the dark. By coveting the power of the (natural) mind, the ego could say, “I am intelligent!” As man’s intellect and worldly power has grown, so has his ego. Unfortunately, we see this inflation of self far too often in the area of religion. By following every religious rules and doctrine, the ego will convince us that we are “good.” Yet even Jesus realized that no person (flesh) is good, but only God (spirit) is good. So any goodness we possess has been instilled by God.

What is rather ironic is that the ego will let us believe in God because this really isn’t that important. As long as the ego has the CONTROL, it couldn’t care less what we profess to believe. This is really the way of the ego- “Believe what you want, but listen to me!” So who is the master of our domain- God or ego? Do we fall prey to the temptations of the ego or accept the will of God? Yes, it is our actions and not our words or even beliefs that determine who our master is in life. It is only the son who does the Father’s will that pleases Him and is saved. However, the one who does not hear God but is instead led by the devil ego is a slave to sin and lost. We should know that the only way to defeat the ego is through the Spirit of Christ. While the ego hides behind the power of the flesh and carnal mind, it cannot have our spirit. Because our spirit is eternally connected to God, neither can it be harmed nor can it be kept in the darkness of hell. So when we have matured in spirit, the ego will meet its match and eventual demise. As Jesus proved, living with the Spirit of Christ is the only way to overcome the devil and his accomplice the ego. Then our true image can be revealed, which is to be the face of Love.

Speaking of faces, there is of course a familiar New Testament story concerning a certain coin where Jesus was confronted about paying taxes. Many continue to take and teach this story at “face” value. Most teach that the lesson of the Rabbi was that we should give money/taxes to those who care about such worldly things. While this (more natural) interpretation is true, there is also a higher teaching being shared here. Let’s look more closely about what Jesus is saying about image.

Matthew 22:17

"Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" 18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 "Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" 21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."

The spiritual significance of this story is revealed by the clue of whose likeness, or image, is on the coin. Jesus said that because Caesar’s image was on the coin that we should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’s. Then consider what Jesus said next- “Give to God what is God’s.” What do you have of God’s? What do you have that has God’s image on it? Ah ha! You are the image of God! More accurately, your spiritual self is becoming the complete fullness and likeness of God! God gave you His spirit, His love, His faith and His life. God wants it all back with interest even! Whatever God wants, God gets. God cares about us, helps us and calls us children because we are of His Spirit. This should be no great mystery, yet many just cannot fathom this. Because of our divine nature and connection to God, we have the way to overcome the devil ego and be the image of God. This is exactly what Jesus did when it is said that he made himself to be nothing (Philippians 2:7). Like crystal clear glass, Jesus let God’s light, life and love shine from his being. He covered himself with nothing because he had nothing to hide.

Hiding from What?-

Well, this all brings us back to the question we began with in Genesis: Is mankind still hiding from God and if so, why? As you may have already realized, it all has to do with that little thing called “self image,” which we know is the result of reaching a higher consciousness. The subject of higher consciousness “raises” an interesting point. Man has been separated from the rest of the animal kingdom because of his elevated awareness of the world and of self. Because of this, God has called us to be more than human. Unlike the other creatures of flesh that are defined purely by their natural design, we are called to be more than human. A common phrase is “I am only human,” which is to say that I cannot be more than a carnal creature prone to make mistakes. Unfortunately, many Christians rest upon this lie and others for a false sense of security. They cover themselves with the deception that Jesus was already perfect for them, so they don’t have to be. Apparently, they forgot that Jesus told us to be perfect like our Father is perfect. How do we do this? We do this by being SPIRIT.

This is our divine uniqueness because we can be more than flesh. We have the ability to follow the higher ways of our spirit instead of the cravings of our flesh. No other animal of the lower kingdom can do this. In other words, a bird cannot be anything more than a bird. It has wings, so it flies. A lion cannot be anything more than a lion. It has sharp claws and teeth, so it kills and eats its prey. It seems that dogs may try to be more than dogs, but in the end they are still of the canine family. Oh, but man is different! Man is called to more than man- to go beyond his human form to become a new creation! Yes, God is calling us to become spirit like Him.

2 Corinthians 5:16

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old had gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Paul says that we are not to see anyone as flesh anymore- not even Jesus the Christ. Paul met Jesus- the spirit of Jesus that is! He knew that Jesus was not flesh. He knew that he was not flesh. He knew that we must cast off our old image and put on our true, higher likeness- yes that is the likeness of God! Now, what so many fail to understand is that man’s apparent “fall” from God’s grace in the garden was according to God’s will, His grand plan! As I will discuss in detail later, we must bottom out (so to speak) before returning to God. We go to the edge of the void where Death and Hades exist only to show us a “life” apart from God- a true oxymoron! What Jesus taught AND PROVED is that the only way to overcome them is to become a new creation in Christ. While we have and always will be spirit from God, coming to realize this higher reality is proving to be the hard part.

You see, this is exactly the problem that “Adam and Eve” faced, so we should go back to Genesis 3:8-10 and really consider what is being said there. First, do you suppose that Adam and Eve could actually (physically) hide from God behind some trees? Do you suppose that God would really have to say, “Where are you?” Is that even possible? Man hid from the Almighty and Omniscient One? Such a literal interpretation is both illogical and ridiculous, so we must put this account into a spiritual light, which will be most illuminating. Again, we must keep the Bible and its stories in context because it is a spiritual book not a science book. Even though they could only see these images in a natural way should not stop us from seeing then in a higher way. Religions, interpretations and our very image of God change because we are growing in awareness of Him. And thank God that the darkest ages of mankind are behind us now! Surely we can now see beyond the veil of the natural into the higher meaning hidden within the characters of this story.

When I read the story of Genesis, I see the story of man’s spiritual birth and struggles that would ensue. I read about the spiritual self (spirit/soul) of man becoming afraid because he felt “naked”. Yet while this embarrassment may be true for some on a natural level, it is not true of all human beings. Some cultures (in warmer climates!) still live naked or mostly naked and are not ashamed. While it is likely that these souls are still very carnal in their thinking, there are some that are not afraid to be naked before others. There is a passage from the Gospel of Thomas where Jesus teaches that we should not be afraid to stand naked (Gospel of Thomas 37). So obviously, this simple fear of being seen without clothes is more than skin deep. Haven’t you ever wondered why no other creature of the animal kingdom has the need to cover themselves with clothes? Understanding this superficial symptom will help reveal the spiritual cause of human beings becoming ashamed and afraid. If I were to paraphrase what I see happening in Genesis 3:8-10, it would go something like this:

Genesis 3:8 (paraphrased)

Then the spirit of man and his life partner (the soul) became aware of God’s Spirit moving through them in the beginning of their new age of self-consciousness, and they hid from God’s Spirit. They hid in the midst of humanity that was not yet self-conscious. They did this out of the fear that came from their ignorance of who they are. So they enthralled themselves into the lower, natural world that from which they had come. While the spirit of man was hiding behind his natural form, God’s Spirit called to him, “Where have you gone, into the darkness of the world?” The spirit of man answered, “I became aware of your presence in me, but could not believe I am your offspring. So I have immersed myself into the natural world where I have a physical identity. In doing so, I have chosen to continue to accept the knowledge given by my natural senses that I am flesh and the natural world around me is my home. So, I hid from you God because you are Spirit and I am not.

Fear, not hate, is the opposite of love. The moment of fear (shame) described above would be similar to when a child becomes old enough to have that sense of fear. No newborn child is afraid of the dark. After all, they have lived in darkness for 9 months before entering the world. No infant is afraid of the boogeyman because there is no awareness of anything or anyone trying to do it harm. It can then be said that we actually LEARN fear; it, along with pain, are the direct results of increased awareness. Ignorance is bliss, but add just a little knowledge and fear is born. In this state of conscious limbo we know, but not enough to ease our mind. In the same way, our fear of God was born out of our higher level of consciousness coinciding with our spiritual ignorance. Now, some will say that there was a “fall from grace” in the garden, but I would rather call it “an eye-opening” moment. Let’s go back the third chapter of Genesis again.

Genesis 3:6

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

This is all about coming to a new (higher) realization. As man’s eyes were opened, so was the doorway into a new world of consciousness- one that no other animal had ever experienced. This moment may have seemed like a “fall” because man fell into the darkness of a new world. As an animal and creature of flesh, man was the most advanced there was. But knowledge, being the catalyst for a fear, caused man to see he was more than flesh. Then for the first time, the man creature was afraid to be himself; he didn’t like the skin he was in! What other animal behaves like this? I know that the mere notion of this possibility sounds ridiculous, but there is no other animal on earth that is afraid to be itself. Think of it this way: Man had outgrown the animal kingdom and consciousness like a child outgrows his clothes.

Yes, it is all part of the Master’s plan. Even our fear of God is part of our maturing process. It is written that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and so it is. Adam and Eve ate of the tree that was full of knowledge (wisdom) that caused them, for the first time, to become afraid of God. This was not a bad thing, but a necessary part of growing in consciousness. However, like every child, we must at some point let go of our fear and replace it with reverence. Then from our reverence will come respect. From our respect will come love. And from our love will come the salvation of our spirit and soul. Together they are one, and together they are saved.

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