Jesus died because of our sins. This was a given.
His only gospel was the Gospel of the Kingdom. It's message ran contrary to the traditional ways of man. Everything that human power, leadership and control is based upon according to our standards, runs opposite to the ways of the Kingdom.
We are for the most part about self, while the Kingdom is about others. Jesus' Kingdom was called in ancient literature the upside down Kingdom, and for good reason. Rather than promoting the self serving ways of man, ways which often sought gain at the expense of others while redefining good and evil to attain those ends, Jesus taught to serve others rather than self. Opposite. Upside down.
Now what institution of man and especially the governors of such, would put up with someone let alone another nation undermining their self serving, self appointed positions of authourity, along with the system they've lived under which required oppression in order to exist? It applied to Rome. It applied to the Pharisees. It applies to governments and religious leaders today.
So immersed in that self serving, self protective mode of man, they killed He who could set them and us free of this backwards world. Once again, no room in our inn for His alternate teachings. He died because of the original sin of man, self interest. God has said from the beginning His will before ours, but man always ends up thinking they have a better way. So in our arrogance we killed that which was seen as an enemy to our way of life. Jesus died because of our human sins. There was no doubt what the outcome would be in God's mind.
However, God's will proved stronger than the arrogant will of man, and the resurrection and that very world/system/kingdom that they feared, came to be as a result So who was smarter? We played right into His hands so that He may bring to life the first born and king of many in the Kingdom, a someone who did not question the will of the Father. The many of the Kingdom being they who, in keeping with Jesus' gospel, reject the traditional self serving ways of mankind.
Jesus was loved by the oppressed but hated by the system. As scripture says, His followers are to be hated for emulating He and His Kingdom also. Jesus taught that we were not to rebel against the system of man but live as an alternative to it, showing by example it's fruits, it's alternate way of life. We may be appreciated for our goodwill, but there is never a moment where our alienation towards the system of man could not have us quickly labelled as traitors along with suffering the punishments. Go ahead. Try telling world leaders (let alone most people) that they have it all backwards with their self interests.
You might ask why then is a lesser gospel taught? Simply because the very religion that was to teach about and stand out as a beacon of the Kingdom, could no longer teach it's ways. Claiming to speak for God, it too had rejected the Kingdom and rejoined the world of man to work as partners in a secular world. It sold out as man often does. This too was a given and God expected it, using it also for His purpose. But that is another story.
Therefore, to teach against itself by focusing on the upside down ways of the Kingdom would have shown it's hypocrisy. So the rules were subtly changed so that they and their followers could have it both ways. God says nope and man finds a loophole. But as Jesus taught, don't rebel against them. We still have the freedom to pursue the Kingdom of God while they pursue the kingdoms of man. They shall have their reward of what they have gained here, but none of the Kingdom.
The blind have lead the blind for a long time but the blinded still have a chance to consider the upside down Kingdom and switch allegiance, just as the early followers once did. The choice is still ours for now. It's what repentance/change is all about. The hard part is overcoming years of worldly propaganda to remain adversarial in our ways to the will of God.
© ...timothyu
His only gospel was the Gospel of the Kingdom. It's message ran contrary to the traditional ways of man. Everything that human power, leadership and control is based upon according to our standards, runs opposite to the ways of the Kingdom.
We are for the most part about self, while the Kingdom is about others. Jesus' Kingdom was called in ancient literature the upside down Kingdom, and for good reason. Rather than promoting the self serving ways of man, ways which often sought gain at the expense of others while redefining good and evil to attain those ends, Jesus taught to serve others rather than self. Opposite. Upside down.
Now what institution of man and especially the governors of such, would put up with someone let alone another nation undermining their self serving, self appointed positions of authourity, along with the system they've lived under which required oppression in order to exist? It applied to Rome. It applied to the Pharisees. It applies to governments and religious leaders today.
So immersed in that self serving, self protective mode of man, they killed He who could set them and us free of this backwards world. Once again, no room in our inn for His alternate teachings. He died because of the original sin of man, self interest. God has said from the beginning His will before ours, but man always ends up thinking they have a better way. So in our arrogance we killed that which was seen as an enemy to our way of life. Jesus died because of our human sins. There was no doubt what the outcome would be in God's mind.
However, God's will proved stronger than the arrogant will of man, and the resurrection and that very world/system/kingdom that they feared, came to be as a result So who was smarter? We played right into His hands so that He may bring to life the first born and king of many in the Kingdom, a someone who did not question the will of the Father. The many of the Kingdom being they who, in keeping with Jesus' gospel, reject the traditional self serving ways of mankind.
Jesus was loved by the oppressed but hated by the system. As scripture says, His followers are to be hated for emulating He and His Kingdom also. Jesus taught that we were not to rebel against the system of man but live as an alternative to it, showing by example it's fruits, it's alternate way of life. We may be appreciated for our goodwill, but there is never a moment where our alienation towards the system of man could not have us quickly labelled as traitors along with suffering the punishments. Go ahead. Try telling world leaders (let alone most people) that they have it all backwards with their self interests.
You might ask why then is a lesser gospel taught? Simply because the very religion that was to teach about and stand out as a beacon of the Kingdom, could no longer teach it's ways. Claiming to speak for God, it too had rejected the Kingdom and rejoined the world of man to work as partners in a secular world. It sold out as man often does. This too was a given and God expected it, using it also for His purpose. But that is another story.
Therefore, to teach against itself by focusing on the upside down ways of the Kingdom would have shown it's hypocrisy. So the rules were subtly changed so that they and their followers could have it both ways. God says nope and man finds a loophole. But as Jesus taught, don't rebel against them. We still have the freedom to pursue the Kingdom of God while they pursue the kingdoms of man. They shall have their reward of what they have gained here, but none of the Kingdom.
The blind have lead the blind for a long time but the blinded still have a chance to consider the upside down Kingdom and switch allegiance, just as the early followers once did. The choice is still ours for now. It's what repentance/change is all about. The hard part is overcoming years of worldly propaganda to remain adversarial in our ways to the will of God.
© ...timothyu
