Ignorance may not truly be bliss but..

Jamdoc · Nov 10, 2019

BryanJohnMaloney said:
So, according to the Nirvanism heresy, we shall not desire the Presence of the Lord, we shall not desire the intimacy of raising voices together in His praise.

I never claimed Buddhism made sense. Just said what at least I'd heard it's central core concept was, and I think an eternity "free from desire" sounds like nothing I'd want. But it seemed parallel to this common idea among Christians that God wants me to just fall on my face in adoration at His throne for eternity, a singular, static existence, and the only way that could fulfill me is if all other desires were removed.
I now know that is a false parallel, and a false view of God's will and God's plan.
I don't want that because HE doesn't want that.
We will be worshiping and glorifying God for all eternity that much is true
But we will be doing that in many ways through many activities, not just one. That was the false premise, that He would want us to do only one thing, in one location.
God will be everywhere in the new creation, He doesn't need you to all be in one location before the throne. He will be with you no matter where you are physically in the new creation.

1213 · Nov 11, 2019

Jamdoc said:
...Yet we know there are things that will not be in the new creation. Marriage, and by extent, sex and children (Matthew 22:30), and there will be no death (Revelation 21:4), by extention of that, there will be no food outside of say, milk, honey, things that do not require anything dying to eat. But we (most of us anyway, there are voluntarily celibate people) have these desires hardwired into us, to eat (which in most cases, we have to kill something to eat), to get married and have a family (sexual desires involved there). So, if those things are not in the next Kingdom, the desires are not directly fulfilled....

Many of those desires are desires of flesh, this old body. If you get new body, it may have new desires?

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
1 Cor. 15:44

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven.
Matt. 22:30

for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:17

I think desire is not bad in all cases. It depends on what is desired. And in many cases what people really desire is to love and to be loved. And it seems to me that often food and sex are just substitutes for love. Love is the greatest. Without it, all earthly things, food, sex… …are meaningless, or hollow. And I believe, when person knows the true love, there is really nothing important missing.

If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing… …But now faith, hope, and love remain-these three. The greatest of these is love.
1 Cor. 13:1-13

He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:8

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18

Jamdoc · Nov 11, 2019

It's love but also Fellowship and sharing a pleasant experience with people that you love. Fornication is empty and meaningless, eating something you like alone is similarly empty and meaningless. Why are holidays almost always feasts with family? It's to share something pleasurable with a bunch of people you love. It makes that relationship and that love stronger to do activities with them. However if you love each other but never share pleasant times with them, that relationship feels like it's less. If you love your mother and father but never call them, never visit, how strong is that love? If you love God but never talk to Him, how strong is that love? I don't just want to love God without doing things with and for Him. I want to love God and do things in fellowship with Him, I want to do lots of things, I'm sure He'll have a lot of plans now.

Bruce Leiter · Nov 11, 2019

Jamdoc said:
(Psalms 23:1)
So, a warning, yes, this will probably be controversial.
Disclaimer: I'm not buddhist, and I know very little about Buddhism but what I do know is that central philosophies to it are that human suffering is caused by desire (which yes is wrong, it's caused by sin), and that the goal is to seek an enlightened state called Nirvana where you have an absence of desire and are content.
Now obviously it leaves God out, it leaves Christ out, but interesting food for thought, is that perhaps the state of bliss in His presence will be a removal of all desires? Because there are many verses in scripture that tell us in essence, don't desire things aside from God, be content (Philippians 4:11).
(Psalms 37:4) is a promise that our desires will be fulfilled. Yet we know there are things that will not be in the new creation. Marriage, and by extent, sex and children (Matthew 22:30), and there will be no death (Revelation 21:4), by extention of that, there will be no food outside of say, milk, honey, things that do not require anything dying to eat. But we (most of us anyway, there are voluntarily celibate people) have these desires hardwired into us, to eat (which in most cases, we have to kill something to eat), to get married and have a family (sexual desires involved there). So, if those things are not in the next Kingdom, the desires are not directly fulfilled. If all desires of the heart are fulfilled and those things that we might desire in this life are absent, the logical conclusion is that those desires are removed.
Do we just forget them? Would we be just completely ignorant about the concepts of sex and eating because we'd have no biological need for them and they would be things absent from our eternal life?

No, the problem with sin is that we have replaced God with people and things as objects of our desires. After we die and are resurrected, we will desire only God. Our struggle now is to replace those objects with God through the power of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection--all with persistent prayer.

Jamdoc · Nov 11, 2019

Bruce Leiter said:
No, the problem with sin is that we have replaced God with people and things as objects of our desires. After we die and are resurrected, we will desire only God. Our struggle now is to replace those objects with God through the power of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection--all with persistent prayer.

(Genesis 2:18)
Even before sin, God made us to be in fellowship and relationship with each other, not just Him. He is the Father, we are the children. But the children play with one another and have relationships with one another too.
(John 1:12)
(Ephesians 2:19-22)

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Ignorance may not truly be bliss but..

Jamdoc

Watching and Praying Always

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1213

Disciple of Jesus

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Jamdoc

Watching and Praying Always

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Bruce Leiter

A sinner saved by God's astounding grace and love

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Jamdoc

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