1Ti 4:9-10 “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. (10) For to this end we toil and struggle because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
I have
had a relationship with Jesus for much of my life. It began as a small child,
continued for about 20 years, there was a 25-year hiatus, and then a
re-establishment for an additional 30 years but within that period there was an
ongoing growth and change. This is especially true of the last 10 years. I
now believe that I am settling in on a viable understanding of Jesus roles. I
use the plural roles because I see that Jesus had essentially two main roles or
purposes. One was to the first century Jews that is narrated in the synoptic
gospels, and the other was to all of humanity in a spiritual sense as explained
by the mystical revelation of the apostle Paul. The Acts of the Apostles and
John’s gospel were written to bridge the two roles into one grand spiritual
one.
Don’t
confuse what I am presenting as the same as orthodoxy or evangelical orthodoxy.
It is very different. It has none of the toxicity associated with evangelical
orthodoxy. It does not emphasize hell as I believe the orthodox teaching
concerning hell is erroneous and does not properly reflect what is taught in
the scripture. I believe it is far more accurately representative of the
eternal purpose of his roles. The first departure from orthodoxy or evangelical
orthodoxy is that I believe that “the Christ” gave mystical revelation to
several groups over the course of human history. This is the eclectic part of
this understanding. When I refer to “the Christ” I am speaking of the Spirit of
the creative source. It is identified by several names over the centuries. It
is referred to as the Logos, the Tao, the Christ, the Spirit of God, It is not
exclusively Christian nor Jewish. The fact is that many of the religions that
are called poly-theistic really believe in one ultimate, supreme, creative
source. Jesus on the other hand was a human born into a specific time and
culture with a universal timeless message from “the Christ.”
So, what
is the overarching message to humanity from Jesus’ time on earth? How is Jesus
the savior of all people and what is meant by especially those who believe?
Well, I am confident that it is not salvation from sins. That was the mission
of the first role of Jesus as the savior of the Jews. They had the most evolved
concept of sin and sinfulness. Their Hebrew word for sin, chata simply
meant missing the way. They had developed an elaborate structure to define what
missing the way meant, and I think that Jesus came to correct that notion by
amplifying their concept of the Law. He came to show that it was a guideline
that would make for a more humane humanity, but they had developed it into a
code that would make them righteous. In this role he showed them that they
would always perpetually miss the way.
For the
more universal role revealed to Paul the mystic, I think it is constructive to
look at what savior meant in the first century. The answer is found in the Pax Romana.
Pax Romana is the golden age of Rome. It spans from Caesar Augustus to Marcus Aurelius.
In terms of years and time it is from 27 BCE to about 180 CE. It is roughly a
200-year span. It is descriptive of a period of peace. The emperor was considered
a savior, sotor Greek, because he brought peace to the people.
Jesus
came to declare peace for humanity with God. He came to a time and a culture
that was fearful of God and the afterlife. By the time of Jesus earthly mission,
the Jews had developed an elaborate view of the afterlife that included Gehenna
and Gan Eden. Gehenna was a time of fiery judgment, the Pharisees reasoned that
it would last for three years. Gan Eden was similar to the Christian idea of
heaven. The Roman world was influenced by the various Greek views of the
afterlife including many levels of the underworld. Paul wrote this in the
letter to the Romans. Rom
5:1 “Therefore,
since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ,” Jesus taught that he was the incarnation of the logos or
God consciousness, and went on to teach that we are also the incarnation of the
Logos. This is the importance of Jesus of Nazareth. He also exemplified the
love of God, and his sermon on the mount described a way to be more human, and
it was not intended to be a legal code, understood in a legal constitutional
way.
The “Christ” or “Christ Consciousness” as it is sometime called is the most effective once peace with God is established as fact. While some may not need it, those who were taught toxic Christianity need it for sure. Especially if they are to participate in their birth right which is the divine nature. If we put the toxicity behind us, we can advance into our natural spiritual inheritance. This is not the same as saying Jesus is the only way. There are for sure others, and some of the religions are far less toxic than Christianity has become, but, to understand the real message of Jesus and the definition of God and love by Paul and John adds a richness to any spirituality and affords new insight to those of other beliefs that may become eclectic as well. This is what is meant by saying “and especially to those who believe.” There are mystical revelatory truths in Christianity found in no other place.
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