One Giant Leap For Mankind
There are points in history where giant leaps have been taken. Usually however baby steps are the norm. In our personal or individual lives the same seems to be true. We look back and find giant leaps of personal growth were taken. We may also see a lot of baby steps taken before and after.
The purpose of this article is to express my personal view of how someone might in a short period of time take a very substantial leap forward in personal growth. I hope you don’t mind the personal touch of this short article.
This little article is my best “shot” at this topic at present. More work is needed and better terms may be found latter. This is definitely an ongoing study. So whatever you can get out of it, great! Feel free to tell me what you think.
Wouldn’t you like to wake up one morning and find that you were a completely changed person? Changed for the better!
Can you form an image of what you would look like as that changed person?
What do you now look like?
How do you now act?
Have you magically left those addictions completely behind you?
Are you now that loving and patient person that you have often desired to be?
Have you lost that nasty temper?
Are you just as concerned with how people see you or are you just as preoccupied with it?
Are you now so fabulous that all your appearance issues are reasonably settled?
Is most everyone that is important to you now satisfied with what they see?
Now that this change has taken place, has your approval rating gone up?
Do you now see yourself as better able to put people in their place when they are derogatory or belittling toward you?
Are you harder working now?
Are you more dedicated?
Has your wife or husband fallen even deeper in love, seeing the new you?
Are you now able to save that broken relationship?
Is your knowledge and communication skills now so elevated that converting the lost is much easier?
Are you now less prideful?
WHAT DOES THIS NEW PERSON LOOK LIKE?
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BRING SUCH A CHANGE OVER YOU?
I cannot think of very many topics that are more important than this one. Most of us desire some change or transformation in our lives. Most of us wish we were doing better than we are, or suspect that doing better is possible. The greater issues and questions are, what is “BETTER”, and how do we get “THERE”?
In my view “BETTER” and “THERE” are inseparably linked. In many ways what is better IS how we get there.
For thousands of years of eschatology (old covenant, old economy from Adam), humanity could not move forward. People were stuck. Personal growth was possible and was rewarding (Enoch for example) but there were still limits. Limits upon the individual and even more limits upon society (Babel, Israel ETC). We either believe that those limits were taken away or are being taken away or that they are still just as much still here.
If you believe that times have changed through the fulfillment of all things written, then this implies that you believe in the possibility of continued transformation. The fist question therefore is, “What is it that held us back?” “What was the official CHARACTERISTIC of the old covenant creature?”
It is my present view that the old covenant creature can be somewhat defined as the "egocentric man" (for lack of a better term).
Many of the biblical truths and biblical perspectives we are discovering are things that undermine our egocentric self-identity, self-view.
The egocentric man came into covenant standing through Adam. He was given covenantal identity. An “egocentric” identity. When Christ was telling them to “deny” themselves he was implying a denial of the old covenant “egocentric man”. That identify would have to be LOST, that "soul", that "person" of egocentric-orientation, would have to die to preserve an INTACT covenantal entrance into the age about to be.
Otherwise, “second death” or covenantal death would occur. The old covenant man could not and did not enter into God’s new age (Matt. 13:39-40; Acts 3:23; 1 Cor. 2:6; 2 Cor. 10:5-6; Gal. 1:4; Phil. 3:19; Titus 2:11-13; Heb. 1:11-12; 2 Peter 2:12; 1 John 2:16-17; 1 John 3:8).
It is stated that God hated Esau. He didn't love Esau the “outward”, the “façade”, the “exterior”, the creature of “APPEARANCE”. Hating your mother your brother you sister (Luke 14:26) as Christ demand should also be understood in the same way. It was the one's “egocentric-man” that was trying to DEFINE ONE'S OWN IDENTITY through such means.
Trying to establish one’s own self-worth. One’s justification or vindication of life. This was the point. Not to hate anyone as the offspring of God, of course not! Luke 6:32-35 and Luke 14:26 are not in contradiction with each other. Romans 9:13 and Luke 14:26 express distaste toward the OUTWARD FAÇADE that was accounted to the ADAM MAN.
In denying the egocentric-man his power, the first-fruits were manifesting the true children of God by illustrating in their lives the then coming covenantal death of the egocentric-man through the denial of that “soul” that “life” (Matt. 16:24-16). The life, covenantally attached to the AGE OF APPEARANCE would pass away (James 1:9-11).
The present premise that I work from is that the forbidden fruit, the knowledge of good and evil, was not an understanding of good and evil as we may think about it. Rather an experience of good and evil in an egocentric-oriented NEED TO BE RIGHT.
A need that could never be satisfied.
A thirst that could never be quenched.
Not even the “law” written in stone and ink could quench such a thirst for self-vindication. It exposed the futility of it all. A futility that Solomon writes about in the wisdom bestowed upon him. However one greater than Solomon came and brought the wisdom of God.
Was Adam so dense (prior to eating the forbidden fruit) that he was completely clueless to the concept that picking up a branch and beating Eve over the head would be INAPPROPRIATE TO THEIR LOVING RELATIONSHIP?
Did the acquisition of the knowledge of good and evil mean that Adam had no previous ability to bear responsibility through ethical choices?
Could Adam have learned to make good choices in the FREEDOM HE WAS GIVEN, and grow and mature accordingly without the knowledge of good and evil?
If yes, than it appears to me that the forbidden fruit was not an understanding of appropriate and inappropriate behavior which is needed to adapt to responsibility as sentient creation of God.
If no, then Adam was given freedom and responsibility with no way of handling it and was told not to take of something that he needed, to be able to conduct himself accordingly. If this is the case then Satan was not lying.
What have we learned through the story of eschatology? What is the underlying message of the scriptures? What is “better” and how do we get “there”?
What is it that Adam needed to do to stay in the Garden? Adam needed to fully accept that he was already OK! What he didn’t need is the egocentric-oriented need to be right to establish OK.
Trying to mature and grow. Seeking to understand life and get things correct as we can. Learning to adapt to responsibility are all excellent pursuits. What is getting in our way more than any other single element is our egocentric-oriented need to be right, which is related to our view that we are not already OK in the vindication of life, in the presence of our Father.
What does eschatology teach us then?
That we are to accept that we are already OK because GOD HAS MADE IT SO. The egocentric-man has no further standing. His authority has passed away.
There remains however the experiential acceptance of this truth. There remains however the historical outworking of our new standing as God continues to work in His creation, His offspring.
The conclusion therefore is one of love. Be touched very deeply and personally by unconditional love. You are loved and accepted as you are. Your value and self-worth is not affected by or through your potential. Your value is a constant independent of your potential. Our potential does not establish our justification of life.
Worth is common and set in all the offspring of God.
We are members of one another.
What is your view of life as pertains to how you see the character of God? Do you believe in “Common Grace” for all? Do you believe in “Universal Reconciliation”? How do you in your thinking or view frame “the severity of God”? What is the PURPOSE of his discipline?
Wherever you can see God’s loving kindness and acceptance and expressions of love upon those who did nothing to merit it, and so focus on this beauty. See and focus upon as much “God loving” as your views will permit. Wherever your views will permit, see the severity of God and his discipline as ultimately beneficial to the recipients of that severity.
If you do not share similar views to that of “common grace” or “infinite-grace” then please suffer me for having the audacity to encourage you to push the limits of your present view. So you don’t accept my perspective. Fine! But what is your view doing for you, and are you using it to change how you feel about yourself and those around you? For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace….
What does eschatology teach us then?
Our egocentric-oriented need to be right is one of our greatest handicaps.
The joy of finding out that you are mistaken is the joy of personal growth.
We are so very afraid that someone will reflect a fault in our character, an immaturity in our attitude, a shortcoming in our conduct. That someone will prove a doctrine wrong. We are afraid because we perceive that such things are the things that make us acceptable and worthy. WE CAN’T GROW BECAUSE BEING RIGHT MEANS BEING OK.
Then we adopt a false humility as a willing servant of God that is willing to accept the right doctrine so that we can now be OK! As long as we can put the change behind us and put the “wrongness” behind us to be right now, then having been wrong, but now seeing the light, is easy for our egocentric minds to embrace.
We can’t be honest or truthful with each other. We hide and struggle to cover ourselves. We are ashamed! We are diseased (in our mentality). Leprosy is eating away at our fleshly show of appearance and someone is crying out “UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!” We reciprocate, “I still look better than you!” “My covering is better than yours!”. We are sick to the soul. We need healing badly.
It’s ok to be wrong. God has it covered!
Seeking to understand things better and apply that understanding in life remains a worthy, beneficial and rewarding endeavor. Accept justification of life and live!
Conclusion:
We just might have one or two things in common my brothers and sisters. I would like to wake up tomorrow morning, a far more mature person than I am today. Maybe this interests you as well. I want to take a giant leap.
I want to wake up tomorrow, not needing to be right but wanting to grow.
I would like other people to be able to reflect back to me what they see and feel. I’d like a little more honestly without the belittling, without the character assassination, without the condemnation, without the feeling of having been a failure. I don’t want to feel better about myself because I showed someone else they were wrong.
I want room to grow and want others to feel that they have that same respect. I want to be loved for my value as a creation of God, as a child of God, not for my potential. It’s time to set aside the self-covering, the hiding, the shame.
But how does I get over my egocentric self? How do I move on to better things? How do I grow? My view is that it starts by recognizing that my very identity is in God and God is in all.
It’s not about me as I THOUGHT OF ME. It’s about God and us and me that is part of you. It’s about accepting the identity that God has given us. Not trying to establish my own.
Perhaps we further apprehend our potential when our potential does not define who we are in the idenity that God has given us. I’ll let God do that. It's time to move on!
By Barry Dupont
