27.2 The Anti-Design
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The design and pattern of God is Word. You and I are designed by Word far more than we have ever known. Before we will look at the true design of all the good word God speaks us to be, however, we must first set out the false word that has shaped all Nicene Christian thinking.
You will undoubtedly notice that I am making use of J.R.R. Tolkien’s layout of the rings of power. Please be assured that I am not thus assigning to Tolkien any “divine revelation.” Rather, I am just having a whole lot of fun. You must admit, however, how well this allegory works.
The One Verse to Rule Them All
Genesis 3:1 & 4b-5
Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? – You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil {anti-Romans 8:28-30).
The Seven
1. We consider everything “God” says analytically and with the human intellect. (The words “Has God indeed said” rule Christian thinking.) The Bible is not God’s creative word, Christ, being spoken into us through our faith, rather, it is an instruction book upon which we are to take a position and about which we argue.
2. “God” by his nature and being “knows” evil, and thus the evil in god is always mixed together with the “good.” Out of this god comes a universe split between good and evil with good and evil at war with one another over every created being. (This splitting apart is death.)
3. More than that, by this god filled with good and evil all mixed together, the consummation of all things is a place of all evil forever and a place of all good forever, utterly separated from one another. (This splitting apart is also death.)
4. Every word God speaks is a distant possibility only, something that is not yours except by human performance. – Let God be a liar until every man make Him true. (The phrase “you shall be like God” is overwhelming in its power. God said, “You are like Me.” The serpent said, “You can be.”)
5. Man as he is, then, is contemptible. Only by self-improvement will he become “better” than his present sorry condition.
6. Since God does not look like man, then another must take man’s place. And thus the image of the highest of created heavenly beings takes the place of man as “what God looks like,” an image of outward perfection, of external superiority.
7. The task placed upon man is to know what is good and to do it and to know what is evil and to refrain from doing it. (By “choosing” to do good, humans commit themselves to a fake “moral” living and thus to the constant possibility and practice of doing wrong.)
1. Interpret the Bible with your human intellect.
2. See god as a “moral” being, knowing good and evil.
3. Split salvation into all good and all evil.
4. Do not presume that god is speaking of you.
5. When you see “god,” know just how low and despicable you really are.
6. Worship a “god” and a “Jesus” of superior outward appearance.
7. Work hard, that is, try to make yourself “better.”
The Three
Serpent Rule 1: “God” requires human achievement, that is, humans must “make themselves better” (self-improvement) by human performance.
To the Bible: The law and obedience to the commandment become prominent as the Bible is read. Thus, any reference to living inside of Christ is not noticed.
To Themselves: Rigid conformance to what people think. Hiding secret sins. Always “trying to do better,” that is, pretending to try. Always falling short; always not quite there.
To the Church: Seeing all Christians as isolated individuals. Defining salvation as something they must “get right,” while being convinced that most of them are not. Contemptuous of the failings of others. Demanding of perfection.
True Image: Death – and the Myth of Sisyphus, an unending labor that never arrives.
False Image: The Way.
Serpent Rule 2: Christ is not the life of the believer; believers possess a life not His.
To the Bible: Discovering the “depravity” of the believer all through the Bible. Emphasizing the negative and viewing the positive as a “sugar-coated gospel.” Defining the gospel as a never-ending struggle.
To Themselves: Speaking little snippets of cursing against one’s self in the thoughts of the mind. Speaking words of self-put down. Focusing on what the devil and the flesh might be doing; oblivious to what Jesus is. Then – self denying self, the old man putting off the old man, flesh dying to flesh, an endless and pointless attempt to “crucify” one’s self.
To the Church: Seeing the flesh in other believers. Exposing sin in each other. Preaching against. Exhorting the congregation to pretend to be like Jesus, while assuring them that they certainly are not.
True Image: The Lie and the Crucifix – an unending dying that never dies. Tantalus – a life always just beyond our reach.
False Image: The Truth
Serpent Rule 3: Aspire to and worship superior exaltation. Desire to “ascend.”
To the Bible: Seeing only the surface appearance of things in the Bible. Defining the greatness of God by human “greatness” and the kingdom of God by the kingdoms of men.
To Themselves: Hating the way God made them. Despising weakness. Longing to be “better.” Yet, at the same time, arrogant about one’s own self-righteousness.
To the Church: Accusing and being accused. – What do other Christians think of me? Talking about “dying and going to heaven.” Proclaiming that “We’ll see Jesus when we ascend to heaven,” even while refusing to see Him now.
True Image: Gehenna, an unending false story of self. Tantalus again – ever reaching, never obtaining.
False Image: The Life
[Note: I have made these explanations stark and direct. Nonetheless, if you think carefully about what Christians actually mean by the things they say, you will realize that these are the things they mean. (Except, of course, those who rejoice in Christ.)]
The Nine
[Note that each one of these verses (with the exception of “Jude”), as it fits into its place inside of Christ and under the ruling verses of the Bible AND as it is translated as the original actually reads, is a word of life, not a word of death. Thus we are seeing these verses as they are defined by the serpent’s words and as they rule in human intellect.]
And that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the time. – So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. – We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord (Acts 3:20b-21 & 2 Corinthians 5:6 & 8). {A tiny, impotent, and faraway Christ} {anti-John 14:20, 15:4 & 17:3}
And they were judged, each one according to his works. – This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. – And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:13b & 14b-15 & 10b). {An ending in the triumph of evil} {anti-Romans 8:19-22}
You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them. – All that the Lord has spoken we will do (Leviticus 18:5 & Exodus 19:8). {The Myth of Sisyphus} {anti-Hebrews 3:6/14 & 2 Corinthians 2:14}
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). {The total depravity of the Christian} {anti-Hebrews 10:19-22}
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells (Romans 7:18) {The horror of where god has placed us – Gehenna} {anti-Ephesians 3:17-19}
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth (Colossians 3:5). {Taken separately from the one death of Christ and becoming – The crucifix, an endless cutting of one’s self} {anti-Galatians 2:20}
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt (Psalm 123:3). {Weeping and wailing before the cross, refusing to enter Christ} {anti-Revelation 12:10-11}
We’ll know what it’s all about when we die and go to heaven (1 Corinthians 13:10 & 12 – paraphrased) {unbelief} {anti-John 7:37-39}
These [people] are spots in your love feasts – clouds without water – raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame – These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts – hate even the garment defiled by the flesh (phrases from Jude 1) {wrong seeing} {anti-John 15:12-13 & 1 John 3:16}
Except for the hatred against other believers in Jesus engendered by the dark statements in Jude, each one of these other verses are either (1) poorly translated or (2) taken grossly out of context or (3) willfully misinterpreted or (4) some combination of the three. Yet when you analyze the thinking of most Christians, you will find these “rules” working underneath how they read everything in the Bible, and especially how they define God, man, Christ, and salvation. And every one of the nine is able to dominate entirely because of the power of the one that rules them all, a “god” who knows good and evil, an image of superiority, and a universe split apart by death.
Now we turn to a view of all things through Jesus’ eyes.