Chapter 6 - On the Creation of Righteousness
Creation is a two step process: design and construction.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
Creation is a two step process: design and construction. In biblical terminology, God speaks the form/frame/structure and the Spirit fills/applies it to create a body. That which was formless is given structure, and that which was empty or void becomes filled or solid. The Genesis 1 description of the earth’s creation follows this pattern, and the creation of the Mystical Body of Messiah God follows the same creation process flow - one body cell, spiritual temple rock or person at a time.
To understand the history and purpose of God’s mission more clearly, one must remember that people witness the process of creating of the Body – Temple – Kingdom of God from the changing material perspectives of time and place on a physical earth. Though initiated by the ONE Creator who dwells in the perfect eternity of the Third Heaven, the body begins as moldable, changeable material like the potter’s clay. Through a process of temporal trial and error as modified by faith and divine operation, the mystical Body takes a flawless, permanent shape within the spiritual realm of eternity impervious to the distortions of corruption. Most of this process interactively takes place in parallel dimensions - “concurrently” in temporal terms: what happens on earth affects what is formed in heaven. Of course, the reverse is also true: the temporal physical reality mirrors the eternal metaphysical reality.
Humans are unable to directly access information from the metaphysical realm by design, so we do not naturally perceive the whole picture. We require spiritual mediation or data input from the realm of eternity, and the problem has always been what sources of information can one trust. Without external proof discussion, the Bible is the ONE dependable source and transfer vehicle of metaphysical realm information through spiritual revelation. The reader can find many books discussing external proofs for the Bible as God’s Word. This book presents unshakable internal ones that none can prove through personal application in real time living.
Furthermore, time and mortality distort the picture of what is going on. Apparent inconsistencies in the biblical narrative confuse clear philosophical or theological grasp of God’s purpose because the continuous nature of this process occurs in disconnected dimensions. Even the language I must use to attempt an explaining clarification manifests its material and conceptual limitations. My hope is that a righteous spiritual reality will be formed within the decision-driven, creative personness of your mind and body out of the various pieces of the big picture – the physical analogies, word pictures and chains of reasoned thoughts and observations presented in these pages.
One of the foundational truths of human history is that power corrupts. People seek power to control their lives and satisfy their lusts. Control of life means the preservation of self, of one’s identity and temporal existence on earth. It may include misconceived notions of eternal life, too. Humans are driven to seek power to live as they want to without answering to anything, anyone or any god. We will do almost anything, say almost anything and will almost anything in order to get control of, to get the power to make our lives the way we want them to be. Sometimes this grab for power is disguised in altruistic motives. Sometimes it is disguised to conform to socioculturally acceptable motives. Sometimes it is a worship of power for power’s sake.
The only way to get close to the power of God is to give up the powers of this age – both spiritual and physical. I know from personal experience that even comprehending this statement is difficult. I have paid a high price to learn it. Perhaps you will need to do so, too. I hope not. Genuinely I would wish that my hard learned lessons might save you some pain, grief, disappointment and generally bitter, bitter sorrow, hopelessness and from the consuming desire to become nothing. God, for reasons of His own defined as love, would have it otherwise, and I share that with you now, but my words are useless unless you ask your Creator for help in understanding His ways.
Purposed Permission of Evil
God created the materially temporal universe, our earth and all that is in it, including humans, so that evil could readily originate, exist and thrive under controllable circumstances. Apparently, righteousness may only be created from evil. People must commit, experience and reject evil in order to freely choose God’s righteousness as an integral characteristic of eternal love. Love defined and/or expressed in any other way other than how God lives does not last. It never has and never will - not in this world or the next.
What is righteousness? It is God’s nature or His way of thinking and doing anything – everything. Righteousness is the Creator’s definition of love – the essential requirement for a joyful and productive eternity. God inhabits eternity, and He is the only ONE who knows how to live it. Any other way is hellishly unpleasant, destructive and rebellious. God defines goodness, and anything deviant from His goodness is sinful evil. How righteousness is expressed may vary a bit according to the medium of expression. The spiritual quality is constant but the behavioral expression may vary by position in time and sociocultural context on earth.
Righteousness does not naturally exist or arise in people. It is not built into the human condition: we must choose it in spite of ourselves. Within broad parameters, a righteous act of kindness might look a feel a little differently in different cultures or during a different point in human history. For instance, stealing is stealing, but what is defined as stealing in one society may not be so in another. However, God considers some legal forms of stealing as oppression that He will judge harshly.
An absolute standard or definition of righteousness exists in heaven, but on earth the divine expectations for humans has been a bit of a moving target through history and cultural context. A measure of variety exists in the human history of what God would accept as righteous behavior due to the operation of the creative process in both the metaphysical and physical realms. God revealed His definition of righteousness and the purpose for it through the covenant promises made with the Israelite patriarchs and prophets. Recorded in the Bible, God’s covenants include behavior and attitude expectations, blessings and punishments, legal obligations and the way to achieve them. The covenants define the divine design. Their purpose is to birth a growing family kingdom of like-minded, like spirited, righteous immortal beings incapable of evil. The by product of this creative system will be the elimination of evil from earth and the physical universe.
Evil first arose in the metaphysical dimension with the rebellion of Satan and his angels. Their rebellion was permitted, and evil’s continued practice on earth allowed in order to fulfill God’s purpose. Humans were created in the temporally spiritual image and fleshly likeness of God so that they could learn from mistakes, from evil. Any consequences of their evil deeds and thoughts would be limited in scope of impact and time. Being mortal flesh, people can change their minds and undergo a new cycle of creative renewal expressed in the natural realm of the universe. A person can decide to choose good over evil, God’s way of living and loving instead of one’s own.
Through the covenant promises, God provided the mediating mechanism to enable something that humans are incapable of effecting on their own spiritual willpower or creative ability: an effective transformation towards the just goodness of righteousness. God’s plan calls for transformed humans called saints to share His very nature of love, immortality, peace, joy, justice and omnipotence. Obviously, God cannot risk granting omnipotence to a potential doer or thinker of evil. His experience with the angels in the metaphysical realm led to the creation of people in the material realm where evil could be experienced and rejected.
With humans, identities can be co-created through a dynamic learning process and a change in power sourcing. Angels were manufactured beings designed to perform functional attributes of intelligent, self-directed task oriented behavior. Functionally determined identities become irreparably destroyed when the servomechanism no longer behaves according to its programmed design. Broken angels are worthless to God except to inflict evil upon humans so that people learn not to like any deviation from the Godly nature of love called righteousness. Angels can be shut down because they rely on an external power source. Sons of God by the resurrection cannot be shut down because they have become power sources; in Jesus’ terminology, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)
What are Angels and Demons?
Angels are the created sons of God. They are called “sons” because God is their source, which is a father in the philosophical sense of things. The Creator made them to be messengers, intelligent servants to do His bidding, which includes looking out for the faithful disciples on earth. Unlike humans, God did not make them after His likeness and in His image, and while humans are formed from material dirt, angels were made from metaphysical substance. Angels were made with freedom of choice but not with the ability to innovate or create imaginative realities; therefore, angels could choose to rebel but nor repent or turn away from their rebellion. Once their circuits are shorted, they cannot be repaired.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7)
He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers. (Psalms 104:4)
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
For to which of the angels did He ever say,
YOU ARE MY SON,
TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU?
And again,
I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM
AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME?
And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.
And of the angels He says,
WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS,
AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE. (Hebrews 1:1-7)
But to which of the angels has He ever said,
SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES
A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET?
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrew 1:13-14)
Angels are powerful metaphysical creatures of extremely intelligent behavior or works and not of creative imagination and faith. Remember, the heavenly or metaphysical realm exists in parallel to the earthly or physical. Just as we do not perceive radio or cell phone waves, humans do not directly perceive the angelic realm unless permitted or enabled to do so through angelic mediation. Angels define who they are by their behavior. Each fallen angel or demon is characterized by a particular set of strengths and weaknesses, concentrations of life force power and expressions of evil. The force patterns of their sins or rebellious behaviors vibrate or manifest in their names. The following section of Ezekiel describes Lucifer at his creation, his fall and expulsion from God’s throne (mountain) and ultimate fate of confinement to an abyss and eventual destruction:
Thus says the Lord GOD,
You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor
I cast you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
By the multitude of your iniquities,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever. (Ezekiel 28:12-19)
In the destruction of Satan and his demons, the metaphysical realm is cleansed of evil. Because human beings are mortal, our evil dies with us in this life. The evil deeds and thoughts and consequences of men and women do not affect the heavenly realm. Humanity in rebellion may succeed in destroying the earth, or perhaps damage the natural universe a bit, but it will all pass away with the end of time. During the Last Judgment, all those who were not born again by the Holy Spirit are resurrected to a short mortal existence for evaluation and sentencing. Those who have not learned to accept God’s definition of love will be cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20) Those who do are bodily transformed so that they may live forever in a new heaven and new earth constructed of metaphysical substance that will never choose to do or know evil. (Revelation 21)
ONE World: Two Spirits
God spoke: the Spirit made it so. How did God speak? What did God speak? What Spirit created?
I do not know directly: we only have some brief labels of what was spoken. When God said what the Bible records as “Let there be light,” I believe that all of the physical and metaphysical properties and laws of light were included in what God spoke because He had the whole creation in design form before the Spirit began the work of fulfilling the design with the physical universe by filling the void of the form or mold or by laying the flesh on the bones. When God spoke, His omnipotence obeyed across the entirety of all that there is at once including the metaphysical and physical realms or dimensions of the universe known philosophically as ultimate reality and temporal reality.
In God, the Word is at once both blueprint and structure, description and law, thought and action. God is totally congruent with no disconnections, inconsistencies, flaws or lies. Until some of the angels rebelled following Lucifer the Light Bringer turned Satan the Adversary, only the best was found anywhere, everywhere. As more completely discussed in digital spirituality, Satan short-circuited the sustaining power flow into the material creation or physical universe including earth. I can only speculate that it has something to do with the power transference from God’s throne through the metaphysical realm populated by both good and evil angels, to the material reality of space-time on earth.
Because the Holy Spirit materially filled the void of God’s design form physically expressed, God’s creation of the earth with its temporal life forms was “very good.” Until Adam and Eve’s sin, there was no sin, evil or death. Note the properties of the Holy Spirit’s creation work:
- Created out of nothing in stages
- Perfectly fulfilled God’s design and purpose
- Expressed or fashioned in the medium of physical matter, energy, space, time and laws
- Judged “very good” by the Ruler
- Provided a balanced environment of plants, myriads of living creatures and humans
While the Holy Spirit continues to interrupt and override the natural order material affairs as necessary to fulfill God’s purpose and promises, another spirit, the breath of life or life force, sustains the physical universe. Here are some of its properties:
- Re-creates or sustains existing matter and energy systems through biological, chemical, physical exchange and transformation cycles of life, restructure, renewal where nothing is added or lost, simply changed in form, composition, appearance or other material properties
- Flawed fulfillment of God’s purpose to sustain a living universe
- A material spirit: operation limited to the physical universe and its border with the metaphysical; maximum impact limited to characteristics of temporal biological life
- By nature a balanced mixture of light and darkness, positive and negative charges, right and left, on and off, good and evil, life and death
- Cannot prevent the degradation, decline and destruction of the natural environment as a consequence of human sin and/or demonic depredation or dissipation of system energies
The above observations flow from a structured pattern of revealed spiritual properties with built-in expectations. Through the Holy Spirit, God establishes-creates perfect reality structures out of and parts of the material universe, including human societies. In accordance with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, all runs down under the sustaining operation of the life force. While individual physiochemical-nuclear equations evidence no measurable (at this time) net loss of matter or energy, the universe as a whole is slowing down as evidenced by the drop in the speed of light.
Time is itself malleable and relative, so that there are no ultimate reality absolutes in the physical universe. Within the bounds of any specific locus in space-time functionally operational constants abound providing the basis for scientific theory and independently repeatable and verifiable experimentation as a method of research. A possible spiritual explanation for the material universe’s life force leak is the set of operational energy demands made on the system by Satan’s hidden Kingdom of Demon-invested Darkness.
In other words, if God did not intervene to add power to the physical universe it would self-destruct due to the devil’s dependency on external power sources. By design, angels are messengers, agents of effecting God’s will through the exercise of His power. They are like intelligent lenses of focused purpose. As a twisted transfer agents, fallen angels are cut off from direct access to God and the power of the Holy Spirit, so they must steal, tap into the universes systemic power systems. They seek to steal the highest levels of energy, which is the life force that provides the medium for material spirituality and biological life. As a last resort or in order to perform “miracles” of what appear to be temporary suspensions of natural law, I think that demons can also tap into and/or influence-increase electromagnetic energy fields.
When the omnipotent Holy Spirit is present and operational, the breath of life force resonates with God’s purpose and good things happen: Godly miracles, healing (biological or spiritual) of people or anything in nature, art and inspiration and groups of people will experience positive social cohesion. Positive social cohesion exhibits the physical expression of spiritual principles through constructive behavioral patterns of life-oriented actions and positive emotions. Throughout the course of human history, God’s Spirit created new social organizations or entities and inspired individuals and nations to conform to God’s ways or purposes for a measure of time. Any student of human experience notes the pattern of a person’s, society’s or civilization’s cyclical ebbs and flows, rises and declines.
Whenever the Holy Spirit is particularly active and present in a person’s or nation’s life, a new spiritual high point is evident, usually soon made the more obvious by a quick return to human nature’s more typical behavior of rebellious self-gratification and consuming ruin. This phenomenon has been experienced in almost every person’s life to one modest degree or another. One of the more famous sections of Scripture in this regard concerns Moses and the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. The Bible records a heavy concentration of divine miraculous interventions followed by incomprehensible human revolt, disobedience and rejection of God’s desires, commands and chosen human servants.
The temporary interjections or activities of the Holy Spirit in human affairs is often described as, “God’s Spirit” was “with” him or her, such as with King Saul. Once the person rejected God’s purposes or disobeyed a clear command, the “Spirit left him.” Typically, this kind of human relationship with God was based on a perceived immediate need and/or desired reward or benefit that opened the door for God to work through the external material agency of human behavior instead of through the metaphysical behavioral agency such as angelic delivery of messages, blessings, miraculous interventions and judgments.
External behavioral partnership of God with a person or a group of persons was always conditional, as in physical blessings and cursing as direct and indirect consequential rewards for human deeds according to the measure of goodness or evil in those works of fleshly will, motive and action. In contrast, internally structured relationships between humans and the Holy Spirit are always unconditional and eternal due to the essential nature of the spiritual transformation process often referred to as a new birth. In these cases, the Bible never describes the Holy Spirit as “departing” or “taken away.” Rather the internal indwelling of God’s Spirit engages metrics of personal surrender and spiritual transformation, which are discussed in greater detail in the next chapter.
ONE Covenant Blueprint Expressed in Two Fulfillments
Genesis covenant quotes
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done – on earth as it is in heaven.
There is only ONE God, and there is only ONE master covenant. The master, all-inclusive covenant between God and all of the families of humanity is with Abraham, the Father of the Faithful. He is the first mediator, his birthright descendants – Israel and Israel’s eternal king Yeshua/Jesus are the mediators of this covenant. God’s heavenly promises and purposes expressed to Abraham, his descendants, Israel and to those who follow Jesus are immutable, sure and eternal, though they are manifested differently in the physical and metaphysical realms of reality. Ultimate reality ignores time: it transcends and supersedes it. A promise or proclamation made in heaven is binding on heaven and earth, but what humans might binding earth is limited to the passing temporal reality of time and place on earth. A contract on earth is only as good as its enforceability. As the old saying goes, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip.”
A covenant is a contract. The God of Israel is the Creator and only God who has made a binding covenant with humanity that rests on His own performance. Secondary aspects of the covenant, the covenant within the covenant, do depend on human performance in regards to benefits or consequences on earth during the ages of peoples’ material existence one earth. Therefore, I begin with the ONE covenant set of promises made to Abraham and explore its many dimensions of fulfillment.
Chosen Abraham believes, Isaac submits, Jacob chooses the promises, Joseph surrenders to serve, and the twelve tribes biologically multiply.
Covenant Terms – the Promises and Conditions
Human beings cannot create heavenly covenants binding God or any spirit being. We can only acknowledgment participation of existing covenants. Rituals on earth do not bind God to people but people to God teaching people what to expect from God, and exercise in faith. Conditional promises and unconditional promises relate to who is the actor, the mover the enabler of the covenant: God is always unconditional, human conditional as to whether want the temporal/eternal blessings or not
Covenant Law – Blessing and Cursing
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Only the degree of penalty is affected by ignorance. Paul in Romans, “even the nations when they do the law in ignorance are blessed, disobey are cursed.
Learning vehicle that permits a measure of foolishness rebellion or ignorant experience within the limits to material reality, time space and matter.
Spirits – the Forces of Formation
Natural law/spirit works – physical laws of energy and matter ecology, genetics
Heavenly law/spirit works – metaphysical realities impacted, created that show up on earth
Human manipulation – intervention potential within the temporal realm is how humans are in God’s image as creators/decision makers/innovators/artists difference between humans and animals, God and angels within their respective realms.
Wu wei, go with the flow – conform to use, bend work with these forces do not oppose or cursed – environment or eternal life.
Concepts of Fate arose due to ignorance of God’s will and laws, seemed capricious, unknowable, but cannot be changed or defeated, influenced to a small degree but not thwarted.
Key reason for spiritual mediation, Jesus as a Mediator in heaven who can today change realities, fates, states of being in heaven that can impact what happens on earth.
Nations/Kingdoms/Churches – the Social Body Forms Created
Human acknowledgment, recognition, public enrollment in divine covenants. Humble personal search for blessings – love, and social recognition, too. A form of education that impacts moral dynamics, psychosocial interactions. Community participation/support in the decision made by individuals.
ONE Mediator: Two Realms of Reality Joined in ONE Body
Importance of Jesus as heaven on earth, only Mediator that could change matters in heaven from what he said and did on earth. Importance in the divine dimension of fully God (aspect of His Identity from birth in the flesh) and fully human.
ONE Covenant – ONE Body
ONE Savior: Son of Man & Son of God
Mortal Death: the Mediating Event for Mankind & Messiah
