THE NEW HUMANITY IN CHRIST

"For neither is circumcision [now] of any importance, nor uncircumcision,
but [only] a new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in
Christ Jesus, the Messiah]." Galatians 5:6

courtesy of thehumanityproject.com

I love the Epistle to the Galatians. It Is a very inspiring book. One of the major points that Paul tries to point out in this letter is the believers freedom from the need to appear holy outwardly through rituals and religious practices. We have been set free from the basic principles of this world. We live by a higher law, a higher power.

The Jews took great pride in being circumcised. It was the sign of their approval with God. Circumcision meant they were in. They had a covenant with the living God and every other person was a heathen who would eventually be destroyed by their God. It meant that God would send his anointed one (Messiah) to them in order to rescue them from all their troubles and establish Israel as a world power. Even though the Old Testament prophecies speak of a New World of peace for all. They interpreted it to mean a new world where they would be the ruling class This was the climate that the early Christians lived in. And many early Jewish Christians still had this idea.

Sure enough, the Messiah comes and he dies for sins and rises again as King. But instead of focusing on Israel, the apostles seem to be talking about the gentiles too. That Jesus died for both Jews and non - Jews. This was
strange.Even some of the apostles resisted this revelation as God began to show it. Enter the judaizers; "apostles" who went about the churches preaching that Jesus saved the gentiles in order to make them Jews. They couldn't shake off the pride they took in their race. This pride was symbolised in their being circumcised. They insisted that whoever wanted to have a part in the Kingdom of God had to be circumcised. In other words they had to perform the ritual that makes Jews partakers of the old covenant. To this argument, Paul screams a resounding NO!! Circumcision or Uncircumcision doesn't matter, what matters is the New Creation.
The full scope of his mission on earth was to create a new humanity in Christ. One where race, gender, or occupation were meaningless. all that matters is Jesus, he symbolises the creation of a new humanity fully in union with the living God, 

The Early Christians had people who insisted on circumcision; we have people who insist on denomination, circumcision, observance of certain Jewish practices e.t.c. We all have our isms and schisms; reasons for which certain people are disqualified from the favour of God, To all these arguments, this word still stands
"For neither is circumcision [now] of any importance, nor uncircumcision,
but [only] a new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in
Christ Jesus, the Messiah]."

Jesus is the Logic of God telling us we are in!!!!

Grace be with you

HEALING TROUBLED HEARTS BY DR. BILL DAY

Dr Bill day is an inner healing practitioner. When I first got this book and realized it was about inner healing I was skeptical. I have come to associate the words with two things:

1.      New Age Religion and 

2.      Ultra spooky charismatic Christianity

I find neither of these two very palatable so I prepared myself for a very annoying read. Much to my surprise, it’s not bad at all. It is counseling, psychology and psychiatry from a Christ centered point of view. In this book, Dr. Day uses his personal life experiences and the testimonies of his patients to highlight some very important points

·        We all have baggage and are damaged because we have come to believe lies about ourselves and about God

·        These lies are so embedded in our subconscious that we sometimes don’t even realize it

·        Conventional counseling techniques, which majority of Church counselors also adopt can neither reveal nor dislodge those lies from our minds

·        It takes the HOLY SPIRIT to not only reveal them, but to shine the light of Jesus into the darkness and replace the lies with the truth of Jesus

As I read the book, I realized the very salient point he is making. Christian counseling and psychology should be just as Christ-centered as every other aspect of the Christian life. The most beautiful part of this is that he has seen it all; been through different types of religions and all forms of spirituality. In his quest for personal fulfillment and emotional stability, he went from Secular Humanism to learning New Age spirituality in San Diego and here’s what he has to say:

“In San Diego I had learned that self-actualization could be achieved without much conflict, that the intrinsic goodness of the human self would come through once people saw the truth and light of innate human goodness.”

“In this system of thought (and I ran across many expressions and varieties) there was no need for a Savior. Suffering and evil were seen as resulting from ignorance, avoidable by learning and applying true knowledge”

In hindsight, he shares with his conclusion on these schools of thought:

“Reflecting on this time in my life, I think it was a robust round of whistling in the dark. After all my study, striving, practicing meditation, and other spiritual exercises that promised enlightenment, no significant transformation had taken place”

I must be honest, I really like this book and I would recommend it for anyone who is being led by the lord into the ministry of counselling and therapy. I would also recommend it to all people in general. He gives practical tools to inviting Jesus into our baggage to heal and transform us himself.

Dr. Bill points out that we cannot relegate God to just the opening and closing of therapy sessions; We pray to at the beginning of the session and then use our educational and professional skills for the whole session, and when we’re done we pray to him again. He believes that God must be allowed to actively run the session; directing, speaking and healing. The counselors job should be to facilitate this engagement and make the client aware of the great physician’s presence.

“The finished work of Christ will be finished when these ultimate intentions of God are realized. Redemption is God’s story; it is about His ultimate intentions. The whole panorama is about Him, for Him, by Him, and in Him…and especially in Jesus”

Selah