|
||||||||||
The Universal Man
John R Gavazzoni
Thousand Oaks, CA
One man, Adam; there's no other humanity than his humanity. None other, absolutely none. He is God's man. If we read scripture carefully, and that, well translated, beneath the appearance of there being two men, we find that the two are really one, first appearing in the aeons in the natural state of existence, susceptible to, and finally taken over by death, thus, in that form, he is old---the old man, for with death comes oldness, decay, corruption; but then appearing in the spiritual state, truly alive, new, fresh, the new Man.
He is the same Son of God, the One who came down from glory inexpressible into and through the underworld of creaturely agony, and on to glory now fully expressed in all Its radiance. God has released from Himself the best of Himself by subjecting Himself to the worst of contrarianism to His Person in solidarity with that singular humanity which has its origin in the Divine Nature.
The old and the new are intrinsically one, for it was the old that was made new. It was the old that was crucified and buried, but that came forth out of death in newness of life. One humanity, its origin being God's very glory, and its destiny, the same glory intensified, fully radiant from out of its own depths by means of the process of death and resurrection. The Original had to undergo death in order that its full quality be released by resurrection.
This is foundational to understanding the "one new Man"-focus in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. Centuries have passed; it's been nearly two millennia since the apostle dictated his encyclical that was probably first sent to Ephesus and then on to other churches, and we are still reading it with a crudeness of understanding that very particularly highlights the truth that unless the Spirit of Truth opens scripture to us, we read and study as if afflicted by a rare form of autism.
Paul makes it clear that though humanity has experienced a fundamental division, that division stands in contradistinction to its nature, and in Christ, the wall of separation, the wall of divisive hostility has been broken down by the restoration to oneness which is in Jesus Christ.
The division is classically and representatively found between those "who are called Uncircumcision by the so-called Circumcision;" that is, between the Jews and all other nations, and ethnic/people groups.
Essentially, the division is between those chosen to receive a direct (albeit little understood) revelation of God's relationship with man, and those kept at a distance from that revelation. Two states of mind emerge out of this sovereigly-designed transitional inequity.
Inevitably, and almost invariably, the favored ones interpret their chosenness as an end in itself----"We're the favored, and that's the end of the subject; and of course, there is something about us, in and of ourselves, that has disposed God to choose us over others."
The comparatively neglected ones, of course, do not find that as very affirmative of their place in the sun, and a deep resentment begins to fester among them, a resentment ostensibly directed toward the favored, though unconciously it is really toward the Favorer, God. The favored, of course, resent the non-favored's unwillingness to respect the distinction.
Enter the law. God, in order to expose the infamy of the favored's self-righteousness, quite uniquely places upon them the burden of that purest form of law, the Mosaic Code. Only the grossest form of hypocricy can stand in the presence of absolute holiness expressed as moral insistence, and not utterly collapse in despair. The elect must come to understand the great principle: THE CHOSEN ARE CHOSEN AS REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL MEN'S CHOSENNESS.
The favored must be brought to the place where joyfully they proclaim by their spirit, their actions, and their words: "Please understand, dear universal brethren, the favor God has shown to us is indicative of how He relates to us all. What God is intrinically to us, He is to you also.
By nature, our Father, and your Father, holds us all in the same embrace of unconditional love with its determination to glorify our common humanity, and He refuses to disqualify any man from that predestination."
Thus Paul, in this marvelous epistle, recognizes the Gentiles as "fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (Chapter 3, verse 6) That body, of course, is the body of Christ, the one new man (Chapter 2, verse 15) and that body, that new man, is to be finally understood as the whole body of humanity. Evangelicals have become the comtemporary "Circumcision," claiming only for themselves the identification as the body of Christ. Here again must be seen that principle stated above:
The favored, believing community is the present, growing, expanding expression of the body, not the whole of the body. At this point in time and space there is a first-fruits of the whole harvest, and until the harvest is complete, God's husbandry will not be seen in all its fruitful abundance.
As there is an injection point on the body when a nurse or doctor gives us a shot, the substance of the injection is not meant to remain at the injection point, but from there to benefit the whole body. God has chosen a faith-gift point of injection, and favored some with the faith of Christ, in order that it spread to all the body, bringing the revelation of true identity. We are all the body of Christ, but the revelation of OUR identity must spread through the whole body of humanity.
E Mail John
To contact John send email to: John R. Gavazzoni For more writings by John : Click Here...For His Web SiteOr you can write by (snail mail) to:
John R Gavazzoni
758 N. Woodlawn Dr.,
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
HOME