the Dawn, the Golden Dawn (Kingdom of life)

Round 2.

It is almost 2:30 and it seems to be my clearest time of day, so who am I to waste such a beautiful time with someting like sleep? I suggest that everyone who will read this blog should check out the song Matchbox Twenty - How Far We've Come... and sync the reading/listening.

Alright? Ready, set, Go!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was quoted saying, "When Jesus call's a man, He bids him to come and die." Now, the death that I believe Bonhoeffer was speaking of is in regards to the Kingdom of Death (I believe that this Kingdom of Death is a concept either dealt with, or actually from Karl Barth's Epistle to Roman's) and that when Jesus call's someone what He is doing is calling them from death to life, eternal life. Most folks due to incomplete teaching miss the fact that Jesus, in the Gospel of St. John, tell's the disciples that eternal life is 'to know God.' So we are faced with two Kingdom's at work within the world, one of death and the other of life.

The Kingdom of death is like a thief, or actually is a thief her purest form. Francis Schaeffer reffered to human beings as 'glorified ruins;' Pascal did so to in the 'angel/beast' metaphore, revealing the fact of man's dualism. In a quick flash man goes from lighting a building on fire to rescueing a child from that very building; this is the easiest place where the two Kingdoms are tracable.

Jesus knew that the solution of sin would be to beat it at its 'own game.' As Adam and Eve were commaned not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil or else that in the day they would eat, death would come. Though they were spared from actual physical death (this should always be noted); grace enters the scene, moreover, for the sake of the title, the Kingdom of Life is revealed. Now, this Kingdom only comes to fruition in the Messiah. Since Death is the mark/power of sin (it reigns over humans) we still knew that something was amiss within the created order. So to right this wrong as Jesus came and preached the truth of God's Kingdom for all those whom would hear His word. Then to fulfill what man couldn't fulfill He bled and died on the Cross as a willing sacrifice for the life that was required of Adam and Eve(humanity was united in Adam and Eve/when they fell from grace so did mankind). So, once again, just as the 'tree of life' was in the Garden of Eden granting whoever ate of it eternal communion with God, so now, through who ever 'eats of the flesh and drinks of the blood' of the sacrificial lamb, Christ, sharing in His death and being raised into His life, will enter into an eternal union with God; this is the Kingdom of Life, knowing God.

For those who have come near and wrestled with the words of Christ this Kingdom is where they dwell throughout the minutes of every passing day. The one thing I love about all this is how it is only through death that we have life.

(Now you could even understand this in another light. As we live and spend our lives we find various things that we deem worthy of pouring our lives into. And in investing time, emotion, and our hearts we are giving of ourselves, thus life is transfering from us towards whatever objects we deem worthy. This is true in either Kingdom, but in the Kingdom of life their are certain mandates given by the King vs. the mandade of the Ruler of the Kingdom of Death. We could go into that another time, perhaps.)

Anyways, this is long enough. Blessings.