The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has to buy that field.
Matthew 13:44
I’ve been thinking about where we are today and how these trying times compare with others in history.
And through my research, I stumbled upon the kingdom of heaven. There I was told Jesus made clear that the kingdom must begin with and be centered in the dual truths of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The two concepts are correlated.
And the acceptance of such a teaching was to liberate man from the seemingly infinite bondage of fear and at the same time enrich human life the new life of spiritual liberty.
This mean many things. Let’s try to list them:
1. New courage and spiritual power. His gospel of the kingdom was to set humanity free and inspire us to dare to hope for eternal life.
2. The gospel carried a message of new confidence and true consolation for all people—even the poor and rejected.
3. It was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick to measure human conduct.
4. Taught the pre-eminence of the spiritual compared with material—glorifying spiritual realities.
5. The new gospel held up spiritual attainment as the true goal of living. Living in this world was about increasing moral value to approach divine dignity.
6. Jesus taught that eternal realities were the result of righteous earthly striving. That our mortal journey here is about acquiring new experiences that unlock meaning which’ll be recognized as part of a noble quest.
7. And finally, the new gospel Jesus brought affirmed to us that human salvation is the revelation of a far-reaching divine purpose to be fulfilled and realized in our future destiny of endless service to God.
Now look. I get it. That’s a lot of subjective interpretation to take from scripture.
Concepts as large as these would have been extremely difficult for even the most intelligent to understand 2,000 years ago.
And it’s probably just as hard for people to wrap their head around today.
Imagine going back 100 years to explain to your great grandparents the internet and smartphones.
Heck, I’m still struggling to explain the power of crypto and the blockchain to my peers.
I end up resorting to analogies (parables?) but there’s always something lost in the translation.
I truly wonder if Jesus experienced this in sharing his news with his apostles.
My takeaway is that through sincere faith and the thirst for righteousness—an unquenchable hunger for truth–the believer in God enters the kingdom NOW.
And that gives me strength for the troubling weeks and months ahead of us. You are there now if you believe it.
And what you experience now has purpose, in this world and the next.
I’ve awakened to the reality that my job here is to become a professional and successful artist, sharing this gospel to all who have ears to hear… and eyes to see.
God Wins
PS I’ve received notes from many of you that Substack won’t let you comment here unless you reverify your info. That’s annoying and inconvenient but their response is that this is to mitigate spam/abuse.
And I also realized the Telegram channel doesn’t let anyone comment. I will have to convert or create a new “group” — thanks for your patience as I fumble through.
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Hi EKO,
I would only re-phrase one thing you have written in this post. This assertion: "There I was told Jesus made clear that the kingdom must begin with and be centered in the dual truths of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The two concepts are correlated." I would assert: ...the fatherhood and motherhood of God... I feel adding Divine Motherhood makes all the difference. The quality of motherhood is under so much attack these days.
Consider this proposal: Divine Mother=Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus is quoted as saying this:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%203:28-30&version=KJV
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
That our mortal journey here is about acquiring new experiences that unlock meaning which’ll be recognized as part of a noble quest.
I love this line -and you’re right, things are hard to understand, for all of us. But I think that understanding comes in different pieces and parts. Like each person in life is handing us a piece of a puzzle, some pieces fit, some don't- or maybe the pieces are for later - the background ones - when you are trying to put together the main part of the puzzle you are looking for the eyes, the hair- something significant. Ppl hand us the tree piece, the tip of the mountain, and we brush it aside, but eventually we will need it- just not now . Kind of like Gods word... it makes sense when we need it the most. And perhaps we are like that to each other too...until one day the puzzle comes together to show the full picture. Blessings thank you for these words, art, and the puzzle piece. I’ll use it . God gave you a gift of creativity + logic. It’s a really groovy combination. Big love. Big God. Hallelujah 🎶 Have a beautiful day everyone!