The
Separation in the Mind, the Reconciliation, the One New Body, and the
Wedding Garments:
“His
face did shine
as the sun, and his raiment was white
as the light,” Matthew 17:2,
Matthew 17:9.
The
non canonical Gospel of Thomas
introduces:
The Bridal Chamber – Becoming One
Such
a vision perceived at every level of existence renews the mind to a
true knowledge, transforming us into the image of the One who creates
the New Perfect Man. In him all things are gathered together, and
reunited. Such a reconciliation of all, illustrated in marriage, is the
very essence of Paul’s Gospel, Colossians 3:10.
This
is a great mystery hidden with Christ in God, Ephesians 5:32.
In
Paul’s message this marriage happens in every level of reality. Though
not explicitly explained in Paul’s letters, the mythology of Christ and
Sophia seems to have formed the underlying foundation for much of his
thought. In the mythology, Christ is the Bridegroom and Sophia (or
Wisdom) is the Bride. Recognizing Sophia as the personification of
Wisdom clarifies much of Paul’s mystery teaching.
“Wisdom giveth life to them that have it”,
And this “life is hid with Christ in God.” Stated plainly, Christ and
Sophia joined together in matrimony are safely hidden in God, Ecclesiastes 7:12,
Colossians 3:3.
In
like manner, believers are exhorted to “let the Word of Christ dwell in
you richly with all Wisdom,” Colossians 3:16 NASB.
Again
stated plainly, Christ and Sophia rest together in the hidden man of
the heart, and also in the very heart of God. The marriage of Christ
and Sophia at every level of reality is a great mystery that helps
explain much of Paul’s Gospel of universal reconciliation.
The Separation
in a Darkened Mind
Christ
and Sophia (Wisdom) are both pre-existent, and both present in
creation. There is strong support for this understanding within the
canon. In the mythology Christ and Sophia can represent our true self
and humanity originally united. However, they are eventually separated
through Sophia’s self will, and all creation suffers the consequences.
Who
is this Sophia?
‘Sophia’
is the Greek word for “Wisdom” transliterated into English.
Differing
traditions provide a variety of understandings of the Sofia
“I
was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
When [there were] no depths, I was brought forth; when [there were] no
fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the
earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon
the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he
strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his
decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he
appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him,
[as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight,
rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his
earth; and my delights [were] with the sons of men, Proverbs 8:23-31.
Sophia
was with Christ in the beginning. However, they became separated, at
least within a darkened understanding alienated from the life of God
though ignorance. Nevertheless, they shall be re-united. Just as Christ
dwells in our hearts, “Wisdom
(also) resteth in the heart of him that hath
understanding,” Proverbs 14:33,
Ephesians 4:18.
In
the mythology the pre-existent Christ and Sophia can represent our true self
and humanity. The Gospel of Thomas alludes to the pre-existent Oneness
of humanity and the separation into male and female that follows. This
is perhaps echoed in the creation myths of Genesis.
Jesus
said, “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being.”
For “Adam came into being from a great power and a great wealth, but he
did not become worthy of you, for had he been worthy, he would not have
experienced death” or separation. The
death, separation, and division of Humanity is seen as the predicament.
“On the day when you were ONE you became two. But when you become two,
what will you do?" Thomas 19, 11, 85.
Jesus
said, “When the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber,
then let them fast and pray." And so in the darkness of an
alienated mind we entered into the closet. If death and separation is
the predicament, then reconciliation, and marriage is the solution. In
a vision in the secret place, Christ and Sophia are found re-united
when Christ’s coming and illuminating entrance into the Bridal Chamber
is perceived and “Wisdom entereth into thine heart.” “So teach us to
number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,” Thomas 104, Proverbs 2:10,
Psalms 90:12.
The
Reconciliation
In
the bridal chamber is where Christ and Sophia are reunited, and the
reconciliation of all things is able to be seen. The coming together of
Christ and Sophia as One and the same is a great mystery, and one that
is not easily declared. Both Christ and Sophia are unseen realities.
Paul sets the example as one who would attempt to expound the
mysteries, “O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge (Gnosis) of God!”
“Which things also we speak, but not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth,” Romans 11:33,
1 Corinthians 2:13,
Thomas 4, 22.
There
is a delicate balance between the proclamation of truth and the
protection of the revealed reality. Jesus said, “Give not that
which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again and rend you,” Matthew 7:6, Thomas 102.
Jesus said,
"Woe to the pharisees, for they are like a dog
sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let
the oxen eat," Thomas 102.
Jesus
said, "The pharisees and the scribes have taken the
keys of knowledge (gnosis) and hidden them. They themselves
have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to.
You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves," Thomas 39,
Matthew 23:27.
The sharing of
secrets and the maintenance of safety must be managed with wisdom. On
the one hand, we do not share secrets with those who would deliberately
keep them hidden from those in need. Mysteries are not for the dogs,
but for the oxen. They are not for the Pharisees, but for the worker.
On the other hand, when feeding the swine the clams will be sufficient.
The pearls can be removed until later when they are able to appreciate
them. There is a proper time and place to share a vision. “As they came
down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to
no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead,” Matthew 17:9.
He is alive.
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, today is a day of
salvation. Since we are members one of another, like an oyster with a
hidden treasure, “I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in
you,” Galatians 4:19.
“Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is
of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing,
and combining and joining together
spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are
spiritually discerned,” 1 Corinthians 2:12-14,
1 Corinthians 2:13
ASV.
Some
spiritual mysteries can be seen mirrored in the natural
realm. However, when the secret and hidden realities are seen
only by comparing, and combining
spiritual with spiritual, they are not readily discerned by the natural
man. These are spiritual realities hid within the holy of
holies that are well worth seeking out. There is the outer court, the
inner court, and the holy of holies. There is the body, the soul, and
the spirit. There are hidden spiritual realities and spiritual
teachings that are not accessible to the natural man. Ones that because
hidden are well protected.
There
is a hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, the
meek and quiet spirit, the pearl of great price.
Hidden within the unseen place, combining spiritual realities with
spiritual realities, are treasures beyond comprehension. These
pearls are hidden for good reason, but are not inaccessible. Therefore
Jesus says, “Seek.” 1 Peter 3:4.
“Wisdom
resteth in the heart of him that hath
understanding.” This Wisdom is like a pearl of great price. She is a
treasure to be discovered in the watery darkness of the earth. Christ
gives us the needed light, Proverbs 14:33,
Ephesians 5:14,
Colossians 1:12, 13.
“The
LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In the
Canonical gospel: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid
in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
field.” The field is the body, Matthew 13:45-46,
Genesis 2:7.
Some
are ready to pay the price for this gnosis. Some are
not. “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge (gnosis) of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” Acts 5:3, Matthew 19:21, 27,
Philippians 3:8.
“Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly
pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had, and bought it,” Matthew 13:45-46.
This
discovery can be a ongoing process. For eventually, this field will be
“The Body” where no worm destroys, Colossians 1:24.
And
again “the kingdom of the father is like a merchant who had a
consignment of merchandise and who discovered a pearl. That
merchant was shrewd. He sold the merchandise and bought the
pearl alone for himself. You too, seek his unfailing and
enduring treasure where no moth comes near to devour and no
worm destroys,” Thomas 76.
The
Pearl of Great Price speaks of the Bride. Even
Peter, when addressing the wives in the community referred to the
hidden person in their hearts as being “of Great Price.” The passage
reads, “Wives,… let it be the hidden man of the heart,
in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament
of] a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
Great Price...(like) the holy women,” in old times who
trusted in God, 1 Peter 3:1,4-5.
“No
mention shall be made … of pearls:
for the price of Wisdom is above rubies,” Job 28:18.
The
purchase of the Pearl of Great Price may be a reference to the ancient
custom of the bride price. The bride price is an amount of money,
property or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a
woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom, Genesis 34:12,
Exodus 22:16-17,
Deuteronomy 22:28-29.
This
pearl is the gnosis of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ when he
is joined together with his bride Sophia (Wisdom) who is discovered in
the holy of holies.
Sophia as the
Bride
Wisdom
as this bride is personified by the female Sophia who is to be
embraced. “Get Wisdom,… Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee:
love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom [is] the principal thing;
[therefore] get wisdom, Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she
shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give
to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of
glory shall she deliver to thee, Proverbs 4:5-9.
There
is a marriage that happens in the secret hidden place of the heart.
Christ, (the Truth, John 14:6)
is united with Sophia (the Wisdom) in the inmost
part. Bride and Bridegroom are re-united, combining spiritual with
spiritual, creating One New Man. “Behold, thou desirest Truth
in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to
know Wisdom,”
Psalms 51:6.
“If
thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of
the LORD, and find the knowledge (Gnosis) of God.”
Then “when Wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant
unto thy soul,” “Christ shall give you light,” Proverbs 2:4-5,
Proverbs 2:10,
Ephesians 5:14-15.
Having
“commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
(He) shine(s) in our hearts, bringing to light the
hidden things of darkness, the counsels of the
heart, revealing the knowledge (gnosis) of God in the face of
Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 4:5,
2 Corinthians 4:6.
We
discover the Gnosis of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is our
example. "A man's Wisdom
maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his
face shall be changed,” Ecclesiastes 8:1.
Christ
found his Wisdom in a vision and transfigured… “his face did shine as the sun,
and his raiment was white
as the light,” Matthew 17:2,
Matthew 17:9.
Wisdom
is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to
them that see the sun, Ecclesiastes 7:11
See also Luke 23:45,
Acts 2:20,
Acts 13:11,
Acts 26:13.
Christ
is our example. In a vision, we shall all be changed and transfigured.
The disciples of Jesus said to him, “Show us the place where you are,
since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has
ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights
up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness,” Thomas 24.
Christ
gives us this light, Ephesians 5:14,
Colossians 1:12, 13.
Being
renewed in the spirit of our mind, Christ and Sophia find rest
in our hearts. “Wisdom
resteth in the heart of him that hath
understanding,” Jesus said, "Two will rest on a
bed: the one will die, and the other will live."… “Therefore I say, if
he is destroyed, he will be filled with light, but if he is divided, he
will be filled with darkness,” Proverbs 14:33,
Thomas 61.
This
cryptic saying suggests that two becoming One leads to the destruction
of the old, and the creation of the new which is filled with light.
This is the Father’s desire. “Behold, thou desirest Truth
in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to
know Wisdom.”
Reunited,
Truth And Wisdom are met together. In
matrimony, they have embraced in the hidden place, Psalms 51:6.
And
so the old is passed away. “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:
yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh,
yet now henceforth know we [him] no more,” 2 Corinthians 5:16.
Now
there is a new creation: a New Man - filled with light. And He lights
up the whole world. Our need is to behold and experience this reunited
reality, and to see this light, so that we no longer have “the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is (with)in… because of the blindness of (the)
heart,” Ephesians 4:18.
The One New
Body
There are
mysteries and there are greater mysteries. The greater mysteries grow
out of the lesser mysteries.
Marriage is a
simple earthly illustration. “A man shall leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God
hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” Matthew 19:5-6.
Paul
utilized the concept of marriage and the principles of the Christ and
Sophia mythologies to explain his own secret teachings: The coming
together of two to create one new man. Paul refers to this New Man as
the joint-body,
where “there is neither male nor female, but ye are all one in Christ,”
Galatians 3:28.
Ephesians 3:6.
Paul’s
breakthrough application was the bringing together of the Jewish and
Gentile factions in the Church. The male bridegroom represents the spiritually
minded gentile believers blessed with all spiritual blessing in
heavenly places. The female bride can refer to the Jewish believers
blessed with the soul satisfying and earthly
covenants. Spirit and Soul are reunited together in ONE body, “to make
in himself of twain ONE new man,” Ephesians 2:14-15.
On
an even larger scale, as the mystery grows, taking on cosmic
proportions, it refers to the marriage of this Christ and the Church in
whom are gathered all things into the one body. Paul refers to this as
“a great mystery, Ephesians 1:10, 23,
, Colossians 1:20,
Ephesians 5:31-32.
This
Christ who is all is the new corporate reunited man which is put on
like a garment. Putting on the wedding garment is needed to enter in,
and is the entering in. For there is only ONE body, the kingdom God
Now,
we are his flesh and his bones, raised a spiritual body, the anointed
Christ, the perfect man, for he that is joined to the Lord is one
Spirit, Ephesians 5:30,
1 Corinthians 15:44,
Ephesians 4:13,
1 Corinthians 6:17.
In
this resurrection we neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are
as the angels of God in heaven, Matthew 22:30.
No
longer divided, we are but one new androgynous man, even as the angels
of God in heaven. In an eternal reality, outside of time, this oneness
simply is. However in the realm of time, and in the darkness of the
mind, there is a step by step progressive working out of this duality
into the oneness. From the joining of the inner spark, to the uniting
of soul and spirit, to the Jew and Gentile in the new humanity, to the
gathering together into one of all things, the author declares that
this is a great mystery, Ephesians 5:32.
This
is the husband and wife analogy spreading from an individual experience
to a corporate reality. Step by step Christ loves Sophia, suffering a
cross, separated from his Father, that he might sanctify and cleanse
Sophia by the washing of the word, that he might present her to himself
in marriage. This perfect man leaves father (the Heavenly Father) and
mother (the Heavenly Jerusalem) which is the mother of us all, and is
joined unto his wife, and they two become one flesh, Galatians 4:26,
Rev 21:9-10.
Christ
and Sophia then become One New Perfect Man. Christ is the savior of the
body (Ephesians 5:23). This is such a great mystery, but it becomes
progressively greater when one realizes, that as the process expands,
all things must eventually be joined in the body.
Until
"Every man perfect" becomes the church "filled with all the fulness of
God", or "The Perfect Man" illustrating a universal corporate oneness, Colossians 1:28,
Ephesians 4:13.
In
this marriage is the new creation of this One New Man in every sphere
and at every level from the micro to the macro. Christ and Sophia is a
useful mythology, with manifold illustrations exemplifying this coming
together. Paul employs the principles of this Gnostic Sophia mythology
to reveal his deepest mysteries. And the Church will do the same. “To
the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly
[places] might be known by the church the manifold Wisdom (Sophia) of God,” Ephesians 3:10.
Sophia
and Christ illustrate this marriage on every level. Sophia as the
bride; Christ as the bridegroom. From the smallest inner spark to the
grandest universal realities all is reconciled together into One.
Sophia is known as the divine spark. -
Christ is the light that lighteneth every man.
Sophia as the feminine soul. - Christ as the male spirit.
Sophia as the Church, the bride of Christ. - Christ as bridegroom, the
head of the Church.
Sophia as humanity. - Christ as the last Adam.
Sophia as the feminine of God. - Christ as the all, the
image of the Father.
Step by step,
this consummation like an expanding ladder reaches up into the
universe. Principalities and powers, aeons and archons, the emanated
divine powers in the heavenly pleroma, the totality of all that is
understood as the divine is reunited into the One. In this new Perfect
Man dwelleth and is reconciled all the fullness (the pleroma) of the Godhead bodily, Colossians 1:20,
Colossians 2:9.
The right and
the left are fitly joined together as One, and according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love, and being knit together, increaseth with
the increase of God, Ephesians 4:16,
Colossians 2:19.
With
this increase, and the understanding of the Sophia mythos, step by step
all the falsely perceived dualities within both the creation and the
Godhead are delivered up and amalgamated into “the One God and Father
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,” Until at
last, “God (is) all in all,” and all that is, Ephesians 4:4-6,
1 Corinthians 15:28.
The Wedding
Garments
This cosmic
unfolding is seen in germ in us. “We are the first fruits of all
creation.” We are a display piece within the pleroma, the heavenly
realms, the holy of holies, and the inner man. We are a pattern for
those who are to come. With each new incarnation the pattern is still
in place, and a new enlarged garment is put on by this new
man as he grows in stature until reaching “the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ,” 1 Timothy 1:16,
1 Corinthians 4:9,
James 1:18,
Ephesians 4:13.
His
disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we
see you?" Jesus said, "When you disrobe without
being ashamed and take up your garments, and place them under your feet
like little children and tread on them, then will you see
the son of the living ONE, and you will not be afraid," Thomas 37.
When
we disrobe, we put off the separated and divided
humanity, and Christ gives us light. Then are we “like him; for we
shall see him as He IS:” as the All gathered together into one,” Colossians 3:9,
1 John 3:2, Colossians 3:11,
Ephesians 1:10,
Thomas 77.
When
we put on this new man like a garment. We are “renewed
in the spirit of our mind” according to the knowledge that in reality,
there is only ONE body. For he has made “in himself from the two - one new man,”
Ephesians 4:23;
Colossians 3:10,
Ephesians 4:4,
Ephesians 2:15.
We
cannot live in a divided reality. Jesus said, "It is impossible for a
man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible
for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise, he will honor the one
and treat the other contemptuously. No man drinks old wine and
immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old
wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into a new wineskin,
lest it spoil it. An old patch is not sewn onto a new
garment, because a tear would result." To put on this new
garment you must put away the old. You cannot operate in two realms. We
make the two into one, Thomas 47, Thomas 22.
This
is not merely the replacing of the old with the new. This is not merely
a choice between two dichotomies. But rather it is the consummation of
the old by the new. The old passes away, is destroyed, and is consumed
and transformed into a new creation. It is not a division and
separation of the above and below, of the inner and the outer, of the
male and the female, of the right and the left, but it is an
amalgamation and a re-creation. All things are made new, Thomas 7.
We
begin this journey to wholeness with A New Way
Present in all,
and possessing all things, we reckon our old self to be dead. Jesus
said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a
corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." Jesus
said, “Recognize what is in your sight, (the corpse) and that which is
hidden from you will become plain to you.” There will be a
manifestation of the son(s) of God, “for nothing hidden will not become
manifest.” And so, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. Jesus
said, "He who has recognized the world has found the body, but he who
has found the body is superior to the world." There is a death, a
consummation and a transformation, and a resurrection, Romans 6:11, Thomas 56, 60, 80,
Colossians 3:10.
This
all begins in the bridal chamber in the holy of holies hidden within
this veil. This is where the treasure is: the hidden man of the heart,
the quiet spirit, the pearl of great price. Jesus said, “He who seeks
will find, and he who knocks will be let in." Jesus said, "Many are
standing at the door, but it is the ‘solitary’ who
will enter the bridal chamber,” Philip, Hebrew 10:20,1 Peter 3:4,
Thomas 94, Thomas 75.
Jesus
said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard
and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human
mind." And so “we walk by faith not by (natural) sight.” For this
reason, “from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have
known Christ
according to the flesh,
yet now we know Him thus no longer,” Now we know him in spirit, Thomas 17, 2 Corinthians 5:7,
2 Corinthians 5:16.
There
is one body, and one spirit. “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one
body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is One
Spirit.” Christ and Sophia are joined together. There is a
reconciliation. Once again she is “daily [his] delight,
rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his
earth. Christ and Sophia find rest together in our hearts.
Just as “Wisdom resteth
in the heart of him that hath understanding,” Jesus said, "Two will
rest on a bed,” 1Corinthians 6:16-17,
Hosea 1:2, Proverbs 8:30-31,
Proverbs 14:33,
Thomas 61, 105.
Now
that Christ has shined in our hearts, we look upon that which is
hidden. Receiving a vision of Christ and Sophia in the secret place is
a transfiguring experience. God commands “the light to shine out of darkness, (He) shine(s)
in our hearts, bringing to light the hidden things of
darkness, the counsels of the heart, revealing the knowledge
(gnosis) of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Making his face to shine
upon us, for “a man's Wisdom
maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his
face (is) changed.” “His face
shine(s) as the sun, and his raiment (is) white as the light,” 1 Corinthians 4:5,
2 Corinthians 4:6,
Ecclesiastes 8:1,
Matthew 17:2,
Matthew 17:9, Numbers 6:25,
Matthew 17:2.
“There
is profit to them that see the sun. “He will be
filled with light." Paul’s testimony of personal transformation was
simply “I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of
the sun, shining
round about me,” and “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” “There is light
within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world,” Ecclesiastes 7:11,
Thomas 61, Acts 26:13,
2 Corinthians 11:6,
Acts 26:19,
Thomas 24. See also Luke 23:45,
Acts 2:20,
Acts 13:11.
Christ
also gives us this light. For “we all, with open face beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Jesus said, "Seek and you
will find.” “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him.” “What you asked me about in
former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do
desire to tell, but you do not inquire after it.” Therefore “let him
who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will
become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be
astonished, and he will rule over the All,” Ephesians 5:14,
Colossians 1:12, 13,
2 Corinthians 3:18,
Thomas 92, 2, Ephesians 1:17.
For
there is only one body: the Christ who is all. “As many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ”: This
“[ONE] like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with
a golden girdle.” In Him all things are made new, consist, and are
joined and held together. “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to
be clothed upon with
our house which is from heaven, “For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must]
put on immortality. In this new universal body we are his hands and his
feet. “We are his flesh and his bones,” Ephesians 4:4,
Colossians 3:11,Galatians 3:27,
1 Corinthians 15:53,
Ephesians 5:30,
Revelation 1:13,
2 Corinthians 5:2,
Colossians 1:17,
2 Corinthians 5:17.
And
so we put on this new man “in Whom are hid all the
treasures of Wisdom
and knowledge.” Arising from the darkness of our mind, we
find ourselves translated into the kingdom God
The Inner Vision
When
knowledge (gnosis) is pleasant unto your soul, you will experience a
death, the sun will be darkened, and you will behold only a corpse, and
the veil of the temple will be rent in twain, and the earth will quake,
and the rocks will be rent, and the grave will open, and there will be
a bright light, and the body of a saint, a holy one which slept shall
arise and shine, a reunited Perfect Man, clothed in an armor of light,
conquering all with the love of a bridegroom, Luke 23:45, Matthew 27:51-52,
Thomas 2, 56, 77, 24.
Love conquers
all, and it never fails. Make the two into one. There is nothing hidden
that shall not be made manifest. When the inner and the outer are
joined together you enter the kingdom. Everything is in Christ. This
Christ is in everything. We are members one of another: I am in you,
and you are in me, and we are one in Christ. Everything and everyone is
in everything and everyone else. Put simply, since everything is in
Christ, and we have Christ in us, then we also have everything in us.
Again, put in Pauline language, we are members one of another, and we
have all things, 1 Corinthians 13:8,
1 Corinthians 3:21,
Thomas 22, 5, Colossians 3:11,
Romans 12:5.
This is the
mature "body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all - for in that
body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and
Who fills everything everywhere with Himself." The lines and
distinctions between God, Christ, All Things, and the Church blur and
fade away. When this is realized dualities fade, and all becomes the
One, Ephesians 1:23 Amplified.
This
is the gospel of peace. And then when knowledge (gnosis) is pleasant
unto your soul, you will experience a death, and the sun will be
darkened, and…, …, …, the process repeats. And you will know all
things, Ephesians 6:15.
However,
that day shall not come, except the man of sin be revealed. He as God
sits in the temple of God
The Conclusion
of the Matter
“When I was a
child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part”: for naturally, I have a knowledge that divides and
subdivides reality into parts, but soon I will know even as Him who is
all One, 1 Corinthians 13:11-13.
Perhaps
being separated and alienated in the darkness of the mind,
understanding as a child, seeing through a mirror darkly, we miss the
deeper purposes of Paul’s writings. Perhaps, we see reality as divided
and subdivided. However, “the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge (gnosis) of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Jesus
said, “Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by
the wind? And to see a man clothed in fine garments
like your kings and your great men? Upon them are the fine
garments, and they are unable to discern the Truth,” Thomas 78.
But
now behold the unseen Truth: “The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam [was made] a life giving spirit,”
quickening all things. Joined together we become “a living
spirit,” 1Corinthians 15:45,
1 Timothy 6:13,
Thomas 4, 22, 114.
All
the dichotomies are absorbed and translated into the Kingdom
of God
Previously we
knew in part, but soon we shall “know even as also (we are) known. And
now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these
is love.” In the secret place, reconciled together in love, the two are
joined together in holy matrimony. Knowledge may pass away, but this
love that abides is the even greater mystery, 1 Corinthians 13:11-13,
2 Corinthians 5:17,
Ephesians 5:25,
Ephesian 2:15,
Colossians 3:14.
This
kind of love and “marriage is honorable in all,” even as “Christ is all
and in all,” Hebrews 13:4,
Colossians 3:11.
Held
together with a love that abides, Colossians 3:14.
He
is and We are
The Perfect Man.
There
is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest! Luke 8:17, Thomas 5.
Disclaimer
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For a
comparison between Thomas and the other New Testament writings see
The Gospel of
Thomas - New Testament - Cross Reference Study
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