Timmy, the Matrix, and Mulan…

I have been going through the Mirror Translation of the Bible by Francois du Toit and have been really appreciating Paul’s thought pattern.  I have overlooked Timothy and randomly opened th book to 2 Timothy this morning.

2 Timothy 1:1
The amazing news of announcing this life which is unveiled in Christ Jesus is what my ministry is all about! The promise is a person! I, Paul, am a man on a mission

I really liked how succinctly this was worded. The purpose behind Paul’s mision, his objective was to introduce the man Jesus Christ.  What Jesus did to bring back our original identity and redeemed innocence is vital to understand.  The moment I started to see it was a watershed moment in my life.  My view of Christianity totally changed. He came to restore man expose the laws expiration date. We were created to walk as sons and daughters and as heirs to God. We were not created to be servants but to be in a family type relationship.

Grace is a free gift that God has given to all! It is a matter of stepping into and accepting it. It has already been paid for and given. By accepting his gift he opens his store house.  Most people think primarily of salvation but he took not only our sins but all our issues whether it is sin, pain, suffering, sickness, whatever… As a child of my physical parents I was brought into this world to be their son,  not there servant. By birth into this family I am a part and take a stake in it. Eventually at my parents death will inherit whatever they have collected and accumulated in their lifetime.

I try to meet with a group of friends that talks about what we are studying or contemplating.  We met last night and we were looking at Ephesians 5. Someone started out with verse 17.

Ephesians 5:17
Make his master plan your meditation.

We talked about what this verse meant to each of us. The main theme we came to somewhat of an agreement was keyed into Christ’s sacrifice bringing about our co-death and resurrection giving us the free gift of grace and wholeness of being found in Him. He is the purpose of the gospel. His restoration of our ability to be found in Him is foundational. Before Christ in ones personal life we are walking blindly like zombies. We are alive but no life within. This ties back to the verse in 2nd Timothy that I started with. The promise is a person and His name is Jesus!

Ephesians 5:14
This is the message of light; Christ awakens you from your intoxicated slumber and resurrects you out of the death trap of enslaved thought patterns.

Jesus, the reality and revelation awakens the zombie man. As we were talking I started getting visions of The Matrix. In The Matrix humans were sedated and put into a communal dream world which they were made to believe was reality. Much like man before Christ (BC). The awakening to the reality of the full ramifications of what Christ’s life and death as a man on this earth will wake one up from this dream world that we have believed is reality. Take off your temporal earthly glasses and put on some eternal lenses. Wake up!

2 Timothy 1:9
He resurrected the integrity of our original design and revealed that we have always been his own from beginning, even before time was. This has nothing to do with anything we did to qualify to disqualify ourselves. We are not talking religious good works or karma here. Jesus unveils grace to be the eternal intent of God! Grace celebrates our pre-creation innocence and now declares our redeemed union with God in Christ Jesus.

It’s a free gift that we don’t have to do anything to attain. We do not have to work for it. Prior to Jesus paid the price with his life. He died to redeem our sin nature. Man after Adams fall was born with a sin nature. From Jesus’s baptism to death om the cross our sin nature was taken for us if we walk into accepting it.

My youngest daughter was watching the Disney movie Mulan. The ending has always been a favorite of mine. In the scene Mulan brings a crest and a sword to show/prove what she had accomplished. But in the end her father could care less about the accomplishments and cared more about her relationship as a daughter. Even though she had achieved greatness in mans eyes that is not I what moved her father.

Fa Zhou: Mulan…

Mulan: [kneels] Father. I brought you the sword of Shan-Yu,l and the crest of the Emperor. They’re gifts, to honor the Fa family.[Fa Zhou drops the sword and crest on the ground and embraces Mulan]

Fa Zhou: The greatest gift and honor… is having you for a daughter.

Did I mention God’s my dad and he likes me ….. a lot!