A New Humanity

Eph 2:15  He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

Our world is very divided and divisive. The divide seems to grow with each and every passing week, month and year. What if the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the eternal ONE, could actually begin to reshape a new humanity. What if this is the age of the New Humanity and the New Jerusalem? What if the New Jerusalem is a new type of community not bound by geographical and geo-political boundries? What if the New Humanity is comprised of a multitude of ethnicities and tribes? What if it brings a counter narrative to our current system of increasing tribalistic tendencies?

What if it was always the purpose and goal of the pristine gospel?

By pristine gospel, I mean the gospel that was taught by the first century saints that turned the world upside-down, and produced such loving communities that they were noted far and wide for their brotherly love, and their uncommon and completely unheard of agape/love. According to the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, both commandments that Jesus cited in Matthew 22, one as the first and greatest and the second which is like unto it both use a form of AGAPE which was rendered love.

As far as I am concerned Strong's and Thayer do not give an adequate definition of AGAPE. Paul defines it in 1Co 13:4-8a  "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant  (5)  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  (6)  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  (7)  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  (8)  Love never ends..." and John explains in 1John 4:8 that God is AGAPE.

So let's get back to a new humanity. It would be a humanity that is transformed by AGAPE. It would be a humanity that had AGAPE love for God. It would be a humanity that had AGAPE love for each other. It would be a humanity that had AGAPE for all of humanity. And, it would be a humanity that had AGAPE for the planet and its eco-systems including all of its animals. This new humanity would bring the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the eternal ONE into fruition, and as it would grow, it would increasingly begin to transform everything including, politics, economics, and social norms.

It would begin with the transforming pristine gospel of God's grace. The gospel would be advanced by proclamation which is the same as preaching but unfortunately I believe that orthodox and evangelical Christianity has made so many terms represent loaded meaning that one would need to be careful in the presentation and in how this gospel and this kingdom was explained.

As I have repeatedly posted in various ways on this blog; I believe that the actual operation of the gospel and Holy Spirit as a transforming agent has never been properly explained or understood by the church from the second century on. I believe it was in the first century church and that was the reason that it was so transformative. However, between the forty year silence from 70AD/CE to roughly 110AD/CE the pristine gospel was leavened with the leaven of the Pharisees and became as prophesied by the Apostle Paul the "strong delusion."

From the second century forward, with the early church fathers, the gospel message was altered; influenced by first century Judaism which culminated in the late fourth century when the canon was settled. Probably the most influential cause of this was from the time of Emperor Constantine forward when Rome made Christianity the religion of the realm, and demanded that the various church leaders get together and hash out a compromise on what orthodox doctrine would be.

I am convinced beyond doubt that the first century gospel used grace as the driving force, and the Holy Spirit used this grace to transform the hearts of people who heard the message. The message is best capsulated in 2 Cor 5-17-21. The proclamation of the first century church was since God has reconciled the world through Jesus be reconciled to God. The transforming force was the ministry of reconciliation. It flowed as follow: Justification by the faith of Christ Jesus, brought peace with the father, which in turn created real love for the Father, which resulted in transformation. Love for the Father, Joy in the Father, and Peace with the Father produced AGAPE in those who heard the message. They had to hear it regularly for its effect to continue and as a community they would encourage one another in the gospel of grace.

Since Jesus and the first century apostles taught that the gospel, not scripture per se was the word of God, they realized that Christ was the END of the law for righteousness. Therefore, we see few commandments in the New Testament writings other than love one another and Paul commanded the Thessalonians to work and not quit because they thought that the world was coming to an end.

All other passages that current evangelical doctrine has considered to be commands were in reality exhortations which is different than a command. That is not to say that people should not strive to follow exhortations but they did not result in death as did commandments. The legal constitutional reading of scripture that evangelical orthodoxy has adopted skewed this understanding and caused the gospel to be less effective than it was in the first century. A return to the pristine gospel as it was explained by way of oral teaching and epistles would revitalize the opportunity for real transformation and in turn, real transformation could and would begin to create a new humanity.