Pick Up Your Cross: Why Did Jesus Die For Our Sins
I think that there are many who are confused regarding the concept of sin and the need of Messiah dying on the Cross for our redemption. Why, exactly, did Jesus die for our sins? This is something that I also struggled with, but have come to the truth of the matter through earnest prayer and an in-depth study of the Word, I share my own insights into this Mystery.
Sin = Missing The Mark
To begin, Sin is classically defined as “missing the mark” or ignorance. The word comes from the Greek hamartia — akin to aiming at a target and falling short. Sin infers a misalignment of our souls from the Truth and the Life.
In John 1:5, we read,
“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” NKJV
This implies that ignorance (sin) is the error of looking in the wrong direction. We (consciousness) are looking outward and downward, not within and upward.
When we speak of “upward” and “downward” we are referring to frequency and vibration. When we raise our thoughts emotions and actions towards the Father, and we strive to “set our house in order” within. Isaiah 38:1
So, why is there sin in the first place? Couldn’t the Father have just reset our condition so this suffering would not have taken place?
To answer this, we must look at Genesis 4:7 when the Father spoke to Cain before he committed the sin of murder.
In this exchange, YHWH said to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” This is one key to the mystery of sin and Messiah’s purpose for His Passion.
You see, it was our progenitors (Adam and Eve’s) choice to walk the path of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, instead of the path of Eternal Life. Therefore, they were now required to master the lower powers of Darkness, before they could be counted worthy of experiencing the Higher Power of Light. It is here that the failure arises.
We are incapable of ruling over the lower nature outside of the Spirit (symbolized by the Tree of Life). It should also be noted that this counsel by Eloh occurred before the murder of Abel by Cain, which teaches us that, even with Cain speaking directly to the Father, without his consent to be one with the Father, he was incapable of reigning in his passion of jealousy and hate he had towards his brother.
The Mental Battlefield
Incidentally, Cain and Able are both symbolic of the higher and lower consciousness. His act of choice reveals a third component at work, though. It is called Ego or “I”.
Yeshuah alluded to this in Matthew 6:22 where He said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Thus, our people are faced with the constant division between Light and Darkness, one leading to transgression and sin as soon as our Ego is weakened or distracted by darkness. Just listen to what Paul says regarding this:
“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:21-25 NKJV
The Greek word Paul used for “mind” is nous (νοῦς), which refers to the intellect, understanding, or the rational mind. This is a common phrase among the Hermeticists being the “silent witness” or the pure faculty of perception — the part of a person that “simply is” and can perceive reality without the distortion of words or logic (logos).
It is synomous with the Ego in the sense that it is the conscious “chooser” between light and darkness. This is the faculty that Paul says gets carried away by every wind of doctrine, and exhibits the double-minded nature.
Without Me, You Can Do Nothing
So now we can recognize our inability to Ego/Nous to be consistent in living as we were originally created to. No person can deny that they have done, said or thought something that could be classified as being sinful.
No human can consciously maintain the peace that surpasses all understanding Philippians 4:7, which is our original estate. Separation from Eloh – Not possesssing a Relationship (i.e., developing His qualities and characteristics within us) – places the responsibility in the hands of the Ego/Nous which is disconnected (in rebellion due to ignorance) from Eloh. Paradoxally, we cannot properly develop these characteristics because we are separated from the very Spirit that briings this about effortlessly.
“It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” John 6:63
But how do we connect with this Spirit?
The Mind Of Messiah
The Scriptures are clear that we are to put on the Mind of Messiah Romans 13:14. To put on the Mind of Christ/Messiah implies a fundamental shift in consciousenss. This “Mind” is above the dualistic perception of Good and Evil, and is the transcendental consciousness that is the direct connection between human and Eloh. Which is why we always say, “Through Yeshuah our Messiah”. It is a real mental state of Being, of which Paul states, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh”.
Paul also teaches us in a veiled way how we access this Consciousness:
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name…” Philippians 2:5-11. See also Revelatiosn 2:17
We are called to entirely submit the Lower Ego/Nous to a higher Ego/Nous. This makes the above verses take on an entirely new meaning.
Messiah quoted the Scriptures saying that we are gods, and that we’re basically wrapped in flesh and ignorance. Thus, we are indeed equal to God the Father, inasmuch as the Child is Equal to the Father both genetically and in character (created in His Image and Likeness). This cannot, however, be confused with His sovereignty and power, because although we possess the same qualities and attributes as the Father, we are NOT the Father.
Attaining Messianic Consciousness
Messianic Consciousness (The Holy Spirit of Messiah) is the closest attainment we as humans can reach, knowing that Eloh the Father is beyond His Creation. The Ruach Chai Elohim (Eloah the Mother) and Yahshuah (The Only Begotten Son) are that aspect of Godhead continually interacting with and maintaining our plane, through the Will of Eloh. To perceive them, we must elevate ourselves to Messianic consciousness (“If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” John 14:9).
The Bible is clear that Sin is derived from the flesh:
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15 NKJV
We’ve already established that the Ego/Nous absent the intervention of the Spirit is incapable of holding the frequency of righteousness for any sustained period of time. Therefore, Messiah not only appeared on this Earth to teach us the correct means by which this can be done, but He also showed us the door – the only door – through which we can cross over into the higher life/consciousness.
Messiah presented Himself as rich symbolism and revealed mystery. First, He gave us initiation through Baptism, Anointing and the Bread and Wine. Second, He revealed the physical and astrological path, which is the True Alchemy and Kabbalah that has been up until now, hidden from the profane. Last, but most importantly, He Himself through His own Great Work, forever opened the door past the Principalities and Powers and Rulers, and into the Eternal Presence of the Father.
Conclusion
Now, one final thing to consider. Obedience to the Word of Eloh has a purpose. The World loves to rationalize the incompatibility of the Scripture to our current civilization. However, the Father is the same eternally. There is no time, as our own science has already admitted. Our obedience to His Word is not only for the alignment with powers of heaven, but they are for our learning.
The test of obedience is a test of your will. If you are “willing” to submit to the Spirit, you are no longer at the mercy of polarity. The Word is a course in transcending the polarities typified in the symbolism of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It has little to do with being a slave to higher forces (though ironically we are already under the influence of lower energies daily), but rather alignment and subsequently Unity with Godhead. Dare I say, to do so properly (by submitting to the Holy Spirit of Messiah) we in effect become Messiah. This is the true Mystery of the Second Coming: Holographic Images of Messiah (Christians = “Little Christs”) come to judge the Earth.
