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<DIV><FONT size=4>Doug Jones writes:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>"2. God's creative works reflect His character much as
an artist's creations reveal the artist."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Yeah right, just like the Rorschach Test ink blots
reveals Rorschach's personality. Except, since everyone has a different
interpretation of the ink blots, it really reveals aspects of the viewer's
personality, sometimes significant ones, instead of anything about reality
outside the viewer's worldview and pathology.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The same is true of interpretations works of art, poetry,
music, etc, particularly modern ones.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>While Jones's interpretation of some alleged God's canvas
reveals very little about reality, it does reveal the following about
himself, the Cultmaster who controls his life, and many of the
Cultmaster's ovine flock: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Extreme intolerance, extreme need to punish those that do not
agree, extreme need to control others and to bring them to heel according
to the cult's (Wilson's) worldview, extreme need for fantasy in order to deal
with the exigencies of life in a contingent/not
understood universe, and especially, in Freud's term, classic cases of
extreme anal retentiveness (<A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_retentive">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_retentive</A>).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----
<DIV>From: "Taro Tanaka" <<A
href="mailto:taro_tanaka@hotmail.com">taro_tanaka@hotmail.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>To: <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 3:03 PM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] New Covenant vs Old Covenant</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>> Paul Rumelhart godshatter at yahoo.com asks:<BR>>
<BR>> [[ Could you or someone else explain to me about the new vs the
old<BR>> covenants in the bible? I thought I understood that the old
covenant,<BR>> which includes the proscriptions against homosexuality as well
as the<BR>> dietary laws and such, was replaced by the new covenant. Is
it still a<BR>> sin to wear a shirt made from two or more fibers, or not to
rotate your<BR>> crops? Does the new covenant say anything about
homosexuality? I've<BR>> never really understood this. I've
noticed from other debates here and<BR>> elsewhere that the homosexual parts
of the old covenant seem to be used<BR>> commonly, but the other parts
aren't.<BR>> <BR>> I thought the idea was that the laws of the Old
Testament were specific<BR>> to the peoples of that time, and that Jesus'
sacrifice brought into play<BR>> a new covenant that replaces the old
one.<BR>> <BR>> I'm not a biblical expert, and not a christian. I'm
not bashing here,<BR>> just trying to understand it. ]]<BR>> <BR>>
Paul, that is a very good question. The key points to keep in mind with <BR>>
regard to the covenants are:<BR>> <BR>> 1. The three Persons of the
Trinity are in an eternal covenantal <BR>> relationship.<BR>> 2. God's
creative works reflect His character much as an artist's creations <BR>>
reveal the artist.<BR>> 3. The covenantal God relates to his creation
covenantally -- When we look <BR>> at the original creation, He commands it
into existence and it obediently <BR>> responds by coming into existence just
as commanded. He judges it to be good <BR>> and blesses it. He upholds and
prospes it over time.<BR>> 4. All of the creation reveals God, but man is
especially created in God's <BR>> image. Thus the covenant is especially
important to the life of man. Man as <BR>> the image of God is inescapably a
covenantal creature. Human beings were <BR>> created to relate to one another
in a manner that reflects the way the <BR>> persons of the Trinity relate to
one another.<BR>> 5. Man was created into a covenantal relationship with God.
God blessed us <BR>> from the very beginning. We did not have to pass some
kind of special test <BR>> in order to merit life and love from God; rather,
we were given these things <BR>> from the start.<BR>> 6. The first
covenantal head of mankind, Adam, fell into sin, and we all <BR>> with him,
when Adam listened to the lies of Satan and submitted to Satan in <BR>>
rebelling against God. Our first covenantal head rebelled against the <BR>>
covenant of life and instead entered into a covenant with death. Through
<BR>> Adam's rebellion, man was effectively cut off from God.<BR>> 7. God
was not content to allow the entire human race to perish in this way, <BR>>
so he promised a Messiah who would fulfill the requirements of God's <BR>>
justice, paying the penalty of death so that it would no longer rule over
<BR>> us.<BR>> 8. The entire Jewish sacrificial system that we see in the
Bible is a <BR>> temporary holding action, so to speak, looking forward to
the ultimate <BR>> fulfillment of everything in the promised Messiah. God
dwells in the <BR>> Tabernacle and later in the Temple, but access to Him is
extremely limited <BR>> -- only the high priest can enter the holy of holies,
and that only once per <BR>> year, and he has a rope tied around his ankle so
that he can be pulled out <BR>> in the event that God strikes him dead while
he is inside. God's dwelling in <BR>> the midst of Israel is a blessing, but
the relationship is not exactly what <BR>> one woudl call free and
uninhibited. The constant sacrificing of animals is <BR>> necessary serves to
remind the people that the fulfillment of the promise of <BR>> salvation in
the Messiah is still future.<BR>> 9. In the fullness of time, the second
Person of the Trinity is incarnated <BR>> to finally succeed where Adam
failed and furthermore to fulfill the <BR>> requirements of God's justice by
making full restitution with His own <BR>> infinitely precious life. After
laying down His own life, He picked it up <BR>> again, being resurrected on
the third day, after having proclaimed the <BR>> gospel and His victory in
Sheol. From that point forward, Sheol has been <BR>> emptied of the saints,
who are in Heaven reunited with God.<BR>> 10. The term "old covenant" refers
to the failed covenant in Adam; failed <BR>> but not without a promise of
salvation. Thus after the fall the entire "old <BR>> covenant" period is
looking forward in anticipation of the coming of the <BR>> Messiah.<BR>>
11. The term "new covenant" refers to the new covenant which has Jesus as
<BR>> its covenantal head, in which all the promises of salvation are finally
<BR>> fulfilled.<BR>> 12. Since the sacrifices were all fulfilled in
Jesus' cross, the Jewish <BR>> temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, having become
unnecessary.<BR>> 13. God's standards of right and wrong are unchanging under
both the old <BR>> covenant and the new. God's standards of right and wrong
are a reflection of <BR>> His etenerally perfect character. Thus
proscriptions against sexual sin <BR>> remain consistent under both
covenants. Dietary laws, laws relating to <BR>> dress, etc., were designed to
preserve the distinctiveness of the nation of <BR>> Israel -- separated as
holy unto the Lord. The priniciple of being separated <BR>> as holy unto the
Lord still applies, but since the entire world has been <BR>> cleansed by the
blood of the Messiah, it is no longer necessary or <BR>> appropriate to
distinguish between one food and another, or one type of <BR>> fabric and
another, or one ethnos and another, etc. It does remain <BR>> appropriate and
necessary to distinguish between right and wrong.<BR>> <BR>> I hope this
helps!<BR>> <BR>> -- Princess Sushitushi<BR>> <BR>>
_________________________________________________________________<BR>>
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