Jesus is Our Representative not a substitute

Jesus as Our Representative


We have seen that the animal sacrifices were not completely representative of sinful men. Jesus was representative of us, being in all points "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. 2:17). "He tasted death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). When we commit a sin - e.g. we are angry - God can forgive us "for Christ's sake" (Eph. 4:32).


This is because God can compare us with Christ, a man like us who was tempted to sin - e.g. to be angry - but who overcame every temptation. Therefore God can forgive us our sin - of anger - on account of our being in Christ, covered by his righteousness. Christ being our representative is therefore the means by which God can show us His grace, whilst upholding His own righteous principles.

The popular view of orthodox Christianity is that man's sins placed him in a debt to God which of himself he could not pay. Christ then cleared the debt of each believer by his blood, shed on the cross. Many a Gospel Hall preacher has expressed it like this: "It was as if we were all lined up against a wall, about to be shot by the devil. Jesus then rushed in; the devil shot him instead of us, so we are now free."

These elaborate theories are without any firm Biblical support. There is the obvious contradiction that if Christ died instead of us, then we should not die. As we still have human nature, we must still die; salvation from sin and death will finally be revealed at the judgment (when we are granted immortality). We did not receive this at the time Christ died. Christ's death destroyed the devil (Heb. 2:14) rather than the devil destroying him.


The Bible teaches that salvation is possible through Christ's death AND resurrection, not just by his death. Christ "died for us" once. The theory of substitution would mean that he had to die for each of us personally.


If Christ paid off a debt with his blood, our salvation becomes something which we can expect as a right. The fact that salvation is a gift, brought about by God's mercy and forgiveness, is lost sight of if we understand Christ's sacrifice as being a debt payment.

It also makes out that an angry God was appeased once He saw the physical blood of Jesus. Yet what God sees when we repent is His Son as our representative, whom we are trying to copy, rather than we connecting ourselves with Christ's blood as a talisman.

Many 'Christian' hymns and songs contain an incredible amount of false doctrine in this area. Most false doctrine is drummed into people's minds by music, rather than rational, Biblical instruction. We must ever be on the watch for this kind of brain-washing.


Tragically, the simple words "Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8) have been grossly misunderstood as meaning that Christ died instead of us. There are a number of connections between Romans 5 and 1 Cor. 15 (e.g. v. 12 = 1 Cor. 15:21; v. 17 = 1 Cor. 15:22). "Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8) is matched by "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3). His death was in order to make a way whereby we can gain forgiveness of our sins; it was in this sense that "Christ died for us". The word "for" does not necessarily mean 'instead of'; Christ died "for our sins", not 'instead of' them. Because of this, Christ can "make intercession" for us (Heb. 7:25) - not 'instead of' us. Neither does "for" mean 'instead of' in Heb. 10:12 and Gal. 1:4.


We do not believe that Christ was born free from original sin this may be called a “free life”. [A “free life” signifies that Christ’s nature was not under Adamic condemnation as is that of all other members of the human race, and that therefore his sacrifice was a substitute for the “lives” of others. However, he needed to obtain redemption himself in order to redeem his “brethren” — Gal 4:4; 1Tim. 2:6; Heb. 9:12.]


We do not believe that Christ’s nature was immaculate, or that he was of a different nature from other men. [Through his birth he inherited a nature sin-affected, and destined to death, being mortal, as all others — Heb. 2:14.]

Were there other human beings contemporary with Adam & Eve?

Were there other human beings contemporary with Adam & Eve?

There are at least four biblical hints that there were other human beings in existence at the time of Adam and Eve:

• Eve is told “I will greatly increase your labor pains” (Genesis 3:16).
The word “increase” implies one of two options: Either God had already *planned* for there to be pain in childbirth (remember that at this point Eve hadn’t had any children) but now God was going to increase it (hardly seems likely?), or else Eve was not the first to have had children (hence the increase, because others hadn’t had the pain before).

• Cain is afraid he would be killed (Genesis 4:14-15).
Who would Cain be afraid of if the only other people on earth are his parents, and perhaps a younger sibling or two that are not mentioned in the Bible? And the marking of Cain so that no-one would kill him hardly sounds necessary if it was only his family. The context of thought in these verse only makes sense if there are other people on the earth.

• Cain finds a wife and builds a city (Genesis 4:17).
There are two concepts to consider here:
Firstly, who was Cain’s wife? “God’s moral compass does not change” (1). In other words, God’s moral values would be constant. Leviticus is quite clear that relations with one’s sister (not to mention other close relatives) are expressly forbidden and wicked (Lev 18:6-18); are a disgrace (Lev 20:17); and a cause of His anger against the Canaanites - (Lev 20:23).

To imply this was Cain’s sister not only inserts a concept into the text that is not there, because the scriptures specifically do NOT say he took his sister, but it also requires God’s moral compass to do a 180-degree turn-around.
Secondly, who lived in his city? Surely more than Cain, his wife and son Enoch? The text appears to assume the existence of a large number of other people in the area.

• After Adam and Eve’s first grandchild was born, “people began to worship Yahweh” (Genesis 4:26). If the only human beings were Adam and Eve, their children and grandchildren, it makes no sense to say that, “people BEGAN to worship Yahweh”.

Abel had previously been faithful, and it appears that Adam and Eve remained faithful after they left Eden (see Genesis 4:25). So at least some of the family were already worshipping God. The verse only really makes sense if these “people” are those who were not part of the family of Adam and Eve.

So throughout the early chapters of Genesis, there are many hints of a wider human population that existed at the time.


Most of what is known of the Sabians comes from ibn Wahshiyya's The Nabatean Agriculture, translated in 904 CE from Syriac sources. The text discusses beliefs attributed to the Sabians, in particular that they were people who lived in Pre-Adamite times,

When Did the Logos become flesh? John 1:14

When Did the Logos become flesh? John 1:14

The moment that Yahweh speaks something it happens, that's for sure. So the moment of the conception is the moment that the Word of the Father became flesh.

The Word became flesh" is here a straightforward reference to Christ's nature, not merely his birth (cp 1Jo 4:2). God manifested Himself in the flesh of humanity (1Ti 3:16), not in stone (Exo 34:6). Jesus was of David's seed (Rom 1:3); under a curse (Gal 3:13); being born of a woman, under the law (Gal 4:4); and made "sin" (2Co 5:21). He was of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3); in the likeness of men, in the a form of a slave (Phi 2:7); and like his brethren (Heb 2:17).

The Word became flesh which is the body prepared of God" (Heb. 10:5).

Prepared for what prepared for the indwelling of the spirit

John 3:34 For the one whom God sent forth speaks the sayings of God, for he does not give the spirit by measure


The word also became flesh when Jesus began to teach it. He said his words or logos was not his but God's.

John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my words [logos]: and the word [logos] which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

1 John 2:7 Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word [logos] which ye heard.


So the word also became flesh at the baptism.

John 1:15 - "Concerning him, John gave this testimony: 'This is the one about whom I said, Though he is coming behind me, he preceded me and he came before me!"

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.


John 1:14 is referring to the time when the human Jesus came to "dwell among" his disciples after John the baptizer announced his "coming" (John 1:15). These things happened "in the beginning" of the public ministry of "the word" (John 1:1).

The "and" in John 1:14 connects the clause that says "the word became [was] flesh" with the clause that says "dwelt among us." There is no reason to insert a 30-year gap between these two clauses. This is also confirmed by the writer in 1 John 1:1 where he said that "the word (LOGOS) of life" is what the disciples "heard" and "saw with their eyes" and "handled with their hands."

The disciples did not have this "fellowship" (1 John 1:3) with Jesus Christ, or hear the message he proclaimed (1 John 1:5), until the time when he "went in and out among them, beginning with the baptism of John" (Acts 1:21-22).

The Logos is an Angel

The Logos is an Angel

25 The followers of Valentinus defined the Angel as a Logos having a message from Him who is. And, using the same terminology, they call the Aeons Logoi.

The Book of Jubilees Chapter 2

1) And the angel of the presence spoke to Moses according to the word of Yahweh, saying: Write the complete generations of the creation, how in six days Yahweh Elohim finished all his works and all that he created.....
2) For on the first day he created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which minister before him; the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels of the spirit of fire and the angels of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, he created the abysses and the darkness, both evening and night, and light, which he prepared in the knowledge of his heart.


The Deity is far above and far away from the world, however he is near everyone by the mediatorship of the angels, the elohim. The angels or the elohim are an aspect of this 'nearness.' Therefore God is immanent as well as transcendent, and the angels are an of emanation of the Deity, an off-shoot of the Divine, holding intimate converse with the affairs of the world

The Uncreated Spirit Power is surrounded by his powers as a king by his servants. These powers are, ideas or logos emanate from him; angels or messengers; but all are essentially one, as they exist in Yahweh, because they emanate from him.

As for the angels, some are created, Some are eternal angels [i.e. existing from everlasting to everlasting],

The Scriptures are clear as to the role of the Angels at Creation in response to the commandment of the Almighty:

“By the Word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psa. 33:6).

Yahweh gave the command, and the Angels obeyed. He said: “let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (cp. Psa. 33:9). So it was that the Angels (Hebrew: Elohim—see Psa. 8:5) who were the agents through which the Almighty accomplished His Will in creating the Heavens and Earth. So it is that we read in Genesis chapter 1: “In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

“God said: ‘Let light come to be.’ Then there came to be light.” (Ps 33:6; Ge 1:3) It should not be understood from this that the Deity himself does no work. (John 5:17) But he does have tens of thousands of angels that respond to his word and carry out his will.—Ps 103:20.

The Eternal Angels are emanations of the Deity it is the Divine working here below, as they are spread in the world, this is expressed by Logos.

For God, not condescending to come down to the external senses, sends his own words or angels for the sake of giving assistance to those who love virtue.

When God communicated with humans he used the Word as his angelic mouthpiece. (Gen 16:7-11; 22:11; 31:11; Ex 3:2-5; Jg 2:1-4; 6:11, 12; 13:3) Since the angel that guided the Israelites through the wilderness had ‘God’s name within him.—Ex 23:20-23;

Obviously, it wasn’t actually God that they had seen, but instead they saw a group of Elohim who are the representatives of Yahweh, the elohim or angels, who they thought to be equivalent to seeing the Deity Himself. Obviously, it wasn’t the same as “Seeing” the Deity Himself, as they did not die! (Ex. 33:20; John 1:18).

In Exod. 24:10, Moses tells us -- that he and seventy-three others "saw the God of Israel." We should be mistaken, however, if we supposed that he meant they saw the Deity (EL), the Uncreated Eternal Spirit, "Who no man can see Him and live."

 He says they saw "the Elohim of Israel" depositories and embodiments of the Eternal Spirit, who shone out in glory in the presence of the Elders. The appearance under the feet of the Elohim, whose feet were also the feet of the Spirit, and, therefore, styled "His feet, was, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven for clearness."

Personal Angels Acts 12:14-15

Personal Angels

The Scriptures are clear as to the role of the Angels at Creation in response to the commandment of the Almighty:

“By the Word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psa. 33:6).

Yahweh gave the command, and the Angels obeyed. He said: “let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (cp. Psa. 33:9). So it was that the Angels (Hebrew: Elohim—see Psa. 8:5) were the agents through which the Almighty accomplished His Will in creating the Heavens and Earth. So it is that we read in Genesis chapter 1: “In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

But after the 6 days of Creation, the Angels still have a creative role to play, for during the 6000 years of Creation, their working in human affairs is essential for the development of those called out for the Name of the Lord. As we read in Hebrews, they are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation”(Heb. 1:14).


We, who have been called out from the world to become Sons of the Living God are the “heirs of salvation” if we remain faithful. So, the Word of Yahweh is clear: the angels are our ministers! Their purpose is to ensure the outworking of God’s Will both in world affairs but also in us as individuals. The Angels have the charge of ministering to us, and our needs.

Right from the beginning, the Angels have been intimately involved with Human Affairs. Genesis 1:26 reads: “and Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. The reference to “our” in this place shows this point. We are made after the physical and moral likeness of the Elohim. Again following the sin of the first human pair “Yahweh Elohim said, behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil”.

The Angels were then given the charge of ministering to those who took hold of the Almighty’s Plan of Redemption, keeping them in the way (cp. Exo. 23:20), bringing them through the trials of life (Gen. 48:16), that they might also attain to immortality, being made equal to them (Lu. 19:36) when restored to the friendship of the Deity.

As we have seen from Hebrews 1:10, the Angels are our ministers. That is, each saint has his/her own personal angel, which ministers to him/her. This is not merely a fairy story taught to children as the world would have us believe, but it is clear Scriptural teaching. Consider these words of Messiah:

“take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat. 18:10).

The disciples who become as children before their Father have their own angels. We must not despise one of these little ones, for their Angel stands in the presence of God in heaven.

The Lord had his own Angel, spoken of in the book of Revelation:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Rev. 1:1).

It is evident that the Apostles believed that they each had an Angel. When Peter was released from prison, he came to Mary’s house, and knocked on the gate. A young damsel “when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, it is his Angel” (Acts 12:14-15). Thus, not believing that Peter had been released, in seeking for an explanation, they said “it is his Angel”. Mat. 18:10; 2:13, 19; Psa. 34:7; Heb. 1:14 (Diag.).

What does Gospel mean?

What does Gospel mean?

The gospel of truth is joy to those who have received from the Father of truth the grace of knowing him by the power of the Logos, who has come from the Pleroma and who is in the thought and the mind of the Father; he it is who is called "the Savior," since that is the name of the work which he must do for the redemption of those who have not known the Father. For the name of the gospel is the manifestation of hope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him, because the totality sought him from whom it had come forth. You see, the totality had been inside of him, the incomprehensible, inconceivable one who is superior to every thought

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/got.html

gospel--An Anglo-Saxon word derived from good and spell (story, tidings). The Greek word means "good news". It is now universally identified with Jesus' mission and the doctrines that has grown out of it--that system of religious beliefs centered around the teachings of Jesus.

The gospel is not presented simply as an answer to religious questions by Jesus' listeners, but as a God-given announcement of an event whose meaning challenges those listeners.
The gospel challenged the existing ideas of the time the understandings of God, the human condition, and the means of dealing with it; the gospel called for a Repentance or reformation a total re-evaluation of existing ideas

"The world by wisdom," saith Paul, "knew not God . . . but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, 'the hidden', which none of the chiefs of this Aeon knew, for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 1: 21; 2:7, 8). Paul was sent to turn the Gentiles to the knowledge of the true and living Deity, and in so doing taught them the mystery which it was the glory of the declaration to explain or reveal. 

Hence the preaching is called, "the Revelation of the Mystery," and is thus alluded to by Paul (who taught "the gospel which God had promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures") in Rom. 16:25 -- "To him that is of power," says he, "to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus anointed; according to the revelation of mystery concealed during ages of past times (chronois aeonios) but now made manifest also through the prophetic writings according to the commandment of the God of the age (tou aeoniou Theou) for obedience of faith made known to all the nations: to God only wise, through Jesus anointed, to him be the glory for the ages. Amen."

The gospel of Jesus is that every believer can become God manifestation. It is not alone a gospel of right living, but also shows the way into dominion and power equal to and surpassing that of Jesus of Nazareth. "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father" (John 14:12).

you have seen the spirit and have become spirit,
you have seen Christ and have become Christ,
you have seen the [father] and will become father. The Gospel of Philip

The Gospel is not just a message of right living, but it also shows the way into dominion and power equal and consubstantial with the Deity himself

John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Gnostic Teaching Matter is Evil Romans 8:20

Matter is Evil and Impure

or

Matter is Sinful and Impure

First an opening reading from the Gospel of Philip and the first letter of John

The world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire. For the world never was imperishable, nor, for that matter, was he who made the world. For things are not imperishable, but sons are. Nothing will be able to receive imperishability if it does not first become a son. But he who has not the ability to receive, how much more will he be unable to give? The Gospel of Philip 

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The Gospel of Philip informs us that the world "came about through a mistake"  and the first letter of John commands us not to love he world  but what is the world? 

kosmos

The "world," John referred to is the prevailing order or arrangement of things as it existed in the political, social and religious systems then and now extant. The Greek word is kosmos, and signifies "order," "arrangement," "ornament," and so forth. It was the prevailing order or system of things that they were not to love.

The Greek word kosmos

2889. kosmos, κόσμος, ου, ὁ

2889 kósmos (literally, "something ordered") – properly, an "ordered system" (like the universe, creation); the world.

Usage: the world, universe; worldly affairs; the inhabitants of the world; adornment.

As we have seen from the quotation from the Gospel of Philip the word "world" is used in the Coptic text the word for "world"   is the Greek word kósmos. The translation of the Gospel of Philip by Dr. Thomas Paterson Brown uses the word "system" instead of the word "world" 

The system began in a transgression, for he who made it had desired to make it imperishable and immortal. He fell away and did not attain (his) ambition. For there was no imperishability of the system, and there was no imperishability of him who has made the system. For there is no imperishability of things but rather of the Sons, and no one can obtain imperishability except by becoming (a) Son. Yet he who is unable to receive, how much (more) will he be unable to give! (The Annotated Gospel of Philip Dr. Thomas Paterson Brown)

The Annotated Gospel of Philip Dr. Thomas Paterson Brown

Hypertext interlinear of the Gospel according to Philip


From the Hypertext interlinear of the Gospel of Philip we can see that the word "world" is the Greek word Kosmos  

THE WORLD: Gr "kosmos", the order or arrangement of things: in this case, the nations of the earth (Gen 17:4-6). The word "world" is kosmos and refers to the current order of things; thus the world of flesh, comprising both Jew and Gentile. This implies not mere locality and area, but also legal jurisdiction and authority over the world.

The word kosmos refers to the orderly arrangement seen in the systems of mankind.

The order of things (kosmos) is also referred to as an age (aeon)

Galatians 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Eph 6:12  because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;

In some translations of the Bible the words kosmos and aeon are translated with the English word "world"

Galatians 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

The king James bible refers to the present order of things to be "this present evil world"

The Greek word translated "evil" Poneros´ often signifies that which is evil or wicked in a moral sense (Lu 6:45) and can apply to something that is bad or worthless in a physical in a physical sense: ὀφθαλμός, diseased or blind, Matthew 6:23; Matthew 7:17, 18; Luke 11:34

So the present ages of this order of things is both evil from a moral and a physical sense

Whoever sows in winter reaps in summer. Winter is the world, summer is the other age. Let us sow in the world to reap in summer. And for this reason we should not pray in winter. From winter comes summer. If someone reaps in winter, the person will not really reap but will pull out the young plants, and such do not produce a crop. [That person’s field] is barren not only [now] but also on the sabbath. (Gospel of Philip)

But why is this age or order of things evil?

The simple answer to this is because God cursed it

 

Evil

This may seem strange associating evil with God and creation but God’s plain statements concerning them are clear.

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are ALL things: to whom be glory forever, Amen.” Romans 11:36

All is "of God” according to Romans 11:36,

God’s Word contains many passages that reveal the great truth that ALL things – the evil as well as the good – come from God, who alone can create it. 

Romans 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God--harshness toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Ec 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
Ec 7:14  In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

Am 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Creation and the Fall

When God's work of creation was completed he saw the earth it was very good

Ge 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

It should be noted that "very good" does not mean perfect

However it would not stay that way for long

Gen 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

After the fall the creation is no longer "very good" it is cursed

Cursed: Originally the earth was proclaimed "very good," but afterwards it sprouted thorns and thistles in abundance (Gen. 3:18). Its proneness so to do is similar to the proneness of the flesh to sin, producing moral thorns and thistles (see Heb. 6:8). 

Originally, the animals were vegetarian, and came tamely before Adam to be named (Gen. 2:19); but subsequently they became carnivorous and fierce; though ultimately they will be restored to their original state (Isa. 65:25). 

Man's physical state under the curse, his proneness to sin, is expressed in Scriptures such as Gen. 3:19; Rom. 7:5, 14, 17, 18, 20; Phil. 3:21, etc

Matter and Corruption

The whole creation desires a better state than that presently experienced, in which sin and death reign supreme (Rom. 5:12), and groans under existing conditions. There is no hope for a world facing destruction by its own hands (cp. Rev. 11:18, "destroy the earth"). As all nature was subjected to the curse, so all nature looks for alleviation of distresses under which it now labors. The animals prey upon each other, and the farmer labors to destroy the weeds that choke his land.

Romans 8:19 For the eager expectation of the creation is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. 
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of hope 
21 that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God. 
22 For we know that all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now. 
23 Not only that, but we ourselves also who have the firstfruits, namely, the spirit, yes, we ourselves groan within ourselves, while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons

Paul tells us that the Creation was not subject to vanity (futility – sin) willingly (voluntarily). It has no will or choice in the matter. God is subjecting the Creation against its will!

“For the Creation was made subject to vanity (futility – sin), not willingly (voluntarily), but by reason of Him who has subjected it in hope (literally - expectation).

“Because the (entire) Creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (sin and death) into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Romans 8:20,21

Creation is subjected to vanity or futility it is also subjected to the bondage of corruption therefore creation is no longer very good it is corrupted and sinful

For the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23

All matter is decaying: Because matter is temporary, changing and thus decaying it is sinful or unclean 

Sin

The power of death is held by 'sin' (Hebrews 2:14). Therefore in the absence of sin, mortality and its result, death, should not exist.
We are told in Genesis, "cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Genesis 3:17-18). 
Death does not cause "thorns also and thistles" to grow. It is neither logical as a literal truth, or as a symbolic expression of death. But thorns and thistle that blight the earth are typical, or a good symbol, of indwelling sin that blights human life.
"The nature of the lower animals is as full of this physical evil principle as the nature of man; though it cannot be styled sin with the same expressiveness; because it does not possess them as the result of their own transgression; the name, however, does not alter the nature of the thing." (Elpis Israel, p. 126)

"The clear evidence of Genesis 3 is that sin had a physical reaction on creation: the serpent crawled upon its belly; all other animal creation was cursed (v. 14 — above all cattle); the woman found her sorrow and conception multiplied; the earth brought forth thorns and thistles; man was made subject to death. (HP Mansfield, Atonement: Salvation Through the Blood of Christ, p. 243).

Of all creatures, only man has possession of the moral sentiments. "Where no 'moral sentiments' exist as part of 'the flesh', or brain, there is no ability in the creature to render an account for its aberrations from the requirements of moral, or spiritual, institutions." (Elpis Israel, p. 88)

Thus, there is no moral law under which the lower creation has been placed but it has been placed under the same sentence of death which works by the law of sin and death.

Uncleanness Caused Through Contact

Cleansing was generally carried out by the use of water and ashes of a red Heifer, and the ceremony was conducted in behalf of persons, places, and objects. (Nu 19:2-9)

Hebrews 9:22 and with blood almost all things are purified according to the law, and apart from blood-shedding forgiveness doth not come.

Ex 29:36  And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

The word for "cleanse" is chata, a word used elsewhere for "sin." Accordingly, Rotherham renders the phrase: "and shalt make a sin-cleansing for the altar."

But why should the altar need "atoning," and why should the term "sin" be used in relation to it, seeing that it never transgressed in any respect? The altar was considered as "defiled" to identify it with a people who had sinned, and needed atonement therefrom. Therefore, it had to be cleansed first in order to provide the  means of the forgiveness of sins on the behalf of actual transgressors, who desired to reach unto God through its means. So with Christ our altar (Heb. 13:10).

Numbers 31:23 every thing which may go into fire, ye cause to pass over through fire, and it hath been clean; only, with the water of separation it is cleansed, and all that may not go into fire, ye cause to pass over through water;

The spoil was purified by fire, representing the spirit of Yahweh Who is described as a "consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). But then it also had to go through the water, which represented the cleansing action of the Word (John 15:3; Eph. 5:2). Fire and water were also used in the parable of the heifer, the sacrifice designed for cleansing from the defilement of death (Num. 19:9; Lev. 11:32; 15:17).
As natural death came by sin, beasts which in life are treated as "clean", are considered "unclean" when they die.

Lev 11:25 And everyone carrying any of their dead bodies will wash his garments, and he must be unclean until the evening.

A person carrying the carcase of an unclean creature from place to place was regard as unclean. The impurity was passed on to his garments, and these also had to be purified. See the Letter of Jude 23: "Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh," and the constant exhortation to keep one's garments pure (Rev. 3:4; 16:15,16). The law taught that it is easier to pollute than to purify; it emphasised the need to keep separate from all polluting influences

This impurity comes from the Curse placed on creation the impurity is the pollution of sin

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Yahweh, that doeth all these things.

By creating evil God cursed creation

note The word evil means calamity. A specific calamity may or may not be a sin, as will be illustrated

Sin and evil are as cause and effect. God is the author of evil, but not of sin; for the evil is the punishment of sin. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, Yahweh, do all these things." (Isa. 45:7) "Shall there be evil in a city, and Yahweh hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6) The evil then to which man is subjected is Yahweh's doing. War, famine, pestilence, flood, earthquake, disease, and death, are the terrible evils which God inflicts upon mankind for their transgressions. Nations cannot go to war when they please, any more than they can shake the earth at their will and pleasure; neither can they preserve peace, when He proclaims war. Evil is the artillery with which He combats the enemies of His law, and of His saints; consequently, there will be neither peace nor blessedness for the nations, until sin is put down, His people avenged, and truth and righteousness be established in the earth. Dr. John Thomas Elpis Israel

The Constitution of sin

You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else

The word sin is used in two major ways in the scripture. It signifies in the first place, "the transgression of the law"; and in the next, it represents that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that in the flesh "which has the power of death" and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression. Inasmuch as this evil principle is present and apparent throughout every cell of the body or every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled "sinful flesh," that is, "flesh full of sin"; Hence, sin according to the Holy Scriptures came to represent the substance called Man. Dr. John Thomas Elpis Israel

In human flesh "dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:17,18); and all the evil a man does is the result of this principle dwelling in him. Operating upon the brain [physical], it [indwelling sin] excites the 'propensities', and these set the 'intellect' [mental], and 'sentiments' [moral] to work. The propensities are blind, and so are the intellect and sentiments in a purely natural state; when therefore, the latter operate under the sole impulse of the propensities, 'the understanding is darkened through ignorance, because of the blindness of the heart'" (Eph. 4:18). Dr. John Thomas Elpis Israel

The nature of the lower animals is as full of this physical evil principle as the nature of man; though it cannot be styled sin with the same expressiveness; because it does not possess them as the result of their own transgression; the name, however, does not alter the nature of the thing.  Dr. John Thomas Elpis Israel

Humans, as they are physically constituted, are imperfect. This imperfection can be traced to their physical organization being based on the principle of decay and reproduction from the blood. When this system is acted upon by the [atmospheric nephesh or the] air, it becomes the life of the flesh. All the phenomena that pertain to this arrangement of things is summed up in the simple word “sin.” Therefore, sin is not a single abstraction. It is an assortment of relationships in all animal bodies constituting the source of all their physical infirmities Dr. John Thomas Elpis Israel

The Cross of Light in the Acts of John

The Cross of Light in the Acts of John

The cross of light

Ode 27

I extended my hands and hallowed my Lord,
For the expansion of my hands is His sign.
And my extension is the upright cross.
Hallelujah.

16 Adv. Haer. 1. 2, 5 f. According to Refutatio vi. 31,5 f. another aeon, the Cross, was produced in order that the deficiency that had occurred within the Pleroma might not be made known to the perfect aeons. The Cross also separated that which was outside the Pleroma from the Pleroma itself, and was believed to contain in itself the thirty aeons at one and the same time.

The Acts of John 

97 Thus, my beloved, having danced with us the Lord went forth. And we as men gone astray or dazed with sleep fled this way and that. I, then, when I saw him suffer, did not even abide by his suffering, but fled unto the Mount of Olives, weeping at that which had befallen. And when he was crucified on the Friday, at the sixth hour of the day, darkness came upon all the earth. And my Lord standing in the midst of the cave and enlightening it, said: John, unto the multitude below in Jerusalem I am being crucified and pierced with lances and reeds, and gall and vinegar is given me to drink. But unto thee I speak, and what I speak hear thou. I put it into thy mind to come up into this mountain, that thou mightest hear those things which it behoveth a disciple to learn from his teacher and a man from his God.

98 And having thus spoken, he showed me a cross of light fixed (set up), and about the cross a great multitude, not having one form: and in it (the cross) was one form and one likenesst [so the MS.; I would read: and therein was one form and one likeness: and in the cross another multitude, not having one form]. And the Lord himself I beheld above the cross, not having any shape, but only a voice: and a voice not such as was familiar to us, but one sweet and kind and truly of God, saying unto me: John, it is needful that one should hear these things from me, for I have need of one that will hear. This cross of light is sometimes called the (or a) word by me for your sakes, sometimes mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes door, sometimes a way, sometimes bread, sometimes seed, sometimes resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father, sometimes Spirit, sometimes life, sometimes truth, sometimes faith, sometimes grace. And by these names it is called as toward men: but that which it is in truth, as conceived of in itself and as spoken of unto you (MS. us), it is the marking-off of all things, and the firm uplifting of things fixed out of things unstable, and the harmony of wisdom, and indeed wisdom in harmony [this last clause in the MS. is joined to the next: 'and being wisdom in harmony']. There are [places] of the right hand and the left, powers also, authorities, lordships and demons, workings, threatenings, wraths, devils, Satan, and the lower root whence the nature of the things that come into being proceeded.

99 This cross, then, is that which fixed all things apart (al. joined all things unto itself) by the (or a) word, and separate off the things that are from those that are below (lit. the things from birth and below it), and then also, being one, streamed forth into all things (or, made all flow forth. I suggested: compacted all into [one]). But this is not the cross of wood which thou wilt see when thou goest down hence: neither am I he that is on the cross, whom now thou seest not, but only hearest his (or a) voice. I was reckoned to be that which I am not, not being what I was unto many others: but they will call me (say of me) something else which is vile and not worthy of me. As, then, the place of rest is neither seen nor spoken of, much more shall I, the Lord thereof, be neither seen [nor of spoken].

100 Now the multitude of one aspect (al. [not] of one aspect) that is about the cross is the lower nature: and they whom thou seest in the cross, if they have not one form, it is because not yet hath every member of him that came down been comprehended. But when the human nature (or the upper nature) is taken up, and the race which draweth near unto me and obeyeth my voice, he that now heareth me shall be united therewith, and shall no more be that which now he is, but above them, as I also now am. For so long as thou callest not thyself mine, I am not that which I am (or was): but if thou hear me, thou, hearing, shalt be as I am, and I shall be that which I was, when I [have]thee as I am with myself. For from me thou art that (which I am). Care not therefore for the many, and them that are outside the mystery despise; for know thou that I am wholly with the Father, and the Father with me.

101 Nothing, therefore, of the things which they will say of me have I suffered: nay, that suffering also which I showed unto thee and the rest in the dance, I will that it be called a mystery. For what thou art, thou seest, for I showed it thee; but what I am I alone know, and no man else. Suffer me then to keep that which is mine, and that which is thine behold thou through me, and behold me in truth, that I am, not what I said, but what thou art able to know, because thou art akin thereto. Thou hearest that I suffered, yet did I not suffer; that I suffered not, yet did I suffer; that I was pierced, yet I was not smitten; hanged, and I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, and it flowed not; and, in a word, what they say of me, that befell me not, but what they say not, that did I suffer. Now what those things are I signify unto thee, for I know that thou wilt understand. Perceive thou therefore in me the praising (al. slaying al. rest) of the (or a) Word (Logos), the piercing of the Word, the blood of the Word, the wound of the Word, the hanging up of the Word, the suffering of the Word, the nailing (fixing) of the Word, the death of the Word. And so speak I, separating off the manhood. Perceive thou therefore in the first place of the Word; then shalt thou perceive the Lord, and in the third place the man, and what he hath suffered.

102 When he had spoken unto me these things, and others which I know not how to say as he would have me, he was taken up, no one of the multitudes having beheld him. And when I went down I laughed them all to scorn, inasmuch as he had told me the things which they have said concerning him; holding fast this one thing in myself, that the Lord contrived all things symbolically and by a dispensation toward men, for their conversion and salvation.

In the Acts of John the Cross has many names such as logos, mind (Greek: nous), Christ, door, way, son, father, spirit  and life

These names of the cross of light show that the cross is a mode in which Christ reveals himself. But at the same time John sees him on top of the cross.

And the cross is not just Christ; it is also a symbol of the unity of the true, redeemed believers.

The crossbeam divides the universe into an upper world and a lower world, and humanity itself also appears to be divided: around the cross there is a multiform multitude that has not yet been saved. In the cross the redeemed can be found.

The Cross is a symbol for the pleroma the centurion and the roman soldiers around the cross represent the unsaved and that state of consciousness termed "mind of the flesh, or the thinking of the flesh." This is the "carnal mind" of Paul

The friends and followers of Jesus represent the church and the 12 aeons

The Cross and the Crucifixion are a Valentinian metaphysical principle of separation and unification. In this process, the Cross became a symbol of the two-fold process in which the lower essences (the Dyad) are separated from the higher ones, and at the same time, the purer essences are strengthened into a unity (the Monad). 

Extracts from the Works of Theodotus:

42 The Cross is a sign of the Limit in the Pleroma, for it divides the unfaithful from the faithful as that divides the world from the Pleroma. Therefore Jesus by that sign carries the Seed on his shoulders and leads them into the Pleroma. For Jesus is called the shoulders of the seed and Christ is the head. Wherefore it is said, “He who takes not up his cross and follows me is not my brother.” Therefore he took the body of Jesus, which is of the same substance as the Church. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

the Cross plays a double role: it both separates and strengthens 

The strengthening power of the Cross is depicted in the words of Jesus according to which “whoever does not take his cross cannot be my disciple” (Mt. 10:38) and the separating power of the Savior is depicted when Jesus says “I came not to send peace, but a sword”, i.e. the Cross (Mt. 10:34).

The Testimony of Truth The males dwell [...] the virgin, by means of [...] in the word [...]. But the word of [...] and spirit ...
... (4 lines unrecoverable)
... is the Father [...] for the man ...
... (1 line unrecoverable)
... like Isaiah, who was sawed with a saw, (and) he became two. So also the Son of Man divides us by the word of the cross. It divides the day from the night and the light from the darkness and the corruptible from incorruptibility, and it divides the males from the females.

Barnabas 9:7 For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first, and then after an interval three hundred In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one the cross..

The superscription on the cross

The superscription on the cross:

Gospel	Quoted language?	Reason	Wording of inscription
Mat 27:37	Latin (Matt was Roman official)	Civil, legal	"Hic est Jesus rex Judaeorum" (This is Jesus the king of the Jews).
Luk 23:38	Greek	Intellectual, cultural	"This is the king of the Jews".
Joh 19:19,20	Hebrew	Religious, national	"Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews".
Mark 15:26	Greek, but only words common to all three	Summary of other 3, most concise	"The king of the Jews"

"His crime became his title" -- the "titulus" = inscription board, commonly used in Roman executions.

The fullest title, in Hebrew -- "Yeshua [Jesus] Ha-Natzr [of Nazareth] u'Melek [the King] Ha-Yehudim [of the Jews]" -- spells out, as an acronym, the very name of God: "YHWH". And for this reason, too, the leaders of Israel would demand that the title be removed!
"His crime became his title" -- the "titulus" = inscription board, commonly used in Roman executions. The fullest title, in Hebrew --  ישוע הנצרי מלך היהודים (Yeshua HaNazri Melekh HaYehudim), "Yeshua [Jesus] Ha-Natzr [of Nazareth] u'Melek [the King] Ha-Yehudim [of the Jews]" -- spells out, as an acronym, the very name of God: "YHWH". And for this reason, too, the leaders of Israel would demand that the title be removed!


The cross has four points. "The four points of the cross symbolize the 4 letter of the divine name of God YHWH, Yahweh the divine name and the four faces of the Cherubim the four faces were: that of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. They represented the emblems of the four leading tribes of the fourfold division of the nation of Israel: the lion for Judah; the ox for Ephraim; the man for Reuben; and the eagle for Dan. Yahweh is revealed fourfold as Light (Jn. 1:5), Fire (Deu. 4:24) and Spirit (Jn. 4:24), and His characteristics are manifested through the Man (Jn. 1:14)

"The cross does not alone represent a cross upon which a man was hung, this is called a crucifix. The cross also represents a manifestation of God his glory and fullness. The cross is the symbol of one crucified and reborn into the divine nature, by torture and pain. Crucifixion means one who has mastered his lower nature that is the outward senses, and has been made clean in the consciousness of his mind

Crucifixion The giving up of the whole personality.

In the early Church, the cross symbolizes mankind's fall and restoration