Bible Verse John 3:16?

[Louisa]

Do you have any special interpretations of John 3:16?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

It is one of the verses that was most talked about in my Sunday school classes growing up. I have been seeing 3: 16 frequently at times. I figure it's a reference to this childhood memory of the bible verse.

Beyond the obvious (having faith/turning to Jesus) do you see anything else here?

[psychoslice]

We all are the sons, or daughters of god, the son is who we truly are, that is when we realize our true Being, we are not the carnal self but the god self, or Christ if you want to use the bible interpretation.

[SpiritCarrier]

If all one had to do is believe in Christ then very little is required to be saved. I however do not believe that is what the verse is trying to teach us.

To believe in something, anything, means to take action that shows our belief. I think this is what the verse is teaching us. How many people say that they believe something until their belief is put to the test or questioned? To truly believe in something we must be willing to defend or even die for it and I believe that the lesson here is that we be willing to die for our beliefs, not just about Jesus but about life in general. Many, many leaders have become Christians on their death beds in an effort to gain the prize spoken about, eternal life. While we can't earn that prize we can show ourselves worthy of it by the actions we take throughout our lives. I say worthy but that is not for any human to judge only God can determine whether we are worthy. I just believe that there is so much more to that scripture than belief.

Thank you for the interesting question.

Peace and Light be yours,
SpiritCarrier

[Louisa]

Psychoslice, I like that interpretation. It makes sense. Once in a while I have some experience that helps me sense the true oneness. Identifying as that oneness changes one's whole strategy on life, or perhaps the strategy goes out the window, largely, and one sees that we are a part of an ever changing set of conditions who are one and empathic (if aware and attuned), yet still separately conscious and separately aware and limited. So to learn how to be a part of the body of Christ, while still feeling the whole, sensing the connection and accepting everything else the rest of the body is doing as part of oneself.

Well, that's where your analogy took me. I just had some out of body type experience last night where I saw the whole as one, in some way, or felt it, rather. I actually felt the oneness. That is the answer to so much.

[Louisa]

SpiritCarrier,
That is a good point too. I never liked the emphasis on just confessing and believing, and then you get a free ticket to heaven (which was the way it was presented to me in childhood - of course they said try not sin and whatever, but it seemed that once saved, always saved, so technically you could just sincerely confess, ask for forgiveness and believe once and whatever you did afterwards was ignored, they believed at my church. Hmm... That explains something about all the hypocrisy I saw among my church members.)

I don't know if I am willing to die for my beliefs, but I guess I might die for someone who I loved enough, for example, if I felt their life and needs were more important for the whole. I agree it is necessary to take action and stand up for beliefs, else they will always remain a dream, but no more. Dreaming is good but to be anchored in reality is necessary. I guess Christ was the representation of ideals brought and acted in real life, despite all opposition and oppression.

Originally Posted by psychoslice

We all are the sons, or daughters of god, the son is who we truly are, that is when we realize our true Being, we are not the carnal self but the god self, or Christ if you want to use the bible interpretation.

So true and so misunderstood by most! Excellent explanation!

[Amilius777]

I agree with all the above. God gave the world, the universe at large the Christ.

John 3:16 is cosmic and universal. It is about God giving the world the universal Christ which is God's light who materialized as the universe.

And this light/Christ is individualized as our soul.

Like psycolice said. The Son in our inner being. It is more of a principle or consciousness. Whereas we are all sons/daughters or spirits of the Great Spirit.

Jesus realized his Higher Self as the Son and the same with the Universal Self "Son". He was able to partake of the Godhead and enact a divine will.

He reached final perfection/realization as the SON when he died and resurrected.

[Louisa]

Originally Posted by Amilius777

I agree with all the above. God gave the world, the universe at large the Christ.

John 3:16 is cosmic and universal. It is about God giving the world the universal Christ which is God's light who materialized as the universe.

And this light/Christ is individualized as our soul.

Like psycolice said. The Son in our inner being. It is more of a principle or consciousness. Whereas we are all sons/daughters or spirits of the Great Spirit.

Jesus realized his Higher Self as the Son and the same with the Universal Self "Son". He was able to partake of the Godhead and enact a divine will.

He reached final perfection/realization as the SON when he died and resurrected.

Hmm, I think I see what you're saying, Amilius. So Christ, as a universal consciousness, is expressed in our individual soul spark of God-ness. And Jesus was who realized that he was perfect, and then made fully perfect upon his death and resurrection. I think I used to believe something such in some of my Christian days. There is a sort of place inside where one can identify with their "God nature" and all that one deems to be worthy and good and so on, so it is the transcendent aspect that one finds inside through all outer struggle and suffering,... When one disidentifies with the suffering, and just chooses to see their true self as being the higher aspect of themselves. If I understood you correctly.

Pretty interesting, and one can really be uplifted and motivated by that kind of inner redemption and "God-self" identity, if one believes in it. I've been there, it is pretty nice. Perhaps effectively bridging the gap between the "God self" and real life problems is the challenge. But if one believes this world to be fallen and one believes in being in the world but not of it, then I guess it could be less important. Living in this world seems kind of like playing a game where you don't understand all of the rules that are constantly changing... And the odds may be stacked against you. But it's just game and illusion, because we are the God selves playing the game - we are not the game. We are the actors, not the roles and the drama. But then, we feel the drama and the drama is how we live our lives. So it's tricky, but I guess one can always kind of go inside to that "God self" inner haven and just transcend for a little while or in some part of their mind, at least.

Still, it seems sometimes to me like a split personality. There is the"actor" the "game player" me, the "student" me that is learning and sharing through life and helping myself and others through life, and struggling and getting confused through life, and then there is this "God self" that I can choose to try to see myself as and identify with. Maybe the "God self" is in fact just an ideological construct that illustrates certain truths, but is not the whole truth. So it can help one access parts of oneself that might otherwise be forgotten or cut off. Kind of like detaching from the moment and the conflict to see that you are not just your momentary feelings, behaviors or reactions, but can be more than that.

[Amilius777]

It's not so much disliking the physical and being spiritual. I believe that this world IS NOT a dream. It is the manifestation of God. It is the frozen image of his consciousness. We are not in a make believe realm. We are in an imperfect realm evolving towards perfection. Everything and everyone is moving there.

No one has to stop being themselves. Jesus remained himself. I do not believe that Jesus went to far distant lands to become some sort of avatar or Hindu-Buddha dude. The teachings are the same because Truth is Truth. The Spirit of Truth, the holy Spirit is within all.

The True Self, the Christ is both God and Human. It is not either or. There is no reason to escape your human self. The gurus tell you that human nature is flawed. But I tell YOU that human nature is perfect when it is in harmony with your higher will!

People even think that Jesus' crucifixion was to show the badness of the physical. This is so heretical to the Divine. The crucifixion was a giving up of fear, false security, and reliance in the false everyday goodness. Jesus was putting all faith and security in his Higher Self (Son) and Source (Father). And his Resurrection is the REGAINING of the physical form. You see how much the Divine is in love with the Human?

The Mass for Christians is suppose to be a reenactment of the spiritual and material unity. When we bless the Bread and Wine, the people are consuming God on an ecological level. Spirit and matter made one, and then you meditate during Mass and reflect on the God within you. You commune in a Physical, Mental, and Spiritual way in Mass.

Don't run away from your Traditions if you are a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist. Keep your Religion. Criticize it if you must to grow, but keep what God has given you.

I am a huge believer in that we are born perfect and pure. We received Original Blessedness from God. But from our parents, society, genetics/ancestral DNA, we have sadly received Inherited Wound. This is the wound called "original sin". It means we have received pain. Eckart Tolle calls it the "Pain body". We can transform our pain into victory.

The only exception in the West was Mary and her son Jesus. Anne the mother of Mary did not pass on any garbage to her daughter Mary. Mary in return passed down this Blessedness to her son Jesus. Jesus received a natural inheritance to the Holy Spirit or "Holy Energy" because of his holy family. Jesus took what was given to him and he grew and evolved into the Christ, the God-man, the human being who perfectly united his God-self and human-self on a daily basis. Sadly he was killed because of his inheritance and accepted the blows of human ignorance to transform this pain into victory. He resurrected which means he showed that death and life, spirit and matter, God and Human are one. His life is seen by his disciple writers as an "atonement". That word has been taken out of context. It meant that Jesus' perfect life atoned for the imperfect lives of history. He was a bright light among a dark humanity. That's all.

But we have others like the Buddha in the East, and Saint Francis in later ages who realized and learned about this "God-Self" this unity with divine and human nature within and fought to regain it because they were lost and on a journey of discovery. Siddhartha when he passed away he reunited with his True Self, and so did Saint Francis.

There is no need to stop who you are. Just be yourself.

I know a lot of people quote the Bhagavad Gita- "Be in the world but not of the world". This is true. But God as Krishna says that this world is NOT illusionary. Anyone who says so is a liar. When the Gita says "world" it means the "system". The system is the imperial forces of mankind that keeps everyone enslaved to some false sense of identity.

[Amilius777]

It's not so much disliking the physical and being spiritual. I believe that this world IS NOT a dream. It is the manifestation of God. It is the frozen image of his consciousness. We are not in a make believe realm. We are in an imperfect realm evolving towards perfection. Everything and everyone is moving there.

No one has to stop being themselves. Jesus remained himself. I do not believe that Jesus went to far distant lands to become some sort of avatar or Hindu-Buddha dude. The teachings are the same because Truth is Truth. The Spirit of Truth, the holy Spirit is within all.

The True Self, the Christ is both God and Human. It is not either or. There is no reason to escape your human self. The gurus tell you that human nature is flawed. But I tell YOU that human nature is perfect when it is in harmony with your higher will!

People even think that Jesus' crucifixion was to show the badness of the physical. This is so heretical to the Divine. The crucifixion was a giving up of fear, false security, and reliance in the false everyday goodness. Jesus was putting all faith and security in his Higher Self (Son) and Source (Father). And his Resurrection is the REGAINING of the physical form. You see how much the Divine is in love with the Human?

The Mass for Christians is suppose to be a reenactment of the spiritual and material unity. When we bless the Bread and Wine, the people are consuming God on an ecological level. Spirit and matter made one, and then you meditate during Mass and reflect on the God within you. You commune in a Physical, Mental, and Spiritual way in Mass.

Don't run away from your Traditions if you are a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist. Keep your Religion. Criticize it if you must to grow, but keep what God has given you.

I am a huge believer in that we are born perfect and pure. We received Original Blessedness from God. But from our parents, society, genetics/ancestral DNA, we have sadly received Inherited Wound. This is the wound called "original sin". It means we have received pain. Eckart Tolle calls it the "Pain body". We can transform our pain into victory.

The only exception in the West was Mary and her son Jesus. Anne the mother of Mary did not pass on any garbage to her daughter Mary. Mary in return passed down this Blessedness to her son Jesus. Jesus received a natural inheritance to the Holy Spirit or "Holy Energy" because of his holy family. Jesus took what was given to him and he grew and evolved into the Christ, the God-man, the human being who was able to perfectly united the God-self and his human-self on a daily basis. This is how "God became Flesh" in Jesus Christ. It was a process that started at conception in the womb of a holy Mother. The Soul of Jesus, his divine nature was accessible in his everyday life because he didn't have any **** or garbage clouding his superconsciousness. He was "Christ-conscious" from birth. Sadly he was killed because of his inheritance and accepted the blows of human ignorance to transform this pain into victory. He resurrected which means he showed that death and life, spirit and matter, God and Human are one. His life is seen by his disciple writers as an "atonement". That word has been taken out of context. It meant that Jesus' perfect life atoned for the imperfect lives of history. He was a bright light among a dark humanity. That's all.

But we have others like the Buddha in the East, and Saint Francis in later ages who realized and learned about this "God-Self" this unity with divine and human nature within and fought to regain it because they were lost and on a journey of discovery. Siddhartha when he passed away he reunited with his True Self, and so did Saint Francis.

There is no need to stop who you are. Just be yourself.

I know a lot of people quote the Bhagavad Gita- "Be in the world but not of the world". This is true. But God as Krishna says that this world is NOT illusionary. Anyone who says so is a liar. When the Gita says "world" it means the "system". The system is the imperial forces of mankind that keeps everyone enslaved to some false sense of identity.