Messiah: Part 2, The New Normal
In Part 2, we look at the key dynamics humanity now faces after Adam's sin, the role of the Messiah to repair these, and how we have a shared responsibility to participate.
Part 1 | Part 2
In Part 1, we learned a different perspective on why our world was created, the origin of evil. We learned that we are all a part of a magnificent restoration project,
and that each of us has an immense responsibility to continue this work - for ourselves and the world around us.
We also looked at how the sin of Adam not only left this potential [restoration] unrealized but caused new problems and additional barriers.
In His mercy, G_D has designed a backup plan in the role of Messiah.
The New Normal
After Adam's error, humanity was henceforth spiritually and physically impaired.
On the spiritual dimension, the impurity brought by Adam's sin contributed to a separation from G_D and an inability to tap into our full spiritual capacities.
On the physical dimension, death became a part of our new normal. Now, humanity would no longer be able to live forever, a feature Adam had before his sin. We see this mentioned in Romans:
So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people... - Romans 5:12
The inverse is that through another man (Hebrew, adam), this situation can be reversed. Essentially, the separation between G_D and humankind will once again be repaired, enabling a restoration of our created state. Through obedience, Messiah repairs the damage and impurity, thus helping to restore what was lost by Adam.
While many believe that Messiah grants eternal life, it is more accurate to understand this through the framework of repair (tikkun). We will look at this component shortly.
A Holy People
As in the analogy in part 1, a garden that is to optimally bear produce must first be rid of weeds. So too - for the world to become holy - it must first become purified.
This will take time as this collapse was steadily made worse after Adam. The Bible tells us that humanity continued to slip further into the darkness with each new generation.
To help mankind achieve purity, G_D hand-selected a particular nation of peopleĀ² - not for their size or strength, but precisely because of their forebearers whom G_D lovedĀ³. These people embodied the qualities that would be necessary to overcome the task ahead, and so G_D entered into a covenant with them.
Among the promises made, G_D gave this nation (called "Israel) a set of Divine instructions to help aid them in their mission. These instructions, (aka, commandments) would help them avoid and remove the impurities - achieving holiness.
In time, this nation would help spread this knowledge to the nations so that they too would know G_D and turn from any behaviors that contributed to further impurity.
This is key, and another perspective shift: Humanity needs to come to this realization through the proper channels, learning to seek the Creator and develop spiritually.
Thus, the Messiah should be one who embodies these principles, teaching and encouraging others to follow in their footsteps. Therefore, the work of Messiah and Israel are virtually the same, but happening at different scales.
Problematic Messianic ideologies often shift the responsibility from oneself to an individual 'savior' - neglecting the path of personal discipline.
