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Be Clear-Sighted – from Adam to Christ – Consider Yourself Blameless!

Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson: “Adam and Fallen Man” November 11, 2007 by Dan Carnesciali, CS of Ballwin, MO

Editor’s Note: The following application ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson for this week are offered primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of daily study and application of the Christian Science Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp!  You can sign up to have them emailed to you free — in English by Monday or in French or Spanish by Wednesday: SIGN UP at www.cedarscamps.org/metaphysical/ FOR FREE TRANSLATIONS.

Golden Text:  [Consider Yourself Blameless!]
Some translations refer to the perfect man as the “blameless man.” Is it possible to be blameless?  Doesn’t God keep score and judge us?  Let’s find out. [Possible, Uplifting Sunday School Homework or (P.U.S.S.H.):  This week after a bipolar focus on “trick or treat,” give yourself and others the “Clean Slate Treat-ment” of blamelessness every moment.  Follow Paul’s one step recipe for being perfect:  “this one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, I reach forth to those things that are before.” (Philippians 3:13) The Message continues “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. (14) I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (15) So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision-you’ll see it yet!”]    
   
 
Responsive
Reading:   [“To begin well (heavenly, as in Gen. 1) is to end well” (heavenly)]  
“The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly.  In the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends.” (The Message) [and our heavenly origin]

God loves you.  He chose you.  He loved you “before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and without blame.” Eph. 1:4   If God did that, He must have a purpose for you.  Some people say that once you are an adult you can do adult things and have “fun.”  The Prodigal Son’s fun was short-lived and brought him pain.  When he came back home, he found God’s grace (everlasting love and mercy).  “Joys are vain that end in sadness.” (C.S. Hymn 263)  [Possible, Uplifting Sunday School Topic (P.S.S.T!):  What vain joys have you seen end in sadness?  When have you last focused on feeling and sharing the ceaseless “joy divine” of blameless grace? ] 

Section 1: Don’t Fall [for the fib! the Adam & Eve (A&E) parts part.  Be a de-fib, real-ator!]
The name for God in Genesis 1 is Elohim.  Elohim is the Creator and Judge of the Universe.(hebrew4christians.com)  God made man in His image and likeness.  His Creation is therefore entirely good.  In fact, it is perfect — completely and entirely made, without fault. (B1)  Genesis 2 is the story
[fib] of the start of evil and man’s fall from grace.  The name for God in Genesis 2 is Jehovah.  Jehovah is a limited sense of God.  He is Lord, a man-projected and tribal God. (S&H pg. 524)  Jehovah, apparently ignorant that creation was already complete, makes creation over from scratch.  In a foggy, confused state of mind (mist), Jehovah creates man from the dust/dirt (physicality, emptiness) and breathes life into this muddy soul.  Note how Jehovah is naïve to the fact that the flesh is inclined to pursue the pleasures of the flesh.  Adam man is made up of parts (nostrils, rib).  Any time you think of yourself as “parts” (aching head, malformed finger, swollen eye, [Achilles heel, susceptible heart,…]) the result is error.  As you can already see, Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are quite different.

Adam is put to sleep to make woman.  He is in darkness, in a dream state.  Where exactly in the Bible does Jehovah wake up Adam man?  He never wakes Adam up – he is still dreaming.  In this drowsy state, Adam is susceptible to suggestion that there is more than God.  He listens to the sneaky snake talk of good and evil.  That “and” has huge implications.  It implies that there is good to be found outside of good, in evil.  It implies that there is more than all, more than God.  These subtle lies make Adam a willing conspirator against himself and his happiness.  In the story, Adam ate the forbidden fruit and all his descendants are cursed.  That is a rotten idea! (B3)  [and a dirty, rotten fib as, revealed in this lesson starting with (S1, S3)]   Adam man fell for the idea that error is as real and eternal as Truth. (S5)  The final revelation of Truth, Christian Science, has brought God’s man to light.  “Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death.  The real man cannot depart from holiness, nor can God, by whom man is evolved, engender the capacity or freedom to sin.” (478:28-31) [P.S.S.T!:  What (partial) view of man and woman as composed of parts has blurred your true view of creation? Check out the out-of-focus man and woman on the front page of this week’s myBibleLesson, that is accessible for free till Nov. 23rd at www.myBibleLesson.com/Cedars  When you witness the growing presence of defibrillators to jump-start the heart part, acknowledge being at one with “the great heart of Love” as a true de-fib, real-ator!] 

Section 2:  Awake [to Christ’s precious promises, unfallen!  Stop falling for “hitting the snooze button!”]
Waking up from sin (separation from God), you may perceive a gulf between God and you. (B5)  However, your God delights in you and delivers you.  He is your rock, your fortress. (B6)  he has given you his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (B7 – NIV)  The Christ wakes you up and keeps rousing you, so you do not roll over and go back to sleep.  You awaken to the fact that the Christ is in you and that your Christly perfection flows from God. (B8)  God’s man is not a sinful creature.  He is not full of lust.  He has a perfect Principle – good, which he cannot be separated from. (S10)  God’s child does not regain health or peace.  He discovers that he never lost them.  Perceiving that He and God are one, he “[finds] himself unfallen, upright, pure and free.”(S11)  [P.S.S.T!:  Are you “crest fallen” about anything? What fibs tend to make you angry, or make your countenance (face) fall?  What precious promises can you find and share to not only help keep you from falling for fibs, but also uplift those who seem to have fallen into sin, anger, disillusionment?]

Section 3:  Be Upright, Whole, and Free! [Like the prisoner found “not guilty,” …”regenerated, strong, free.”  your “form erect and commanding”, your “countenance beaming with health and happiness.”  S&H 442]
If man slips into perverse thoughts that are not upright, it does not take long for him to trip and fall. (B9)  Perverse means obstinate in wrong, willful, cranky, heading away from good, resistant to guidance, continuing in a way that one knows is wrong. (dictionary.com) (B10)  Do you recognize any of those negative qualities in yourself?  God cherishes who you are, and he’s patient with you if you make a mistake.

Of course, God does not know or forgive error.  But, He forgives you.  You experience His forgiveness as you claim your identity as His spiritual idea.  Put another way, you do not feel the warmth of the sun when you are in a cave.  You have divine power “to put all things under [your] feet.”  Remember that, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright” (B11 – Today’s NIV) [P.S.S.T!:  What perversions from being upright are you downright fed up with?  Will you allow Christian Science to be your Defense Attorney and help show you to be “Not guilty!” ?  See the Science and Health chapter on “Christian Science Practice” ending with the trial and an innocence verdict on page 442]

Section 4:  Be “of purer eyes!” [ Hab. 1:13   Defy the gravity of depravity! ]
God requires a pure heart.  Be careful to identify yourself as a spiritual idea, not a mortal.  What do you get when you try to make a mortal perfect?  A perfect mess. J   Mortal man is the counterfeit, an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine. (dictionary.com)  Christian Science says, “Don’t accept any imitations! Accept only the genuine article.”  A way to avoid imitations is to read the label.  If the label is “sick”, it is not God’s idea.  If the label is “lonely”, that is a counterfeit.  Strive to daily strip off every one of the carnal mind’s labels.  Once you separate the label from the spiritual idea, the label and the power of the label are destroyed.  Hence, the pain or punishment accompanying the label is destroyed too.  Aren’t you glad you are not a mortal?  In reality, there are no mortals. (B14)

Is it possible to regain purity?  If it is not possible, then evil is everlasting.  Again, seek God with your whole heart.  “God, I must keep my promises to you. I will give you my offerings to thank you, because you have saved me from death. You have kept me from being defeated. So I will walk with God in light among the living.” (B15 – New Century Version)  [P.S.S.T!:  In the Broadway Musical “Wicked,” there’s a great song about defying gravity. How can you uphold “the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life” to defy “the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity?” (S18)]   

Section 5:  Be Free!
Are you a disciple of Christ? A disciple is a pupil, a learner, a follower.  Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(NIV)  True discipleship is not a casual thing. You are his disciple when you adhere to his teachings and live them. (B18) 
Jesus teachings were revolutionary.  He taught that God is only good.  Before Jesus, it was believed that God was love, but sometimes He was a stern father as well.  Jesus instructed you to love everyone, even your enemies.  He taught that God’s kingdom is to be experienced now.  “Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” (The Message version of Gal. 5:1 (B20)

Jesus met a disabled woman that had been in that condition for 18 years.  Did he take pity on her?  Instead, he had compassion on her.  To pity someone is to jump in the “pit” with them.  Jesus saw her as she was (Godlike), not as she appeared.  His recognition of her spiritual perfection was so clear that restored her to health. (B19)  How did he do this?  With the Father’s Love.  The ruler of the synagogue lacked that essential Christly compassion.  If you are interested in learning how to heal like Jesus, read the chapter “Christian Science Practice” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.  “If the Scientist reaches his patient through divine Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one visit, and the disease will vanish into its native nothingness like dew before the morning sunshine.”(S&H 365:15-18)  [P.S.S.T!:  Name an obsessive bad thought, enslaving habit, restrictive injury or cruel prediction that keeps being thown in your face. Share ways to rise in Godly rebellion to all these would-be hijackers and throw them out to demonstrate your freedom.] 

Section 6:  Demonstrate Salvation!
There are websites that feature mental healing (energy healing, reiki healing, aura healing, etc.).  What is missing from these healing methods?  God.

The primary purpose of the Christ Science is the salvation of man through God’s grace. (B23)  Refer to Science and Health, page 150 for more information on this.  Jesus, our Master, showed what real love is.  The Principle of Jesus’ teachings is Love.  Love is the creative and governing force of the Universe.  Jesus’ actions demonstrated a truer sense of Love than man had ever seen before.

How is sin (separation) to be healed?   Through Christ Jesus. Jesus showed how to reconcile (reestablish a close relationship between) God and man. (S25)  Thank you, Jesus.

A new idea (Christian Science) is transforming the world. Remembering that the earth is a compound idea of God; know that He is even now eliminating all darkness — depression, doubt, dread of the future — and transforming earth with light. (S29)  Thank you, Mary Baker Eddy.  [P.S.S.T!:  Will you actively show your gratitude to Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy by putting into wholesome, joyous action your heavenly insights and your “spiritual sense of being and what life includes?”  (S29)  PS “The Purpose of The Cedars (and these weekly Metaphysical Application Ideas) is to give each camper (and reader) an appreciation of spiritual sense and an abundance of wholesome, joyous activity.”]  

Camp Director’s Note: The above sharing is the latest in a series of CedarS Bible Lesson “mets” (metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians [with bracketed, italicized notes and “Possible Sunday School Topics” offered by me as editor]. This document is intended to initiate further study as well as to encourage the application of ideas found in the Weekly Bible Lessons as printed in the Christian Science Quarterly and as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms. * Originally sent JUST to campers, staff and CedarS families who wanted to continue at home and in their home Sunday Schools the same type of focused Lesson study, application and inspiration they had felt at camp, CedarS lesson “mets” are in no way meant to be definitive or conclusive or in any way a substitute for daily study of the lesson. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension, background and daily applicability to some of the ideas and passages being studied. The citations referenced (i.e. B1 and S28) from this week’s Bible Lesson in the “met” (metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible (B1-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. (S1-30) The Bible and Science and Health are the ordained pastor of the Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. The Lesson-Sermon speaks individually through the Christ to everyone, providing unique insights and tailor-made applications for each one. We are glad you requested this metaphysical sharing and hope that you find some of these ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor. Have fun unwrapping, cherishing and sharing your special, spiritual gift(s)!  Enjoy!

Warren Huff, Camp Director director@cedarscamps.org (636) 394-6162
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The weekly Metaphysical Newsletter is provided at no charge to the 1,200 campers and staff blessed each summer at CedarS, as well as to CedarS alumni, families and friends who request it. However, current and planned gifts are needed to defray the costs of running this service and of providing camperships, programs and operations support. Click http://www.cedarscamps.org/giving for more about how you can give online or get information to talk privately about how to make a special gift to help perpetuate CedarS work.

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LETTING BE KNOWN A SPECIAL NEED/OPPORTUNITY – Funding is needed to help us take advantage of a “Maintenance Musts” Matching Grant offer from a generous donor who is aware of ongoing maintenance needed to make CedarS facilities measure up to its mission!  IF we raise $25,000 by 12-31-07, $25,000 will be given! (~$15,250 more to go)

Thanks to a special offer from the Christian Science Publishing Society from now until November 23, 2007, CedarS campers, family and friends can get up to 7 sample issues of MyBibleLesson!  Just sign in at www. myBibleLesson.com/Cedars to access this new, visually-oriented and very helpful resource for study of the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson that’s being produced by The Christian Science Publishing Society.  What a great auxiliary to lesson study — maybe even reading beyond citation markers using the handsome new student books now sold in Reading Rooms (and available at a substantial savings at the www. myBibleLesson.com/Cedars website.)  MyBibleLessonSchool student (and teacher) in us all! contains word definitions, Bible background Notes, fun topical cartoons, timelines and translations, plus many healing ideas to use.  Why not check out this vehicle to help bring new meaning and life to each beloved Bible lesson in order to bless the youthful thinker and Sunday

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