In the beginning God created no religion. None was needed.
Only the pure communion of spirit to Spirit prevailed with all the faculties of soul and body harnessed to that end. There were no rituals, ceremonies, shrines, or altars. Man was his own priest. Fellowship was co-extensive throughout the activities of the day; for God and man shared in a common life. No division between sacred and secular existed. Devotion was not an addendum to daily pursuits.
Love, holiness, and truth were an integral, instinctive, and innate flow from a heart that was in a living union with the living God. Communion was a condition, not an activity. Worship was woven into the warp and woof of the fabric of human will, not an adaptation to obligations imposed from without.
But the revolt of self-will, sin, changed all. Fig leaves were donned instead of garments of light, shame supplanted purity, fear replaced devotion, while hiding overtook communion. A terrible breach produced a terrible consequence. That brash eruption of lawlessness distorted the reflective faculties, alienated the soul, and darkened the understanding. Man became a horrid religious creature.
Desperate substitutes were devised to amend for wayward choices. Fig leaves, plucked from their living source, were crafted to cover shameful exposure in sin’s wake. Makeshift garments were hastily sewn from now withering and soon decaying sources. This is the legacy of Eden’s first religious act.
Man-devised solutions to sin have no life, do not endure, address the externals alone, and are ultimately rejected by God altogether. It is a parable of sorts: Man’s religion fails to cover guilt and shame.
God, however, brings a solution from above; only the death of a substitute can cover the stain, corruption, and guilt of sin. And this He alone provides; it is not a product of human ingenuity. The lamb must be slain to provide a suitable covering for lawless deeds. And the Lord Jesus has done just that.
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin” resounds, echoing through the corridors of the ages. And why? Because the death of separation ensues the instant the heart rises in lawlessness: a death that cannot be remedied by human contrivance.
A fire must be kindled upon earth, a victim slain, and a sacrifice ascend before dark deeds be purged of their stain. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” –John 1:29. This is Christ.
He has restored all that was lost. Spiritual death is swallowed up in life. The flesh is overtaken by the Spirit. Corruption gives way to purity’s radiance. Self and malice cower before love. Joy banishes shame, and forgiveness’ confidence conquers guilt. And worship at shrines by ceremony is now passé.
“You worship what you do not know. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” –John 4:23.
Worship in Christ Jesus is in the Spirit, not in ceremonies, shrines, externals, traditions, and rituals. Real worship is in Truth, not in shadows, symbols, and partial aids to reach the Real.
There is no religion in union with the Lord Jesus. No shrines, rituals, or ceremonies are needed. Only the pure communion of spirit to Spirit prevails. Futile days of fashioning fig leaves is over. In the beginning, God created no religion in Christ. None was needed. None is needed today. Christ is all. But what have we done? How shall we account for the monstrosities we have erected in Christendom? How?
Why do we abide in shadow systems and schemes of men? Why do we continue to submit to Pontiffs and Prophets, Priests and Pastors when heaven is open to even the weakest of disciples?
Christ abides within every true believer as the source of all life and everything good. He abides in the midst of even 2 or 3 gathered in His Name [Mathew 18:20]. Every real Christian is a real spiritual priest: “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” –1 Peter 2:5.
Spirit to spirit communion is restored. Christ’s redeemed are all equally priests. Worship is in Spirit and Truth; shrines are irrelevant and traditions and ceremonies are rejected as the useless man-made bondage that they are. Passive attendance at the shrine’s mandated meetings is cancelled. You are free.
Christ is our only King and Mediator: one Lord, one faith, one body, one fellowship – No Religion.