Tag Archives: Whole Fulfillment

Christmas in July vs Christmas in December

In my view, the bread and wine partaken in remembrance of Christ’s atoning death cannot be viewed as man’s participation in the Sacrifice and man has no ability to offer himself to atone his own sins. Between man and God, the relationship demands a new basis, a new Law, and a new Covenant.

WHOLE COOKIE – WHOLE LOVE – WHOLE COMMUNION:

I will ask my readers to prayerfully reflect upon the concept of Holy Communion, the Sacrament known as ‘Eucharist’ and it does not establish the tradition to celebrate the Divine Law of Love that replaced the Torah. Judas Iscariot, the twelfth disciple of Jesus had participated in Lord’s Supper and betrayed the Lord just after receiving the consecrated bread and wine directly shared by the Lord. If only Judas had loved the Lord, the betrayal would have been impossible. The Holy Communion is incomplete, is imperfect and is not Wholesome until the Command to Love One Another is fulfilled. Hence, I want to make a fundamental distinction between Holy Communion and “Whole Communion” in which the “Whole Sacrament” is received to reflect man’s participation and adherence to the Law of Love. I want to share the concept of ‘Whole Communion’, a “Whole Sacrament” in remembrance of Jesus Christ and His Ministry on Earth.

The term ‘Sacrament’ refers to an outward sign of something sacred. Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Anglicans may believe in seven Sacraments; 1. Eucharist, 2. Baptism, 3. Confirmation, 4. Penance or Reconciliation, 5. Anointing of the Sick, 6. Marriage, and 7. Holy Orders. Protestants recognize two Sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion. None of these sacred rituals and observances are directly related to the two Greatest Commandments proclaimed by Jesus Christ.

Lord’s Supper was the Last Supper that Jesus had shared with His twelve disciples on the night before His Crucifixion. Christ offered Himself to God as a sacrifice for sin so that a new relationship could be created by God between Himself and the redeemed community of believers. Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the Lord’s death  as a Sacrament until He returns to Earth. It could be correct to claim that Lord’s Supper is the Memorial of a Sacrifice. When believers receive the consecrated bread and wine, their participation is not a repetition of the Sacrifice of Christ made at Calvary. The act of sharing bread and wine which are used as symbols of Body and Blood of Jesus, will not constitute a participation in the self-offering that Christ has made. Virtually all Christian Churches celebrate the practice of Holy Communion and the ‘Mass’ is held as a real though mystical reenactment of the Christ on the Cross and in expectation of the arrival of the Kingdom of God in its fullness. Churches believe that the recipient of the Sacrament is united mystically with Christ by simply receiving the consecrated bread and wine. Judas participated in the Holy Communion and received the sacrament directly from the hands of Jesus but there was no mystical union between the recipient and the Christ.

In my view, the bread and wine partaken in remembrance of Christ’s atoning death cannot be viewed as man’s participation in the Sacrifice and man has no ability to offer himself to atone his own sins. Between man and God, the relationship demands a new basis, a new Law, and a new Covenant.

In the New Testament Book of LUKE, Chapter 22, verse 18, Jesus explicitly states, “For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.” In my view, there is no fulfillment of Communion without the fulfillment of the Law of Love that demands man to Love One Another.

WHOLE CHRIST – WHOLE LOVE – WHOLE SACRIFICE:

The term ‘Communion’ means the act of sharing one’s thoughts and emotions with another or others. It describes an intimate relationship with deep understanding. In the context of the ‘Whole Sacrifice’, the Christ who bore the sin of many, and made intercession for all the transgressors, the term ‘Communion’ must be used in a celebration that is more significant than that of professing the same faith and practicing the same religious rites.

The New Testament Book of Luke, Chapter 22, verses 7 to 23 describe the Last Supper on the night before the Crucifixion; “And He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God’.” The ‘Whole Sacrifice’ derives its meaning and purpose in Christ’s expectation of fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. The instructions for Lord’s Supper are shared in the New Testament Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 11, verses 17 to 34; “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

The New Testament Book of Romans, Chapter 12, verse 1 describes the concept of ‘Living Sacrifice’; “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

In my view, this spiritual act of worship is about the two Greatest Commandments that Jesus proclaimed. The praise of God, and the worship of God demand the following of Command. The fulfillment of ‘Whole Sacrifice’ demands a Living Sacrifice, a new spiritual act of worship by following the Command to Love One Another and seeking relationship with God through the Love of Christ.

Whole Cookie – Whole Creme – Whole Communion:

The New Testament Book of Romans, Chapter 13, verse 8 reminds, “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the Law.”

Similarly, Romans asks us to seek the fulfillment of the Law which has specifically taken the place of the ‘Torah’.

“Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.” (Romans:13:10) For the mystical union between man and God, the requirement is that of the fulfillment of the Law.

I discovered the meaning of Love, the fulfillment of the Law when I purchased the 365 Everyday Value Mismatched Cremes at Whole Foods, Ann Arbor on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. The Creme symbolizes God’s essential Nature called Love, the Love that brings Unity by developing bonding relationships. If I am the Creme, I will inherit the Nature of Love. If I am the Creme, there is Unity between me and God through Christ and this bonding is symbolized by the Vanilla Cookie. The Command to Love One Another is symbolized by the Chocolate Cookie to which I am attached because of the ‘Whole Creme’ that symbolizes God’s Essence or Nature called Love. In remembrance of Christ’s Whole Sacrifice, I shall profess ‘Whole Love’ by celebrating the Sacrament of ‘Whole Communion’ while I eat and share these ‘Whole Cookies’.

Sixth-Day Adventism formulates the concepts of Whole Christ, Whole Love, and Whole Gospel

This article is dedicated to the loving memory of Jessica Cole, my relative who lived in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India as a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. She inspired me to formulate the Sixth-Day Adventism concepts of Whole Christ, Whole Love, Whole Gospel and Sixth-Day Adventist Positive Work Culture.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Gospel:

The word Christ (Greek. Christos) refers to the Messiah whose appearance is prophesied in the Old Testament and is used as a title to describe Jesus of Nazareth. I am using the term “Whole Christ” to describe Jesus before His human birth, Jesus during the years spent on this Earth, Jesus after His Resurrection, and Jesus who gives the Hope of the Second Coming to establish The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The word Christ may not communicate the entirety of Jesus and in the four Gospels we do not obtain the full picture as the event called ‘The Second Coming’ has not yet taken place. The word “Love” (Hebrew. ‘ahavah’, Greek. ‘agape’) is presented in Scripture as the very nature or essence of God, the supreme attribute in which all other attributes are harmonized. Love is a bond that unites all virtues. I consider the Power/Force/Energy of Mercy, Grace, and Compassion as the operating mechanism of God’s Love and could be simply called Divine Providence. I am using the term “Whole Love” to describe God’s Unconditioned Love that is not determined or fully accounted by human knowledge and human rationality. In other words, I have no ability to empower myself to receive God’s Unconditioned Love. I cannot manipulate God’s Whole Love through my actions, behavior, or even prayers. I can experience Whole Love but, I cannot explain or fully account for the existence of that Love.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Creation:

Man cannot explain the Birth of Jesus using his scientific knowledge. The Birth of Jesus can only be understood as a fact of Creation, a creative event. It should not come as a surprise as each human being who took birth on Earth has always arrived as an original, unique, distinctive, and one of its own kind of object with a genome that never existed in the past, and would also never exist again in the future. Each man is born as a created being and the birth of Jesus as a singular event reveals a creative mechanism not known to man and not subject to the limitations of man’s rational power. God uses the dimension called Whole Love to bring Unity and Harmony between the dimensions of Matter, Energy, Time, and Space to create man and the World in which man exists.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Existence:

To experience the Joy of Christmas, to seek the uplifting power of Jesus Christ, man must know the truth and reality about human existence. Human knowledge and rationality in themselves do nothing to justify human existence or the existence of this universe. To establish the fact of this human existence on one known planet called Earth is beyond the abilities of human cognitive powers. The biological basis of human existence demands the support of Love whose operating principles are Mercy, Grace, and Compassion. This Love is not conditioned by human behavior and human actions and not even prayers. Man cannot empower himself to acquire God’s Love using his free will. The good and evil actions of man, the right and bad conduct of man will be possible if and only if man’s existence precedes his actions and behavior. It is often argued that the evil and suffering in the world seems to count against the existence of God. I have to account for my physical existence before I can share the experience of pain, misery, disappointment, frustration, and suffering of my life’s condition. The fact or the reality of human pain and suffering cannot exclude the fact of God’s existence. Man at any given age and any given stage of his existence, from conception, physical birth, infancy, youth, adult, old age and death, in ill-health or good health depends upon an Unchanging Spiritual Principle to bring Unity and Harmony to maintain that condition or state called existence. This concept of God’s Unconditioned Love or WholeLove for man is shared by the Birth of Jesus. When I think of this WholeLove, I feel better, my mood gets uplifted, the burden of my painful existence is eased, and I can sense the Joy of the Season.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Law:

Apostle Paul in his First Epistle to Corinthians, in the New Testament Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, verses 4 to 8 describes the attributes of Love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”  

Jesus Christ while teaching the operating principle called Love, names Love as a Law, a Law above all other laws of nature, and above all other Commandments. In the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 37 to 40 “WholeLove” is explained as “Whole Law”: Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love is the supreme attribute, nature, and essence of God and at the same time it operates as a Law above all other Laws of Nature and the commandments shared by Prophets. WholeLove can be stated as the WholeLaw that governs the existence of man and gives man the chance to experience Peace, Harmony, and Tranquility in his living condition.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Reality:

Apostle Paul in his First Epistle to Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 13 shares the Spiritual Principles of Conservation: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  

Man exists in a world that is restless and is constantly changing. The Individual, created human being is born, grows and develops, exists with a physical identity that constantly changes under the powerful influence of Time and the event called death records the loss of that identity that is never constant at any time of its earthly existence. In the natural world, such changes in appearance are governed by the Laws of Conservation such as the Laws of Conservation of Mass, Energy, and Momentum. During man’s physical existence, the physical form and appearance change and yet the Spiritual Principles of Faith, Hope, and Love are conserved. Man cannot depend upon his knowledge and rationality as they are always subject to change. To know the Subjective and Objective Reality or the “WholeReality” of his ‘WholeExistence’, man needs to know the Law of Conservation of Faith, Hope, and Love.

Whole Christ – Whole Love – Whole Prayer:

The word Prayer refers to man’s communication with God. It is a spiritual or devotional communication to make a humble, sincere request. Prayer is the act of supplication and it includes words of praise, words of thanksgiving, words of confession, and words of plea seeking sanction of a favor to transform a mental desire into a physical reality in the external world. If God is omniscient, He must know of the evil; and if God is omnipotent, He must be able to remove the evil; and if God is perfectly benevolent and is loving, there should be no pain and suffering. To experience pain and misery, to experience suffering, disappointment and frustration, I have to maintain the condition called existence. At a fundamental level, I have to understand my ability to know things, my power to rule or govern things, and I must know my ability to make choices to change things in my external environment.

Jesus in the New Testament Book of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 8 instructs: “Do not be like them (pagans), for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”  In Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the purpose of the ‘Whole Prayer’ is that of asking, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Using my human knowledge and rationality, I can neither account for my existence nor account for my experience of pain and suffering which describes the nature of my existence.

I describe ‘Whole Prayer’ as an act of Faith, and Hope in recognition of the fact or reality called Whole Love that imparts its qualities and virtues such as Patience, Perseverance, Tolerance, and Kindness. Even if I cannot change the circumstances of my life that cause or give the experience of pain, suffering, and misery, the acceptance of Whole Love makes me pain-tolerant, and pain-resistant. It gives me the strength called ‘Endurance’ to overcome the challenge called the ‘Stress of Life’.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas in the celebration of Christmas on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

Simon Cyrene