The Separation in the Mind, the Reconciliation, the One New Body, and the Wedding Garments:

His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light,” Matthew 17:2, Matthew 17:9.

 

The non canonical Gospel of Thomas introduces: 


The Bridal Chamber – Becoming One

 

A wedding is a re-uniting, or a reconciliation into ONE, of the male and the female. The bridal chamber is the holy of holies hidden behind the veil, in the spirit of the mind, where through a vision male and female can become One New Perfect Man. Such is the imagery of the bridal chamber, Philip, Hebrews 10:20, Mark 10:8.

Such a vision perceived at every level of existence renews the mind to a true knowledge, transforming us into the image of the One who creates the New Perfect Man. In him all things are gathered together, and reunited. Such a reconciliation of all, illustrated in marriage, is the very essence of Paul’s Gospel, Colossians 3:10.

This is a great mystery hidden with Christ in God, Ephesians 5:32.

In Paul’s message this marriage happens in every level of reality. Though not explicitly explained in Paul’s letters, the mythology of Christ and Sophia seems to have formed the underlying foundation for much of his thought. In the mythology, Christ is the Bridegroom and Sophia (or Wisdom) is the Bride. Recognizing Sophia as the personification of Wisdom clarifies much of Paul’s mystery teaching.

“Wisdom giveth life to them that have it”, And this “life is hid with Christ in God.” Stated plainly, Christ and Sophia joined together in matrimony are safely hidden in God, Ecclesiastes 7:12, Colossians 3:3.

In like manner, believers are exhorted to “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly with all Wisdom,” Colossians 3:16 NASB.

Again stated plainly, Christ and Sophia rest together in the hidden man of the heart, and also in the very heart of God. The marriage of Christ and Sophia at every level of reality is a great mystery that helps explain much of Paul’s Gospel of universal reconciliation. 

 

The Separation in a Darkened Mind

Christ and Sophia (Wisdom) are both pre-existent, and both present in creation. There is strong support for this understanding within the canon. In the mythology Christ and Sophia can represent our true self and humanity originally united. However, they are eventually separated through Sophia’s self will, and all creation suffers the consequences.

Who is this Sophia?

‘Sophia’ is the Greek word for “Wisdom” transliterated into English.

Differing traditions provide a variety of understandings of the Sofia mythology. In the Christian scriptures Wisdom is personified as the female Sophia. She has become a popular figure in Christian mysticism, Gnosticism, and even Orthodox communities. She is variously understood as the Divine Logos, the Wisdom of God, the Holy Spirit, and an emanation from God. In the wisdom literature She is a pre-existent One present at the creation. Perhaps, Proverbs 8 provides the clearest picture of who Sophia is:

“I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When [there were] no depths, I was brought forth; when [there were] no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, [as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights [were] with the sons of men, Proverbs 8:23-31.

Sophia was with Christ in the beginning. However, they became separated, at least within a darkened understanding alienated from the life of God though ignorance. Nevertheless, they shall be re-united. Just as Christ dwells in our hearts, “Wisdom (also) resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding,” Proverbs 14:33, Ephesians 4:18.

In the mythology the pre-existent Christ and Sophia can represent our true self and humanity. The Gospel of Thomas alludes to the pre-existent Oneness of humanity and the separation into male and female that follows. This is perhaps echoed in the creation myths of Genesis. 

Jesus said, “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being.” For “Adam came into being from a great power and a great wealth, but he did not become worthy of you, for had he been worthy, he would not have experienced death” or separation. The death, separation, and division of Humanity is seen as the predicament. “On the day when you were ONE you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?" Thomas 19, 11, 85.

Jesus said, “When the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray." And so in the darkness of an alienated mind we entered into the closet. If death and separation is the predicament, then reconciliation, and marriage is the solution. In a vision in the secret place, Christ and Sophia are found re-united when Christ’s coming and illuminating entrance into the Bridal Chamber is perceived and “Wisdom entereth into thine heart.” “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,” Thomas 104, Proverbs 2:10, Psalms 90:12.

 

The Reconciliation

In the bridal chamber is where Christ and Sophia are reunited, and the reconciliation of all things is able to be seen. The coming together of Christ and Sophia as One and the same is a great mystery, and one that is not easily declared. Both Christ and Sophia are unseen realities. Paul sets the example as one who would attempt to expound the mysteries, “O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge (Gnosis) of God!” “Which things also we speak, but not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,” Romans 11:33, 1 Corinthians 2:13, Thomas 4, 22.

There is a delicate balance between the proclamation of truth and the protection of the revealed reality. Jesus said, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you,” Matthew 7:6, Thomas 102.

Jesus said, "Woe to the pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat," Thomas 102.

Jesus said, "The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge (gnosis) and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves," Thomas  39, Matthew 23:27.

The sharing of secrets and the maintenance of safety must be managed with wisdom. On the one hand, we do not share secrets with those who would deliberately keep them hidden from those in need. Mysteries are not for the dogs, but for the oxen. They are not for the Pharisees, but for the worker. On the other hand, when feeding the swine the clams will be sufficient. The pearls can be removed until later when they are able to appreciate them. There is a proper time and place to share a vision. “As they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead,” Matthew 17:9.  

He is alive. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, today is a day of salvation. Since we are members one of another, like an oyster with a hidden treasure, “I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” Galatians 4:19.

 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing, and combining and joining together spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, 1 Corinthians 2:13 ASV.

Some spiritual mysteries can be seen mirrored in the natural realm. However, when the secret and hidden realities are seen only by comparing, and combining spiritual with spiritual, they are not readily discerned by the natural man. These are spiritual realities hid within the holy of holies that are well worth seeking out. There is the outer court, the inner court, and the holy of holies. There is the body, the soul, and the spirit. There are hidden spiritual realities and spiritual teachings that are not accessible to the natural man. Ones that because hidden are well protected.

There is a hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, the meek and quiet spirit, the pearl of great price. Hidden within the unseen place, combining spiritual realities with spiritual realities, are treasures beyond comprehension. These pearls are hidden for good reason, but are not inaccessible. Therefore Jesus says, “Seek.”  1 Peter 3:4.

“Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding.” This Wisdom is like a pearl of great price. She is a treasure to be discovered in the watery darkness of the earth. Christ gives us the needed light, Proverbs 14:33, Ephesians 5:14, Colossians 1:12, 13.

“The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In the Canonical gospel: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” The field is the body, Matthew 13:45-46, Genesis 2:7.

Some are ready to pay the price for this gnosis. Some are not. “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge (gnosis) of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” Acts 5:3, Matthew 19:21, 27, Philippians 3:8.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it,” Matthew 13:45-46.

This discovery can be a ongoing process. For eventually, this field will be “The Body” where no worm destroys, Colossians 1:24.

And again “the kingdom of the father is like a merchant who had a consignment of merchandise and who discovered a pearl. That merchant was shrewd. He sold the merchandise and bought the pearl alone for himself. You too, seek his unfailing and enduring treasure where no moth comes near to devour and no worm destroys,” Thomas 76.

The Pearl of Great Price speaks of the Bride. Even Peter, when addressing the wives in the community referred to the hidden person in their hearts as being “of Great Price.” The passage reads, “Wives,… let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament of] a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of Great Price...(like) the holy women,” in old times who trusted in God, 1 Peter 3:1,4-5.

“No mention shall be made … of pearls: for the price of Wisdom is above rubies,” Job 28:18.

The purchase of the Pearl of Great Price may be a reference to the ancient custom of the bride price. The bride price is an amount of money, property or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom, Genesis 34:12, Exodus 22:16-17, Deuteronomy 22:28-29.

This pearl is the gnosis of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ when he is joined together with his bride Sophia (Wisdom) who is discovered in the holy of holies.

 

Sophia as the Bride

Repeatedly, throughout scripture and especially the Wisdom literature we are told to get Wisdom at any price.   “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul.” “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD,” Get wisdom, and get knowledge, Proverbs 19:8, Proverbs 18:22.

Wisdom as this bride is personified by the female Sophia who is to be embraced. “Get Wisdom,… Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom, Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee, Proverbs 4:5-9.

There is a marriage that happens in the secret hidden place of the heart. Christ, (the Truth, John 14:6) is united with Sophia (the Wisdom) in the inmost part. Bride and Bridegroom are re-united, combining spiritual with spiritual, creating One New Man. “Behold, thou desirest Truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know Wisdom,” Psalms 51:6.

“If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge (Gnosis) of God.” Then “when Wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul,” “Christ shall give you light,” Proverbs 2:4-5, Proverbs 2:10, Ephesians 5:14-15.

Having “commanded the light to shine out of darkness, (He) shine(s) in our hearts, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, the counsels of the heart, revealing the knowledge (gnosis) of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 4:6.

We discover the Gnosis of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is our example. "A man's Wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed,Ecclesiastes 8:1.

Christ found his Wisdom in a vision and transfigured… “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light,” Matthew 17:2, Matthew 17:9.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun, Ecclesiastes 7:11 See also Luke 23:45, Acts 2:20, Acts 13:11, Acts 26:13.

Christ is our example. In a vision, we shall all be changed and transfigured. The disciples of Jesus said to him, “Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness,” Thomas 24.

Christ gives us this light, Ephesians 5:14, Colossians 1:12, 13.

Being renewed in the spirit of our mind, Christ and Sophia find rest in our hearts. “Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding,” Jesus said, "Two will rest on a bed: the one will die, and the other will live."… “Therefore I say, if he is destroyed, he will be filled with light, but if he is divided, he will be filled with darkness,” Proverbs 14:33, Thomas 61.

This cryptic saying suggests that two becoming One leads to the destruction of the old, and the creation of the new which is filled with light. This is the Father’s desire. “Behold, thou desirest Truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know Wisdom.Reunited, Truth And Wisdom are met together. In matrimony, they have embraced in the hidden place, Psalms 51:6.

And so the old is passed away. “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more,” 2 Corinthians 5:16.

Now there is a new creation: a New Man - filled with light. And He lights up the whole world. Our need is to behold and experience this reunited reality, and to see this light, so that we no longer have “the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is (with)in… because of the blindness of (the) heart,” Ephesians 4:18.

 

The One New Body

There are mysteries and there are greater mysteries. The greater mysteries grow out of the lesser mysteries.

Marriage is a simple earthly illustration. “A man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” Matthew 19:5-6.

Paul utilized the concept of marriage and the principles of the Christ and Sophia mythologies to explain his own secret teachings: The coming together of two to create one new man. Paul refers to this New Man as the joint-body, where “there is neither male nor female, but ye are all one in Christ,” Galatians 3:28. Ephesians 3:6.

Paul’s breakthrough application was the bringing together of the Jewish and Gentile factions in the Church. The male bridegroom represents the spiritually minded gentile believers blessed with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places. The female bride can refer to the Jewish believers blessed with the soul satisfying and earthly covenants. Spirit and Soul are reunited together in ONE body, “to make in himself of twain ONE new man,” Ephesians 2:14-15.

On an even larger scale, as the mystery grows, taking on cosmic proportions, it refers to the marriage of this Christ and the Church in whom are gathered all things into the one body. Paul refers to this as “a great mystery, Ephesians 1:10, 23, , Colossians  1:20, Ephesians 5:31-32.

This Christ who is all is the new corporate reunited man which is put on like a garment. Putting on the wedding garment is needed to enter in, and is the entering in. For there is only ONE body, the kingdom of God’s dear son, Ephesians 4:4, Colossians 1:13.

Now, we are his flesh and his bones, raised a spiritual body, the anointed Christ, the perfect man, for he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit, Ephesians 5:30, 1 Corinthians 15:44, Ephesians 4:13, 1 Corinthians 6:17.

In this resurrection we neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven, Matthew 22:30.

No longer divided, we are but one new androgynous man, even as the angels of God in heaven. In an eternal reality, outside of time, this oneness simply is. However in the realm of time, and in the darkness of the mind, there is a step by step progressive working out of this duality into the oneness. From the joining of the inner spark, to the uniting of soul and spirit, to the Jew and Gentile in the new humanity, to the gathering together into one of all things, the author declares that this is a great mystery, Ephesians 5:32.

This is the husband and wife analogy spreading from an individual experience to a corporate reality. Step by step Christ loves Sophia, suffering a cross, separated from his Father, that he might sanctify and cleanse Sophia by the washing of the word, that he might present her to himself in marriage. This perfect man leaves father (the Heavenly Father) and mother (the Heavenly Jerusalem) which is the mother of us all, and is joined unto his wife, and they two become one flesh, Galatians 4:26, Rev 21:9-10.

Christ and Sophia then become One New Perfect Man. Christ is the savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23). This is such a great mystery, but it becomes progressively greater when one realizes, that as the process expands, all things must eventually be joined in the body.

Until "Every man perfect" becomes the church "filled with all the fulness of God", or "The Perfect Man" illustrating a universal corporate oneness, Colossians 1:28, Ephesians 4:13.

In this marriage is the new creation of this One New Man in every sphere and at every level from the micro to the macro. Christ and Sophia is a useful mythology, with manifold illustrations exemplifying this coming together. Paul employs the principles of this Gnostic Sophia mythology to reveal his deepest mysteries. And the Church will do the same. “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold Wisdom (Sophia) of God,” Ephesians 3:10.

Sophia and Christ illustrate this marriage on every level. Sophia as the bride; Christ as the bridegroom. From the smallest inner spark to the grandest universal realities all is reconciled together into One.

        Sophia is known as the divine spark. - Christ is the light that lighteneth every man.

                       Sophia as the feminine soul. - Christ as the male spirit.

  Sophia as the Church, the bride of Christ. - Christ as bridegroom, the head of the Church.

                                       Sophia as humanity. - Christ as the last Adam.

                      Sophia as the feminine of God. - Christ as the all, the image of the Father.

Step by step, this consummation like an expanding ladder reaches up into the universe. Principalities and powers, aeons and archons, the emanated divine powers in the heavenly pleroma, the totality of all that is understood as the divine is reunited into the One. In this new Perfect Man dwelleth and is reconciled all the fullness (the pleroma) of the Godhead bodily, Colossians 1:20,  Colossians 2:9.

The right and the left are fitly joined together as One, and according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love, and being knit together, increaseth with the increase of God, Ephesians 4:16, Colossians 2:19.

With this increase, and the understanding of the Sophia mythos, step by step all the falsely perceived dualities within both the creation and the Godhead are delivered up and amalgamated into “the One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,” Until at last, “God (is) all in all,” and all that is, Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Corinthians 15:28.

 

The Wedding Garments

This cosmic unfolding is seen in germ in us. “We are the first fruits of all creation.” We are a display piece within the pleroma, the heavenly realms, the holy of holies, and the inner man. We are a pattern for those who are to come. With each new incarnation the pattern is still in place, and a new enlarged  garment is put on by this new man as he grows in stature until reaching “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Corinthians 4:9, James 1:18, Ephesians 4:13.

His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?" Jesus said, "When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments, and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the son of the living ONE, and you will not be afraid," Thomas 37.

When we disrobe, we put off the separated and divided humanity, and Christ gives us light. Then are we “like him; for we shall see him as He IS:” as the All gathered together into one,” Colossians 3:9, 1 John 3:2, Colossians 3:11, Ephesians 1:10,  Thomas 77.

When we put on this new man like a garment. We are “renewed in the spirit of our mind” according to the knowledge that in reality, there is only ONE body. For he has made “in himself from the two - one new man,” Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:4, Ephesians 2:15.

We cannot live in a divided reality. Jesus said, "It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise, he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously. No man drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into a new wineskin, lest it spoil it. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear would result." To put on this new garment you must put away the old. You cannot operate in two realms. We make the two into one, Thomas 47, Thomas 22.

This is not merely the replacing of the old with the new. This is not merely a choice between two dichotomies. But rather it is the consummation of the old by the new. The old passes away, is destroyed, and is consumed and transformed into a new creation. It is not a division and separation of the above and below, of the inner and the outer, of the male and the female, of the right and the left, but it is an amalgamation and a re-creation. All things are made new, Thomas 7.

We begin this journey to wholeness with A New Way of Thinking. When we put off the old man and the old garment, we put off the old way of thinking. No longer “having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through… ignorance,… because of the blindness of (the) heart,” Ephesians 4:18.

Present in all, and possessing all things, we reckon our old self to be dead. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." Jesus said, “Recognize what is in your sight, (the corpse) and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you.” There will be a manifestation of the son(s) of God, “for nothing hidden will not become manifest.” And so, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. Jesus said, "He who has recognized the world has found the body, but he who has found the body is superior to the world." There is a death, a consummation and a transformation, and a resurrection, Romans 6:11, Thomas 56, 60, 80, Colossians 3:10.

This all begins in the bridal chamber in the holy of holies hidden within this veil. This is where the treasure is: the hidden man of the heart, the quiet spirit, the pearl of great price. Jesus said, “He who seeks will find, and he who knocks will be let in." Jesus said, "Many are standing at the door, but it is the ‘solitary’ who will enter the bridal chamber,” Philip, Hebrew 10:20,1 Peter 3:4, Thomas 94, Thomas 75.

Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind." And so “we walk by faith not by (natural) sight.” For this reason, “from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer,” Now we know him in spirit, Thomas 17, 2 Corinthians 5:7, 2 Corinthians 5:16.

There is one body, and one spirit. “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is One Spirit.” Christ and Sophia are joined together. There is a reconciliation. Once again she is “daily [his] delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth. Christ and Sophia find rest together in our hearts. Just as “Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding,” Jesus said, "Two will rest on a bed,” 1Corinthians 6:16-17, Hosea 1:2, Proverbs 8:30-31, Proverbs 14:33, Thomas 61, 105.

Now that Christ has shined in our hearts, we look upon that which is hidden. Receiving a vision of Christ and Sophia in the secret place is a transfiguring experience. God commands “the light to shine out of darkness, (He) shine(s) in our hearts, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, the counsels of the heart, revealing the knowledge (gnosis) of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Making his face to shine upon us, for “a man's Wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face (is) changed.”His face shine(s) as the sun, and his raiment (is) white as the light,” 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ecclesiastes 8:1, Matthew 17:2, Matthew 17:9, Numbers 6:25, Matthew 17:2.

“There is profit to them that see the sun. “He will be filled with light." Paul’s testimony of personal transformation was simply “I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me,” and “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” “There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world,” Ecclesiastes 7:11, Thomas 61, Acts 26:13, 2 Corinthians 11:6, Acts 26:19, Thomas 24. See also Luke 23:45, Acts 2:20, Acts 13:11.

Christ also gives us this light. For “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Jesus said, "Seek and you will find.” “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” “What you asked me about in former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do desire to tell, but you do not inquire after it.” Therefore “let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All,”  Ephesians 5:14, Colossians 1:12, 13, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Thomas 92, 2, Ephesians 1:17.

For there is only one body: the Christ who is all. “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”: This “[ONE] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” In Him all things are made new, consist, and are joined and held together. “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. In this new universal body we are his hands and his feet. “We are his flesh and his bones,” Ephesians 4:4, Colossians 3:11,Galatians 3:27, 1 Corinthians 15:53, Ephesians 5:30, Revelation 1:13, 2 Corinthians 5:2, Colossians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

And so we put on this new man “in Whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and knowledge.” Arising from the darkness of our mind, we find ourselves translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, for Christ gives us light. And so we continuously clothe ourselves in this new wedding garment, this armour of light, this New Man, and dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, we are become light in the Lord, the ONE new body of light. Together, you are, and we are the light of the world, Colossians 2:3, Ephesians 5:14, Colossians 1:12, 13, Romans 13:12, 1 Timothy 6:16, Ephesians 5:8, 13, 14, Matthew 5:14.

 

The Inner Vision

When knowledge (gnosis) is pleasant unto your soul, you will experience a death, the sun will be darkened, and you will behold only a corpse, and the veil of the temple will be rent in twain, and the earth will quake, and the rocks will be rent, and the grave will open, and there will be a bright light, and the body of a saint, a holy one which slept shall arise and shine, a reunited Perfect Man, clothed in an armor of light, conquering all with the love of a bridegroom, Luke 23:45, Matthew 27:51-52, Thomas 2, 56, 77, 24.

Love conquers all, and it never fails. Make the two into one. There is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest. When the inner and the outer are joined together you enter the kingdom. Everything is in Christ. This Christ is in everything. We are members one of another: I am in you, and you are in me, and we are one in Christ. Everything and everyone is in everything and everyone else. Put simply, since everything is in Christ, and we have Christ in us, then we also have everything in us. Again, put in Pauline language, we are members one of another, and we have all things, 1 Corinthians 13:8, 1 Corinthians 3:21, Thomas 22, 5, Colossians 3:11, Romans 12:5.

This is the mature "body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all - for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself." The lines and distinctions between God, Christ, All Things, and the Church blur and fade away. When this is realized dualities fade, and all becomes the One, Ephesians 1:23 Amplified.

This is the gospel of peace. And then when knowledge (gnosis) is pleasant unto your soul, you will experience a death, and the sun will be darkened, and…, …, …, the process repeats. And you will know all things, Ephesians 6:15.

However, that day shall not come, except the man of sin be revealed. He as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will be troubled, for he will find only a corpse. The veil of the temple will be rent in twain and the earth will quake, and the rocks will be rent. Nevertheless do not be soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled. Even though we become troubled, we will be astonished. As Jesus has said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.” The Christ shall come like a high priest into the holy of holies, and by our gathering together unto him, and with the perfect joining together to be glorified within his saints, the grave will open. There will be a bright light, and the body of a saint, a holy one which slept shall arise, a reunited Perfect Man with face aglow clothed in an armour of light, conquering all with a the love of a bridegroom. He will rule over the all, and deliver the kingdom up to the One God and Father of all that “God may be all,” Thomas 2, 17, 2Th 1:10 2Th 2:1,2-4, Matthew 27:51-52, Romans 13:12, 1 Corinthians 15:28.

 

The Conclusion of the Matter

At one time we were darkness, Ephesians 5:8.

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part”: for naturally, I have a knowledge that divides and subdivides reality into parts, but soon I will know even as Him who is all One, 1 Corinthians 13:11-13.

Perhaps being separated and alienated in the darkness of the mind, understanding as a child, seeing through a mirror darkly, we miss the deeper purposes of Paul’s writings. Perhaps, we see reality as divided and subdivided. However, “the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge (gnosis) of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5  

Jesus said, “Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in fine garments like your kings and your great men? Upon them are the fine garments, and they are unable to discern the Truth,” Thomas 78.

But now behold the unseen Truth: “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a life giving spirit,” quickening all things. Joined together we become “a living spirit,” 1Corinthians 15:45, 1 Timothy 6:13, Thomas 4, 22, 114.

All the dichotomies are absorbed and translated into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. Not only is the kingdom  inside of you, and outside of you, but to go further, if you can see it, there is neither inside nor outside, above nor below, first nor last, right nor left, Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. In the spirit of the mind of Christ, reconnecting the two, making the two into ONE, we “become a living spirit,” for “he that is joined to the Lord is ONE Spirit,” Colossians 1:13, Galatians 3:28Matthew 25:33, Thomas 3, 4, 22, 114, 1 Corinthians 6:17.

Previously we knew in part, but soon we shall “know even as also (we are) known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” In the secret place, reconciled together in love, the two are joined together in holy matrimony. Knowledge may pass away, but this love that abides is the even greater mystery,  1 Corinthians 13:11-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 5:25, Ephesian 2:15, Colossians 3:14.

This kind of love and “marriage is honorable in all,” even as “Christ is all and in all,” Hebrews 13:4, Colossians 3:11.

Held together with a love that abides, Colossians 3:14.

He is and We are

The Perfect Man.

 

 

There is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest! Luke 8:17, Thomas 5.

 

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For a comparison between Thomas and the other New Testament writings see
The Gospel of Thomas - New Testament - Cross Reference Study