Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matt. 7: 13-14).
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn. 14:6)
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If we do not enter Life/Zoe through the 'narrow gate,' we can take anything we want with us; we are not forced to choose between our own way and the way of the Christ of God. We can stay on the path to destruction carrying with us all the baggage we cannot let go of: bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, hatred of others, greed, lust, etc. But if we want to enter Life itself, the Life that 'came into the world and is the light of men,' we will have to put down all the impure things we want to hold onto in our spirit.
When God created mankind, He 'breathed into his nostrils the breath/ruah of life, and man became a living being (not bios,but zoe: energy, spirit, truth, enthusiasm, eternal life). With Adam's distancing himself from God, his bios continued for a time, but his zoe began to diminish and fade. His body continued; his soul decreased. With the 'new Adam," Jesus Christ, the spirit in mankind is fully restored: I came that they may have life/zoe, and have it more abundantly.
When we encounter another person, we encounter at first his/her bios, physical life. We may be drawn by a smile, a light in the eyes, or even physical appearance, etc. But it is not long before we enter into the spirit/ zoe of those we love. And to really enter another person's spirit and remain there, we may have to surrender something of our own we have been holding onto, for often we cannot carry the baggage we choose into another's home. How many parents have had to turn their adult children out of their house because the adult child has not been able to let go of unacceptable behavior -- drugs, alcohol, rage, etc -- the things that threaten to destroy everyone around them?
When we want to come to the Father, we must pass through the Gate and enter onto the Way -- Jesus Christ. He is both the Door and the Path and the End -- the Life/Zoe we are seeking. But to enter the Door, we must put down whatever cannot live in His Spirit, whatever is incompatible with His dwelling place: anger, bitterness, rage, unforgiveness, etc. None of these things are allowed to enter into the Spirit of Jesus. So, for the "Pearl of Great Price," we sell all that we have, that we are holding onto, and surrender them at the Doorway, so that we can enter into Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Many people encountered the physical presence of Jesus; very few comparatively entered into His Spirit and drank from it. The same is true today: many stand on the outside and judge the Man from Galilee, the son of Joseph, but others put down their judgment from the outside and humbly enter into the Spirit of Jesus. Then and only then do we have the Eternal Life, the energy, the truth, the Zoe He came to give.
If we are to assume that God (The Sacred Spirit)breathed the same life into all humankind, perhaps there are some branches of humanity that are not descended from Adam and, therefore, have different paths to continue growing and passing on this Zoe. I don't doubt that Jesus had more Zoe than any other man who walked the earth, and I believe he gave humanity a wonderful example of how to live a life of growing and sharing of the birthright of every human, Zoe, as did his earthly mother and father.
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