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What is the Glory of Man?

The glory of man is the greatness and majesty of a person’s presence, their accomplishments and power.

The glory of man in much of history is most evident and on display in the glory of battle or wars. The glory of the warrior was essentially what was spoken of by the masses about the warrior in their life or in their deaths.

Getting into the history books is essentially an example of striving for glory, especially in war and in conquering of other warriors and nations. Alexander the Great was given glory for conquering so many nations. Genghis Khan was and is given glory because of the extreme toughness of his conquering and even the spreading of his genetics all over Asia through the women he had gained by conquest.

Rome used to have as one of its major motivations “for the glory of Rome.”

The Olympics gave glory to the greatest athletes with a wreath, today we do it with valuable medals hung around the neck.

The gods that were worshiped around the world had varying degrees of glory ascribed to them.

Today people strive for glory and greatness through many things, to summarize the concept of the glory of man, I defer to my April 2018 blog post.

“The glory of man is to rule over others, it is to have an empire of others to command. It is also to make our ways known and dominant (as in military conquest, or as in leadership vision for a nation or organization). And often it is to have others enrich us financially.“

https://AdamCollier.com/new-type-of-gods-glory/

Pursuit and striving for the glory of man ofen creates turf wars among people. It causes us to compete with others. It causes us to abandon bearing one another’s burdens for competitive battling.

Roman emperors, warriors and even citizenry were greatly motivated by the glory of man. The glory of man is synonymous with the pride of life. Read the history books and it is often on display.

Words and phrases used today (in 2021) to describe the glory of man include, “living your best life now.” “Living a fulfilled life.” People “crushing it” in reference to their constnat successes in life. Making the world a better place, when we are actually most often just imposing our wills upon others.

Watch the popular play called Hamilton about the American founding father, Alexander Hamilton. It’s a great display of men striving fir glory.

“History has its eye on us,” was a motivating factor for these men.

Pursuing the glory of man is also a major foundation to human government and in the Gospel of the State. Which is the message of human government which enthralls so many people today and which I am attempting to write a book about.

The glory of man can even be seen in churches these days. By some leaders who use their skills at speaking and leading to accumulate glory unto themselves. It causes them to be competitive with other leaders. It causes them to engage in turf wars. Evidenced by gossiping from the pulpit about other leaders or personal critics. And by the desire to feel dominant over others who would dare not give them the respect they feel they deserve.

Some of the most respected and gifted ministers from the past and present clearly struggle with this need for their glory. And with a tendency to get caught up in turf wars with other ministers and leaders.

Sometimes I wonder if it is better to not be gifted and talented, for those that set out to serve the Lord full time. As it so often gives the servant of God a spiritual handicap. And it can form a foundation for the pride of life. And an addiction to receiving and expecting glory from fans as they fulfill THEIR vision for the church.

The Glory is a man is someting that should go unsatified, unfulfilled and left undone in the lives of those who are relentlessly in pursuit of Jesus Christ.

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The gods of entertainment.

Dionysus was the Greek god of entertainment, theater, religious ecstasy and wine. The Romans adopted him and called him Bacchus.

His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek.[7][8][9]Though most accounts say he was born in Thrace, traveled abroad, and arrived in Greece as a foreigner, evidence from the Mycenaean period of Greek history shows that he is one of Greece’s oldest attested gods. His attribute of “foreignness” as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults, as he is a god of epiphany, sometimes called “the god that comes”.[10]

Wine played an important role in Greek culture, and the cult of Dionysus was the main religious focus surrounding its consumption.[11] Wine, as well as the vines and grapes that produce it, were seen as not only a gift of the god, but a symbolic incarnation of him on earth.[12]However, rather than being a god of drunkenness, as he was often stereotyped in the post-Classical era, the religion of Dionysus centered on the correct consumption of wine, which could ease suffering and bring joy, as well as inspire divine madness distinct from drunkenness.[13] Performance art and drama were also central to his religion, and its festivals were the initial driving force behind the development of theatre.[14] The cult of Dionysus is also a “cult of the souls”; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.[15] He is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god.[16] (source is Wikipedia)

Dionysus was a religious idea but he was also real, he was a demon spirit. As are all the gods worshipped. We just give them names and personalities. In reality just demons occupying places of power, called the “principalities and powers in high places.” See Ephesians 6:12, Ephesians 1:21 and Colossians 1:16.

Today our powerful entertainment system, centered in Hollywood (in the US) seems, to have a godless spiritual source. A chief spirit who is in charge pulling the strings, who is hostile to Jesus Christ.

Actors loyal to Jesus Christ are often ostracized from Hollywood. If they are not now, they are soon to be. Or pushed out by being forced to work contrary to their conscience being forced to decide between a career and their conscience.

This is one of many articles about Hollywood and this topic. https://jashow.org/articles/why-hollywood-hates-christianity/

The point of this particular article is to identify the spiritual forces or force above the entertainment system. There is a god over the evil systems we have inherited, demons (gods) pulling strings and motivating much of what happens in the entertainment system.

When we revolve our lives around entertainment we worship Dionysus. We don’t give him that name anymore but he is still there. The demonic spirit that they called Dionysus is still worshipped today. I don’t think he cares what name we give him as long as we worship him. And keep our spiritual seeking and gazing off of f the spirit of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. His is a demonic ministry of distraction.

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing inherently wrong with entertainment. But entertainment hostile to and outside of Jesus Christ when it entangles, enslaves and addicts people to itself and distracts us from the kingdom of God is sin. All entertainment is to be brought in subjection to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

If it’s not submissive to the Lord, it becomes idolatrous and becomes even worship of other gods.

Be VERY careful with your entertainment if you are a Jesus follower. If not you might find yourself tangled up with Dionysus in your social media feed on your smartphone or your Netflix app. Don’t disregard this, take not of the impact of entertainment on yourself and your loved ones.

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kissing Jesus while betraying him
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Declaration of Independence v. Jesus Christ

The Declaration of Independence

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,

and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,

a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Adam: notice is the first paragraph of this declaration of independence the foundation of this new government is the assumption of separate but equal powers among the earth. The founders felt it was their right and duty to form a separate but equal government among and as one of the powers of the earth. The list of reasons are brilliant the maturity and integrity of these men seems to be impeccable. The logic and bravery of these men is supremely admirable.

BUT a desire to establish a government among the other powers of the earth is a dangerous thing. A motive and a line of logic that does not jive well with the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of our government and it is not a thing of Jesus Christ. It is a motive with a foundation of of Satan. To pursue power among the powers of the earth is equivalent to budging our way at the table of the wicked principalities and powers in high places talked about in scripture (Eph 3:10, Eph 1:21, Rom 8:38). These men were tired of the persecution of the King of England and decided to violently push their way to the table of power that he was oppressing them from.

I love America I think it has the best form of government yet conceived on earth. Don’t get me wrong with this post, I believe our founding is truly a story of bravery and standing up to tyranny. But I cannot see the motives and logic of our founding when they declared independence and took up arms as something of Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that they were being led of the Holy Spirit as Jesus followers.

I believe they were being led by desire for a seat at the table among the powers of the earth. They wanted to be a peer to the kings of the earth. And their harsh treatment made it much easier to push them over the edge. Would they have if England had treated them well? We will never know.

We’ve seen this before:

  • Israel demanded they be like the other nations when they demanded a king like Saul. (1 Samuel 8:7)
  • The followers of Jesus asked for militant messiah-king to get them out from under the Romans. (John 6:15)
  • Satan tempted Jesus with a kingship over all the world. (Matthew 4:8-10).
  • Many Christians in the 4th century church succumbed to the temptation of political power and favor by embracing Emperor Constantine and his required Christian religion over Rome. (Read the history of Rome from AD 300 to about AD 330.)

Countless governments throughout modern history have embraced the idea of Christendom, the merging of human government with the church.

Its a history of carnage and error.

I write this post to put to rest (perhaps mostly in my own head) the idea that the formation of the American govnermnt was a thing of divine origin.

I know many of the men involved were wonderful well meaning men but I do believe they were deeply mistaken about the nature of human government and the ecclesia of Jesus Christ. They were living and reacting according to the gospel they had embraced which was likely supportive of ideas of Christendom and that the gospel was essentially just a lesson in how to get to heaven.

Had they heard the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, they may not have bothered with a revolution and a war. It may have been thrust upon them anyhow but we can never know that.

Would it not have been better if the king would have freely granted their freedom? Repented of his cruelty and violence and left them alone with motives of Christian love and freedom. And perhaps even helped them to form an even more perfect government and not sustained such a devastating loss of life and wealth in defeat in the process?

The way of Jesus Christ is better. Turning the other cheek is superior. Suffering persecution is better than striking back. Jesus can work out what we think only violence can bring us.

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