Tao Te Ching Chapter 1: Mystery of God - Taoism of Lao Tzu translated into Biblical Scripture

A 6th century mosaic of Jesus

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Interestingly, Tao Te Ching first chapter coincide with the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Genesis is the foundation of our Faith, the elementary level of our learning. Though, it is difficult for many to believe God created the Heavens and Earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh, it is our Faith we know anything is possible with God. He is the immortal and infinite God (Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy 1:17). God is eternal, thus He had no beginning and His existence is everlasting. God is sovereign, thus He is supreme above all. There is no one like Him in works or being. All of His creation put together cannot avert His purposes (Psalm 93:1; 95:3). God is unchanging; his constant and eternal nature is beyond understanding. If God could be understood, defined by naming, or expressed in words, it is not the constant, unchanging, eternal true God. Names did not exist prior to creation. The nameless God is therefore the origin or source of all things, the Heavens and Earth. God can not be understood through the rational mind since our spoken words and written texts are limited. Our tendency to categorize, define, and analyze gives us the limited understating of how God acts upon the world. If we are free from desire and become aware of our wordless communion with nature (God), we may catch a glimpse of God’s divine wisdom.

The Bible, God’s Word, tells us what God is like and what He is not like. Any attempt to explain God’s nature without the authority of the Bible is no better than an opinion, which by itself is often incorrect (Job 42:7). To say we must try to understand God is a huge understatement. Failure to do so can cause us to set up or worship false gods contrary to His will (Exodus 20:3-5). The revelation of God can Only be defined by his own Words in the Bible.

Why did God chose to be nameless? If God was given a name like the false god, many worshipers will begin to believe by chanting his name repeatedly will bring favor. Names are given to the false Gods, manifested in our minds to fulfill our desires. Once anything manifests itself as the physical universe, it can be named. The true and eternal God is nameless.  If God did have a name, how can we express the Nature of God with our own knowledge? Exodus 3:13-15, ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “ ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Rather than identifying himself with a person’s name, God reveals himself as YHWH which means, The One Who Is The Self-Existent One. A God that never changes. His promises never fail. When we are faithless, He is faithful. The professional titles and famous names achieved by one’s own accomplishments in this world are not important to God. Many times titles are used to manipulate people, convey a false sense of power, builds ego, and provides a shield to cover up for our insecurities. We live as One in the body of Christ regardless of our title. Matthew 22:30, ³⁰At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, ¹⁶Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

How did names begin? God gave us the freedom to observe the Mystery of God or the external physical manifestations. Free from desires, we observe the inner wonders and marvels of God. This establishes the connection of our spirit with  God, the vast intelligence of the universal consciousness. The spirit is the invisible and intelligence behind our creativity, emotions, inspirations, intentions, life choices, and intuitive insights. The spirit that guides and endures any experience we go through. However, if we are not guided by the spirit and filled with self-serving desires, we observe the external physical manifestations rather than the inner wonders and marvels of God’s Mystery.  Thus, once the universe came into being, the stage was set for physical manifestation of all things, including human beings. We gain sufficient awareness to observe all things and name them. Everything is derived from it through natural processes, thus the mother of all things. When God brought all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field to see what Adam would name them, it showed that God wanted to please Adam’s desires. God knew the cost of his own son Jesus would be the payment for Adam sins. Adam and Eve’s external manifestation opened their eyes to observe all things, including the good and evil of the world. Instead of living in the mystery of God, Adam and Eve choose to observe the external physical manifestations as their world. Adam named his wife Eve and becomes the “mother of all the living”.

How do we  intercede with the inner wonders (void, oneness, the flow, essence, inner truth) and the external manifestations (cosmos, nature, life, outer appearance) of this ultimate reality? They represent the spiritual realm and material world, respectively. Both worlds emerge from God because He encompasses all, not only spiritually but also the physical universe. The Spirit of God living in us observes the wonders of God (Mystery of God) and the body (flesh) observes the external manifestations. The unity of these two reality gives us an interesting paradox. The inner wonders and external manifestations are distinctively different in nature, with different names, but yet are two sides of the same coin leading to one another. Similarly, the Spirit and soul have different names but is one intangible part of the body. Spirit and soul are the same in the manner they are used but different in reference. The Spirit is man’s vertical view of the world observing the Mystery of God and the soul is man’s horizontal view of the world observing its external manifestations. Both refer to the immaterial part of man but Spirit refers to man’s walk with God and Soul refers to man’s walk with the world, both material and immaterial. Unfortunately, our soul desires the material manifestations, beholding the mere forms of this world identified by our own perceptions. Thus, rather than observing our inner essence of God’s Mystery and Wonders, we desire the external manifestations of the physical world. Matthew 26:41, ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Romans 6:19, ¹⁹I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Mark 10:18, ¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good-except God alone.

Why do we die? After death, will we return to the Wonders and Mystery of God?  When evil entered through Adam and Eve, sin and suffering of mankind spread through the generations. We are not “born in sin and inequity” but born with the “stain” of original, a sin contracted and not committed. God’s plan was to end suffering and wash away our sins by sacrificing his son Jesus as the payment for our sins. Jesus gave up his Spirit on the cross to be closer to us.  The Glory and Spirit of God no longer hovers over the waters, no longer fills the tabernacle, but is now living intimately in you. Believers who are indwelt by his Spirit can observe the Wonders and Mystery of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19, ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; After Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. We temporary dwell outside the gates of  God’s Kingdom, however the Second Coming of Jesus will deliver us to God in a Kingdom prepared for us since the beginning of time, the Gateway to Wonders. Matthew 25:34 ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. The first Adam led to death but the second Adam, Jesus, gives eternal life. Romans 5:12-21 (Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ) ¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— ¹³for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. ¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ²⁰The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is a matter of our Faith we come to Know and Love God. Faith is not a question of scientific theory or historical facts, but a gift we can openly receive from God. Science is the byproduct of our consciousness woven out of our spirit.  It is when we narrow the relationship with God, we become spiritually dead. God love us first as a Father and gave us salvation as a gift through his Son, Jesus. Are you ready to receive him?