This is my final paper for The International Healing Rooms School of Transformation in Spokane Washington. Its is very long paper so I am breaking it down in to smaller portions to post here.
This is part 3 of that paper. I hope you enjoy it. I love to hear your feed back in the comments.
Thanks, Margot
Gods Original and Final Intent - part 3
Body
This is part 3 of that paper. I hope you enjoy it. I love to hear your feed back in the comments.
Thanks, Margot
Gods Original and Final Intent - part 3
Body
- Original intent for the care and sustenance of our physical bodies.(My Body to be a temple in which His Spirit would dwell.) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
In beginning to look at this section, I want to assure you that my intent is not a crusade for Veganism or even vegetarianism. I believe that there is a ton of grace available to us. Romans 14 says “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” As I have grown on my journey as a Christian who is a Vegan. I started for purely heath reasons. I had been having frequent migraines. After many years of see sawing between the SAD (Standard American Diet) and Low Carb, High Protein diet I decided it was time to try something totally different. So over night, I believe by the grace of God I stopped eating all animal foods. At first I thought well eggs and dairy are not bad maybe I can add those back in at some point. Then I began to discover not only the health issues but the treatment of chickens, and cows. In my heart I knew that a loving God would not have sentenced the animals that he created and had Adam name one by one to the kind of treatment they routinely face today. Which led me to begin thinking about what God did originally intend. I have found myself looking into what our loving creator originally designed for us to eat. What was His original intent and will his final intent be regarding food. Then to take it all a step further I wondered what was His purpose for creating such a vast array of amazing animals.
God’s intent regarding plants as food for Man and Animals
Original Intent: Genesis 1:29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food.: And it was so.
Final Intent: Revelation 21: 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” We have the fountain of living water and the tree of life to sustain us and I believe that food and drink will be amazing. Jesus, just like in the wedding at Canna turns water into wine and saves the best wine for last.
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. (NASB) Isaiah 11:6
“The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD. (NASB) Isaiah 65:25 From these verses I see that even animals will be changed back to God’s original intent. Can you imagine lions eating straw. If there is no killing there can’t be steak or hot dogs as we currently know them. There is the tree of life and it’s fruits that I am sure will grace the banquet table of the King of kings.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (NASB) Revelation 20:1-4
Isaiah 58:11The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Matthew 6:25 NIV
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” I always thought about this verse in regards to causing others who were recovering alcoholics not to stumble. That in those cases love should cause me to refrain from what I may have the liberty to partake of. This verse has been a big part of my motivation to eat differently, as I have researched the effects of our American Factory Farms on the communities in their vicinity I find my heart grieved by the suffering not only of animals but of humans. “Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale farms raising animals for food have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities.
Factory farms produce millions of gallons of manure that can spill into waterways from leaking storage lagoons or fields where manure is over-applied to soil. Manure generates hazardous air pollutants and contains contaminants that can endanger human health. Neighbors of factory farms, as well as the workers in them, often suffer intensely from overwhelming odors and related headaches, nausea and other long-term health effects.” https://www.factoryfarmmap.org/problems/ I find myself wondering about the ethics of my food choices and how my choices are impacting my brothers and sisters in the communes where the food I potentially eat is produced. Am I for the sake of convince choosing foods that are not only dangerous for my own consumption but causing sickness to those who work or live where they are produced? While I may not be able to put an end to the problem, my buying choices will little by little have an effect on an industry that is more concerned with the health of its pockets than with the health of people. I can only hope that others may decide to follow my example.
From: Why I'm a Christian Vegan by Maggie Olson
“Most of us know only vague details about the cruelty of factory farming, but the suffering is impossible to ignore. Cows endure milking machines latching onto their chapped and infected udders multiple times per day, extracting milk produced by repeated forced impregnation. Cows and pigs both experience depression and anxiety from being trapped in too-small gestation crates and pens, and frequently develop sores and infection from standing in their own waste. Male chicks, useless to the egg industry, are discarded en masse in dumpsters, where they either starve to death or suffocate under the weight of the other babies.
These are the creatures created by God, the "livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals" (Genesis 1:24). These are the creatures over which God has given us dominion. God tells us, "clothe yourselves in tenderhearted mercy, kindness . . ." (Colossians 3:12). There is no compassion in factory farming, no kindness in the treatment of these poor creatures that God created. As Christians, we are called to reach out, to protest, to fight—not to affirm this practice for the sake of our own gain.”
So while you may not be concerned for the treatment of animals as a result of factory farming you may want to consider its effect on our neighbors, who we are told to Love as we love ourself. If I don’t want my husband working in the dangerous conditions of a factory farm, or my children sick and disease ridden because of the proximity to the pollution caused by factory farms. I must consider how my choices are impacting my brothers and sisters who because of poverty are forced to live near and work in factory farms. Maggie Olsen in her article Why I’m a Christian Vegan states the following: “Slaughterhouse workers face some of the most dangerous working conditions and lowest wages in America. Injuries incurred in slaughterhouses and packing plants are often ignored and underreported, leaving workers bankrupt or crippled.
Additionally, factory farms are hugely destructive and toxic to neighboring communities. Peter Singer, in his book The Ethics of What We Eat, writes about a family who lived near a factory farm. Their house was so overrun with pests that they caught up to 40 mice per day, and the air and water were so riddled with waste and disease that their little boy regularly became very sick; they even found maggots in his stool."
In addition to these examples I am reminded of Daniel who became part of those captured from Israel’s leading families and brought to Babylon. He is well aware that the food served at the kings table does not conform to the dietary laws and standards that God gave the people of Israel. So he requests a plant based diet and asks his guard to test him for a specific time period. At the end of that time and his friends are found to be much healthier, stronger and more mentally adept than the others who ate the kings fare. “Everything we need, including protein, can be achieved by eating a plant based diet. There have been countless studies that show that by adopting a plant based diet people live longer, are healthier, happier, and less disease stricken. Research published by The National Center for Biotechnology concluded that "vegan diets seem to provide some added protection against obesity, hypertension, type-2 diabetes; and cardiovascular mortality." The Christian Vegan by Tabitha James.
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