is). Our spirit is trapped in our bodies and the only way to free ourselves is through gnosis. "After the spirit came forth from the Adamantine Land; it descended and came to swell within him, and that man became a living soul" (Hyp of Arc, 164). Anything that happens in this realm of matter is insignificant only when we find the kingdom or when we finally have gnosis, will we actually begin to live (Hyp of Arc, 167-8). All matter is a veil over the truth (Hyp of Arc, 167). Jesus strips himself of his "perishable rags" or "dirty clothes" as he ascends back to heaven (Ehrman, 162, 186).
             Jesus' purpose while on earth is to reveal to his people the true nature of their being. Jesus enlightens and imparts knowledge. His job is to give us gnosis so that we may return to our heavenly home. "If woman or man truly came to gnosis of this spark, she understood that she was truly free: Not contingent, not a conception of sin, not a flawed crust of flesh, but the stuff of God, and the conduit of God's immanent realization" (Gnostic Society).
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