“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). ”God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24). “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32).
We’re close to celebrating Christmas 2006, and already thoughts of Jesus the Christ come to mind, obviously, because Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth. Many followers of Jesus, around the world, willingly pay homage to the divinity which Jesus expressed. This divinity was perceived due to his ability to perform what (to human comprehension) was described as miracles. No one before had healed all manner of physical illnesses, injuries, or birth defects like blindness and deafness. No one had raised someone from a state of physical death into conscious presence again. Conclusion? He had to be divine. What we miss is the spiritual fact that all creation is divine. Every single form of life, physically present or not, is a creation of the divine, spiritual Creator—God. Every useful concept or thing that comes to the mind of mankind, whether a table, a shelter, some way to bring income into one’s experience, or anything else that is good and useful to God’s creatures, has its Source in the infinite, divine Intelligence which conceived it in the first place and has given it to all creation for eternity. Every identity is a God-created identity, and thus is a divine creature. Like always creates like. Spirit produces spiritual, not material, children. The race of Adam is a dream-state of existence (a lower level of awareness, as in a night dream) where our soul seems to be trapped in a material container. This commonly held world belief is derived from the material view of creation as depicted in the second biblical chapter of Genesis. This physical account denies the spiritual account of creation depicted in the first chapter of Genesis, where all is good and harmonious forever. Evil only makes an appearance in the second, material re-creation of reality. This mental delusion over consciousness, which claims to have re-created God’s spiritual creation into a material one, brings the belief in mortality and death to each of us daily. This is the false belief that we’ve been separated from or ‘cut out’ of Spirit, sent to reside and be isolated in a material form, as punishment for some distant ancestor’s sin, (or ‘fall from grace’) where the laws of matter now claim to govern us, instead of the laws of Spirit. Yet, ponder, for a moment, this simple explanation given in 1 Corinthians 15: 21-23, which reiterates the Adam dream as the source of the delusion of material existence and all the ‘ills of the flesh’ we suffer:
My broad interpretation of this quotation is that it’s describing our individual, mentally-spiritual, journey back to Spirit. My detailed interpretation of this passage is that through the Adam dream came the belief in a power opposed to God—a reversal of good, called evil, which would, by definition, be the absence of good. Now, since God is all good, no good can really be absent in Spirit’s creation; no real thing is actually missing. Jesus, no doubt, knew this when health was restored to anyone who asked. Why? Because disease isn’t something; it merely claims to be the absence of our God-given health and spiritual wholeness. Spiritual man, the universal Christ identity, cannot have a real absence of health; thus all that healing involves is the change in consciousness that realizes this in order for one’s countenance or body form to transform back to normalcy. Jesus, clearly, had no problem realizing this. The reference to ‘Christ the firstfruits’ says to me that Jesus (who made the first worldly reference to a universal Christ identity) was, as an example, the first human to fully ascend out of the material realm to the spiritual. (Enoch was the first, actual recorded ascension to occur historically; but the term, ‘The Christ’ as meaning one’s spiritual identity was not used until Jesus’ ministry. Also, my own belief is that Jesus was Enoch in his first entry on earth; so he was, thereby, also the first to ascend, long ago as Enoch, and the obvious one to come back, this time as Jesus, and show the way to the rest of us.) ‘They that are Christ’s at his coming’ means others will follow, as the fullness of the Christ identity comes forward in their own consciousness. On an individual basis, it doesn’t matter whether we’re on this side of the grave, or the other side, when the light of our spiritual identity dawns in our thoughts. While still ‘in the flesh’ we can awaken to spiritual life and spiritual body substance, and begin to finish our human experience with a renewal of life—healing the discords and ill-health which our former incorrect material beliefs produced. Beyond the grave, when we discover that we’ve never died in the flesh because Life in God is deathless, we can alter our soul’s path, at that time, accordingly. In other words: just as we can awaken, here and now, from the dream that life is material, we can also awaken, after the physical death experience, from that dream that we have materially lived in the flesh and died out of it. Our true body, soul and mind were always spiritual to begin with, to be manifested in a higher concept of form. Thus, Jesus didn’t come into the physical dimension, or material plane of thought, to be someone special or gain attention for himself as Jesus, a mortal, material man. His physical birth was only the channel to enter here. He came for one reason, and one reason only: to show us our real selves—our divine, true selves—the ones made in the image and likeness of God, who is Spirit. The whole thrust of his teachings and myriad healings were to mentally transform our thinking from the fleshly beliefs of existence into our immortal, glorious existence as the sons and daughters of God. As we turn from matter to Spirit, from the belief in physical substance to the realization of spiritual substance, we naturally bring into human form more of our ever-present health, holiness, and provision—by longer, healthier, abundant lives, while still in the flesh. But make no mistake: full awakening out of the belief in a fleshly self (as evidenced in biblical accounts of Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus) does not maintain a healthy, physical body forever; rather, upon full, spiritual awakening, one ascends out of the fleshly form entirely in a return to our spiritual home and un-imprisoned being. Thus, our awakening and transformation is a thing of consciousness. It’s a journey from material sense of things to the spiritual reality of things. It’s a turning of the human mind to behold new truths of existence. Healings are fast, or slow, depending upon how much materiality we replace, in thought, with spiritual realization. It won’t all happen in a second—we have a lot to unlearn. But the Master came to draw humanity away from the dark images of physical thought, into the light of spiritual realization and our true existence as spiritual beings. So, it was the mission of Jesus, and whatever rays of light we individually perceive of it, which are the true meaning of Christmas. It’s the coming of the Christ identity to consciousness that we, universally, should be celebrating. The Christ is not housed or confined to a human church or church building; nor does it make its appearance only at a particular time of year. The Christ is the truth of being, within conscious grasp of every one of us. To the extent that we perceive this spiritual light of truth, we harmonize our human experience and daily lives. To the extent we do not perceive it, we continue to live, more of less, in daily tribulation, as a mortal in a material universe, separated from our Creator. When saying, (1 John 16:33) “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” Jesus was speaking of this universal Christ “I” of his, and everyone’s own being. He was not speaking of the human persona, Jesus. He’d never been that person. He’d always been the one and only identity which God created him to be. So are we all. Frank, Jan, Jasmine, Sven, Laury…all human personas. Like actors on a stage, we play the part through this human experience; but when this particular drama is over, we leave the human persona behind to find, at some other place and time, our immortal self. While revealing the universal Christ identity, Jesus also urged humanity to begin living out our newly perceived identities as the children of God. He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). He was not trying to turn sinning mortals into perfection; again he was addressing the spiritual identity, the Christly one within, to come forth and behave perfectly, because it was already perfect to begin with. The divine goodness and holiness is already our true nature as God’s image and likeness, in unique, infinite individuality. Despite all material evidence to the contrary, the divine glory of the Christ off-spring of God exists right where a miserable, material mortal seems to be, but is not. It is this glory of the Christ within, reflecting the glory of God, which can’t be sick, sinful, poor, wretched, or mortal. It’s the immortal ‘I’ of our being that knows why sin has no necessity as a means of survival, because there’s really no hostile, material environment to survive in. Our kingdom is not of this visible world; our kingdom is the invisible, yet harmonious Kingdom of God—where sin is senseless, for divine Spirit meets all needs forever. Analyze, for a moment, Jesus’ words which sometimes accompanied a spiritual healing he performed. Jesus once said to one healed, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5:13). The sin Jesus was quite probably referring to was the human belief in a power, and creation, apart from God. It was the sin of breaking the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20: 3). With his teaching words, Jesus was pointing out that giving power (in thought) to the false, material beliefs of creation breaks the all-important, first directive which God sent, through Moses, to erring humanity. Breaking this First Commandment (that is, believing in powers other than the omnipotence of God, who is infinite Spirit) is the source of all the evil conditions which come upon us in this lower, mental state of awareness. In healing all physical diseases and discords, Jesus proved that these discordant human conditions are never in the will of God; thus, they have no part of the divine creation that is invisibly present in the realm of Spirit. Recognizing, and remembering that God is the only power, naturally brings healing; because this state of consciousness brings forth the kingdom of heaven into the human experience—this material dream of existence. In effect, it alters the dream (our erroneous awareness) which manifests into form. Whatever place we dwell, in thought and belief, the spiritual truth of God’s omnipotence will drive all negative things away from us, because they have no spiritual law of God to permit their actuality. They are only the things dreams are made of; not the things of God. But we must take a mental stand at that realization. We must mentally be firm in knowing God’s presence, power, and eternal love for us. James, one of Jesus’ disciples said, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:15). (My underline). In healing, fear must be cast out of consciousness, replaced with faith in God’s authority over our health, well-being, and eternal life. Only then does the material alter back to normalcy, harmony and health. In raising people from the dead, Jesus also proved that life is deathless for everyone—even though someone appears to be dead, physically, before our very eyes. Life, mind and body are spiritual, not material, in substance. We erroneously link ourselves to the material form as our master instead of our servant, in this human experience, because we’ve been taught to do so. Yet, when Christ Jesus healed all the evils of this material-seeming dimension, by calling forth the Christ identity, he showed that worldly beliefs never touch true being. Then, the belief in that particular disease could not longer manifest on the form, of which thought is the master. So, appearing in fleshly form (for this was the only way those of us here on this material level of thought can perceive anyone) Jesus delivered the message of the Christ. He pointed to God as our divine Source and Parent—not a physical line of heritage. The prophet Ezekiel had earlier been given this message to deliver concerning the belief in material inheritance of health: “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine:” (Ezekiel 18: 2-4). And this is the Christmas message to us all. We are spiritual beings, belonging to God. Our divinity and link to God is our divine heritage. The divine spark is alive and well within us. Spiritual law, alone, really governs us; and these are laws of eternal health, eternal life, eternal goodness of soul and identity. Our Christly, spiritual Self, knowing all truth, embodies and expresses this spiritual holiness and goodness. This is our glorious essence which is carried within every single image of God, throughout the universe of Spirit. When we each awaken fully to the spiritual truth we’ve long forgotten on this human level of thought, we’ll be surprised that we ever believed anything else. My Christmas wish, this year, is that the light of your own divine glory, as God’s true image and likeness, will dawn brightly upon you, to bless you and those around you, for all your years to come.
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