Monthly Archives: March 2017

ON LOVE; PART MCXXV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God

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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

We began the last essay with some additional thoughts on the Trinity that IS the Oneness of the Godhead, a Trinity which reflects the Three Aspects of both God and man. Both ARE Spirit manifesting as what we call the Soul and the Christ principle and both ARE expressing these potencies through Life in form; for God this form IS the observable universe and for man this is His body. Both forms ARE comprised of the same unseeable elements of mind and and the medium by which the mind relates to the physical form and, while we may like to believe that we understand what mind IS, we ARE very far from the Truth.

These ideas ARE alien to the doctrinal thinker who DOES NOT see that this observable universe IS well beyond his ability to comprehend and when we can entertain the idea that this infinite reality goes in both directions and encompasses ALL, from the minutest quark of energy to vastness of the stars and the galaxies that they form, perhaps we can begin to glimpse God. Many millions however look past these ideas which our science has affirmed and see God as a personality who speaks and who interacts with the human on this planet, this rather insignificant ball orbiting a rather insignificant star among the countless billions of stars.

To put this in perspective we read that: There are about 10 billion galaxies in the observable universe! The number of stars in a galaxy varies, but assuming an average of 100 billion stars per galaxy means that there are about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe! (scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3775). Counting the zeros we find twenty one here but this estimate IS dwarfed by another which tells us that there IS a: very rough estimate of 10 trillion galaxies in the universe. Multiplying that by the Milky Way’s estimated 100 billion stars results in a large number indeed: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, or a “1” with 24 zeros after it. Kornreich emphasized that number is likely a gross underestimation, as more detailed looks at the universe will show even more galaxies (http://www.space.com/26078-how-many-stars-are-there.html).

None of these ideas mentions the word infinite which IS never ending and relating this to every direction both inward and outward we ARE sure to be perplexed by the possibilities. If we can imagine here that this IS God, as there IS naught that can be outside of God, we can see the manifestation of God and if we can relate this to the Prologue to the Gospel of John, perhaps we can try to relate ourselves to this unimaginable reality. Infinity and eternity ARE both ideas that ARE beyond the ken of the human mind to understand except in a most superficial way as we use them here. Both refer to BEING beginningless and endless according to both time and space and it IS here that we should see that these ideas ARE intimately related.

The Apostle John begins his gospel saying “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). If we DO NOT translate the Greek word logos and use that in place of the idea of a word, we can perhaps demystify the apostle’s words somewhat and show John’s words as: “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made“.

Vincent, in his long analysis of John’s first verse helps us to understand this idea apart from the doctrinal assertions that the Word, the Logos, IS Jesus and allows us to see this as an Aspect of the Godhead; he says: Logos. This expression is the keynote and theme of the entire gospel. Λόγος is from the root λεγ , appearing in λέγω , the primitive meaning of which is to lay: then, to pick out, gather, pick up: hence to gather or put words together, and so, to speak. Hence λόγος is, first of all, a collecting or collection both of things in the mind, and of words by which they are expressed. It therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself, the Latin oratio and ratio: compare the Italian ragionare, “to think” and “to speak.” ⁴.

If we can apply the idea of the thought and the expression we can likely see the Trinity. There IS God as that “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“***. Then there IS the Logos, the Thought that brings to reality the manifest Universe, and this IS the expression of God which we call the Holy Spirit. There IS NO clear way to express this as there ARE NOT words sufficient to explain this relationship and the Oneness that IS God; perhaps the closest we can come IS in John’s words saying “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word Logos, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7).

• “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“ (John 8:31-32).
• “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).

The doctrinal view of the Trinity makes the Aspects of God into separate ‘persons’ and shows their interaction with man from a Transcendent perspective. This view, while acknowledging the idea of God Immanent, ascribes to the One God in His individual Aspects the responsibility of individually interacting with ‘believers’ and, in His omnipotence, of plotting the intended course of their lives. Doctrines fail to see the reality of the God Within, the Christ Within and their Activity which IS the Holy Ghost and they fail to understand that “these three are one” as the apostle tells us.

It IS interesting to note here that these words from John ARE rather controversial; they DO NOT appear in ALL of the ancient manuscripts and they ARE of disputed origin. Many bible translations leave most of these words out and render part of the next verse, “There are three that testify“, ONLY as the introduction to the next idea of “in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one” (1 John 5:8). For us however these words on the Nature of God in the Universe ARE quite meaningful as they show the Unity that IS the Godhead against the doctrinal assertion that these ARE separate and individual parts of the One Whole as IS depicted in this ‘shield of the Trinity‘:

While the doctrinal basis for this separation of Aspects IS unclear we should understand that the Three ARE One in God. The idea that the Father IS NOT the Son IS unclear as Jesus tells us that “I and my the Father are one” (John 10:30) and He goes to great lengths to show us that Unity; He tells Philip “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). ALL of this IS easily reconciled when we can see the Trinity as Aspects of the One God rather than persons and understand that while Jesus expressed “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) as the Christ, it IS the Christ that IS the True Son and NOT the mortal form.

We should ever remember that Jesus the man was born into this world with “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” and His Life IS the Life of the Christ Principle expressing through that form; it IS in this way that we should understand John’s words saying “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). The Christ Principle that IS the Great Soul that IS the Christ Within the man Jesus has full control of his carnal existence, a control that IS the goal of every other Son of God that enters into this world.

Doctrinal thinkers DO NOT see these things as they see ONLY Jesus as “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). This IS a great Truth but it IS one that IS sorely misunderstood. When measured against the words of the same apostle saying that “as He is, so are we in this world” and the words of the Psalmist which Jesus repeats saying “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6). While Jesus DOES NOT repeat this verbatim, His reference IS clear as His defense against those who accuse Him of blasphemy because He says “I and my the Father are one“.

The Master again goes to great lengths to show us the reality that “as He is, so are we in this world” and while doctrines CAN NOT imagine this as a fact, as a spiritual fact that ALL men ARE as Him….physical forms with personalities that ARE the intended expression of the Christ Within, they DO readily accept their own view of John’s words that Jesus IS “the only begotten Son of God“. We should understand here that ALL of these words that say that Jesus IS “the only begotten Son of God” ARE John’s….they ARE part of his commentary in the Prologue and after the Master’s discussion with Nicodemus. While this may be disputed, it IS accepted by bible scholars including Vincent who tells us:

The interview with Nicodemus closes with John 3:15; and the succeeding words are John’s. This appears from the following facts: 1. The past tenses loved and gave, in John 3:16, better suit the later point of view from which John writes, after the atoning death of Christ was an accomplished historic fact, than the drift of the present discourse of Jesus before the full revelation of that work. 2. It is in John’s manner to throw in explanatory comments of his own (John 1:16-18; John 12:37-41), and to do so abruptly. See John 1:15, John 1:16, and on and, John 1:16. 3. John 3:19is in the same line of thought with John 1:9-11 in the Prologue; and the tone of that verse is historic, carrying the sense of past rejection, as loved darkness; were evil. 4. The phrase believe on the name is not used elsewhere by our Lord, but by John (John 1:12; John 2:23; 1 John 5:13). 5. The phrase only-begotten son is not elsewhere used by Jesus of himself, but in every case by the Evangelist (John 1:14, John 1:18; 1 John 4:9). 6. The phrase to do truth (John 3:21) occurs elsewhere only in 1 John 1:6 ⁴.

It IS NOT necessary to see this as we DO, that these ARE John’s words and NOT Jesus’, as our point here IS in the idea of begotten, an idea that DOES NOT dispute the reality that “as He is, so are we in this world“. Nor DOES this idea that He IS “the only begotten Son of God” dispute the ideas that we put forth regarding the Soul, the Christ Within; that this IS our equivalency with the Lord. Here again we must look at the clarifying ideas of His apostles; first from John who tells us that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” which idea he further clarifies saying that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27).

We should remember here that this unction and this anointing ARE from the same Greek word, chrisma, and that this word IS from the same root as christos which IS always rendered as Christ and which means “the anointed“. If we can see that this unction as it IS, as the Christ Within, in ALL men the Soul, we can then understand our point regarding the Master, the man Jesus in whom “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” IS His Life expression. And this IS ever our point; Jesus, the man and the personality, ARE under the full control of the Soul and most ALL that He says and He DOES in this world IS intended to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life so that we too can stand and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The difference between He and we IS that He IS “the only begotten Son of God“, in His planned and scripted birth He IS NOT born “subject to vanity” as ARE other men and perhaps here we can see the symbolism in the Virgin Birth. Paul tells us that ALL ARE “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” but the Master, as “the only begotten Son of God“, IS NOT so subjected. Paul also tells us that those so subjected “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20, 21) but Jesus, who IS NOT so subjected, IS born free from the fetters of “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

Jesus had NO need to escape from the corruption to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) as the Apostle Peter tells us other men must DO; Jesus IS born with “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” which IS that divine Nature. But He IS human as we ARE human and He DOES go through the nurturing and the indoctrination that other men DO albeit under a far greater control of His human personality and we should remember here that there IS a Plan at play in His Life which we see at His birth and in His ministry as those assigned to and able to be His ready help ARE so. From Mary and Joseph, to the shepherds, to the three kings, ALL played a part IS showing forth His divine nature in support of the Christ Child and his parents.

And we should NOT forget Simeon and the Prophetess Anna whose words and actions further support the awesome role of Mary and Joseph. We should understand here that we have ONLY a small bit of the story of the Christ Child and that there ARE many others, before Jesus encounter with John the Baptist and then His chosen disciples, that played a part in the Great Plan that brought to Earth “the only begotten Son of God“. And we should remember that there was NO guarantee that the Plan would work as scripted, and we DO NOT KNOW if it DID, and in this we should try to see the reality of Jesus’ temptation by the forces of the world and the Power that he had which could have been used to selfish ends.

At what point Jesus fully realizes His own “divine nature” we DO NOT KNOW and here we should perhaps see the purpose of His encounter with the Baptist as our sign of His realization that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). According to the bible narratives the Master goes from his baptizing ritual to His own trials of temptation which ARE depicted for us in three exchanges with His tempter, exchanges that should serve to show us how that He was tempted by the same realities that tempt ALL men. In bread we have the things of the world that could be easily His; in throwing Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple we should see the idea of the Power He could wield over ALL things and in the promise we should see the potential of His using that Power. He resisted ALL.

While it IS convenient to see Satan or the devil in the role of the tempter, the reality IS that temptation comes from the mind in this world….from the personality that wants and desires whatsoever for the self. If we could see this period of fasting and temptation in Jesus’ Life as establishing His ability to stand firm we can perhaps see some of His lessons for us. In the Book of Hebrews we read that Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15); the writer also tells us that “in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). In these ideas there IS NO Satan nor any devil; these relate His temptation to ours.

And the Apostle James shows us the reality of temptation which we should see as covering the Master and ALL men; we read: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:12-15).

We close today with this thought: it IS the minds of men that have created the personalities of the devil and of Satan much of which has been carried over from the Old Testament and the traditions of the Jews. The English translation of the Greek word satanas IS the accuser ^9a according to Strong’s while Thayer calls this the adversary ⁹. Men however have given him a personality. Similarly the Greek word diabolos; here Strong’s calls this a traducer while Thayer defines diabolos as: prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely. Again men have given this force of vanity a personality.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts