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I AM HERE. Jesus.
I come tonight to resume my discourse of several nights
ago. As I was saying, man is the creature of God, made in perfection and
instantaneously, as it were, and not having a slow growth as other creations.
And when he was created, he needed no evolution or additional attributes to make
him the perfect man. His physical body was perfect, and also his spiritual body
and his soul.
In addition to these three constituents, he had a Gift which he forfeited by his
disobedience, which was never restored to him until my coming, and which, when
possessed by him, made him more than mere man. As to those things which were
made constituent and absolute parts of him, they were perfect, and no evolution
was necessary to give them any increased perfection. Man was a more perfect
being then than he is now or ever has been since his fall from his condition of
perfection.
After his disobedience and the consequent death of the potentiality of partaking
of the Divine Nature of the Father, which is the Gift mentioned above, man was
left in a state where he depended exclusively upon the qualities which he then
possessed for his future happiness, and the freedom from those things which
would cause him to lose the harmony that then existed between him and the laws
governing his being.
THE GREATEST OF ALL THE QUALITIES BESTOWED UPON HIM WAS THAT OF THE WILL POWER,
WHICH WAS WHOLLY UNRESTRICTED IN ITS OPERATIONS, ALTHOUGH, WHEN EXERCISED IN A
MANNER WHICH BROUGHT THIS WILL IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAWS CONTROLLING THIS
HARMONY, MAN HAD TO SUFFER AND PAY THE PENALTIES OF SUCH VIOLATIONS. BUT,
NOTWITHSTANDING THAT THESE PERVERSIONS OF THE EXERCISE OF THE WILL BROUGHT THE
SINS AND ERRORS WHICH NOW EXIST ON EARTH, GOD DID NOT PLACE ANY LIMITATIONS ON
THIS EXERCISE.
MAN, IN HIS CREATION, HAD BESTOWED UPON HIM APPETITES AND DESIRES PERTAINING TO
HIS PHYSICAL NATURE, AS WELL AS DESIRES OF HIS HIGHER OR SPIRITUAL NATURE; AND
THEY WERE ALL INTENDED TO WORK IN HARMONY AND NOT IN ANTAGONISM. AND, IN SUCH
WORKINGS, MAN WAS KEPT PURE AND FREE FROM SIN—WHICH IS MERELY THE VIOLATION OF
GOD'S LAWS OF HARMONY. BUT AFTER THE FIRST DISOBEDIENCE (WHICH IS THE GREATEST
DEMONSTRATION OF THE POWER OF MAN TO EXERCISE THAT WILL, EVEN WHEN GOD HAD
FORBADE HIM TO DO SO), AND AFTER MAN LOST THIS GREAT POTENTIALITY THAT I SPEAK
OF, SUCCEEDING DISOBEDIENCES BECAME EASIER. AND, AS THESE DISOBEDIENCES
OCCURRED, MAN LOST THE DESIRES FOR THE SPIRITUAL THINGS TO A GREAT EXTENT, AND
THE ANIMAL OR PHYSICAL PART OF HIS NATURE ASSERTED ITSELF. THEN, INSTEAD OF
EXERCISING THESE APPETITES WHICH BELONGED TO THE PHYSICAL NATURE IN SUCH A WISE
WAY THAT NO INHARMONY WOULD ENSUE—AND HERE LET ME SAY THAT, EVEN AFTER THE FALL,
IT WAS POSSIBLE, AND EVEN EXPECTED, THAT MAN WOULD EXERCISE THESE APPETITES IN
THE WAY MENTIONED—HE INDULGED THEM BEYOND THEIR PROPER FUNCTIONS. AND HE
INCREASED SUCH INDULGENCE UNTIL HE COMMENCED TO FIND, AS HE THOUGHT, MORE
PLEASURE IN SUCH INDULGENCE THAN IN THE THOUGHTS AND EXERCISE OF HIS HIGHER
NATURE, AND THE ASPIRATIONS WHICH BELONGED TO IT.
This deterioration of man was not sudden, but gradual, until, at one time, he
became in a state or condition of being bordering on that of the lower animals.
And, in fact, because of this indulgence of these appetites, he seemed to be
transformed into the lower animal. Yet, he remained man—a being created in the
image of his Maker.
And from this position of low degradation of degeneracy, man slowly commenced to
progress towards the attainment of his original condition before the fall. Never
in all this time was his freedom of will taken from him, nor did God attempt to
control such will. But always the Laws of Compensation worked, and man suffered
as he continued to create sin and evil.
But as man on earth continued to degenerate and to permit what is sometimes
called his animal nature to dominate his spiritual nature, many men died and
continued to die, and their physical bodies went back to the dust of which they
were created. And their spiritual selves became inhabitants of the spirit world
where, in a longer or shorter time, they were freed from the desire to exercise
these animal appetites. And the spiritual part of man again asserted itself
until many of these spirits became free from sin and evil, and in harmony with
the Laws of God controlling their natures and conditions as they existed before
their degeneracy and before the disobedience commenced.
And these spirits, thus made free, and in their spiritual dominance, commenced
to try to assist man to direct his will in such ways as to rid himself of
submission to these appetites while living on earth, and to become again a true
man, as in his creation state, minus the potentiality that I have mentioned. But
these efforts on the part of spirits have been slow in their effects. And while
men have been almost regenerated in individual cases, yet, as a whole, the
progress has not been as rapid as is desirable. Sin and evil still exist in the
world, and men's perverted appetites and desires still control them to a large
extent.
Of course, in some parts of the earth, this progress from the bottom of
degeneracy has taken place faster than in others. And, hence, you have your
distinction between the civilized and the uncivilized races or nations. But this
does not necessarily mean that the civilized people, as individuals, have made
greater progress in the manner indicated than have the individuals of some of
the so-called “uncivilized” nations. For it is a fact that, among some men of
the former nations, there are perversions and manifestations of perversions of
these appetites that do not exist in the latter nations.
Advancement in the intellectual qualities does not necessarily mean progress in
the spiritual asserting itself over the perversions of these appetites. For will
is not a thing entirely of the mind, and neither are these appetites and
desires. In back of the mind are the affections, usually called the heart's
desires, which is the seat of these appetites from which these desires arise.
And, as they arise, the will is influenced by them; and, as the will is
influenced, then come positive thoughts and deeds.
It is not surprising that your scientists believe and preach the doctrine of the
evolution of man from a lower species of animal or from an atom (or from
something that they cannot just understand or give a name to) because, in their
studies of the history of mankind and of the created world, they find that man
has developed and progressed amazingly from what appeared to have been his
condition in some ages past.
But history does not extend to the time when man was in this lowest condition of
degeneracy. Hence, all the conclusions that these scientists reach are based
upon facts, sufficient unto themselves, which show the progress of man only
after the turning point of his degeneracy. They have no facts (and, of course,
when the word “facts" is here used, it refers exclusively to the material things
of nature) showing them the gradual decline of man from his state of being a
perfect man to that when his retrogression or degeneracy ceased, and his
progress of return to his former estate commenced.
SO, IF THE SCIENTISTS WILL BELIEVE AND TEACH THAT MAN, INSTEAD OF EVOLVING FROM
AN ATOM OR SOME OTHER INFINITESIMAL SOMETHING, OR FROM A LOWER SPECIES OF ANIMAL
THAN MAN, EVOLVED FROM HIS STATE OR CONDITION WHEN HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF HIS
DEGENERACY, TO WHICH HE HAD DESCENDED FROM THE PERFECT MAN, THEN THEY WILL
BELIEVE AND TEACH THE TRUTH. AND THEIR THEORY OF EVOLUTION WILL THEN HAVE, AS
ITS FOUNDATION OR BASIS, A FACT, WHICH NOW IT HAS NOT—ONLY A SPECULATION.
This, in short, is the history and Truth of the creation of the universe of man,
of man's fall and degeneracy, and of his evolution and progress. And through all
this creation and subsequent existence runs life, permeating it and always with
it; and the Origin of life is God.
I have finished and I hope that you find some instruction as well as
entertainment in what I have written. I will come again soon and write you
another Truth.
The fact that you waited for sentences to be formulated to express my thoughts
merely means that I was manipulating your brain so that the proper expression or
idea could be conveyed to your hand as I wrote it.
You have my love and blessings, and I am more interested in you and your work as
time passes. Keep up your courage and your desires will be fulfilled.
Your friend and brother,
JESUS.
Questions about this article?
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About James E. Padgett
Born August 25, 1852, Mr. James Edward Padgett
practiced law in Washington, D.C. Subsequent to his wife's, Helen,
passing in February, 1914, James learned from a psychic that he had
the gift of automatic writing. Based on the promptings of the
psychic and with a desire to reach his dearly departed Helen, he
commenced take messages from the spirits in the spirit world. At
first, James denounced the messages as merely coming from his mind,
driven by a strong desire to reach his departed wife. Eventually,
however, James could not deny the fact that information he was
receiving could not have possibly come from his own mind - for the
content of the messages surpassed his own education and knowledge.
Before his passing in March, 1923, James had accumulated hundreds of
messages from spirits and celestials in the spirit world.
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