![]() |
I AM HERE. Luke.
I wish to continue my discourse on “The Atonement.”
As I was saying, unless a man gets into harmony with God in the natural love
which God bestowed upon him, and thereby becomes free from sin and error, there
can be no redemption for him; and the death of Jesus and the shedding of his
blood cannot cause that harmony.
Now what I have heretofore said relates exclusively to man and his salvation
with respect to his condition of becoming perfect in this natural love, which
all men have.
But this is not the Great Atonement which Jesus came to earth to teach men, and
the Way in which it could be obtained and the effect of its attainment.
As has been told to you, in the beginning, God conferred upon our first parents
not only the natural love but also the potentiality of obtaining, by the
observance of certain laws and obedience, the Divine Love of the Father, which,
when obtained, would make a man a part of Divinity, Itself. And while It would
not make him a god or the equal of the Father, yet, It would give him a divinity
that would cause him to receive the Substance of God's Great Love and not remain
the mere image of his Creator. And, as a result, man would become immortal.
GOD, ALONE, IS IMMORTAL. AND EVERY PART OF HIM IS IMMORTAL. AND WHEN MEN SHALL
OBTAIN IN THEIR SOULS THAT PART OF HIM WHICH IS HIS GREATEST ATTRIBUTE—HIS
DIVINE LOVE—THEY WILL ALSO BECOME IMMORTAL AND, THEREAFTER, NOT SUBJECT TO
DEATH.
THE NATURAL LOVE, WHICH WAS IMPLANTED IN THE SOULS OF ALL MANKIND, IS NOT A PART
OF THE DIVINE LOVE. IT IS NOT THIS LOVE IN A LESSER DEGREE, EVEN, BUT IS A
DISTINCT AND SEPARATE QUALITY OF LOVE, AND ALL MEN POSSESS IT. BUT, IN MANY
PERSONS, IT HAS BECOME CONTAMINATED BY THE SINS THAT FLOW FROM THE VIOLATION OF
GOD'S LAWS, SO THAT REDEMPTION, OF WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN, IS NECESSARY FOR MAN,
EVEN AS THE POSSESSOR OF THE NATURAL LOVE ONLY.
BUT THE DIVINE LOVE OF THE FATHER IS A LOVE THAT HAS IN IT, AND IS WHOLLY
COMPOSED OF, THE DIVINITY WHICH THE FATHER POSSESSES. AND NO MAN CAN EVER BECOME
A PART OF THAT DIVINITY UNTIL HE POSSESSES THIS GREAT LOVE. I KNOW IT IS SAID
THAT MAN IS DIVINE BECAUSE HE WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. BUT NOTHING WHICH
IS A MERE IMAGE IS EVER A PART OF THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH IT IS THE IMAGE, AND IT
CANNOT POSSIBLY HAVE THE QUALITIES OF THAT SUBSTANCE. COMMONLY SPEAKING, THE
IMAGE MAY HAVE THE APPEARANCE AND, FOR THE ORDINARY AFFAIRS OF THE MORTAL LIFE,
MAY SERVE THE PURPOSE OF THE REAL UNTIL SOMETHING ARISES THAT DEMANDS THE
PRODUCTION OF THE REAL; AND, THEN, THE IMAGE WILL NO LONGER SERVE THE PURPOSE.
Now, in the case of the creation of man, he was made in the image of God in one
particular only, and that in the matter of soul appearance. His physical or
spiritual body was not in the image of God, for God has no such bodies. Only the
soul of man is in the image of God, the Great Oversoul. And so long as man
remains a mere image of the Father, he will never be more than the mere man that
he was at the time of his creation: the Substance of the Father will never
become a part of him. And while the Substance is Divine, the image can never
become divine until it becomes transformed into the Substance.
At man's creation, a Plan was formed by which that image might become a thing of
Substance. There was given to man, the possessor of the image, the potentiality
of obtaining the Substance. But man, through his disobedience, or failure to
comply with or follow out the requirements of the Plan provided, forfeited this
potentiality which had been conferred upon him. He thereby lost the possibility
of having the image transformed into the Substance, which was absolutely
necessary in order for him to ever become the possessor of any part of the
Father's Divinity. And when men call themselves divine, they assert that which
is not true, but which, since the coming of Jesus to earth, may become true.
I will not recite what this disobedience of our first parents was, or in what
way they lost the great potentiality of becoming divine. I will only say that,
when they forfeited this potentiality by their disobedience, it was taken from
them by God. And His Decree—that in the day they should commit the act of
disobedience they should surely die—was carried out, and they died; not the
material bodies died, nor their spiritual bodies, nor their souls, for men
continued to live in their physical bodies for many years after the day of
disobedience. Their spirit bodies and souls never died, for they still live. But
what died, and what the sentence passed upon them affected, was the potentiality
of receiving the Substance which would make them divine and immortal. This
potentiality was taken from them and never restored during the long centuries
from the time of its death until the coming of Jesus.
That part of the Divine Nature, or that Divine Attribute, which was the object
of this potentiality, and which would make man a part of the Divine Nature and
immortal, was the Divine Love of the Father and nothing else. And if our first
parents, through their obedience, had received this Divine Love, never would
mortality as to the soul have existed on earth, and neither sin nor a want of
at-onement with the Father. But disobedience came, and death of the possibility
of becoming immortal ensued. And man remained mere man—only an image of the
Father and nothing more.
No man, in all the long ages that I have mentioned, ever had anything more or
greater in his nature than the natural love of which I have spoken. And, even as
to that, man so abused and defiled it that he became eventually an outcast from
the Father as to this love. In other words, he, man, buried it so deeply under
his acts of sin and the violation of those Laws of God which control this
natural love that he appeared to be forsaken by the Father, even as a mere human
being.
In the history of what is called “God's chosen people,” the Jews, it appears
that time and time again these people became such aliens from God in this
natural love that men, possessed of this love in a purer state than were the
common people, were used by the forces of the spirit world to call these people
to a realization of their obligations to God arising out of the gift of the
natural love. None of the prophets—neither Moses nor Elijah, nor any of the
others—possessed this Divine Love, but merely the natural love in a purer state
than that possessed by the people to whom they delivered their messages.
BUT, IN GOD'S OWN TIME, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS MERCY AND PLAN, HE REBESTOWED
UPON MAN THIS GREAT POTENTIALITY, OF WHICH I SPEAK, SO THAT MEN SHOULD AGAIN
HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING AT-ONE WITH HIM. AND TO DECLARE THE REBESTOWAL OF
THIS GREAT GIFT, JESUS WAS SENT TO EARTH IN THE FORM OF MAN, CONCEIVED AND BORN
AS OTHER MEN BUT WITHOUT SIN.
IT WAS AT THE TIME OF JESUS' COMING THAT THE GREAT GIFT WAS REBESTOWED UPON BOTH
MORTALS AND SPIRITS OF MORTALS THEN LIVING IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. AND THEY ALL,
SPIRITS AND MORTALS, RECEIVED THE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING AT-ONE WITH THE FATHER
THROUGH THE PLAN OF SALVATION THAT HE HAD REVEALED TO JESUS, WHICH JESUS TAUGHT
IN HIS MINISTRY DURING THE SHORT YEARS OF HIS EARTHLY LIFE, AND WHICH HE IS
STILL TEACHING.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY IN WHICH MAN CAN BECOME AT-ONE WITH THE FATHER—IN WHICH
THE IMAGE CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE SUBSTANCE—THAN THE WAY THAT JESUS TAUGHT,
BUT WHICH SEEMS NOT TO HAVE BEEN UNDERSTOOD BY MEN AFTER THE CHURCH BECAME A
CHURCH OF TEMPORAL POWER, AND AFTER THE WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLES WERE
EMASCULATED AND THE THOUGHTS AND DESIRES OF MEN WERE INTERPOLATED IN THE PLACE
OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE AND SALVATION. YET, THERE IS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN ONE
DECLARATION OF THE TRUE PLAN OF SALVATION, THOUGH IT IS LITTLE UNDERSTOOD AND
ALMOST IGNORED IN PRACTICAL TEACHINGS AND OBSERVANCES OF THE CHURCHES AND THEIR
MEMBERS. AND THAT IS: “EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT ENTER INTO THE
KINGDOM OF GOD.”
THESE WORDS OF THE NEW BIRTH ARE THE ONLY WORDS THAT DECLARE THE TRUE DOCTRINE
OF THE ATONEMENT. NO DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS, NO SHEDDING OF BLOOD OR
WASHING AWAY OF SINS BY THE BLOOD, NO PAYING OF ANY DEBT, AND NO BELIEVING IN
THE NAME OF THE LORD, JESUS CHRIST, WILL BRING MEN INTO AT-ONEMENT WITH THE
FATHER OR FIT THEM TO BECOME INHABITANTS OF HIS KINGDOM. ONLY THE NEW BIRTH IS
EFFICACIOUS FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND NO OTHER PLAN DID JESUS EVER TEACH, AND IS NOT
NOW TEACHING.
Then, what is meant by the New Birth?
Men in their understanding and interpretation of it differ. And it will do no
good for me to recite these different interpretations or what the New Birth is
not. But the important thing is what it is!
As I have said, the potentiality that was conferred upon our first parents was
the privilege of obtaining the Divine Nature and Immortality of the Father by
becoming possessed of His Great Attribute of Divinity—the Divine Love. And had
our first parents, by their obedience, received the benefits of this great
privilege, they would have been born again, just as you and all other mortals,
and spirits as well, may now be born again.
THEN, THE NEW BIRTH IS SIMPLY THE EFFECT OF THE FLOWING OF THIS DIVINE LOVE OF
THE FATHER INTO THE SOUL OF A MAN AND THE DISAPPEARING OF EVERYTHING THAT TENDS
TO SIN AND ERROR. AS THE DIVINE LOVE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE SOUL, SIN AND ERROR
DISAPPEAR. IT, THE SOUL, BECOMES OF A QUALITY LIKE THE GREAT SOUL OF THE FATHER.
AND WITH THE SOUL OF THE FATHER BEING DIVINE AND IMMORTAL IN ITS QUALITY OF
LOVE, SO, WHEN THE SOUL OF MAN BECOMES POSSESSED OF THIS QUALITY OF LOVE, THE
SOUL BEING THE MAN, THIS SOUL BECOMES DIVINE ALSO. THEN, THE IMAGE BECOMES THE
SUBSTANCE; THE MORTAL BECOMES THE IMMORTAL; AND THE SOUL OF MAN, AS TO LOVE AND
HOPE, BECOMES A PART OF THE FATHER'S DIVINITY.
NOW, TO DECLARE THIS PLAN OF SALVATION, AND ALSO THE REBESTOWAL OF THE GREAT
GIFT OF THE POTENTIALITY OF THE SOUL, JESUS CAME TO EARTH. THIS WAS HIS MISSION,
AND NONE OTHER. AS READERS OF THE BIBLE WILL REMEMBER, AND IT IS A TRUTH, WHEN
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED AND ANOINTED, AND ALSO WHILE ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION,
THE VOICE OF GOD, AS IT IS WRITTEN, DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS HIS WELL-BELOVED SON
AND DEMANDED OF THE PEOPLE, “HEAR YE HIM!” NOT TO BELIEVE THAT HE CAME TO DIE ON
THE CROSS, NOT TO BELIEVE THAT HIS BLOOD WOULD BRING ABOUT THE ATONEMENT, NOT TO
BELIEVE IN ANY VICARIOUS ATONEMENT OR THAT GOD IN “WRATH” “DEMANDED” A
SACRIFICE, BUT ONLY “HEAR YE HIM!” AND, IN ALL HIS TEACHINGS, JESUS NEVER TAUGHT
ONE OF THESE THINGS, BUT ONLY THE NEW BIRTH AS I HAVE EXPLAINED IT. THIS IS THE
ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRUE ATONEMENT, AND JESUS IS STILL TEACHING IT.
He also taught moral truths affecting the conduct and relation of man to man,
and man in his natural state to God. But none of these moral teachings were
sufficient to bring about the Great At-onement. There is no doubt that the
observance of many of these teachings of morality, and of man's conduct towards
God, will have a tendency to lead men to seek the higher Love of the Father and
help their souls get in the condition that will make it easier for this Great
Love to flow into them. But these moral teachings of prescribed conduct will
not, of themselves, be sufficient to bring the New Birth and, hence, the At-onement.
NOW, JESUS NOT ONLY TAUGHT THE NECESSITY FOR THE NEW BIRTH, BUT HE ALSO TAUGHT
THE WAY IN WHICH IT COULD BE OBTAINED. AND THAT WAY IS JUST AS SIMPLE AND EASILY
UNDERSTOOD AS THE NEW BIRTH, ITSELF. HE TAUGHT, AND IS NOW TEACHING THAT,
THROUGH EARNEST PRAYER TO THE FATHER, AND FAITH, WHICH MAKES ALL ASPIRATIONS AND
SOUL LONGINGS THINGS OF REAL EXISTENCE, AND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE
FATHER'S MESSENGER OF LOVE—OR THAT WHICH CARRIES HIS DIVINE LOVE—THIS LOVE WILL
FLOW INTO THE SOULS OF MEN IN RESPONSE TO SUCH PRAYERS. AND, BY SUCH FAITH, MEN
WILL REALIZE ITS PRESENCE; AND, IN THIS WAY, AND THIS WAY ONLY, MEN WILL RECEIVE
THE NEW BIRTH.
THIS IS WHOLLY AN INDIVIDUAL MATTER. WITHOUT THE PERSONAL, EARNEST PRAYER OF THE
SUPPLICANT, AND FAITH THAT COMES WITH THE LOVE, A MAN CANNOT RECEIVE THE NEW
BIRTH. NO CEREMONY OF CHURCH, NO LAYING ON OF HANDS OR MASSES FOR THE SOULS OF
THE DEAD, WILL BE EFFICACIOUS TO MAKE THE MAN OR SPIRIT A NEW CREATURE OF GOD.
What I have written is the meaning of the True Atonement as taught by the Master
and as understood by all the redeemed of the Father who are now living in His
Celestial Heavens. And there is no other atonement possible.
I have written enough and hope I have made the true explanation of the Divine
Atonement plain to all men. We who are inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens know
the Truth of my explanation, both from personal experience and from the other
fact, which no spirit in all the universe can deny: that only those who have
received this Divine Love of the Father in their souls in sufficient abundance
can or do inhabit the Celestial Heavens. All other spirits, no matter what their
several beliefs may be, live in the lower Spiritual Spheres and cannot enter the
Celestial Heavens unless they seek for and obtain the New Birth that Jesus
taught and is still teaching.
So, my dear brother, without writing more, I will say goodnight.
Your brother in Christ,
LUKE.
|
Questions about this article?
Ask a minister: fcdt@fcdt.org |
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.
|
