Article July 7, 1928 Issue

The Revelation of the Son of God

WILLIAM P. MC KENZIE

As soon as a seeker after good, a student of spiritual things, begins to discern the meaning of spirituality, he realizes the necessity for deliverance from the belief of being the son of a mortal, born of a woman, the inheritor of the peculiarities of a multitude of ancestors. In conversing with Nicodemus, Jesus presented this necessity for being born anew, not of the flesh, but "of water and of the Spirit." What Jesus said indicated the necessity of purification from old beliefs and the need of such inspiration from new understanding that men shall actually breathe in spiritual life. On another occasion he said, "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven;" and he did not acknowledge himself other than Son of God, even though he named himself "the Son of man." It was not of the man of the earth that he spoke as being his ancestor, but of himself as representing true manhood, the real man, God's image and likeness, expressing the beatific nature.

The reason we call God "our Father" is that directly from God come our life, being, usefulness, and happiness. Shall mortals, then, be ruled by animal passions, the belief of human heredity, mundane ambitions; or shall they recognize the government of the kingdom of heaven, which is always nigh at hand? A suggestion of the meaning of this government is brought out by our Leader in an address wherein she says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 100): "Pure humanity, friendship, home, the interchange of love, bring to earth a foretaste of heaven. They unite terrestrial and celestial joys, and crown them with blessings infinite."

Paul when he was a Pharisee was zealous for the traditions of the ancients. He advanced in Judaism, as he tells us, beyond many who were his equal in years, and his earnestness led him to persecute the Christian church and try to destroy it. Yet in due time the revelation of the good news reached him. He graphically described the event when writing to the Galatians, saying, "It pleased God ... to reveal his Son in me." Whereupon he became set apart as an apostle to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. He had persecuted the people of "the way," but now he saw it as the true way because he himself recognized man's relationship with God, even as Christ Jesus had declared it. Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 75): "Christ was 'the way;' since Life and Truth were the way that gave us, through a human person, a spiritual revelation of man's possible earthly development."

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
"Holy ground"
July 7, 1928
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit