"Now are we the sons of God"

MARGARET V. HEYWOOD

In the first epistle of John we read these inspiring words: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. ... Beloved, now are we the sons of God." Jesus knew himself as the child of God. He identified himself with the Christ, and Jesus Christ is spoken of in Hebrews as "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." The Master knew the truth about man as an established fact; he knew it irrevocably. He knew it not only for himself, but also for others. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy we read (pp. 476, 477), "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals."

Christ Jesus spoke with authority, and he proved his identity as the Son of God by the power which he used to eliminate whatever bore false witness to the truth. We, also, must see man's true relationship to God, both for ourselves and for others. Like Jesus, we must see it as an established fact, not as a past condition from which men have fallen, a present which quickly fades away, or a hoped-for future possibility. Man's relationship to God is not a potential or merely possible state of being, but an ever present actuality, which can neither be changed nor lost.

Christ Jesus met all problems of sin, disease, lack, and death from this standpoint: "Now are we the sons of God." And, because he knew he was the Son of God, he demonstrated perfection and showed forth God's power. In following his example we identify ourselves with man, the son of God, instead of with the illusion of sick or sinful sense. A sick or sinful mortal may have a blind belief in a future perfection or hope to prove this identity ultimately, whereas Christian Science enables us to know it now and have the conviction and proof that divine commands are effectively enforced. We must claim perfection, if we would manifest perfection.

Man, the son of God, includes all true individuality, and the recognition of our own relationship to God requires recognition of the same for our neighbor. Christian Science teaches that there is one Mind only, even God. Then in remembering this fact, when we find ourselves in a difficult environment or seem to be at cross-purposes with our neighbor, we are able to sink our human opinions and wake to prove that every individual is governed by the one Mind. Thereby, instead of being at variance with our neighbor, we can and should see that we are united in the one purpose of proving the power of good over evil. Instead of admitting many differing human wills, we see Christ, Truth, annihilating erroneous beliefs.

Does a son of God ever require treatment to make him healthy, happy, employed? Does he want more life, love, or intelligence? The notion is absurd! The son of God is preserved evermore in perfect harmony by his Father-Mother God: we have only to see him thus. What requires treatment is the false concept about man. It is this we must recognize and correct, if we would establish in its place the true idea. On page 181 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy writes: "Mortals will lose their sense of mortality—disease, sickness, sin, and death—in the proportion that they gain the sense of man's spiritual preexistence as God's child; as the offspring of good, and not of God's opposite,—evil, or a fallen man."

Christian Science today is proving the truth of Christ Jesus' teaching. It is showing that man is born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Man is not in bondage to any so-called hereditary ills of the flesh. His inheritance is spiritual perfection. He expresses all the qualities of God in perpetuity. This is the man with whom each and all are identified, and nothing can withstand his authority, which reflects God's dominion forever.

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