Article December 27, 1941 Issue

"Heirs of God"

JESSIE BARCLAY MOTTEN

IN his epistle to the Romans, Paul emphasized a momentous truth. He worte, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Paul frequently referred to man's spiritual inheritance in his letters to the early churches. Why did he feel that it was so important? What is this inheritance which we are privileged to share with Christ?

Let us examine these questions in the light of Christian Science. Through its fundamental teachings that God is Mind, Spirit, All, that man is made in His image and likeness, and that matter is unknown to the divine Mind, we are lifted in thought above the disturbing conditions of human existence. Materiality and its accompaniments of sin, disease, and sorrow are seen to be no part of true consciousness, and we catch a glimpse of the serenity and holiness of the divine presence. We also become aware of the power and joyous activity which are the manifestations of Mind. Gradually we begin to comprehend that Jesus' realization of the allinclusiveness of God, the Father, gave him the inspiration which enabled him to heal the most defiant cases of sickness, to reform the sinner, and to repudiate the belief in death. In a word, we are led to understand that our heritage as sons of God is the expression of the riches of divine Mind, Life, and Love; we see that our spiritual inheritance is, by reflection, the very essence of God's nature. A great sense of strength and confidence, of stability and dominion, follows this revelation.

We need to claim this priceless inheritance resolutely and continuously. We need to identify ourselves constantly with these Godlike qualities of thought, and we also need to guard against a false human sense of unworthiness and imperfection which would hinder us from laying hold upon them as our rightful possessions. On page 3 of "Pulpit and Press" by Mary Baker Eddy, we find the following illuminating explanation of just how we may claim our spiritual inheritance. She writes, "Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love." Surely this "power to think and act rightly" can be utilized in every phase of our daily living. No matter how we may be employed, no matter how great may be the demands made upon us, or how perplexing or alarming any situation may appear to our human sense, we can at that very moment entertain the Godlike qualities of thought which are ours as "joint-heirs with Christ." We can express courage, patience, wisdom, love, and dominion. What liberation from fear and inharmony of all kinds is brought into our experience as we faithfully exercise this power! What widening vistas of thought and fresh aspects of Truth are revealed to us, each bringing its blessing of increased spiritual power! Through this clarified understanding, we begin to grasp the limitless possibilities of divine sonship and to comprehend the testimony of Spirit that "we are the children of God."

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