"In Christ shall all be made alive"

"As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ^{I Cor. 15:22.} These words from First Corinthians repeatedly rang in my thought as I was confined to my bed in a hazy stupor. I had been experiencing a severe debilitating illness that put me to bed for a couple of days at a time. This particular day my husband had taken our toddler son to the neighbor's for care. I lay inert and fearful, fearful that I might be passing on. Then the angel message came in the words quoted above. Over and over they came to me until I was able to focus on their meaning.

I thought: "I call myself a Christian Scientist; therefore I am committed to follow Christ. Jesus instructed his disciples, 'Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils.' ^{Matt. 10:8.} And Mrs. Eddy makes clear in her book Science and Health, 'Christians are under as direct orders now, as they were then, to be Christlike, to possess the Christ-spirit, to follow the Christ-example, and to heal the sick as well as the sinning.' ^{Science and Health, p. 138.} As a Christian, then, I am committed to proving that I, in fact, am following Jesus' instructions." I saw, then, that I did not have to give credence to anything associated with Adam—mortality, sin, evil, disobedience, fear. I must wake to recognize the Christ, know that I am actually imbued with it, and demonstrate it—by living, not by dying.

Christian Science turns us back to the record of creation as it is written in the first chapter of Genesis. There man is made in the image and likeness of God, who is Spirit. Therefore man must be spiritual, and Spirit never dies. In that first chapter of Genesis we also find several times that God saw what He created as good. The record states (at the beginning of the second chapter) that creation was finished; so it is complete.

This second chapter of Genesis then tells another story. And it is only a story, an allegory about a mortal man called Adam who is made of dust. He and his wife, Eve, are deluded into breaking God's law by a suggestion from a talking serpent. But if the true God saw that His creation, including man, was very good and that it was finished, what are we to make of this other creation—man formed of the dust of the ground, and woman from a rib? This manhood and womanhood have as much foundation in reality as do the characters in a dream. And that is exactly what Adam was doing—dreaming.

Christian Science shows that Christ wakes us up from the dream of life in matter, which Adam represents. Mrs. Eddy defines Christ in this way: "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error." ^{Ibid., p. 583.} Grasping something of this truth as I lay in my bed, I became filled with a great sense of gratitude, gratitude for God's man, the divine manifestation, which was dawning in my consciousness. Then and there I made my choice! No longer could I accept Adam and everything he stood for as a way of living that ultimately resulted in a way of dying.

Now I felt that Christ-power and knew I could only express my true nature as God's indestructible man, made in His image and likeness. This truth brought healing. Immediately I got out of bed, dressed, and walked to the neighbor's to get our son. And this with not a trace of weakness or a need for convalescence. I was suddenly completely well.

The New Testament records many instances of Jesus' immediate healings of those in need: among them leprosy cleansed (see Mark 1:40–42); an issue of blood staunched (see Luke 8:43, 44); sight restored (see Matt. 20:50–34); a woman who was "bowed together" made upright (see Luke 13:11–13). For Jesus there was no human situation beyond healing.

Many years have passed since my healing, and I have had no recurrence of the difficulty. One result of that experience was that I gained a clearer understanding of my true nature, and this gave me a new basis for my prayer. I was led to study Mrs. Eddy's comments about what Paul writes: "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." ^{1 Cor. 15:45.} Speaking of what the discovery of Christian Science taught her, she says of herself: "At the moment of her discovery, she knew that the last Adam, namely, the true likeness of God, was the first, the only man. This knowledge did become to her 'a quickening spirit;' for she beheld the meaning of those words of our Master, 'The last shall be first, and the first last.' " ^{Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 188–189.} That's it! The "last" man, exemplified by Jesus the Christ, is first, the only real man. The allegorical mortal so-called man, Adam, was not that real man, but rather a dream figure.

Science and Health leads us to see the nature of that real man: "In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being." ^{Science and Health, p. 63.}

If we are calling ourselves Christians, in the business of healing as Christ Jesus was, it is imperative that we understand and behold the perfect, spiritual man of God's creating. This effort spiritualizes our thought and progressively abolishes any false concept of man as mortal, as Adam man, subject to all that Adam and Eve were subject to.

Jesus rebuked sin; Adam indulged in it. Jesus healed sin, sickness, and even death. Adam and his progeny were victims of these. Whom, then, do we need to accept and trust as God's true representative? Adam, who is only a dream figure, or Christ Jesus? In divine Science there really is no choice. There is only God and His spiritual creation, including man. That is what Christianly scientific healing proves.