|
Salvation
The gospel of the good news that we mortals may, by faith, become spirit-conscious that we are children of God, is not in any way dependent on the death of Jesus. True, indeed, this gospel of the kingdom has been illuminated by the master's death, but even more so, by his life.
Moses taught the dignity and justice of a creator God; but Jesus portrayed the love and mercy of a heavenly Father.
It is wholly correct to refer to Jesus as our savior. He forever made the way of salvation (survival) more clear and more certain.
The concept of atonement and sacrificial salvation is rooted and grounded in selfishness. The believer's chief concern should not be the selfish desire for personal salvation but rather the unselfish urge to love and serve our fellow beings even as Jesus loved and served mortal man.
The great thing about the death of Jesus, as it is related to the enrichment of human experience and the enlargement of the way of salvation, is not the fact of his death but rather the superb manner and the matchless spirit in which he met that death.
The cross forever shows that the attitude of Jesus toward sinners was neither condemnation nor condonation, but rather eternal and loving salvation.
When thinking men and women look upon Jesus as he offered up his life on the cross, they will hardly again permit themselves to complain at even the severest hardships of life, much less at petty harassments and fictitious grievances.
Jesus is truly a savior in the sense that his life and death do win us over to goodness and righteous survival.
Jesus loved us so much that his love awakens the response of love in the human heart. Love is truly contagious--and eternally creative.
Righteousness and mission
Jesus portrayed a higher quality of righteousness than justice--mere technical right and wrong. Divine love does not merely forgive wrongs; it absorbs and actually destroys them.
Greater love can no one have than this--that they would be willing to lay down their life for their friends. And Jesus had such love that he was willing to lay down his life even for his enemies.
Your mission to the world is founded on the fact that I lived a God-revealing life among you, and on the truth that you and all others are the children of God. And your mission shall consist in the life that you will live--the actual living experience of loving and serving others, even your enemies, just as I have loved and served you.
Give up intolerance and learn to love others as I have loved you. Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world. It is the love of God that impels the individual to seek salvation. Love is the ancestor of all goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.
Do not neglect to minister to the weak, the poor, and the young.
If you trust me more, you will be less impatient with your brethren. If you will trust me, it will help you to be kind to the brotherhood of believers. Pray for tranquility of spirit and try to cultivate patience.
Make sure you are devoted to the welfare of your brethren on Earth with a tireless affection. Admix friendship with your counsel and add love to your philosophy. Be faithful. Be less critical. Expect less of some.
Work for God
When you are a faith child of God, all secular work is sacred. Nothing that a child of God does can be common. Do your work, as from this time on, as you would do it for God.
My one purpose is to reveal my Father. I have lived this God-revealing bestowal that you might experience the God-knowing career.
|
|
