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All Urantia is Waiting
"All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael, unencumbered by the accumulated doctrines and dogmas of nineteen centuries of contact with the religions of evolutionary origin. The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus." (1041)
What is the "living spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus?" Three essentials are:
"First, recognition of the fact of the sovereignty of God.
Second, belief in the truth of sonship with God.
Third, faith in the effectiveness of the supreme human desire to do the will of God--to be like God.
And this is the good news of the gospel: that by faith every mortal may have all these essentials of salvation." (1586)
The same Paper tells us: "When God's will is your law, you are noble slave subjects; but when you believe in this new gospel of divine sonship, my Father's will becomes your will, and you are elevated to the high position of the free children of God, liberated sons of the kingdom." (1588)
It would be expected that sincere devotees to the teachings in The Urantia Book would be well on their way to being free and liberated children of God. That also implies a desire, "to be like God."
The book informs us that Jesus is the best model we have of God-likeness. So what was Jesus like?
"The unique feature of the Master's personality was not so much its perfection as its symmetry, its exquisite and balanced unification.
"The unfailing kindness of Jesus touched the hearts of men, but his stalwart strength of character amazed his followers. He was truly sincere; there was nothing of the hypocrite in him. He was free from affectation; he was always so refreshingly genuine. He never stooped to pretense, and he never resorted to shamming. He lived the truth, even as he taught it. He was the truth. He was constrained to proclaim saving truth to his generation, even though such sincerity sometimes caused pain. He was unquestioningly loyal to all truth.
"But the Master was so reasonable, so approachable. He was so practical in all his ministry, while all his plans were characterized by such sanctified common sense. He was so free from all freakish, erratic, and eccentric tendencies. He was never capricious, whimsical, or hysterical. In all his teaching and in everything he did there was always an exquisite discrimination associated with an extra-ordinary sense of propriety.
"The Son of Man was always a well-poised personality. Even his enemies maintained a wholesome respect for him; they even feared his presence. Jesus was unafraid. He was surcharged with divine enthusiasm, but he never became fanatical. He was emotionally active but never flighty. He was imaginative but always practical. He frankly faced the realities of life, but he was never dull or prosaic. He was courageous but never reckless; prudent but never cowardly. He was sympathetic but not sentimental; unique but not eccentric. He was pious but not sanctimonious. And he was so well-poised because he was so perfectly unified.
"Of Jesus it was truly said, 'He trusted God.' As a man among men he most sublimely trusted the Father in heaven. He trusted his Father as a little child trusts his earthly parent. His faith was perfect but never presumptuous. No matter how cruel nature might appear to be or how indifferent to man's welfare on earth, Jesus never faltered in his faith. He was immune to disappointment and impervious to persecution. He was untouched by apparent failure.
"He loved men as brothers, at the same time recognizing how they differed in innate endowments and acquired qualities. 'He went about doing good.'
"This man of Galilee was not a man of sorrows; he was a soul of gladness. Always was he saying, 'Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.' But when duty required, he was willing to walk courageously through the 'valley of the shadow of death.' He was gladsome but at the same time humble.
"His courage was equaled only by his patience. When pressed to act prematurely, he would only reply, 'My hour has not yet come.' He was never in a hurry; his composure was sublime. But he was often indignant at evil, intolerant of sin. He was often mightily moved to resist that which was inimical to the welfare of his children on earth. But his indignation against sin never led to anger at the sinner.
"The Master was a pattern of reverence. The prayer of even his youth began, 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.' He was even respectful of the faulty worship of
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