A Synopsis of Paper 196: The Faith of Jesus

Jesus magnificently demonstrated living faith in God. He never doubted the certainty of God's watch care. His faith was not merely intellectual; it was a profound conviction which securely held him in the living reality of God and destroyed every desire that conflicted with the will of the Father. Jesus never failed to exhibit unquestioning loyalty to God's will.

Jesus trusted God as a child trusts his father. His complete dependence on God gave Jesus the assurance of absolute personal security. Jesus had confidence in the goodness of the universe. He wants his followers to believe in the reality of the Father's love so that they too can experience the confidence that comes from knowing they are children of God.

Jesus was the most truly religious person who ever lived on earth. If the religion of Jesus suddenly replaced the religion about Jesus, the social, economic, and moral transformations that would occur would be revolutionary.

Christianity is founded on the personal religious experience of Paul, but the gospel of the kingdom is founded on the personal religious experience of Jesus. We should not literally imitate Jesus' life; we need to trust God as Jesus trusts God and to believe in each other as he believes in us. The greatest of all human knowledge is knowing the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.

Jesus' life reveals a pattern of religious growth that started with early primitive awe, moved through personal spiritual communion, and arrived at advanced consciousness of oneness with the Father. He grew from the humble mortal status that prompted his words, "Why do you call me good?" to the sublime consciousness of divinity which led him to say, "Which one of you convicts me of sin?"

Jesus did not believe, as Paul did, that the world was fundamentally evil. He viewed humans positively. Jesus saw men as sons of God and knew of the magnificent futures awaiting those who chose survival. Jesus was willing to devote himself to mortal service because of the high value that he placed on people. We are uplifted by his extraordinary faith in us.

There are three evidences that spirit indwells the human mind. The first is love-only a spirit-indwelt mind is capable of altruism. The second is wisdom-only a spirit-indwelt mind can discern that the universe is friendly. The third is worship-only a spirit-indwelt mind can realize the divine presence and seek experience with divinity.

The human mind does not create value. It can only discover, recognize, interpret, and choose values and meanings. Human survival is dependent on choosing those values selected by the indwelling Adjuster, the spirit-value sorter. Man's challenge on earth is to achieve better communication with this indwelling Monitor.

Be not discouraged; human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God in the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail.

This Synopsis is from "The Story of Everything" by Michelle Klimesh