2023-05-01-Reflections on the Gifts of Pentecost 3

Session

Quote

“Jesus lived on earth and taught a gospel which redeemed man from the superstition that he was a child of the devil and elevated him to the dignity of a faith son of God.” (UB,194:2.1)

Lesson

Thought Adjuster: “After his death, his Spirit of Truth reiterated the same liberating proclamation.

Jesus’s principal message DURING his human incarnation was the revelation that human creatures ARE faith children of God. He proclaimed it straightforwardly as a fact, not a prophecy whose fulfillment depended on him enduring an ignominious death. How could an unconditionally-loving God who never rescinds his status as a Father toward his ignorant, unruly, or misled children be labeled as bloodthirsty?

Sadly, “[Jesus’s] life in the flesh, together with his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, presently became a new gospel of the ransom which had thus been paid in order to purchase man back from the clutch of the evil one — from the condemnation of an offended God.” (UB, 194:2.8)

The following statement about the Spirit of Truth brings the point home: “The first mission of this spirit is, of course, to foster and personalize truth, for it is the comprehension of truth that constitutes the highest form of human liberty. Next, it is the purpose of this spirit to destroy the believer’s feeling of orphanhood. Jesus having been among men, all believers would experience a sense of loneliness had not the Spirit of Truth come to dwell in men’s hearts.” (UB, 194:2.2)

Ponder these soul-nurturing and mind-enlightening facts. Focus on the practical soul-growth promoting teachings of Jesus as it is the reason why he came to LIVE among men. His living legacy blesses a multitude with life-changing truth.”