Chapter 5

Regarding Jesus Christ

Developing an understanding of who Jesus Christ was as a person and who he is today as a spirit has been a process for me. When I was into guru-based teachings I believed Jesus was a guru. When I found out that many gurus are fake, I figured the same was probably true for Jesus. After making contact with my spirit guidance I found that despite what I for the most part believed, I still had thought patterns that made me wonder if certain fundamentalist Christian ideas are true. Is God an angry, wrathful, vengeful and jealous being who eternally punishes people who act in a manner he considers inappropriate? Is it true that Satan gets to people who don’t have the right sort of faith and don’t live their life in the right way? These concerns were quite contrary to my overall way of thinking, yet they still persisted, because I hadn’t examined them enough to come to a definite conclusion.

The main thing that helped me get over the idea that God‘s nature includes the negative traits some people attribute to him, is when I chose to listen to my heart and common sense. My heart told me that whatever divine truth is, it has to feel good. I felt this was true for various reasons. One, my spiritual experiences always felt good with a really nice feeling of peace, and the idea of an angry, wrathful, vengeful and jealous God just didn’t fit in with what I felt. Two, because of what other people have come to know through their spiritual experiences (e.g., near-death experiences). When they meet a being of light, whether this being is God, Christ or another light being, this being always radiates perfect unconditional love in a very noticeable way, with no trace of judgment. The concept of a God who sentences his children to a hellish realm for all eternity because of mistakes they made in a comparatively brief incarnation doesn’t fit in with what people experience when they meet a being of light.

Three, there is also the factor of what love-based common sense says. If a loving parent has a child who goes astray, he (or she) wouldn’t sentence this child to a hellish realm for all eternity because his loving way of being would make it impossible for him to do so. A judgmental vengeance-based approach does nothing except satisfy the mind of someone who tries to feel good about things by seeing another being suffer for all eternity (not true satisfaction). When a vengeful soul reaches the point where it has existed for just one minute and immeasurable fraction of the eternity it is destined to exist for, it will realize that it doesn’t want to spend the rest of eternity with vengeful thoughts. Instead, such a soul will want to become joyful in the knowledge that all souls eventually can find their way back to the love that God and souls who live according to love have to offer. I believe Jesus’ Prodigal Son story supports what I say.

My common sense and heart told me that if I’m wise and loving enough to not want to see any soul suffer in a hell-like realm for all eternity, then certainly God, Christ and other light beings are wise and loving enough to think and feel the same. When it comes right down to it, it was rather insulting of me to think that they don’t understand about love at least as much as I do. Below is Jesus’ Prodigal Son story. (Luke 15:11-32)

A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, I want to share my estate now before you die. So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, at home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”

But his father said to the servants, “Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” So the party began.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. “Your brother is back,” he was told, “and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.”

The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!”

His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!”

When it comes to a Biblical perspective, people are quite mistaken if they believe it supports the eternal damnation concept. Original versions of the Bible state that souls end up in a hell-like realm for an aeon, not eternity. Aeon means age and is related to its adjective aionios, which means age long, and therefore an indefinite long period. Indefinite isn’t the same as eternal.

In the case of abiding in a lower realm, [1] it is a matter of how long a spirit clings to its negative ways before it chooses to move towards the light. I’ve had spiritual experiences and received spiritual messages that made the point that once a spirit in a lower realm decides to change its ways and move towards the light, nothing can stop it from doing so. In fact, many loving and wise spirits become overjoyed when a lost soul decides to change its negative ways, and they do whatever they can to help such a soul. There is so much love in heavenly realms; all a person needs to do in order to avail himself of such love is let go of the thought patterns that prevent him from doing so. For example, thought patterns that influence him to commit negative acts, or thought patterns that influence him to have an unforgiving attitude towards people who have made mistakes.

After becoming clear about the above, I started to wonder who Jesus Christ is. What role did he play while in this world and what role does he play today? One day I went for a walk and directed my thoughts toward God. I told him, “Whatever your will is, I’m respectful towards it. However, I can’t believe what some people believe about Christ, simply because the Bible says so. I would be lying to you and myself if I made such an assertion. I’m well aware that the Bible was put together by numerous men and has gone through a number of translations. Therefore, it might be mistaken about Christ.” When I did this I was sincere about receiving the answer, regardless of what the answer would be.

It didn’t take long before I started to receive answers. One night as I lay in bed I was shown a crucifix; I asked, “Why?” I was then shown a manikin with no legs, no arms and no head placed on a stand that stood on a department store floor. On this manikin was a sleeveless white fur coat with black polka dots. The meaning of this image might not seem obvious, but I understood it quickly: “They killed him (Jesus), they put him on display, they spotted his reputation.” Next I experienced myself press the high C note on my piano (non-physically). This meant that Christ represents the highest consciousness level there is. Regarding the spot his reputation part of the message, I’ll speak about this in a little while.

Some of the messages I received were simple. One time I was shown the words, “Jesus saves.” On another occasion I saw the words, “Accept Christ.” One time I was shown a golden crucifix. One night I had a dream where a very loving young lady walked around an amusement park and handed people including me a piece of paper which said: “Jesus saves.” (More about this later, I provide an untypical and nonfundamentalist interpretation of what “Jesus saves” means.)

During the same period of time I remembered a couple of messages I had received before I told God that I was open to finding out what Christ is about. On one occasion while in a non-physical state I tried to help a stuck spirit [2] move on towards the light. We stood at the edge of a cliff by an ocean. While I was speaking to him (telepathically) he jumped into the water down below. I jumped in after him and there were a lot of large rocks. I spoke to him while under water, and suddenly we were at the top of the cliff again. I got the impression that he had committed suicide by jumping off the cliff, and was repeating the experience. While I spoke to him a second time at the top of the cliff, he started to ignore me because across a bay to my left (the ocean was to my right), the image of Jesus appeared. Gold light radiated from Jesus and filled the scene. When the man I tried to help saw Jesus he forgot all about me and floated to where Jesus was. It took him a short amount of time to traverse the distance even though it didn’t seem as if he moved with great speed. (I guess linear 3D reality had little to do with what I experienced.)

The gold light that radiated from Jesus wasn’t made up of beams of light as one might expect. Instead I saw numerous waves of light. Why? Perhaps because the high-level spirit being I worked with understood that if I saw waves of light rather than expected beams of light, I might be more prone to understand that more than the random meanderings of my subconscious mind were involved. Weight is added to this conclusion when I consider how some of my other retrieval experiences manifested. [3] I must add that this wasn’t a dream. It happened while I was meditating, and the experience was quite conscious.

On another occasion as I lay in bed awake with my eyes closed I was shown a life-size image of a heavy metal rocker dude. I could see kundalini flowing within him (for more information about kundalini please see the previous chapter of this book or Chapter 15 of my book Joining the Oneness-Beyond Nonduality). He said: “I use my kundalini for evil.” Next I was shown a demonic image of myself. Next I was shown the face of Jesus Christ. I interpreted this to mean that if I’m going to go through the kundalini ascension process, I’d better make certain I do so with Christ consciousness/love in mind, because the creative aspect of being can be used in different ways. After I started to receive messages about Christ, I figured that perhaps this message also served the purpose of letting me know about him.

During this same time period I started to remember my Night in Heaven experience more completely. I remembered the part where I had found out about Christ. I also remembered that during the experience there was no doubt about what I had understood. I didn’t receive a lot of details, but I understood that the person of Jesus Christ did in fact exist, and in some way he is a part of higher spiritual truth.

As I continued to open up to finding out what Christ is about, I noticed that some heart chakra blocks cleared for me. One night I was reading Elaine Pagel’s book The Gnostic Gospels. She wrote that the Gospel of Thomas speaks of Jesus as an enlightened man; the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke speak of Jesus as a messenger of God; and the Gospel of John speaks of Jesus as God himself. Before I went to bed that night I prayed and asked for a dream that would tell me which version is true. In the middle of the night I woke up so I could write notes about a dream I had just had. I turned on my night lamp, grabbed a pen and my dream journal, and before I could write anything I saw a light flash. Before this event I had seen spirits appear as flashing points of light on numerous occasions; however, the light I saw on this occasion was much bigger than any flash I had seen before, and radiated much more energy. It felt divine. It felt more real than the physical world. I laughed to myself and thought, “And some people don’t believe in the world of spirit. How could it be doubted?” I forgot about my dream notes, put away my pen and dream journal, turned off my night lamp, and lay on my side. I was overcome by the energy of the spirit presence that was visiting me.

I didn’t see or hear Jesus; nevertheless, I felt that I was experiencing the presence of his spirit partly because this seemed like a likely response to my prayer, and partly because of a deeper understanding that is hard to completely re-experience simply by thinking about it. I felt a lot of love, humility, reverence and gratitude towards Christ as I experienced his presence. I felt so honored that he took the time to visit me. His energy worked on my upper four chakras[4] for about 10 to 15 minutes in a manner that went beyond how kundalini ever did. Ever since this event the energetic flow in my upper chakras has been more clear, balanced and alive. It is almost as if there are energetic pathways that serve the purpose of making an energetic connection to Christ.

I still can’t say for certain which gospel is more accurate when it comes to who Christ is. Nevertheless, this experience gave me the impression that the spirit of Christ can visit anybody he wants to visit, and probably as many people as he wants to visit. I don’t believe that Christ’s entire spirit visited me on this occasion. I figure he is a very vast being who extended a part of himself to where my energy signature was located. Since this occasion, his presence has visited me a number of times. There were occasions where my energy, with the assistance of his presence, pushed towards my crown chakra with such force I thought my head would come off. Eventually the energetic blocks in my head area cleared and these intense sessions are no longer needed.

During one meditation I felt love and peace, and Jesus’ image appeared to me. He showed me a couple of written messages that related to my spiritual practice, and then he left. I felt a lot of gratitude, humility and reverences towards Christ when this event took place.

I don’t believe it would be purposeful for me to share every Christ-related experience I’ve had and every message I’ve received. I would, however, like to share a couple more messages in order to help me discuss who Christ is and what he is about. One night as I wondered about him I received the message: “The Bible’s story of the Lamb is mostly correct.” On another occasion I received the message: “Christ and Jesus are the same.” On another occasion I received the message: “God made a deal with Jesus.”

The mostly correct message might seem curious to some people. I believe it relates to the visual message I received which stated: “They spotted his reputation.” As I’m certain you understand, video and audio recording devices didn’t exist when Jesus lived in this world. Jesus didn’t write down his words to share with other people. The stories of his life and teachings were passed along by word of mouth over several generations, before the gospels were written. It is estimated that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were written about 55-70 years after Jesus was crucified, and the Gospel of John about 90 years after he was crucified. There are also translation issues. It is certainly possible that some of Jesus’ words have been misrepresented. If we want to understand what Jesus had to share with us, it is essential to consider the point I just made, otherwise we might conclude according to somebody’s misrepresentation.

Consider people who believe that you can’t go to heaven unless you are born again and accept Christ as your personal savior. Some fundamentalists believe that not even other Christians will make it to heaven if they don’t believe exactly or very close to how they believe. Some Christians even get into accusing other Christians of being in cahoots with Satan when their beliefs differ from what the accusing Christians believe. I really doubt that Christ wants Christians to feud with each other in such a way. Going by how his words were recorded in the Gospels, he didn’t even want people to view their enemies in a negative way (Matthew 5:38-48, Luke 6:27-36). He wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves. This is a hard thing to do when people are into demonizing others simply because they believe differently. What’s most important is a person’s intent. Therefore, even if a person interprets some of Jesus’ teachings incorrectly, as just about all people are bound to do to varying degrees, there is no need to be overly quick with one’s demonization ruler.

It is important to remember one of the key reasons people believe differently than each other: upbringing. People quite often end up believing in the religion of the family in which they were raised. It can be hard to get them to change their mind, mostly because they try to discriminate according to the psychological conditioning they picked up as a child. It usually takes a lot before a person will question his beliefs.

I’ve found that people who leave a religion often have an opinion about it that is overly negative. In order to aid their attempt to break free from it, they’ll emphasize the negatives. If a person was a former Christian, he will emphasize the parts of his version of Christianity that are fear-based and judgmental towards others. He’ll also associate Jesus with his former religion. He might acknowledge that Jesus was a holy person, but won’t go much further than that.

Because I can think of Jesus in a non-fundamentalist way, there is no reason to feel uncomfortable when I think of him. I’m able to see that despite some of the negative attributes of fundamentalism, Jesus has affected this world in a positive way. Many people throughout the years, perhaps billions, have been positive people partly because of their Christian faith. Sure there are people who are good without being Christian, but I’m talking about people who have been good partly because of their Christian faith. In addition to how they affected this world in a positive way, there is also the issue of how many of them avoided lower realms after death partly because of their Christian faith. Hence, the “Jesus saves” messages I received (my untypical and nonfundamentalist interpretation). It is important to factor in that Jesus’ spirit continues to play a key role as a high-level spirit being. I’m not able to define all of the particulars.

There are people who like to emphasize the negative things Christians have done throughout the years. I believe that if they were able to clearly see the overall affect of Christianity, they would find that it is beneficial.

Plus, I believe it is possible that God and the divine powers-that-be had a pretty good idea what Jesus’ teachings would lead to, yet they chose to have Jesus play the role he played. Perhaps they did so even though they knew the history of Christianity wouldn’t be perfect, because the human race as it has been is what they had to work with, and because they understood that in the long run things will work out for the best. Often it is better to do something even though you obtain imperfect results, than it is to do nothing.

I don’t believe that Jesus the man wanted to be worshipped–he had other things in mind. He wanted to help make this world a better place. He wanted to inspire people to be less judgmental and more loving. He wanted to let them know about the as you sow so you reap principle so they could move on to heavenly realms shortly after their physical body dies. A person doesn’t need to be a Christian in order to understand what Jesus taught.

It is possible that Jesus’ attempts to let people know that they can trust him got changed into a You better believe in him or else doctrine. I know this can be a hard possibility for some people to consider. If this is so for you, please remember what I said about children being raised in different types of families. It is quite unrealistic to expect that children raised in non-fundamentalist Christian homes are going to accept Christ in the manner some people consider necessary. Their failure to do so isn’t a matter of their being bad, it is a matter of people tending to believe as they were taught to believe when they were children.

Some people might suggest that I consider people who become fundamentalist Christians without being raised in such a way, because such people show that you don’t need to be raised as a fundamentalist Christian in order to become one. I counter this by stating that people get involved with other belief systems without being raised accordingly. There are also people who leave Christianity without being bad people. One of the reasons they do is because they find it hard to believe that a wise and loving God would send his children (including people who live their lives in a loving way), to a fiery inferno for all eternity just because they don’t believe precisely or close to how some people state they should believe.

There is also the factor of what people who lived from the time period when Jesus lived required. Certainly their way of thinking varied from our way of thinking. Many of them expected a Messiah to come along and let them know about the truth. Perhaps Jesus took on the responsibility of fulfilling this role, and spoke to people in a manner they would respond to and understand. It is possible that he told people that not only should they believe in his words, they should also believe in him, because they expected such forthrightness. Although I’m not able to say with absolute certainly what approach Jesus took, I will state that I believe that he was a qualified spiritual messenger who represented divine will.

I believe that just about all of us are going to have a lot of surprises when we join the world of spirit. It is difficult to know what the world of spirit is like while in this world. As long as a soul joins the spirit world with a loving and humble approach, things will be seen as they are. This is how it was during my Night in Heaven experience. I was able to understand what divine truth is about, even though I had beliefs that differed, because I was basically a loving and humble person.

I firmly believe that God and Christ want us to use our intelligence when we try to determine what is true. A person shouldn’t feel as if he is an evil sinner simply because he chooses to question. When he doesn’t allow himself to question he allows fear to be his guide, rather than his intelligence, conscience and heart. Certainly God and Christ are able to see when we are afraid to use our intelligence, conscience and heart. Who fools who when a person uses a limited and perhaps misleading fear-based approach?

Another factor to consider is whether or not fear plays a role in having love, respect and reverence for divine beings such as God and Christ. My feeling is that fear has nothing whatsoever to do with love, respect and reverence, because it isn’t possible to love another completely if we fear them. We won’t open our mind and heart to another completely if we feel as if we are forced to do so and that we are at risk. When you try to revere a divine being such as God or Christ because you believe that you have to or else, you don’t allow yourself to experience the total beauty of having reverence for them. To genuinely do so is joyful, not repressive. Joy won’t be able to completely blossom if a part of yourself is concerned about your safety and welfare. Some of the people who are concerned about eternal damnation and the influence of Satan are probably more worried about their own welfare than about divine inspiration.

Imagine that a wise, powerful and loving being created a wonderful paradise (heavenly realm) with all the beauty, peace, happiness and love a soul could want. This being also created souls to enjoy this paradise if they decide to live according to positive qualities such as humility, respect and love. It is quite natural that any soul (except a deluded soul) would feel humility, love, reverence, respect and gratitude towards the beings who made such an existence possible. Fear serves no purpose when we understand that we don’t have to be intimidated into wanting what God provides.

I believe Christ is much more interested in seeing us grow to become like him than in being worshipped. Being placed on a pedestal is something some self-centered people want such as dictators who require that their photo be pasted all over the place and gurus who expect to be worshipped by their followers. There is a way of being where all souls love, revere and respect each other so completely that it is hard to imagine why any-one soul would expect or want special treatment. For a soul to want such a thing it would have to be ignorant of the high level of love, respect, reverence and humility souls who abide in heaven live by.

I don’t mean to suggest that we can’t acknowledge people with special accomplishments such as Jesus Christ. However, my feeling is that Jesus is way too humble and giving to want special treatment. When a person is able to love and respect all souls completely, he will know how to love and respect Jesus.

There is also the factor of the state of oneness our souls evolve towards. Going by some of my experiences and those of others, we evolve towards a state of being where we are all one. We understand that we come from God’s being, because, what else is there? When such a state is obtained, I doubt that some souls choose to stand out more than other souls. The completeness of the love that is shared by God and his children will more than suffice. I say this even though I still feel respect, reverence, gratitude and love towards the divine beings that came before me, such as God and Christ. It feels good to have these feelings, especially since fear doesn’t make me feel as if I’d better or else.

Perhaps the best way to show love, reverence, respect and gratitude towards beings such as God and Christ is to help them with what they are trying to accomplish. What are they trying to accomplish? Going by the recorded words of Jesus, they want us to stop judging each other and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 7:1-4, 19:19, 22:39; Luke 6:37, 41-42.) I figure this doesn’t mean that a person uses his limited way of understanding as an excuse to kill people he has defined as evil, while claiming he is doing so in the name of Christ. Jesus had more of a turn-the-other-cheek approach. Consider his words from the Gospel of Matthew 5:43-48:

“You have heard the law that says, ‘love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Because of what many people including myself have experienced, I believe the spirit of Christ can and does help people. I don’t know the precise extent, it is probably a matter of what is needed. Other spirits who live according to God’s love and light also help. Not only because they are capable of doing so, but because it provides them with an opportunity to grow spiritually. I find it hard to believe that God and Christ would deprive souls such an opportunity. Whatever the division of labor is, I’m certain it is divided according to what is most wise and loving.

I’d like to speak a little more about who Jesus is. Is he God as some people believe, or is he one of God’s many children? As stated earlier, according to the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, he is one of God’s many children.

Sometimes the Gospel of John speaks of Jesus as if he is one of God’s children, and sometimes it speaks of him as if he is God. Sometimes it is unclear. John begins as follows (1:1-14):

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn-not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only son.

When I read the above, I get the feeling that God has different aspects, just as we have different aspects. There is the part of us that allows us to be aware, the part we create with, and the part that guides our ability to create: our mind. Perhaps this is what the Bible means when it states in Genesis that God made us in his image. We don’t look like God physically, rather, we look like God because we are made of the same awareness, creative energy, and mind factors as God. Certainly such a way of thinking makes more sense than believing that God looks like a biological organism that goes by the species name Homosapiens. It is very reasonable to conclude that the vastness and intricacy of our physical universe and the spiritual vastness that lies beyond, weren’t created by a being who has a nature that is comparable to the biological life forms we make use of while incarnated on Earth. Our bodies degrade after they die. How could God’s nature have something to do with organisms that degrade?

God didn’t have to search the Internet, Yellow Pages, or drive to the local chemical supply store to obtain the ingredients with which he created everything. Everything God needed was found within his own being. I figure that at some point God realized how wonderful existence can be and out of love reached into his being and created us. After we learn our lessons and find our way, we take part in the joy of being conscious beings that live according to principles such as divine knowledge, beauty, peace, happiness and love.

When I read the beginning of the Gospel of John (as quoted above), I don’t visualize a God who looks like a human being creating a Son who looked like the man Jesus Christ. I visualize a basically formless being making use of the creative aspect of his being and creating all that he created. Certainly Jesus’ spirit didn’t look like the man Jesus before he incarnated into the body that became known as Jesus.

As the part of God some people refer to as Christ went about creating everything, this part of God had very little to do with a human body. It existed in a manner that is hard for us to understand while human. Nevertheless, an understanding can be had when one finds a way to go beyond one’s usual boundaries. Some people have had an experience of what it is like to be the mind of God. Some people might consider this to be a shocking statement. “How could one little soul come to know what it’s like to be God?” they might ask. It is important to remember that we all come from God. Our basic nature is the same as God’s nature, because what other nature could we have? There is nothing that exists other than God’s being.

As our souls go through the learning process of incarnation, our existence often seems to have little to do with God. But eventually we progress until we reach the point where we exist according to our God-like nature. I don’t mean that we become rulers of our own universes. I mean that we reach a state of oneness where we all live according to God’s love and wisdom as completely as possible. I doubt that God has any objections to this, since he realizes that we are all parts of him. As long as we live according to the same love and purpose he lives by, where is the problem? Remember some of Jesus’ words as quoted above: “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48.)

Perhaps Jesus is a soul who went through the same evolutionary process we go through, and he found his way back to God. He abides in the state we all seek. Because of this, he has access to the mind of God. Because he lives according to God’s love, wisdom and will, it is completely acceptable for him to represent God. This is especially so because like the rest of us, Jesus came from God’s being.

I believe it is important to consider how God views things when considering this issue. Some people might believe this is an outlandish thing to do. Perhaps this is their fear speaking. As long as we are humble enough to remember our place while considering things in such a way, why would God mind? It is our intent that matters most. Big deal if a person does something that seems pious, subservient or whatever trait he considers holy, if he allows the fear of his fate to be his guide rather than the desire to reach the level of understanding God needs people to reach in order to find a way to best serve him. Clearly, God can see into our hearts with no problem, regardless of how much we hide from ourselves.

If you insist that God himself incarnated as Jesus Christ, how many times has he been required to incarnate in a limited way and experience the smallness of being limited? I ask this because we aren’t alone in this universe; our galaxy alone is estimated to have 200 to 400 billion stars. Chances are that planets orbit around many of these stars. Chances are that many of these planets contain life forms that need God’s guidance. It is also possible that there are a large number of other galaxies that also contain numerous life forms that require God’s guidance. There might be an infinite number of galaxies, and therefore, an infinite number of planets that support life forms that require God’s guidance. Would it be preferable for God to have to personally incarnate a huge number of times if not an infinite number of times, and go through the sort of difficulties Jesus Christ went through in order for God’s messages to become available; or would it be preferable to spare God the turmoil of having to go through so much suffering and have souls such as Jesus go through the same growth process we go through, with the intent of becoming divine messengers?

Plus, what would happen to a soul such as Jesus when he returns to the spirit world? Would it be better for his being to merge back with God’s being in a manner where it seems as if he never existed as a unique soul, or would it be better if he was able to continue to enjoy the gift of being a unique soul in God’s marvelous universe just as we get to do so? Would God want to see Jesus’ existence as a unique soul come to an end? The same question could be asked for all of the other incarnations that would’ve taken place, if God personally incarnated on numerous planets. What’s truly important when it comes to a being who plays the role of divine messenger is whether or not this being lives according to a level of love and wisdom that is in accord with God’s way of being.

When considered from a Biblical perspective, I earlier stated that Elaine Pagels wrote that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke speak of Jesus as if he was a divine messenger, and the Gospel of John speaks of him as God himself. The latter point isn’t completely true, because in the following Gospel of John verses Jesus speaks as if God is a being other than himself: John 3:16, 17, 18; 4:23, 24, 34; 5:17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 45; 6:27, 29, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 46, 57, 65; 7:16, 17,18, 28, 29, 33; 8:16, 18, 28, 29, 38, 42, 49, 50, 54; 10:15, 17,18, 25, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38; 11:41; 12:26, 27, 28, 44, 45, 49; 13:20, 31, 32; 14:2, 6, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31; 15:1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26; 16:5, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32; 17:1-25; 18:10; 20:17,21.

Jesus often referred to God as his Father. In the following verses he stated in some way that God sent him: John 3:17; 4:34; 5:24, 36, 37; 6:38, 44, 46,57; 7:16, 18, 29, 33; 8:42; 10:36; 12:44, 45, 49; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:28; 20:21. Jesus also said prayers to God (John 11:41-2 and 17:1-25). He stated that he acts according to God’s authority: John 5:26-27, 36, 10:18. In John 8:18 he stated, “I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other. He stated that God is greater than he:

John 14:28, “Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.”

Also:

John 14:8-14, Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

The second set of verses can either support or contradict what I’m suggesting, depending upon which words you focus on. When Jesus says, “The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me” and speaks of bringing glory to the Father, certainly he speaks as if God is independent of him. On the other hand, when he states, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” he seems to state the opposite. I believe the answer to this quandary can be found by considering the meaning of the words “Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”  Also the words from John 14:20, “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

Also, from John 15:1-8:

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch withers. Such branches are gathered and piled to be burned. [5] But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

When Jesus speaks of people remaining in him while he remains in them, certainly he doesn’t mean his personality and the body he made use of while incarnated on Earth. He meant his nature in a universal and spiritual sense. The real Jesus is the divinity that comes from God. This divinity exists in everything including us! When we live according to love, we allow ourselves to live according to this divinity. Jesus had reached the point where he lived according to love and divine will so completely, he abided in God’s being, and at the same time God abided in him. This enabled him to understand about God’s wisdom and what God wanted.

Another possibility is that Jesus Christ was (and still is) the divine manifestation of God when he incarnated into this world, because God had a soul incarnate into this world that was based upon his knowledge and history, rather than the limited background that souls usually have. Perhaps God has projected a part of himself into many worlds. Each part gets to continue to exist after it completes its incarnation in a world. I don’t believe this has been done as often as some people suggest. Some of the people who have claimed to be an incarnation of God do not seem divine when you look at their lives and closely consider what they said.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter which viewpoint we believe in, it is more important that we live according to the principles Jesus taught. Eventually a day will come when we will find out the truth. Whatever it is, I figure it is glorious.

I believe that Jesus Christ helped elevate the consciousness level of the human race in a manner that goes beyond the impact of his verbal teachings, and that people have been helped through his ongoing spiritual assistance. Despite how it seems at times, all of us are inwardly connected. When one of us reaches an elevated level of consciousness, it becomes easier for the rest of us to do so.

There is also the matter of how the world’s overall energetic level is affected. This physical world and the spirit world aren’t as separate as they seem. If a person gets to the point where he lives according to love to a high degree, he makes an energetic connection to the level of spirit-being where spirits live completely according to love. I believe it is possible that Jesus Christ did so to an extent that hadn’t been reached before. I’m not able to assess the value of this on a measurement basis, but certainly this was a key milestone for the human race.