DIVINE FREE WILL AND THE AMAZING NATURE OF THE FATHER'S GRACE (The Whole Gospel Of Jesus Christ Simplified – 2)

The Father’s love for us is divine; his grace is truly amazing.

Recognizing that we are wayward spirits trapped in the universal Hell we created for ourselves is the first crucial step toward spiritual redemption through the heavenly Christ.

True repentance is impossible without a heartfelt realization that we all sinned as autonomous, free spirits.

A.    ORIGIN OF EXISTENCE

·     The Father is the Ultimate Divine Spirit, the uncreated Origin of all existence, encompassing both the spiritual and physical realms. Within him, light and darkness, as well as spiritual and physical realities, are fundamental to an eternal, ordered creation.

·    The Father’s act of divine creation can be described as a personal restructuring, involving the strict, eternal separation between light and darkness and between the spiritual and the physical, resulting in two opposing realms, one of perfect light and the other of perfect darkness.

·   The Father’s creation originates in eternity; it is timeless and predates the divine emanation of fully autonomous creative spirits from him, now known as his sons. Therefore, no entity other than the Father can recount the precise sequence of his creation, but all his sons can appreciate and describe its discernible effects.

·   We can all imagine light and darkness, the spiritual and the physical, strictly separated for all eternity, with perfect light and perfect darkness confined to distinct spiritual and physical realms. These realms endure forever. This is the simplest way to explain the Father’s eternal creation.

·     We can also envision a scenario in which light and darkness, the spiritual and the physical, coexist, much as in our universal worlds. In this context, perfection is unattainable, and widespread evil becomes the expected outcome.

B.    THE DIVINE STATUS QUO

·     The Father embodies Divine Light, which signifies life itself. He designated the realm of perfect light as his eternal domain. Within this realm, he also radiates self-sustaining, living lights. This is the infinite sphere of his positive influence. Here, the standard of perfect existence, marked by the absence of any trace of darkness, applies to both the Father and his radiated ‘sons.’

·   The infinite expanse of perfect darkness symbolizes divine serenity, a state of absolute silence without divine light. Because it lacks divine illumination, the Father designates this part of his infinite divine essence as lifeless and inactive. As a result, this realm remains forever off-limits to both the Father of Light and his radiant, self-sustaining lights. Any son of light who enters this domain will be extinguished and rendered lifeless. The scripture succinctly states, “The spirit that sins shall die.”

·   The boundless Kingdom of the Father can be compared to a Royal Ship afloat on a bottomless, dark sea. An unwritten rule aboard holds that neither the Royal Captain nor any of his crew can jump overboard and still live.

The Royal Ship afloat on the deadly, bottomless, dark sea

C.    YET MANY PEOPLE STILL ASK:

“IF THE FATHER TRULY LOVED US, WHY DIDN'T HE PREVENT US FROM FALLING INTO THIS UNIVERSAL HELL?”

·     Jesus Christ effectively answered this question in his parable of the prodigal son. Yet humans have failed to recognize that he was speaking about us as prodigal spirits. Questioning why our loving Heavenly Father didn’t prevent our free spirits from venturing into the dark, lifeless realm is akin to asking why the caring father in the parable didn’t force his wayward son to stay home, even though he knew the son was heading toward danger.

·    As previously mentioned, the living sons of the Living Father represent autonomous creative energies within his Heavenly Kingdom. They are free spirits, and spiritual freedom rests on Free Will.

· While countless perfect sons of light exist in the Father’s Heavenly Kingdom, Heaven’s infinite nature offers boundless creative opportunities for all. Jesus Christ referred to this when he said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” This implies that no spirit needs to venture into darkness, where death is inevitable and genuine creativity is stifled. Nonetheless, every individual spirit retains the right to exercise its divine free will within the Father’s flawless Heavenly Kingdom, much like the prodigal son did in his father’s superabundant estate.

·      In my analogy of the Royal Ship afloat on a bottomless, dark sea, it is an accepted rule that neither the Royal Captain nor his crew should jump overboard, where instant death is certain. Therefore, it is unreasonable to hold the Royal Captain responsible for the reckless actions of any crew member who knowingly dives into the bottomless sea and perishes.

·     Similarly, our loving Heavenly Father cannot be held accountable for the reckless actions of fully independent prodigal spirits who deliberately entered the realm of darkness and lifelessness, fully aware of the inevitable consequences.

·     Although our loving Heavenly Father seeks to redeem us from our present universal Hell, he will not force any of us to choose life over death. Neither he nor Jesus Christ will override our individual rights to exercise our inviolable free will. The Father did not send Jesus Christ into the world to force or cajole anyone back into Heaven, but to steadily appeal to our consciences, reminding us of the spiritual status quo and praying that we eventually attain true self-realization and willingly accept the Father’s gracious offer of spiritual rebirth.

·     That is why Jesus Christ says: “If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.” [John 12:47-48]

·    Indeed, if someone standing at a vantage point offers a helping hand to someone who has fallen into a ditch and the person rejects it, there can be no basis for judgment except that the person will blame himself in the end.

D.   THE SAVING MINDSET

·   Recognizing that we are wayward spirits who violated the Heavenly standard of perfection and thus sinned against the Father’s eternal divine order is the best way to understand our situation. We sinned against Heaven and before the Father, and we are not at home in the universal Hell we created for ourselves in the distant realm of eternal darkness.

·     This should serve as the correct mindset and the first step for anyone genuinely seeking spiritual redemption through the heavenly Christ.

·      Blaming the Father for our suffering in our universal Hell, or for not stopping us from exercising our free will as free spirits, ultimately misses the point and serves as a way to avoid taking responsibility for our reckless choices. Recognizing that we are self-inflicted in this universal Hell helps us understand the meaning of genuine repentance. Without a heartfelt belief that we sinned as autonomous, individual spirits, true repentance is impossible.

E. AMAZING NATURE OF THE FATHER’S DIVINE GRACE

·      The Scripture says: “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But the Father shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:6-8]

·      The proverbial prodigal son ultimately achieved self-realization, recognizing that he had brought his own suffering upon himself in the distant hell he had chosen. He felt he had shamed his father’s family and had forfeited his right to be a son. Then he humbled himself in genuine repentance and decided to return home to his ever-loving father.

·      He said to himself: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.’” [Luke 15:18-19]

·   But instead of being angry, his father felt deep love and compassion and welcomed him back as a bona fide son. “His father said to his servants, ‘Bring the best robe quickly, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.” [Luke 15:22-24]

·      Finally, Jesus Christ says: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of the Father over one sinner who repents [in the universal Hell].” [Luke 15:10]

The Father’s love for us is divine; his grace is truly amazing