The Father.4

"I and my Father are one.

Everything that the Father has is mine.

I have come from the Father to this world;

I will leave this world again, and return to my Father."

--Jesus

ONENESS

Every human being has been given a special birthright, the highest calling that anyone can achieve: sharing "Oneness" with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! But what does Oneness with our Creator mean for you and me? How can the invitation to Eternal Life impact our life on earth here and now?

Consider these life experiences rooted in the Character and Will of God, things that we long for and occasionally stumble across or with great effort find along the pathway of life, although imperfectly and inconsistently, yet ever drawing us closer to the Heart of the Creator:

Perfecting Love

"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. There is no fear in love but Perfect Love casts out fear." 1 John 4:12, 18

"There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine.Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love's kind, must be destroyed.

And our God is a consuming fire."

MacDonald, Consuming Fire

Ponder the progression of love's development in each individual:

• We begin our journey conceived in love. 
• At birth we look up into the eyes of love. 
• As self consciousness develops so our struggle to love the "fearfulness and wonder" of our making.
• As our "neighborhood" expands from sharing with siblings to finding friendships in the wider community so love grows to bless and be blessed. 
• The progression reaches its greatest height, depth, length and breadth (as well as most contrary to nature) when, in conscious obedience to the love of the Father & Son, with grace by the Spirit, we pray for, love, forgive and bless our enemies.

True Worth

Think about this common issue and source of great consternation for physicians: "Why would someone buy prescription medication for his dog, and then so carefully administer it, when he would not do the same for himself? ...you have the answer, derived from one of the foundational texts of mankind [Genesis 1-3]. Why should anyone take care of anything as naked, ugly, ashamed, frightened worthless, cowardly, resentful, defensive and accusatory as a descendant of Adam?"

Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules For Life

God (in an imperfect understanding of the idea) perfectly likes Himself, does not carry the "appalling burden of self-loathing, resentment or hatred of Being under which most humans genuinely stagger." We carry in our Being the image of God, and with it the idea of Divine Goodness and Worth. To have the value of our God-born worth restored is heaven indeed!

The classic Christmas carol, O Holy Night, originally penned in 1843, describes the wonder of worth restored:

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Purified Potential

Where and when did this "appalling burden of self-loathing, resentment or hatred of Being under which most humans genuinely stagger" originate?

Eating the forbidden fruit awakened in Adam and Eve consciousness, first of all their nakedness, i.e, vulnerability, inadequacy, weakness, of being unprotected and unarmed in a hostile world. Secondly, they became aware of Good and Evil, the development of morality. "Self-consciousness wrought an awareness of humanity's defenselessness, finitude and mortality. We can feel pain, and self-disgust, and shame, and horror, and we know it. We know what makes us suffer. We know how dread and pain can be inflicted on us--and with that means we know exactly how to inflict it on others. Only man will inflict suffering for the sake of suffering...the best definition of evil we can formulate."

"The original Man and Woman, existing in unbroken unity with their Creator, did not appear conscious (and certainly not self-conscious). Their eyes were not open. But, in their perfection, they were also less, not more, than their post-Fall counterparts. Their goodness was something bestowed, rather than deserved or earned. They exercised no choice. God knows, that’s easier. But maybe it’s not better than, for example, goodness genuinely earned."

(Jordan Peterson, Ibid.)

The snake of chaos introduced into the order of the garden

may have been the Eternal way of saying that choice matters. Could it be that God knew that the nature of man would never reach its potential without challenge and danger? Would He prefer "permanent human infantilism and absolute uselessness" resulting from protecting them from every danger and challenge required to produce competence and strength? Obviously not.

"It is a joy profound as peace to know that God is determined...to have his children clean, clear, pure as very snow; is determined that not only they with his help make up for whatever wrong they have done, but at length be incapable, by eternal choice of good, under any temptation, of doing the thing that is not divine, the thing God would not do."

George MacDonald, The Last Farthing

Righteous Wrappings

In a cosmos that is defined by chaos and order, the development of mankind from sleeping consciousness to God-like potential for Creative Good is learned by aiming for the greatest possible good for both ourselves and our "neighbors". Each step worked out in understanding and doing the Will of God just as Jesus did accepting limitations on our Being, suffering temptation and hardship, betrayal by friend and family, standing against tyranny and overcoming death in sacrificial service to others is the "overcoming" Jesus promises to reward us with Hope fulfilled!

"To the one who conquers, overcomes, prevails, gets the victory," says the Watcher, Judge, Redeemer, Rewarder, "I will

• give to eat of the tree of life, 
• ensure he shall not be hurt of the second death, 
• give to eat of the hidden manna, 
• give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it 
• give power over the nations, 
• give him the morning star, 
• clothe in white raiment, 
• not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels 
• make a pillar in the temple of my God,
• write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, I will write upon him my new name, 
• grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

Revelation 2-3

Encouragement to Thrive

Would God rather have sons or slaves? Is it better or worse to have both partners in a relationship strong? With a "spark of the Divine" in us are we not "low-resolution" versions of God able to bring order out of chaos by speaking Truth into action? Rather than being "tortured by our limitation and constraints of Being" we are capable of using the time, talent and treasures entrusted to us to meet Physical needs such as water, heat, electricity, housing, clothing, transportation and health-care; Emotional and Mental needs such as nurturing and education; Spiritual needs such as proclaiming the Truth of the gospel and teaching to lead godly lives in obedience to the Words of Jesus!

Fearless Fellowship

A man named Tom Wilson recently died after a two year battle with stomach cancer. But he'd spent a lifetime battling the Lord of Life with a false confidence in his own idea of goodness, strength and self-reliance. As his once

capable body wasted away, the dawning of his need for a savior broke through! The realization that things he'd done to betray his faithful wife, that he'd fallen miserably short in even his own conscience, that he had nothing to offer a God who required perfection was at once overwhelming. He wept. And then the love of God in Christ Jesus brought Peace that Passes Understanding as he prayed, "Jesus, all that I know about me I give to all that I know about you!"

The transformation from a man who's spiritual nakedness was exposed and wanted to hide from God to firebrand for God was evident when his closest childhood friend, Dan (a faithful follower of Jesus), stopped by to make sure Tom was spiritually prepared to die. He was greeted by Tom with this warning: "Dan have you been saved? I just want to make sure we are both going to be in the same place friend!" It was Dan's turn to be overwhelmed...with joy!

"He hath shewed thee, O man,

what is good;

and what doth the LORD require of thee,

but to do justly,

and to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with thy God?"

Micah 6:8

Oneness with God. Don't leave home without it! It will change your life. When your life is changed then there is hope for the world!