Chapter 299 - And He Increased In Grace And Wisdom NOW IT IS WRITTEN in the Scripture: And He increased in grace and wisdom before God and men and remained subservient and obedient to His parents, until He began His ministry. 2 Question: How could Jesus, as the only eternal Supreme Being, increase in grace and wisdom before God and men, when He actually was God from eternity; 3 and how especially before men, since He was the infinitely most perfect Being from eternity? 4 To understand this correctly, Jesus must not be looked upon exclusively as the only God; 5 but He must be seen as a man in whom the sole eternal Deity imprisoned Itself as seemingly inactive, just as the spirit is imprisoned in the nature of every man. 6 And what every man must do according to the divine order to free the spirit within himself, 7 that the man Jesus also had to do in all earnestness in order to free the Supreme Being within himself, so that he might become one with Him. 8 Now every man must carry certain weaknesses within himself, which are the common bonds of the spirit by which it is confined as though within a tight shell.
9 These bonds can only be burst asunder when the soul, which is entwined with the flesh, has so strengthened itself through the proper amount of self-denial that it is stable enough to perceive and to hold the free spirit. 10 This is why man can only become aware of his weaknesses by suffering all manner of temptations and thus discover how and wherein his spirit is fettered. 11 And when he thereupon denies himself in his soul in these very matters, he thereby frees his spirit of its bonds and binds his soul therewith. 12 And when, in the course of time, the soul is bound with all the former bonds of the spirit, the completely unfettered spirit quite naturally unites with the entire, now strong soul, 13 and the latter thereby enters into all perfect, heavenly power of the spirit and thus becomes wholly one with the spirit forever. 14 For the loosening of one bond after the other constitutes the soul's increase in spiritual strength, which is God's wisdom and God's grace. 15 God's wisdom consists in the clear beholding of God's eternal order within the self, and His grace in recognizing His eternal light of love, by means of which all of the endless and innumerable things, the conditions of their existence and their paths are illuminated. 16 And as is the case with man, so it also was with the God-man Jesus. 17 His soul was like that of every man and was fettered with all the more weaknesses because the most powerful Spirit of God had to bind Himself with the mightiest of bonds so He could be contained within His soul. 18 Thus the soul of Jesus also had to withstand the greatest temptations and deny itself in order to take the bonds off its God-Spirit and to gird itself therewith for the infinite freedom of the Spirit of all spirits, so it could become wholly one with Him. 19 And in just this did the increase in the wisdom and the grace of the soul of Jesus before God and men consist, and that in such measure that the God-Spirit gradually and ever more and more united Himself with His in fact divine soul, which was called the Son of God. - Chapter 300 - An Exemplary Life of The Soul JUST HOW did the Lord Jesus live from His twelfth to His thirtieth year? 2 He constantly felt the Presence of the almighty Deity within Himself as a living Power; He knew within His soul that everything in the whole creation was and eternally must be subservient to His slightest wish. 3 Moreover, He felt the greatest urge within His soul to rule over everything. 4 Pride, a desire for power, for complete freedom of will, for a life of pleasure, for women and for other such infirmities, as well as anger were the chief weaknesses of His soul. 5 But He fought against all of these powerful and deadly inclinations of His soul from the will of His soul. 6 He humbled His pride by means of want; but what an indeed harsh measure this was for Him to whom all things belonged, and He nevertheless might not call anything "My own". 7 He tamed His desire for power through the most willing obedience toward those who like all men were like chaff before Him. 8 Although it was an infinitely difficult thing for Him to do, He assaulted His eternal, supreme freedom by submitting Himself to men as a slave-like servant to perform the lowliest tasks. 9 He fought against His most powerful urge to lead a life of pleasure by frequent fasts - from want as well as from the free will of His soul. 10 He combated His desire for women through repeated hard work, through simple fare, through prayer and through keeping company with wise men. 11 Indeed, in this matter He had to carry an exceptionally great burden, for His appearance and the sound of His voice were most captivating, 12 for which reason the five truly beautiful daughters of Cyrenius were one and all violently in love with Him and vied amongst each other to please Him the most. 13 Such love did indeed please Him; but for all that He had to say to each at all times: 'Noli Me tangere!' 14 Furthermore, since He saw through the malice of men at a glance and saw their cunning and hypocrisy, their dishonesty and selfishness, 15 it is easy to understand that He was quickly aroused and could very easily be hurt and angered; 16 but here He tempered His divine character with His love and His thereupon following compassion. 17 And thus He practiced all manner of most arduous self-denial throughout His whole life, so He thereby might rebuild the eternal order which had been shaken to its very foundation. 18 Thus it can easily be seen how' it was that Jesus as a human being spent these eighteen years amid constant temptations and the combating thereof. 19 And since this has now been presented in a manner which should be of benefit to everyone, all that remains to be told is the three-day discourse with the wise men and scholars in the temple, but which, as well as a number of other matters, cannot be given at this time. 20 So be content with this for now, and the other will follow when you say to the servant, 21 'Come to us, brother, in the name of the Lord, and stay and dwell with us!' - 22 This work is herewith completed, and I bestow My blessing My grace upon you for ever and always! Amen. Amen. Amen. " (The Childhood of Jesus - The Gospel of James)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
NEW REVELATION ExcerptsFundamental Teachings
Categories
All
Archives
March 2019
|