© 2012 Jesús Rodríguez
© 2012 Urantia Association of Spain
| Luz y Vida — No. 30 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 30 — September 2012 — Index | The Urantia Book and reincarnation |
What can be the magic that encloses death, that in a single step can instantly transform the material mortal soul into a perfected immortal spirit? These beliefs are nothing more than ignorant superstitions that contribute nothing to the spiritual evolution of the morontia soul and its consequent immortal survival. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance that one begins to understand that the ascending morontia career begins during the course of our terrestrial life, since mortal life is an authentic training school in which the evolutionary morontia soul of man must evolve to through the following spiritual values:
TRUTH: When the human intellect is already dominated by the resident divine spirit, and is aware of knowing GOD.
GOODNESS: The mental recognition of the values related to the various levels of divine perfection.
LOVE: The recognition of the universal brotherhood of man through selfless and altruistic service to our fellow men.
So that; the evolutionary soul that manages to begin its morontia training (the phasing out of animal instincts) during the course of its earth life will become indestructible and will not only survive death, it will also achieve eternal survival. On the other hand, for the evolving soul of man who is not aware of the highest spiritual values, his mortal existence and his life itself will have no meaning; it will only be a tragic illusion (UB 111:3.7).
4.-THE PERSONALITY: It is a “divine Gift” that has been granted by the Universal Father to all the intelligent creatures of his great creation, whether they are superhuman or material personalities. This GIFT is destined to function within the different levels of universal reality and goes from the lowest finite to the highest absonite and even to the level of the absolute.
Personality is a potentially eternal GIFT that is bestowed on all living systems of associated energies of matter, mind, and spirit; that is to say, it is a quality of eternal value that unfolds and evolves within the different cosmic levels of universal reality (finite, absonite and absolute).
Urantia evolutionary mortals are endowed with a personality of finite type, which has the characteristic of remaining unalterable in the presence of change. That is to say, that if the human personality, “the mortal SELF”, manages to survive death, his eternal personality will not undergo any change through his spiritual ascending career, since the personality is unique in time and space. It is unique since it is received as a “divine gift”; it is unique in eternity and in Paradise; it is unique in each moment of its existence; it is unique in its relationship with GOD.
Personality is an endowment of an original, distinct and exclusive nature, which will characterize the individual we know and which will later allow us to identify him in the future, whatever his change in shape, mind or spiritual state. The personality is that part of every individual that allows us to recognize him and identify him positively, despite the fact that he has undergone a change due to the modification of his vehicle of expression; Whether he is in a material or spiritual state, his personality will always be the same in both states.
The “MATERIAL SELF” of the human personality will depend, during his physical life, on the continued function of his material life vehicle (the human body), but the SELF of eternal survival, the “SPIRITUAL SELF”, the one that transcends the experience of death (the personality) will depend on the continued function of a vehicle of a more enduring nature: the immortal soul.
This association of the “potential immortal soul” with the potential “eternal personality” can only be achieved when mortal man, with his spiritual free will, manifests the will, the sincere desire and the firm conviction to comply with the supreme mandate that the Universal Father has ordered all his creatures: ALL BE PERFECT, JUST AS I AM PERFECT. Since complying with the will of GOD is the key that will open the doors of eternal survival to the soul and to the mortal personality.
This act of submitting one’s “own will” to the “will of God” is the sincere expression of an authentic spiritual child of GOD, who consciously decides to express “it is my will that your will be done.” But we, due to our spiritual ignorance, leave everything to the will of GOD, we are so lazy that we are always asking him to solve our problems and difficulties. We never ask him for wisdom and spiritual strength to guide us and support us while we attack with resolution and courage the problems that arise (page 999.8). We do not possess that will that is required for us to solve our problems ourselves. We always let HIM decide for us. We lack the will to consciously choose that choice of spiritual life that the FATHER demands of his children and that Jesus of Nazareth taught us so wonderfully by offering as a man the greatest offering that any mortal can show to GOD: consecrate and dedicate your own will to the majestic service of fulfilling the divine will of the Universal Father.
The expression “it is my will that your will be done” is not any submission of the will of man. This expression has a deeper meaning; It is a consecration of the will, an expansion of the will, an improvement of the will, a conscious will that is always ready to comply with the will of GOD, where such a choice elevates the will of the mortal creature to a higher state of cosmic reality, which is when the PERSONALITY of the creature begins to commune with the PERSONALITY OF THE FATHER, when communication with the thought adjuster truly begins, when the creature manages to be identified as an authentic spiritual son of GOD, which is when truly mortal man acquires possession of THE ETERNAL PERSONALITY (UB 101:10.4,UB 112:2.9).
So that; the Universal Father having provided the spiritual attributes (mind, spirit, soul and personality) for the growth of his mortal creatures and having provided man with the necessary means to free himself from the chains of materialism in which he lives and unfolds, THE GOD-FATHER steps aside to allow man, through the divine attributes he possesses and with his spiritual free will, to make his choice of ETERNAL LIFE.
At this point, it is important to emphasize that, in truth, “man is the architect of his own eternal destiny”, since it will be his will and not the will of GOD that will decide his potential eternal destiny.
GOD grants all personalities the ability to choose (free will) to make their own spiritual decisions, HE cannot force any creature with personality to undertake THE ETERNAL ADVENTURE without their consent.
The gates of eternity open only in response to the free choice made by a true “spiritual child of GOD”, who, consciously and according to his spiritual will, chooses to comply with the will of the FATHER. But we still fail to understand that, within our cosmic mind, there is a set of spiritual forces and that, if we become aware of their existence and cooperate with them, we would be able to fulfill the supreme mandate of human perfection that GOD demands from his deadly creatures.
That HUMAN PERFECTION was exhibited in such an exemplary way more than two thousand years ago by an ascending evolutionary mortal, an authentic spiritual son of GOD named Jesus of Nazareth, the most religious and spiritual personality that has existed in the history of humanity.
It is important to note that this mortal man named Jesus was able to lead such an exemplary life of human perfection through the same SPIRITUAL ATTRIBUTES that each one of us possesses (cosmic mind, morontia soul, thought adjuster, and evolutionary personality), but it was thanks to to the choice he made with his free will that managed to ascend in the mortal life scale until reaching the admirable spiritual state of being a “true child of GOD by FAITH” (UB 40:6.1). Jesus never used his divine nature to achieve such a degree of human perfection.
Jesus lived a full mortal life, a truly normal and common life like that of any mortal, HE knew from his own experience the way of life of the mortal races of Urantia, the same type of mortal life that is lived in the evolutionary worlds of time and space. The life and teachings of Jesus are a heritage of spiritual instruction for all times of all the worlds of the universe, not only for the human races of the earth. The mortal life of Jesus of Nazareth will forever be the model to be followed by all evolutionary mortals in the universe (UB 129:4.3, UB 129:4.7, UB 129:4.8, UB 140:8.30).
“The teacher” Jesus of Nazareth taught us how life should be lived in our world and in our time, and how it should also be lived in the other evolutionary worlds. Even the mortal life that Jesus lived among the mortal races of Urantia continues to serve as an example to the worlds that have a high spiritual advance and are already established in the age of “light and life” (on the road to perfection), UB 129:4.8.
Definitely we cannot aspire to lead the life of human perfection of the Master Jesus; but what we are obliged to is that, if we wish to achieve the survival of our mortal soul, and through our “spiritual free will”, we make the intelligent decision to live our lives with the same means that Jesus lived his. That is to say, using the same spiritual gifts that were granted to “the Son of Man” Jesus of Nazareth, the same spiritual gifts that the Universal Father poured out so generously on all the mortal races of Urantia (UB 129:4.8).
To conclude: it must be very clear to us that, in order to reach THE ACHIEVEMENT OF IMMORTAL SURVIVAL, all souls in every possible phase of mortal existence will survive as long as they express the sincere desire to cooperate with their “thought adjuster” and exhibit the impulse to find GOD, as well as to achieve the human perfection that the Universal Father demands of all his children, which they will be able to obtain by following that new path of mortal life that the Master Jesus taught humanity so masterfully (UB 34:7.6, UB 40:6.1).
It is important to know that the life of human perfection that Jesus reached during his first twenty-nine years of age (his personal ministry), when his purely human spiritual development practically ended, will first elapse within the twenty-seven years that Jesus lived with his family environment. and social in Nazareth and in Jerusalem (the Jewish world), and then during the next two years in which he decided to travel across the Mediterranean throughout the Roman Empire (the world of the Gentiles), with the purpose of getting up close the full range of human emotions (UB 129:4.1).
Jesus practically reached the peak of spiritual human living during his twentieth year of age. The Son of Man came to earth so that the fullness of GOD might be manifested to man. Jesus has already become ALMOST THE PERFECTION OF MAN who awaits the opportunity to manifest himself to GOD, and he did all this before he was thirty years old (UB 129:4.8).
So, if we truly WISH TO EVOLVE SPIRITUALLY FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF IMMORTAL SURVIVAL, if we truly aspire to lead an authentic spiritual life and if we are willing to develop a genuine spirituality, we can only achieve it if we first study the personal life of Jesus of Nazareth, since it is his personal ministry, and not the lessons to his twelve apostles or the sermons to the crowds (his preaching life), which will guide us to live an authentic spiritual life, a state that will truly allow us to know the character divine and loving personality of our Universal Father (UB 32:2.13, UB 34:5.6, UB 140:8.20).
If we are going to start reading the life and teachings of Jesus, we must take into account the following. Jesus’ earthly life goes through three stages: his personal ministry, a period of transition, and his public ministry (UB 129:4.1).
- STAGE OF PERSONAL MINISTRY: this part of his personal life shows us the purely human development of Jesus. This period includes his first 29 years of age and is located within his family and social environment. At this stage, Jesus reaches the full sum and substance of living the lives of human beings, as lived in the material worlds of time and space (UB 129:4.1, UB 129:4.4).
- TRANSITION PERIOD: it goes from 30 to 33 years of age, period in which Jesus left behind his personal life to dedicate himself to his preparation as a teacher of spiritual truth. Also at that time Jesus selected and trained his twelve apostles, the future messengers of the kingdom (UB 134:0.1 to UB 140:10.10).
- STAGE OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY: when the Master Jesus began the proclamation of “his incomparable gospel”, the greatest teachings of spiritual truth and eternal life that mortal man of this world and of the other worlds of the universe have ever heard (UB 141:0.1 to UB 175:4.15).
I lovingly invite you to study in detail THE PERSONAL LIFE OF Jesus, which is masterfully detailed in part four of THE URANTIA BOOK, which contains the life and teachings of Jesus. Since, when a detailed study of the personal life that Jesus lived within his immediate environment has been made, we will be better able to understand the true meaning of his incomparable teachings of eternal life, which we can access if we manage to comply with the will of our Universal Father: BE HUMANLY PERFECT LIKE OUR BROTHER Jesus IS PERFECT
Thank you.
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| Luz y Vida — No. 30 — Presentation | Luz y Vida — No. 30 — September 2012 — Index | The Urantia Book and reincarnation |