WHEN the statement is made in Christian Science that man is the child of God, perfect, complete, free from evil and limitation, this does not refer to mortal man, the supposed man of sense. The perfect man is spiritual; the supposititious man of sense is material. The perfect man is the real man. the image and likeness of God; the supposed man of sense is not the real man, but the product of generations of false belief and education on the basis of physical sense.
When Christ Jesus came teaching the true nature of man and said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," he set before mankind a goal of endeavor which is the object of all true Christianity. The purpose of all right human effort is to rise above the consciousness or belief of the mortal man and to reach the consciousness or understanding of the true man of Spirit; as Paul says, "That ye put off ... the old man ... and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
This effort on the part of humanity to reach the true nature of man is often compared to a journey, and it is wonderfully illustrated by the Biblical account of the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. When the first glimpse of spiritual truth comes to any human consciousness, its effect is to make that person dissatisfied with the bondage and darkness of sense in which he finds himself, and to start him on the journey which will not end until he reaches the full consciousness of man's true being,—of the glory of Soul or Spirit.
