A Study of the Bible in the light of Christian Science reveals that man's relation or true kinship to God is his sonship with God, his at-one-ment with divine Love. Throughout his ministry Christ Jesus proved that a knowledge of this relationship can be gained only through the spiritual understanding of man,—his origin and existence as a child of God, his government by the divine law of Love.
The Scriptures declare that man is God's image and likeness. As no proper sense of image can be had without a concept of the original of which the image is a reflection, in order to perceive man as God's likeness it is necessary to recognize the divine nature of God,—His infinity, His supremacy, His eternality,—and to possess a true sense of divine Love. Without the love of God, would it ever be possible to realize that man is the son of God, and that his Father is infinite, supreme, eternal? About this true idea of Love, can there be any doubt?
As God is infinite, He must be All. Being All, there can be no other creator. He is therefore the one parent, both the Father and the Mother of man. Being infinite, God cannot be limited in power. His perfection must be without discord or decay. As matter contains the elements of discord and dissolution, God, the origin of man, must be Spirit, Mind. Man, as the son of the one Father, therefore occupies a mental, spiritual, divine relation to his creator, the origin of his existence.
To be infinite, God must also be supreme. There can be no other authority or sovereign power. The law of God must be the supreme rule of the universe. Man, then, exists by the authority of the perfect law of divine Mind. His sonship with God places him under the government and control of Spirit, in which the laws of the so-called human mind have no power. Thus, man is protected by the spiritual rule of his Father from all that is evil. His existence therefore as reflection is dependent upon the power of Spirit. When this power of Truth, this authority of spiritual law, is reflected by us, we can prove that man has no connection or association with evil, and that God cannot be united to His unlikeness. Man thus coexists with God in full agreement, in perfect harmony with Spirit, divine Love.
God's infinity and supremacy point to His eternality. God is eternal. As Life, He bestows upon man eternality, that life which has neither beginning nor end. Man remains His son forever. He cannot be separated, even temporarily, from his Father. He has always reflected, and will ever continue to reflect, eternal Life. Man is ever conscious that his relation to his Father is permanent and complete.
These glorious truths are scientific facts concerning God and man, and man's relation to God. They pertain to man's existence. Through them one can spiritually discern the inseparability or indivisibility of divine Principle and its idea, Father and son. These verities unfold God's allness and the perfect love He bears for man because of His bestowal of infinite life, truth, and love upon His offspring. How to make these truths practical in the lives of individuals has been the endeavor, throughout the ages, of those who have loved God and mankind.
In his love for God and man Jesus of Nazareth presented a perfect example of true sonship with the Father, and of the power to be derived from the understanding of man's union with divine Principle, Mind. In reference to this relationship he said, "I and my Father are one." Jesus proved that no human element enters into this heavenly kinship; that without this perfect unity no true consciousness of Father and son could be realized. An erroneous belief which sometimes presents itself in this connection is that man is self-existent; that he exists independently of the one God and creator. Jesus demonstrated that there is no power apart from God; therefore, that man has no ability to exist alone. This clear concept of man's unity with God made Christ Jesus ever conscious of his real identity, and of man's unlimited nature as the reflection of the power of God, good.
In her search for Truth, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, realized that the statement of Jesus, "I and my Father are one," is a scientific fact; that at-one-ment with God is realizable now; and that the spiritual application of this truth brings to humanity freedom from sin, disease, and death. Through her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy brings to human consciousness the Christian, scientific sense of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,—in other words, the spiritual facts concerning man's origin, his existence as a child of God, his government by the law of divine Mind. On page 331 of Science and Health she writes: "These three express in divine Science the threefold, essential nature of the infinite. They also indicate the divine Principle of scientific being, the intelligent relation of God to man and the universe."
Christian Science reveals God as infinite, supreme, eternal, and man as His image and likeness. It makes practical the method whereby one may demonstrate man's true relation to the Father. The individual learns that he need only turn from the false, human sense of cause, existence, and law, to find that he is related to God spiritually, divinely, mentally, but not materially; that he possesses as an inheritance all the qualities of the divine Mind. His sonship with his Father is thus established as a reality.
The starting point of all error is a false sense of man's origin. The belief that man begins and ends in matter is carried on through ignorance, superstition, and false teaching, fear and sin, As one gains in the spiritual understanding of God, as he faithfully supports this true idea by his acts and example, he will prove that man is of God; that his existence is spiritual; and that "mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship" (Science and Health, p. 316). This understanding of the nature of God and of man as His offspring, this Christ, Truth, enabled Mrs. Eddy to follow in the footsteps of the Master, and to give to the world the Science of being. Through the application of the truths contained in this Science, her faithful followers are endeavoring to emulate her works in the overcoming of sickness and sin, thereby establishing themselves in their true relation to the one Mind, God.
John writes, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." This link between the divine and so-called human, this "manner of love," realized and demonstrated, will prove man's relationship to God to be complete, perfect, and harmonious. Love stands revealed in the Science of the Christ, where sonship with the Father remains forever the same; and the obedient Christian Scientist is demonstrating this truth.
