THROUGHOUT the ages the majority of mortals have accepted the belief that beyond the boundary of human experience, when the limit of mortal existence is reached, there is a future world which can be gained only by passing through the gates of death. A large portion of mankind accepts the teachings of some school or other of religion and philosophy on this subject; but others feel that it is impossible to attain a definite solution of the problem of immortality and to understand how it can be won, while on the so-called mortal plane of existence.
From the study of the Gospel of John we find Christ Jesus' outlook concerning these things. He did not start with the premise that man lives in matter, and that a drastic experience would force him out of matter into life eternal. He was conscious of his eternal spiritual existence, inseparable from the Father, even during his days on earth. This consciousness of the continuity of being, maintained in his thought, was unimpaired by the illusions of the material senses, undisturbed by the fact that those who daily surged around him were for the most part arguing that man is a mortal material being. Jesus' teaching and acts prove that he saw man's perfection and coexistence with the Father as unbroken, eternal.
John tells us that at one time when communing with God, Jesus declared, "Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world;" and this knowledge of man's oneness with God, and of God's eternal love for His Son, gave the Master dominion over every form of evil belief. He not only accepted this great love of God for himself, but claimed it for his followers: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ... and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand," he declared.
