IN the tenth chapter of John's Gospel we find this statement of Jesus: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." On another occasion he declared, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
It is evident from these statements that Jesus did not consider Life as material, physical, or limited, but as synonymous with God; that is, that God and Life are one, and to know God is to understand the eternality of being. Through his teachings and his works Jesus demonstrated for all mankind that the substance and intelligence of man are not material, but spiritual. Referring to the purpose of his life-work, our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has written in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 26), "His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man."
To those engulfed in the belief that man's life is material, physical, mortal, subject to discord and death, Christian Science brings a message of hope, joy, and relief from the harassments of so-called material existence. It sets forth man in the image and likeness of God. as revealed in the first chapter of Genesis, and makes practical and demonstrable the teachings of the great Master, Christ Jesus. Through this understanding of the truth men are gaining freedom from the false claims of sickness, sin, disease, poverty, separation, and death, which have held mankind in bondage.
Through his study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy, the Christian Scientist is daily proving that, because God is Life, his individuality and identity are not at the mercy of matter; and, because God is omnipotent and omnipresent good, he cannot lose the consciousness of good, or be separated for an instant from God. As he daily strives to demonstrate his oneness with the Father, erroneous thoughts cease to find place in his consciousness and cannot, therefore, be manifested in his experience.
All truth emanates from God and is expressed in spiritual ideas, for God is Mind. Man, in the image and likeness of God, is not physical, mortal, and material, but is the spiritual idea of infinite Mind, expressing divine, intelligent activity, for Mind is Life. Divine Mind forever governs, controls, sustains, and directs spiritual man and the spiritual universe. The revelation of this truth to human consciousness sets men free from the false beliefs which would restrict and limit their God-given capabilities, possibilities, and opportunities. It is that truth which, when known, as Jesus said, "shall make you free."
Our thoughts govern our lives. That which is entertained in thought is brought forth in human experience. If discord seems real, this is because it is being fostered by erroneous beliefs. What, then, must one do to be released from the error that seems to hold sway? Does one have to die to gain one's freedom and to find eternal bliss? No! What one needs to do is to spiritualize thought, and thus find within the kingdom of heaven here and now; for this consciousness of good brings into one's experience health, harmony, joy, gratitude, and peace.
Divine Mind is continually imparting spiritual ideas, which in turn then supply all the needs of the true thinker. By letting that Mind be in us "which was also in Christ Jesus," we find that we are enjoying life "more abundantly" because we are gaining a higher, truer sense of existence, through spiritual understanding. This is our inheritance by virtue of the fact that "now are we the sons of God;" and this true sense of Life can never be destroyed, changed, or altered by time, place, circumstance, or condition. There is never any exhausting, any "using up," of true spiritual knowledge. And the more one utilizes what he knows of divine Principle, the greater becomes his dominion over the false material senses.
Because Mind is ever imparting wisdom, intelligence, power, and ability, man is ever at the threshold of opportunity. No evil, no discord or death can come into the consciousness that is filled with good. Evil is naught but false belief, and this is destroyed through spiritually understanding God as the only cause and creator. Therefore, we need not be disturbed when error confronts us, but regard this as another opportunity to prove the boundless abundance of Mind and its infinite resources. Just as the child in the schoolroom expresses on the blackboard what he knows of a rule of mathematics, so may our human experience serve as a blackboard on which to demonstrate what we know of God as infinite Life, Truth, and Love. In proportion as the child adheres to the rules of arithmetic he is successful in solving his examples. So, to the degree that we acknowledge good as the only power and reality do we find the correct solution to our problems.
On page 166 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" our Leader has written, "So long as we have the right ideal, life is worth living and God takes care of our life." Those who are familiar with the life and works of Mrs. Eddy know how truly she grasped the right ideal, how completely and unreservedly she relied upon God for everything, and how wonderfully God took care of her and guided her in all her work. Through this right ideal we learn that man cannot die or be separated from good. An erroneous sense is all that one can lose; and this false sense is destroyed, not through death, but through a right understanding of God, which gives to men, in the words of Samuel Longfellow,
The freer step, the fuller breath,
The wide horizon's grander view,
The sense of Life that knows no death,—
The Life that maketh all things new.
