BECAUSE man is created in the image and likeness of God, as is stated in the first chapter of Genesis, his status is that of immortal perfection. But, in general, humanity is not aware of this truth. This is because mortal mind claims that man is material and mortal; and centuries of false education have maintained this belief in human consciousness. Christian Science, however, reveals man as God created him, spiritual and immortal, therefore never in bondage to mortal mind or matter, and as joyous now and always as "when the morning stars sang together."
All Christian Science healing, whether of sin, disease, sorrow, or lack, is based on the premise of perfect God and perfect man, in the likeness of God. That which is mortal, subject to so-called laws of matter, to sin, sickness, and death, is not the real man, for according to divine Science all that is real is immortal. The inspired teachings contained in the Bible relative to the perfection of being have not been generally understood. But Christian Science illumines the sacred writings and reveals the reality, the perfection, and the immortality of all that reflects or expresses God. Whatever is not in accord with the divine nature—matter and evil—must be unreal.
The method by which an individual may attain to a realization of his real selfhood involves an understanding of God's all-loving and changeless nature and of the nothingness of all that is not in accord with His perfect creation. This necessitates persistent refutation of all beliefs concerning matter as a real entity and of so-called material laws, and requires an earnest endeavor to have thought, speech, and action conform to the teachings of Christ Jesus, particularly those rules for Christian conduct given in his Sermon on the Mount.
