Much has been said about freedom, and many efforts have been and are still being made to obtain for mankind relief from various forms of bondage. Such efforts are commendable so far as they go; but as belief in material existence is the basis of bondage, complete and permanent freedom can come only with the full recognition of Spirit and spiritual man.
From the Scriptural account of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, it is obvious that the Master was not advocating a remodeling of the man identified with matter. Rather was he calling attention to the need for relinquishing material and mortal beliefs concerning man and replacing them with the true or spiritual idea, the man identified with Spirit. The Way-shower's ability to exercise spiritual power beyond anything ever before witnessed on earth was unquestionably due to his clear discernment of man's spiritual origin and eternal existence.
Many of Jesus' statements, as recorded in the New Testament, show plainly that he did not regard his own existence as having begun with human birth, or human existence as his normal status. On one occasion he said to his disciples (John 6:62), "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" And he added, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." The Master anticipated his spiritual ascension of thought that would take him beyond the realm of human sense. He regarded spiritual existence as the normal state of man, and his Messianic mission was for the purpose of making this fact clear to mankind.
