In almost every avenue of human activity and endeavor it is necessary at times for one to identify himself. Travelers, especially, must have at hand adequate means of identification. Bankers and other businessmen often require right and positive identification of those with whom they are dealing. Similarly, in the Science of true metaphysics the correct identification of man, based upon his relationship to God, is all–important, for it forms the basis of all right metaphysical reasoning.
In the first two chapters of the book of Genesis, man is described and identified in conflicting and opposing terms. The first account states that man is made in the image and likeness of God, that is, of Spirit. In the chapter following, he is described as being created not spiritually but materially of the dust of the ground. Obviously, only one of these records of man's creation can be true. How, then, is man to be identified—as formed spiritually in God's image, having dominion over all the earth and blessed of the Father, or created of the earth, which is presently cursed by God?
Surely the correct answer to this question is contained in these words of the Master's (John 6:63): "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." Certainly if "the flesh profiteth nothing," the flesh may not be used as a means of cataloguing, identifying, or understanding the man God made. Since it is unthinkable that Jesus would refer to any work of the Father as nothing, it is evident from his statement regarding the flesh that he considered the man God created to be spiritual, not material. On this basis he performed his miraculous healing works.
