Have you ever thought about eternal Life, Life that never begins and never ends, the continuity of being, perpetuating all true individuality? Christ Jesus illustrated this eternal Life. Through the healing word of Truth and through his mighty works, he clearly showed to mankind that God is Life and that God, Life, is ever present. Jesus proved completely that this presence and force of Life was a supreme, demonstrable law. The restoration from death of the son of the widow of Nain, of Jairus's daughter, and of Lazarus was undeniable evidence of this law of Life, perpetuating spiritual individuality. The law of Life as demonstrated by Jesus made null and void all material laws regarding life. Paul states, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Rom. 8:2.
Christ Jesus showed the steps that we must take in order to be free from the supposed material laws regarding life and to walk in the law of Life. Jesus enabled us to behold our true sonship, our likeness to and oneness with God, divine Life. He commanded us to call no man our father, because our one Father is God. See Matt. 23:9. Thus, he presented man's origin as pure, sinless Mind. Since man's origin is God, man is the very expression of Life, governed by the law of Life.
Through his resurrection, Jesus further demonstrated the law of Life, showing that the substance of man is deathless; it is endless Life. His demonstration uplifted thought to the recognition of the allness of Spirit, which silences the belief that man has ever had an existence separate from God. Resurrection involves rising above the false consciousness of life to the true consciousness of Life and its eternal action. It opens views of infinite possibilities and man's eternal continuity as a witness of God.
Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy makes a comparison between Jesus' resurrection after three days in the tomb and the third day of creation described in the opening chapter of Genesis. It states: "The third stage in the order of Christian Science is an important one to the human thought, letting in the light of spiritual understanding. This period corresponds to the resurrection, when Spirit is discerned to be the Life of all, and the deathless Life, or Mind, dependent upon no material organization." Science and Health, pp. 508-509. The third stage of creation is the day on which appeared the grass and the herb "and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself . Gen. 1:12.
The chapter "Physiology" in Science and Health also includes a comment about "the seed within itself." Speaking of the individual seeking material remedies, it says: "The patient sufferer tries to be satisfied when he sees his would-be healers busy, and his faith in their efforts is somewhat helpful to them and to himself; but in Science one must understand the resuscitating law of Life. This is the seed within itself bearing fruit after its kind, spoken of in Genesis." Science and Health, p. 180.
The Bible states in First John, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." I John 3:9. Man is not born of corruptible seed; man's true and only origin and nature are pure, sinless, good. God's sinless nature expressed in man acts as "the resuscitating law of Life," rendering the so-called law of sin, which would bring death, null and void. Becoming conscious of this truth gives us the understanding progressively to demonstrate this law of Life.
A family had an illustration of the immediacy and infallibility of this law of Life. It was Easter weekend, and the mother had been giving thought to the resurrection and "the resuscitating law of Life." She and her family were vacationing on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. It was midmorning and a bit blustery as they found a place on the shore to put their towels and enjoy the view. Her son decided to go into the water, even though no one else was in at the time. He was diving in and out of the rolling surf. Then the mother noticed that he had not come up for a long time. She waited a moment and then, after not seeing him above the water, urged her husband to run the short distance to find him. She waited just long enough to see that her husband had successfully pulled their son out of the water. At that moment he was unconscious and not breathing. The mother ran down the beach and up to the hotel room to call a Christian Science practitioner for help through prayer.
As she was running, she thought of the Shunammite woman who ran to Elisha to get help for her son (see II Kings 4:18-37). The boy had died, but the mother still went to the prophet. As she was coming, Elisha saw her and sent his servant ahead to meet her and to ask her, "Is it well with the child?" The Shunammite woman said, "It is well." When she reached Elisha, he saw her great grief and immediately took steps to care for the boy. And the boy was healed through his prayer.
The law of divine Life as demonstrated
by Jesus made null and void all material
laws regarding life.
This account inspired the mother to vow to have the absolute conviction that all was well with her son. She also thought of the significance of Easter, Christ Jesus' conclusive proof of Life over death. She acknowledged God to be the Life of her son, indeed of all.
When she reached the practitioner by phone, the message she was given was simple. It was a Bible verse from the account of the healing of the young man Eutychus. The Bible states that he had fallen asleep while Paul was preaching, and fallen down from a high loft and was taken up dead. Paul went and embraced him, saying, "His life is in him." Acts 20: 10. Eutychus was revived. The mother saw that her son's life was in God and also that he was actually the individual expression of Life—intact, spiritual, sinless. "The resuscitating law of Life" was already in action. Eternal Life and its expression were right there, at hand.
When she got back to the beach, she saw that her son was breathing but still unconscious. By now a crowd of people as well as an emergency medical unit were on hand. After an examination of the boy, the medical team wanted to take him by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland, because there was no hospital on the island. They feared that within twenty-four hours complications would set in that would threaten his life.
The husband explained to them that the boy was having Christian Science treatment even as they spoke. That very treatment had revived the boy so that he was breathing normally by the time the medical team arrived. Because of the effectiveness of the Christian Science treatment, the parents felt that it wasn't necessary to have the boy flown to a hospital, but to care for the medical team's concern, they agreed to have a doctor come by their hotel room to check the boy's progress. The parents were earnestly listening for further divine guidance and wisdom and at the same time humbly rejoicing in the healing power of Life already experienced by their son. All of a sudden, the emergency crew received another call and left the scene. The parents of the boy were left on the beach, free to care for their son in the best way they felt possible—through Christian Science treatment.
The parents asked a Christian Science nurse to come over, and she stayed the night. The practitioner and the parents continued in prayer. The son regained consciousness, and the complications that had been predicted did not come to pass. The family continued their vacation with immense gratitude, rejoicing in the resurrection of thought and in the proof their son had experienced of "the resuscitating law of Life."
Wherever we may find ourselves, even on an island shore, there the law of Life is in action. Life is God, and since God's nature is expressed in man, the law of Life is the very fabric of man's pure, sinless identity. The understanding of this ever-present law and of man's relation to God acts to resuscitate human life, bearing witness to man's present immortality.
