Chapter 7 – New Day Dawning
God’s family
Today very few of our sisters and brothers live in a kingdom; references to kings and kingdoms do not resonate with us; furthermore, almost everyone living in a nominal kingdom today, for example Great Brittan, have no idea what a true kingdom would be like. Spiritual pleas to kings and kingdoms are no longer meaningful because they call forth images of an absolute monarch with servants hurrying about doing his bidding; these images are no longer relevant.
In the time of Jesus, the relationship between the individual and God was described in terms of the kingdom of heaven; in those days there were real kings, the Jewish people in fact lived in the Roman Empire. The Jewish people were eagerly expecting the messiah to establish the kingdom of God.[1] They were eagerly expecting the kingdom of God to be established; therefore they would accept nothing less. The concept of a kingdom of heaven has lost its relevancy for our world; our description of a relationship with God needs to be revised for current reality.
But religious leaders are making a great mistake when they try to call modern man to spiritual battle with the trumpet blasts of the Middle Ages. Religion must provide itself with new and up-to-date slogans. Neither democracy nor any other political panacea will take the place of spiritual progress. False religions may represent an evasion of reality, but Jesus in his gospel introduced mortal man to the very entrance upon an eternal reality of spiritual progression.[2]
When people of faith talk about kings and kingdoms, this does not resonate with most people; our reality has little to do with such medieval terminology. Before a wider segment of our society will be willing to seek faith, they will need symbolism that is relevant to their lives.
Jesus wanted to substitute the concept of the heavenly family for the kingdom idea but he did not succeed.[3] The idea that the messiah would come to deliver Israel from its oppressors and begin the kingdom of God on Earth was strong at that time; the concept of a heavenly family did not catch on because it was too advanced for that day.
It is time for a restatement of the teachings of Jesus, our creator father and our earthly brother. This restatement needs to be relevant for us today, to be meaningful for everyone on our planet. The key element of this restatement is family. Everyone has been part of a family. Some families are more nurturing for their children than others it is true, but we all have some sort of family experience. What could be more natural as a simile for our relationship with God than family?
It is vital to understand first of all, the type of family we are discussing is a loving, nurturing family. In this family, both father and mother care for the children who are loved, and their growth is lovingly guided. We know this is not always the case. I have spoken with individuals who grew up in the most adverse families; they are spiritually scarred by their experience and it is amazing anybody could emerge from such a situation with faith and love in their hearts. It does happen, but such cases are rare. Individuals from such families need to know that our Heavenly Father is the perfect father. They need to know that if their earthly father is not worthy, then their Heavenly Father is present to guide, assist, nurture, and love.
Spiritually scarred individuals, as well as the rest of us, need the reassurance of God’s fatherhood, His love, and the very real spiritual assistance He can give each one of us. These individuals are especially in need of a spiritual portrayal of family life; they must be informed God is the perfect father; He totally loves them, and desires to help them in whatever way they need. This may be difficult, especially if their early childhood included experiences of humiliation or violence. They need to know our loving Heavenly Father.
We will now begin a discussion of normal, loving, and nurturing families. This is not to say they are perfect, but rather their motivation is love for their offspring and their desire to assist their children’s growth, any goal less than this could harm their child, a nascent spirit being.
After one period of teaching and personal discussions in Jerusalem, Jesus rested with the apostles at nearby Bethany. During this Wednesday they had a memorable discussion on the family. The following presentation is based on this discussion.[4]
There are certain fundamental characteristics of our earthly family life and these are also relevant to our spiritual family, our relationship to our Heavenly Father and each one of our sisters and brothers. We explore the interactions in a loving earthly family to gain an understanding of the relationships within our heavenly family.
Jesus wanted to represent the relationship between the individual and God as a family relationship because for Jesus the family was the most important aspect of life. He certainly exemplified this in his personal life, especially when he masterfully guided his earthly family after the death of Joseph. This period of dedicated service to his family is a shining example of a loving father watching over his family. People need to know the true Jesus and that the way he lived was a living demonstration of his teachings.
Jesus told the apostles the idea of a kingdom was not the best way to demonstrate the relationship between God and the individual.[5] God is our creator father, which naturally brings up the concept of a family consisting of a father, God, and His children: the evolutionary races of time and space, all beings such as us. This discussion expands on the relationship between God and the individual as a family relationship, the heavenly family.
The most vital of these family characteristics is the fact of existence. Being part of an earthly family is certainly a fact of our existence. We have nothing to do with choosing which family we are part of; we belong with the family we are born into. All children inherit traits, mannerisms and cultural values from their parents; the early childhood years are vital to the growth of a child and the family is the key element in this period. The relationship of father and child is inherent in all nature and pervades all living existences.[6]
We are also part of our Heavenly Father’s family as a fact of our existence. God created us along with everyone else; this makes us a part of His family. This family relationship becomes active when we acknowledge Him as our Father. God certainly loves each one of us regardless of this acceptance, but when we in faith declare Him as our Father; our relationship in the heavenly family becomes fully activated.
The next fundamental characteristic of the family is security and pleasure. This goes beyond the duty of the parent to protect and nurture their children. Parents certainly know it is a basic requirement of parenthood to protect their children. Parents enjoy providing their offspring with pleasurable experiences. They delight in giving them protection and joy, that is an essential part of family life.
Our Heavenly Father also delights in giving us protection and pleasure. Each of us has a pair of guardian angels to watch over us and protect us. This does not mean they will shield us from the consequences of our actions, but they will guide us toward spiritual security. And our Heavenly Father truly delights in his children and in their love and joy. He has superhuman and divine characteristics of a perfect, loving and infinite creator personality.[7] Jesus certainly loves us as sisters and brothers, because of this he went about doing good for those he met.[8]
Education and training are certainly a fundamental aspect of family life. It is the duty of the parents to see to the training of their young. This may be the most vital aspect of family life, this preparation of the children while young for the responsibilities they will face in later life. While parents send their children to school to learn their facts and figures, in the home the young learn values and this respect for values defines their character.
Our Heavenly Father also is concerned with our education and training. Each of us has within us a fragment of God, our Thought Adjuster seeking to uplift us and educate us in spiritual values. Having this spark of God within means we are always being assisted and guided into greater awareness of spiritual value.
Discipline and restraint are vital lessons for anyone and these lessons may not be learned on our school system. It is up to the parents to teach these character building traits to their children. Youngsters certainly need guidance in these matters. Parents who are concerned about the character of their offspring see they are taught these values.
Our Heavenly Father is concerned we learn these spiritual lessons of discipline and restraint. Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease-drifting souls.[9] Our spiritual guides are working to guide us into a more spiritual awareness and frequently this involves leading us unto “troublous ways” to teach us lessons. They do this not to arbitrarily torture us, but rather to help us to live up to our full spiritual potential. If we happen to slip into spiritual indolence they will seek to “save our ease-drifting souls.”
Companionship and loyalty are what the family is all about; loving parents hold intimate discussions with their children, listen to their concerns and help them with their difficulties. They have a deep concern for the welfare of their children. There is also family loyalty, especially among the siblings. A child naturally comes to the defense of one of his sisters or brothers who may be in trouble.
The purpose of the bestowal of Jesus to our planet was to portray to us the nature of our Heavenly Father. In his family life, Jesus certainly personified the earthly father who is a companion to the children and who is dedicatedly loyal to all of them. Jesus was loyal to such an extent he stayed in jail with his younger brother Jude for more than a day until the case could be settled.[10] The entire life of Jesus was a portrayal of the loyalty of God to His children. For companionship, God is actually present within us as our Thought Adjuster; He is actually a part of us, guiding and teaching us; our Heavenly Father is the most intimate companion anybody can have.
Another fundamental characteristic of the family is love and mercy. True family relationships are built upon these values. Parents are not judges, they are nurturing and caring; their love for the child drives their relationship. Real families are built upon tolerance, patience, and forgiveness.[11] A true parent loves their family as a whole, but even more, they sincerely love each member of their family.[12]
In the spiritual realm, we are surrounded and uplifted by the love of our Heavenly Father. His mercy lifts us up out of our despair. God is much more than the friend who knows all about us and loves us anyway. God knows everything, loves us, and in mercy forgives us. God’s Fatherhood surpasses any earthly father in spiritual value. Our material loyalties must be with our physical family: our parents, sisters and brothers, but our spiritual loyalties need to recognize our spiritual family. This family consists of our Heavenly Father and all our spiritual siblings: all the created creatures our Father has brought into being.
The final characteristic of the family is its provision for the future. It could be said that this looking toward the future is a main reason for the family’s existence. Guiding the young children’s lives so they can go forth into the world with confidence and joy is the goal of all loving parents. That is what family life is all about.
Our Heavenly Father who has created all things and all beings could not possibly be anything less than the most ideal earthly father. Our Heavenly Father wants the best for each one of us and wants to greet us in person on Paradise. Whether or not this happens is our choice. God can present us with the various choices, but it is up to us to make the decision. Each one of us has the free will to choose between an eternal life of service and a short material existence.
These spiritual aspects of our heavenly family become activated as we accept our Heavenly Father into our life; He naturally loves and cares for us, but until we accept his primacy in our life He cannot act; we need to choose to do His will. God will not coerce us in any way whatsoever; the only way to attain entrance into the heavenly family and life eternal is to ask for it. We must choose between doing His will or not.
Jesus personified our Heavenly Father in his bestowal on our planet. His life of service, love, compassion and joy are an example to us of the nature of God. Jesus upstepped the passive love disclosed in the Hebrew concept of the heavenly Father to the higher active and creature-loving affection of a God who is the Father of every individual, even of the wrongdoer.[13] If we want to know more about God, all we need do is to study the life of Jesus.
Not only does our Heavenly Father love each of us, but He also sincerely wants us to grow closer to Him. God wants us to attain the spiritual level so we can actually join Him on Paradise and meet Him face to face. As we increasingly become more like our Heavenly Father, we increasingly desire to please Him and this should be our goal in life, to please our father.
Our revelation redefines the relationship between the individual and God. Scripture tells us about kings and kingdoms; these descriptions do not resonate with individuals in our society. We do not connect with such imagery. Viewing God as a Heavenly Father presents us with an imagery that we can connect with. Instead of kings, kingdoms and knights in battle we now have a loving family relationship. Rather than having a lord looking for servants and warriors, we now have a loving father who wants to assist us to become the best we can be. God now becomes a Father we can confide in, love, and seek to emulate.
In a normal loving family relationship, the father naturally loves each one of his children; this love is a natural part of being the father, the creator, of his children. The God who created each one of us cannot possibly be anything less; our Heavenly Father is so much more than our earthly father that comparisons fail. When we go to our earthly father with problems and concerns we hear an immediate response; we know the reply. When we take these troubling issues to our Heavenly Father, there is also a response, a reply; however, in this case we do not hear or even feel the reply. The reply from God will be just as certain, but we are not always aware of it. Our Heavenly Father replies not with words but with actions. These actions, these answers to our prayers, will help us with our problems but not necessarily in ways that we are expecting.[14]
Our Heavenly Father readily acts on behalf of his children in the heavenly family. Our Heavenly Father loves each one of us, but He cannot act to assist us until we accept His Fatherhood, until we enter fully into His Family. This acceptance means we recognize He has created us and watches over us. Once we make such a heartfelt declaration we enter entirely into our Father’s family, we become part of the heavenly family.
Once we have made this declaration and entered into His family, we become brothers and sisters with everyone else; this is truly one family under God; truly everyone is our sibling, only some do not recognize this; they have not accepted God into their lives and therefore may have no awareness of His love for them. Each of us needs to recognize everyone as sister and brother.
When we accept, by faith, God as our Heavenly Father; we become the children of God along with everyone else who has accepted Him.[15] Faith is the way we enter into this family relationship, it is something we choose to have, or choose not to have. Faith is a step beyond belief; belief is something we accept, while faith is something we are willing to stake our eternal soul upon, it is something we accept strongly enough we will declare it with our dying breath.
The relationships within the heavenly family are certainly shifted from what we grew up with. Instead of having a king ruling by force and fear, there is now a family governed by love. It is time for thinking individuals to recognize that there are no longer kingdoms with absolute kings, such ideas belong in the Middle Ages, not in our “modern” age with lightning fast communication around the world.
We now have a Heavenly Father who is love.[16] Instead of a king whose motive we may not know, we have a Father who is motivated by his love for his children; a loving father who wants the best for each of his children. We can comprehend the motives of a loving father and we naturally desire to please him.
Our Heavenly Father desires us to become better, more spiritual beings. The one universal mandate He issued was be you perfect even as I am perfect.[17] Implied in this declaration first of all is this stupendous undertaking is possible. God would not ask us to do something impossible; the very fact He declared this mandate means it is possible. Also implied in this declaration is He will help us to achieve this goal; making this statement means He will help us at every step along the way. Our Heavenly Father loves us and will help us; just ask him.
A fair question at this point might be: where is Jesus in this Family? He has a two-fold place in this family. First of all he is our creator father; he created all the life in this universe, this portion of all creation.[18] Secondly he is our earthly brother; he lived a full and spirit driven life on this very world. He knows us as no other being could possibly know us; he is our elder brother.[19] He has also sent us the Spirit of Truth to guide us into recognition of truth. Each one of us has multiple spirit guides, use them wisely.
Any family can be strong and well-functioning when every member is working for the good of the family. Every member does not need to do the same thing; rather it is important every member contribute to the welfare of the family according to their innate ability. So it is with our heavenly family; we do not all need to believe exactly the same things, but it is important all family members live in an environment of spiritual brotherhood. Regardless of what self-seeking politicians may declare, we are all sisters and brothers; we absolutely need to live together in spiritual harmony. Lack of spiritual brotherhood is both inexcusable and reprehensible.[20]
Every family needs to function as a united whole; when any part of a family separates itself from the rest of the family there is pain for the entire family. For everyone and anyone, the path of happiness is connection with all our sisters and brothers while the path of sorrow is separation and isolation.[21] The heavenly family needs to be a united whole with everyone working for the betterment of everyone else. This might seem to be a lofty goal, but remember our Heavenly Father is assisting us at each step along the way.
The masses truly need to know about the life of Jesus; they need to know how his life was a prefect reflection of his teachings; they need to know the immanence of our Father is a vital part of our being. God is with us and invites each one of us into the heavenly family. Within the spiritual realm of this family we can find harmony, we can attain a greater appreciation of our Father, and we can better understand our sisters and brothers. Our heavenly family should be the foundation of our spiritual life, the wellspring of our faith and the vehicle for our manifesting the fruits of the spirit in our daily lives.
Table of Contents Next Section
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All references are to The Urantia Book unless noted otherwise. The number refers to the single column version in the format page.paragraph, 1501.1 ↑
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2077.6 ↑
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1860.6-7 ↑
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“The Lesson of the Family” starting at 1603.2 ↑
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1603.5 ↑
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1604.1 ↑
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28.1 ↑
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1102.5 ↑
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1931.1 ↑
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1415.6 ↑
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1604.6 ↑
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1597.2 ↑
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68.3 ↑
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1848.8 ↑
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1682.5 ↑
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“God is love” appears 14 times, see for example 38.6 ↑
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86.1 ↑
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1317.1 ↑
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1865.7 ↑
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1866.3 ↑
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“The Book of Joy – Lasting Happiness in a Changing World,” His Holiness the Dali Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams, Avery, New York, 2016, p 99 ↑