Jesus – UB Light of Truth https://ublightoftruth.com Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness Sat, 23 Dec 2023 19:10:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5 164784538 Religion of Jesus https://ublightoftruth.com/religion-of-jesus/ https://ublightoftruth.com/religion-of-jesus/#respond Sat, 23 Dec 2023 19:10:46 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.com/?p=4207 Continue reading Religion of Jesus]]> You may preach a religion about Jesus, but… you must live the religion of Jesus.[1]

From the pulpit, preachers present sermons to guide parishioners in their faith, but listening to the preaching is a passive interaction. The vital aspect of religion is an inner certainty: how it affects the individual and changes the inner life of each religionist. If listeners leave the church after the sermon and continue in the same selfish and materialistic ways, the church and our society will have problems. Their inner life has not been changed. The advances of true civilization are all born in this inner world of mankind. It is only the inner life that is truly creative.[2]{I expect our next posting will be a discussion of our inner life. Stay tuned!}

In this posting we discuss the religion of Jesus and what it is like. What this planet needs is people of faith living the religion of Jesus, how do we accomplish this?

in the human life of Jesus faith was personal, living, original, spontaneous, and purely spiritual. This faith was… a sublime experience and a profound conviction which securely held him. His faith was so real and all-encompassing that it absolutely swept away any spiritual doubts and effectively destroyed every conflicting desire.[3]

Tradition is a strong component in many religions. We find comfort in having the faith of our fathers and following tradition. This is not the religion of Jesus. His religion is personal, actively seeking to do the will of our Heavenly Father. Each one of us is a unique individual; therefore no single set of dogma can fully satisfy the spiritual needs of everyone. We must seek our Father’s will as applied to our personal, spiritual and individual needs.

Our faith must be real and all-encompassing; we cannot create compartments in our lives and declare religion does not apply there, for example in our business or political activities.

The concept of God as a Father was not original with Jesus, but he exalted and elevated the idea into a sublime experience by achieving a new revelation of God and by proclaiming that every mortal creature is a child of this Father of love, a son of God.[4]

Every mortal is equally a child of our Heavenly Father. This means each of our sisters and brothers must be treated equally regardless of any superficial differences such as skin color, religion, or any other excuse for bigotry. We are all equally a child of our Heavenly Father; this Father is filled with love for each of His children. This is especially important to realize in these times of discord and prejudice.

In his day, Jesus certainly faced anger and violence, even death, but through it all he experienced the tranquility of supreme and unquestioned trust in God and felt the tremendous thrill of living, by faith, in the very presence of the heavenly Father.[5] Since each of us is indwelt by a “spark of God,”[6] each of us also lives in the very presence of our Heavenly Father. This truth must be our moral foundation, it has to be what we base our faith upon; it is the basis of our personal religious experiences. When we fully realize this we begin to live the religion of Jesus.

What is the substance of this religion, how should we proceed? Jesus brought to God, as a man of the realm, the greatest of all offerings: the consecration and dedication of his own will to the majestic service of doing the divine will. Jesus always and consistently interpreted religion wholly in terms of the Father’s will.[7] If we consecrate before Heavenly Father our dedication to do His will, that is the greatest offering we could possibly give. Once this has been given we will KNOW Father’s will.

Jesus was a mature man who had triumphed over many hardships. The most trying of these came when he was fourteen years old; his father suddenly died of an injury at work. Jesus became the head of a family consisting of his mother and seven brothers and sisters. His baby sister Ruth had not been born yet. He cheerfully fulfilled all responsibilities which had been suddenly thrust upon him. Throughout it all, the religion of Jesus is filled with trust like that of a child. His faith could be strong because he had no fear; he fully trusted his Heavenly Father.[8]

Jesus does not require his disciples to believe in him but rather to believe with him, believe in the reality of the love of God and in full confidence accept the security of the assurance of sonship with the heavenly Father.[9]

The religion of Jesus totally depends on the presence of Heavenly Father in our daily lives; we trust His guidance at all times. Even when terrible things happened to him, Jesus stood firm in his faith. This faith is simple, yet profound in its consequences.


[1] Unless otherwise noted, all references are to the one column version of The Urantia Book, in the format page.paragraph; 2091.10

[2] 1220.2

[3] 2087.5

[4] 2087.2

[5] 2087.3

[6] Bible; I Corinthians 3:16

[7] 2088.5

[8] 2089.1

[9] 2089.3

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/religion-of-jesus/feed/ 0 4207
These In-between Times https://ublightoftruth.com/these-in-between-times/ https://ublightoftruth.com/these-in-between-times/#respond Fri, 09 Jun 2023 19:36:57 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=4141 Continue reading These In-between Times]]> These in-between times are a result of leaving formalized religion without replacing it with something to satisfy our innate spiritual needs. Man’s greatest spiritual jeopardy consists in partial progress, the predicament of unfinished growth: forsaking the evolutionary religions of fear without immediately grasping the revelatory religion of love.[1] This new religion of love was proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth over two thousand years ago.

Our society lacks a firm foundation to guide us through the turmoil of current events. We can rely on our Urantia Book teachings as something to grasp for assistance. In the distant past religions of authority guided lives; today these are inadequate. We are raping Mother Earth, shooting brothers and sisters, political discourse is powered by extremists; this is unacceptable. We are no better than barbarians. We need this new religion which has the power to motivate us; moving us toward a new dawn of brotherhood.

In-between

The twentieth century was characterized by rapid scientific change, industrial growth, and societal upheavals. At the same time there was a gradual decline in church authority that began with the reformation in 16th century Europe. These changes were gradual at first, but after 1900 the pace of change accelerated; the first half of the century saw two world wars while the second half saw more wars and riots in the streets protesting war as well as racial inequality.

During these times family life and personal religious experience suffered from the decadence consequent upon the transition from old religious loyalties to the emerging new meanings and values.[2] The meanings and values generally adopted did not include the moral foundation that religions of authority had; they became contaminated by materialism and greed. A well-known movie quote from this period is: “Greed is good.”

Transition is always accompanied by confusion….[3]

New Religion

You may preach a religion about Jesus, but, perforce, you must live the religion of Jesus.[4]

When we hear a sermon we are receiving religion second hand. For religion to have value it must change us in some way. A sermon may convince us to mend our ways and change our life, but this does not occur often enough. For change to take place we must want to improve; there has to be a yearning for something better: a hunger for spiritual growth. The teacher of truth attracts only those who hunger for the truth and who thirst for righteousness.[5] When the preacher gives a sermon, only those who are hungering for truth have a good chance to embrace such truth.

True religion is a meaningful way of living dynamically face to face with the commonplace realities of everyday life.[6]

True religion is a dynamic way of reacting to life’s situations; it is a blueprint for our existence. If religion does not bring inner changes to our being, it is merely belief, not faith. Our lives are filled with constantly changing circumstances, desires and priorities. We need a dynamic religion to keep up with change and show us the way in these uncertain times. Jesus came to give us such a personal religion.[7]

The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man.[8]

We may read about this new religion; but it has value only when we live and experience it.

One paragraph in The Urantia Book neatly compares traditional religion with the religion of Jesus.[9] Traditional religions preach about what we must give up while the religion of Jesus teaches us to forget ourselves in enhanced self-realization coupled with social service and a growing awareness of the universe around us. Traditional religions have a large component of fear derived from the Bible’s Old Testament; the new gospel of the kingdom is dominated by truth-conviction, the spirit of eternal and universal truth. No matter how pious or how closely we follow traditional church doctrine, vital life experience in the kingdom is absent; spirit-born children of the living God are filled with sincere friendliness. Neither tradition nor a ceremonial system of formal worship can atone for the lack of genuine compassion for one’s fellows.

The Center for Unity

A final note on a different subject. The Center for Unity is aimed at presenting Jesus as revealed in The Urantia Book to the world; young adults are the specific group they wish to reach. There is an excellent presentation describing it. More information can be found at their website. This threefold project is called the Jesus Metaverse which is based mainly on Part IV of The Urantia Book; it consists of a physical museum, an interconnected web presence, and a series of cinema on the life of Jesus.


[1] 1090.4; all references are to The Urantia Book in the format page.paragraph.

[2] 1089.10

[3] 1090.5

[4] 2091.10

[5] 1815.3

[6] 1089.11

[7] 1629.5

[8] 2083.2

[9] 1951.1

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/these-in-between-times/feed/ 0 4141
To SEE our Heavenly Father https://ublightoftruth.com/to-see-our-heavenly-father/ https://ublightoftruth.com/to-see-our-heavenly-father/#respond Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:34:22 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=4125 Continue reading To SEE our Heavenly Father]]>

Our Driveway

Click on photo for information about it.

Many times Jesus declared those who have seen him have seen the Father.[1] This is certainly profound, but is it relevant to us? Jesus ascended from our planet two thousand years ago; it would seem this declaration is not pertinent. However, there is more to reality than physical eyes can perceive.

Literally and figuratively, spiritually and personally, the Father and the Sons are one. It is a fact: He who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Father.[2]

See?

When we think about “see,” the first idea that comes to mind is examining something using our eyes. Every waking moment we see. Every visual input we have is received when we see something.

Seeing: we examine the above photograph and then think about it. We see the white truck and compare its size with our home; this gives an idea how big our home is. Finally the trees are several times taller yet. In the foreground our cat is surveying the whole scene. Having made these observations, we can contemplate what they mean.

Our eyes are vital to understanding the world around us.

Experience

Our dictionary has several meanings for the word see;[3] three of the first four are: get a clear mental impression of, learn or discover, and to have personal knowledge of. None of these rely on visual input. These involve experience, thinking and wisdom; they involve gaining an understanding of something.

We have access to a full presentation of the life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book. Using this reference we can obtain a deeper comprehension of Jesus. We can SEE Jesus; therefore we can SEE our Father.

See!

Jesus well knew that God can be known only by the realities of experience; never can he be understood by the mere teaching of the mind…. You can know God, not by understanding what Jesus said, but by knowing what Jesus was. Jesus was a revelation of God.[4]

By studying the life of Jesus in Part IV of The Urantia Book we learn more about our Father because every aspect of the life of Jesus is a revelation of God. The way he interacts with countless mortals reveals how God would interact with each of them. We see how He would treat an erring family member (Jude, the younger brother of Jesus); how He would treat women and children, how He would react to being unfairly arrested and put on trial for his life. And so much more.

By learning about the life of Jesus we truly SEE our Heavenly Father.

Jesus admonishes every kingdom believer to become one with him even as he and his Father are one. The living experience in the religion of Jesus thus becomes the sure and certain technique whereby the spiritually isolated and cosmically lonely mortals of earth are enabled to escape personality isolation….[5]

Tags: God, Jesus, knowing God


[1] For example: 1750.7, this refers to the one column version of The Urantia Book in the format page.paragraph. See also the Bible, John 12:45

[2] 361.1

[3] Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1988.

[4] 1865.2

[5] 1985.1

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/to-see-our-heavenly-father/feed/ 0 4125
Winning Urantia for Michael https://ublightoftruth.com/winning-urantia-for-michael/ https://ublightoftruth.com/winning-urantia-for-michael/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2022 19:42:25 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=3671 Continue reading Winning Urantia for Michael]]>
Out Into the World

“We are spiritual beings having a physical experience;” says a bumper sticker in the Northern Sun catalog. While we can all become spiritual beings, some are more spiritual (such as the Dalai Lama) than others. Each of us has an eternal future of growth and service before us; the only catch is that we must select it, choose to follow the plan our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.

We have received thrilling truths from The Urantia Book; how can we share them with sisters and brothers in a way they will accept them and incorporate the teachings into their daily lives? How can we present these teachings in such a way our audience will eagerly seek spiritual guidance; so they will know each thinking mortal on Earth has within them a literal spark of God. We have Heavenly Father within seeking to guide us into a greater awareness of God.

In this posting we discuss the essential components of our message; what we are going to become and say in our efforts to help win this world for Michael, our creator father also known as Jesus.

Current Situation

Society on planet Earth is in turmoil because of failures and rebellion in our distant past; these are discussed in several places on this website. The vast majority of our problems arose from a rebellion far from Earth, the Lucifer rebellion. 500,000 years ago our planet had a ruler, a Planetary Prince named Caligastia, who joined the rebellion about 200,000 years ago. A bit less than 38,000 years ago our Adam and Eve arrived to uplift our ancestors. They did not join the rebellion but they did default on their mission. Many negative characteristics of modern society are a direct consequence of the rebellion. “Dark Forces Operating on Earth” discusses various non-physical entities operating on behalf of our fallen Planetary Prince.

By far the most popular page on this website is “Urantia: Caligastia’s Prison World” which discusses since Caligastia is confined to this world until the rebellion is over, Earth is his prison world. We can either cooperate with Michael, or work with the prisoner, Caligastia, our fallen Planetary Prince. The conflict between those following Michael and those proclaiming false liberty, first announced by Lucifer, bleeds heavily into current events.

What This World Needs

The truth that everyone has a spark of God is mentioned briefly in the Bible,[1] but this is rarely mentioned in Christianity. There is hope this may be changing; in his speech at the first Sunday of advent this year, Pope Francis said we should be “always aware of the presence of God and to welcome Him in our daily lives.”[2] This thrilling news of God within should be a vital part of our message; God is within each thinking mortal, no exceptions. This spark of God is our Thought Adjuster. Our potentially eternal soul grows as a result of the freewill decisions we make under the guidance of this spark of God. As we make righteous choices in harmony with our Adjuster’s leadership, our soul becomes stronger.

This truth has broad implications for our lives. Since everyone equally has this indwelling God fragment, everyone has value and we all are equally sister and brother. When an individual is disadvantaged in any way, because of some superficial difference, God is being put down. We are all equally sons and daughters of God.[3] Our interpersonal relationships should be based upon this truth of universal brotherhood.

Our society is filled with anti-brotherhood sentiment such as mass shootings, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ actions, and many other forms of hatred. Politicians amplify these hateful emotions so they can gain political power. News media are filled with stories of random violence. If our society is to survive, these feelings of hatred must be replaced with true emotions of brotherhood – love for each of our sisters and brothers. We recognize love as respect for the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all humanity. When the universal brotherhood of all citizens of planet Earth is realized, there will truly be peace on Earth.

This troubled world desperately needs a broad recognition of the value of human beings. How can we as individuals become ready to begin sharing these truths to a broader audience?

Preparing Ourselves

The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity.[4] Everyone has these keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. If we wish to grow spiritually we need to be sincere within ourself and with others. God wants to know if we can be trusted before giving us guidance into ways of service.

The last day of rest Jesus had on Earth was spent in the hills with John Mark. This youth followed Jesus and the apostles for most of their journeys. When he first went to hear Jesus Amos, a friend, went with him. Afterwards they returned home to Jerusalem and asked permission to follow Jesus. John Mark got permission from his parents but Amos did not.[5] Amos wanted to run away, Jesus said that would mean Amos could not be trusted to follow his duty. Such betrayal of trust is difficult to overcome. Later John Mark would write the gospel according to Mark. Jesus wants to know if we can be trusted.

Before we go out into the world proclaiming these truths we need to prepare ourselves; we have to be firm in our faith. We cannot be a reed shaken with the wind….[6]

Before presenting these truths we need a strong desire to comprehend them. There must be perfection hunger in man’s heart to insure capacity for comprehending the faith paths to supreme attainment.[7] A solid longing to improve spiritually is vital; otherwise our efforts will be weak.

This desire to improve has to be strong enough to overcome our physical and materialistic inertia. Our longing for spiritual growth has to be strong. The spiritual forward urge is the most powerful driving force present in this world; the truth-learning believer is the one progressive and aggressive soul on earth.[8] Only after internalizing these things, will we be fully ready to present such teachings to the world.

Going Forth With the Message

Jesus told us to go into all the world proclaiming this gospel to all nations, to every man, woman, and child.[9] The apostles concentrated their efforts in the Mediterranean Sea area; that is why today Christianity is mainly a Western religion.

Sharing of this gospel must go to all nations. All of humanity needs this message. The entire planet needs this message.

Our global society is destroying itself because of the message of fear promulgated by Caligastia and his followers. Our atmosphere of fear must be replaced by one of love and brotherhood.

The message of love, brotherhood, joy, and the presence of God within every thinking mortal must be given to all humanity.

Prepare yourself; then go forth!


[1] Bible; I Corinthians 3,16

[2] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-11/pope-may-advent-awaken-us-to-god-s-presence-in-our-daily-lives.html

[3] 1679.2

[4] 435.7

[5] 1921.6

[6] 1626.8

[7] 1118.4

[8] 2063.2

[9] 1824.6

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/winning-urantia-for-michael/feed/ 2 3671
Troublous Times https://ublightoftruth.com/troublous-times/ https://ublightoftruth.com/troublous-times/#respond Thu, 14 May 2020 03:25:21 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=2522 Continue reading Troublous Times]]>

In this posting, we briefly discuss two quotations from The Urantia Book, both of which apply to these times. The first says our society is moving out of the sheltered bays of tradition into seas of destiny. The other looks at a troubling forecast by Jesus which may indicate workings of the Most Highs as they guide political evolution;[1] that the Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of mortals is also mentioned in the Bible.

Urantia society can never hope to settle down as in past ages. The social ship has steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; and the soul of man, as never before in the world’s history, needs carefully to scrutinize its charts of morality and painstakingly to observe the compass of religious guidance. (Urantia Book, 1086.6)

These seas of destiny will not be smooth like the sheltered bays of tradition we have resided in these many years. While the bays were enjoyable, such tranquility rarely causes human mortals to struggle and improve themselves. The vast majority of humanity would rather sit underneath a palm tree with a jolly beverage than move out and transform society. The urge to instigate societal transformation necessarily requires some sort of motivation, a “slap in the face” to get things moving.

Human beings need a firm moral foundation for these uncertain times; we must follow our compass of religious guidance. Only when we base our lives on living truths taught by Jesus will we be able to sail safely upon these seas of destiny.

Whatever the source of this pandemic, it is our slap in the face, a wakeup call saying we must make our native planet safe for everyone; we are all in this together. There is no safe space where we can hide to avoid this virus, to escape this mandate to move out and make this world of ours safe for every living creature. Many governments all over the world are failing in their efforts to deal with this health and economic calamity. In addition, there is no sovereign Earth government to regulate dealings between nations.

On these seas of evolutionary destiny we will encounter methods to utilize in guiding society toward recognizing spiritual reality, and basing society upon it; if this does not happen society will collapse because any society not based upon spiritual reality cannot endure.[2] Study any previous society in our history; all of them failed because they were not based on spiritual reality; God.

On the morning of his last free day on Earth, Jesus taught a group of believers, disciples, and the apostles near their camp in Gethsemane. This presentation, which lasted almost two hours, was about the relationship between the Kingdom of Heaven and kingdoms on Earth. He emphasized believers should follow laws of earthly kingdoms as well as adhere to spiritual directives such as the Golden Rule. The only exception was when earthly rulers should require homage given to them; years later, Peter was crucified in Rome because he refused to worship Caesar. This discourse by Jesus is summarized in The Urantia Book, Paper 178, “Last Day at the Camp,” section one, “Discourse on Sonship and Citizenship.”

One paragraph in this address[3] is especially relevant to our current situation. Each sentence will be considered separately. When Jesus speaks about “you” he is speaking to each individual as well as the collective body of Kingdom believers.

Under the soon-coming persecutions by those who hate this gospel of joy and liberty, you will thrive and the kingdom will prosper.

After Jesus ascended, his followers were indeed persecuted by those resisting these new teachings; those having religious and political authority were afraid of losing positions of influence, power, and their very livelihood. They were more interested in material considerations of self-preservation than understanding and accepting these new spiritual teachings of joy and liberty. In spite of this resistance, the Kingdom of Heaven did indeed thrive, prosper, and grow.

But you will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom.

As the centuries passed, modified teachings of Jesus spread even farther, eventually covering most of the Earth; many nations and their leaders appeared to accept these teachings. Nominal Christianity was, and still is, one of the most prominent religions on our planet. However, this apparent acceptance shielded an underlying insincerity; this reception of the teachings was superficial and incomplete. The transformed message of Jesus did not generally bring about a fundamental spiritual renewal in individual believers; they did not truly manifest fruits of the spirit in their lives. Because of this artificiality, grave danger was lurking unseen.

Learn to be faithful to the kingdom even in times of peace and prosperity.

Being faithful to the kingdom means not only incorporating these truths into our daily lives, but also sharing them with sisters and brothers, contributing to growth of the kingdom. Believers need to be focused at all times on spiritual reality, upon values of the kingdom; this is especially true when things appear to be easy, when everything seems to be going well. During these idyllic times we are vulnerable to unforeseen events suddenly overwhelming us, catching us unprepared, obliterating our complacency, and bringing calamity upon us.

Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease-drifting souls.

This is the kicker to the entire paragraph. When spiritual reality has been ignored for a considerable length of time, there comes a moment when the tipping point is reached, when the system can tolerate no more abuse, and misfortune follows. We do not need to know how or upon whose orders these “angels of our supervision” operate. If we ignore our spiritual potential and become complacent, the angels watching over us may lead us into “troublous ways” in an effort to guide us into more spiritually productive efforts. These angels may be our individual guardian angels, and for society they would be the angels of progress or the angels of the churches. Their directions would come from the Most Highs.

What does this mean for our current situation? Our society has become mired in secularism for so long our Heavenly Father seems to be of minor importance. God has been marginalized and forgotten, to our peril. Therefore, our guiding angels may be directed to lead us into difficult times in an effort to help us become somewhat aware of spiritual reality and our obligation to humanity.

The way to make the best use of these opportunities is to examine our faith, becoming certain it is sincere. Next we need to accept the new covenant, a sincere commitment to follow God’s guidance knowing we will be assisted. We must choose to do His will at all times; if we are honest we will know how to proceed. Finally we must recognize our own light of truth and go forth sharing these teachings of love, joy, and service.

These times try our souls and force us to seek new ways of living. These times can transform society so every living soul becomes treasured, loved, nurtured, and assisted so they can become productive members of global society with global government.

These seas of destiny will become extremely rough and last far longer than we can imagine, but they are necessary to bring about an equitable society for each individual citizen, a citizen of the cosmos.

  1. All references are to The Urantia Book one column edition and refer to page.paragraph, 1488.2

  2. 2075.12

  3. 1931.1

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/troublous-times/feed/ 0 2522
Jesus – the Man https://ublightoftruth.com/jesus-the-man/ https://ublightoftruth.com/jesus-the-man/#respond Thu, 11 Apr 2019 19:08:10 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=131 Continue reading Jesus – the Man]]>

As WE Pass By

Being fully human Jesus had emotions just as we have them. For example when addressing believers in Zebedee’s house (father of the apostles James and John) he was unusually cheerful. When it became time to part with the apostles the “sorrow of love” placed a great strain on his human heart. He certainly felt love and compassion toward Mary his mother. At the tomb of Lazarus he wept. Indeed he experienced the full range of human emotions from joy to good humor and on to sorrow and grief, but he was a child of joy; his frequent exhortation was “be of good cheer” just as today we might say “be happy.”

Jesus was indeed a mortal until the day of his baptism in the Jordan River when the divine portion of his career began. After this event he was in full communication with his Thought Adjuster (also called adjuster, the spark of God within everyone) who had been personalized after the baptism by John and was now a separate personality. This dual nature of Jesus gives his life story such power and makes it spiritually compelling.

The personality of Jesus was such that all manner of people were drawn to him. Many of the apostles were manly fishermen and such individuals would not be drawn to the mystical type of person generally depicted in our artwork. His personality was perfected by his decisions and by faithfully following the advice of his adjuster.

The personality of Jesus was such that it appealed to all manner of people, from educated intellectuals to sturdy Roman soldiers to Galilean fishermen. He was totally sincere and interested in each individual he met; he fully loved each individual, this showed in his interactions with every person; he loved people so much because he placed a high value upon them.

His personality was such that people were comfortable when they were with him. Though they called him Rabbi, they were learning not to be afraid of him. Jesus possessed that matchless grace of personality which enabled him so to live among them that they were not dismayed by his divinity. They found it really easy to be “friends with God,” God incarnate in the likeness of mortal flesh (Urantia Book1534.1). They immediately respected him and called him Rabbi even though he had no formal training. It was and still is easy to be friends with him.

This is a vital point; it is easy to be friends with God. He is our closest, most intimate friend; He truly knows us and loves us. He knows our value, our unique personality and the contributions we can make as we grow in spiritual awareness and service. It is easy to be friends with God.

The greatest proof of the mortal nature of Jesus is his humiliation and crucifixion. He was tried unfairly, beaten and dealt an ignominious death at the hands of religious zealots but he maintained his dignity and composure throughout.

The most compelling indication of his distinctive character was when Pontius Pilot gestured toward him and proclaimed: “Behold the man!”

Jesus the human being with his unshakable faith in God is a compelling image for mortals struggling with a hostile environment of materialism and greed, but Christianity forsook the human Jesus in its glorification of him as the divine Christ. After the emotions connected with Pentecost, Jesus became a religion and his human aspects were largely ignored. While the glorified Christ is truly a noble story it neglects the human Jesus. We must not lose sight of this human Jesus because he is our brother as well as our creator.

We must now figuratively resurrect the human Jesus from the tomb where his mortal struggles were buried underneath the theological traditions and religious dogmas of more than two thousand years. These traditions do portray a splendid concept of the Christ, but they do not speak to our human efforts and needs. The religious authorities who put Jesus to death were mired in tradition and dogma just as many current religious leaders are. The revelation of The Urantia Book was given to us at this time so we who seek righteousness can bring a breath of fresh air into the religious community today; we should seek God’s guidance in bringing this truth forward.How unfortunate that religion itself should be so misinterpreted as to take the human Jesus away from struggling mortals! Let not the discussions of the humanity or the divinity of the Christ obscure the saving truth that Jesus of Nazareth was a religious man who, by faith, achieved the knowing and the doing of the will of God; he was the most truly religious man who has ever lived on Urantia. (Urantia Book 2090.2) (The universe name of our planet is Urantia.)

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/jesus-the-man/feed/ 0 131
Welcome to UB Light of Truth https://ublightoftruth.com/welcome-to-ub-light-of-truth/ https://ublightoftruth.com/welcome-to-ub-light-of-truth/#respond Fri, 05 Apr 2019 19:21:41 +0000 https://ublightoftruth.hookedup.com/?p=68 Continue reading Welcome to UB Light of Truth]]>

This is the opening posting for “Light of Truth: Anticipating the Triumph of Righteousness” by Doug Cable. My book is based on teachings of The Urantia Book, a new revelation of truth to our planet, which is known as Urantia.

Since I am new to this website thing, please bear with me as I seek to figure out this new realm. The website (UBLightofTruth.com) has, in addition to the usual pages (Home, Blog, and About) a page labeled Talking Points, which is an extensive list of talking points based on “Light of Truth.” Four entries are currently posted; two near the top (Adam and Eve – Garden and Death Becomes Graduation) as well as two near the bottom under “Urantia” (Urantia Book – Purpose and Urantia Book – Validation); others will be added as they are introduced in this blog.

“Light of Truth” uses the revelations in The Urantia Book to help us understand ourselves, our surroundings, and our potential, even our eternal potential. We find that a singular event in our distant past has had a profound effect on our history, even down to this day. “Light of Truth” examines this impact and makes specific suggestions for counteracting the negative forces in our society.

Following is the entry “Urantia Book – Purpose” from the Talking Points page.

The spiritual condition of our planet cries out for deliverance from these troubled times. There is too much violence, hatred and evil for a supposedly civilized planet. We are closer to being barbarians than civil human beings.

Earth needs spiritual guidance so that we can make the necessary changes to bring about peace and brotherhood. The previous revelation of truth was the life and teachings of Jesus more than two thousand years ago. While his teachings greatly uplifted the spiritual awareness of our native planet, many of his teachings were not assimilated by those who followed him. One example of this is the truth that every normal minded person on Earth is indwelt by a fragment of God. Our Heavenly Father is literally within everyone, which has astounding implications. Everyone without exception has value, purpose and meaning because of this. If those who claim to follow Jesus realized this truth there would no longer be religious strife between Christians and those of other faiths.

Sending another such teacher today would not work in our near instantaneous mass media environment because such a person would undoubtedly become the news and the teachings would mostly be lost in noise. If there were miracles, the news frenzy would be unbelievable.

Given our situation, the best solution would be to give us a new revelation of truth in a book form. That way it could be distributed, studied, shared, and integrated into the lives of its students. Recognition of its value would be gradual, allowing time for the message to sink in and become deeply meaningful for its students. This way the teachings would be the driving factor instead of some momentary news event.

The purpose of The Urantia Book is to increase our spiritual awareness, to uplift our lives, our society, our government, and to improve the overall spiritual health of Earth. Our beautiful native planet cries out for peace and harmony, without a major increase in spiritual awareness the future of life on this planet is in peril.

The actual message Jesus taught needs to be restated for our times. Everyone needs to know we are all equally indwelt by a fragment of God; we need to know that spiritual reality is vital to our wellbeing. We need to know that eternal life is truly ours for the asking and that we are all sisters and brothers; there are no exceptions.

Society has been largely secular for way too long, it has ignored our Heavenly Father and this is evident in the state of our society. We need a spiritual uplift; The Urantia Book shows us the way to achieve this.

The Urantia Book is not a book to merely read and put aside, it must be studied and its teachings be allowed to transform our life, our interactions with our sisters and brothers, as well as our society. Its purpose is to begin the process of bringing peace, brotherhood, and joy to Earth.

Originally Posted 1/7/19

]]>
https://ublightoftruth.com/welcome-to-ub-light-of-truth/feed/ 0 68