Lessons In Truth - Lesson 2 - Annotation 1
What do we mean by the nature of God? Name and explain some of the other names used to define the different aspects of God.
1. The nature of anything is its essential character, therefore the nature of God is Absolute Good, unchangeable, impersonal, eternal, standing under all creation with absolute integrity.
The elements that make up this Absolute Good are what we term ideas, attributes, qualities of God, such as life, love, substance, power, wisdom. Each person's concept (thought) of God is based on his particular degree of soul unfoldment as well as on his need at any given time. However, our particular concept (thought) of God does not change the Principle of Absolute Good; God remains forever the same unchangeable good.
Some names used to define the different aspects of God are:
God is Principle, the foundation, the everywhere-present Spirit of Absolute Good, on which everything rests. Principle is the reality, the underlying plan or framework of all creation.
"God is Spirit," (John 4:24), the life principle, conceived as the breath of God, which is God "breathing out" His Spirit as man, and the universe. Spirit, as the enlivening and enlightening essence of Mind, is the substance that permeates and envelopes all creation. Spirit as the animating force of life is the source of all energy, the prompter of exertion, the inspiring and revealing cause of life, substance, and intelligence in all created things.
God is Source, the origin of man and the universe. God is the source or beginning of all divine ideas, patterns, or laws, which supply us with all that is needed to live a more abundant life here and now, and eternally.
God is Divine Mind, in which inhere all the divine ideas on which creation is based. It is the medium through which Principle functions: "The functioning of the principles of Being; Spirit in action . . . It is that which, through orderly processes, produces things." (The Revealing Word 56).
God is Creator, the creative cause of all that is real, enduring, abiding, eternal. This creation is accomplished through the power of the creative Word, also called the Logos, which moves ideas into expression and manifestation.
God is Law, the action of the principle of Absolute Good working in and throughout all creation. "Divine law is the orderly working out of the principles of Being, or the divine ideals, into expression and manifestation throughout creation" (The Revealing Word 118).
God is Truth, the steadfast fulfillment of the divine plan, intention or promise; it is the real of all things; that which is continuous and changeless.
God is omnipresence, the only presence in the universe; the Mind essence or substance which is all-inclusive; that which permeates, infolds, supports, sustains, and maintains all things, every moment.
God is omnipotence, the only power, or all-power, which is the ability of all creation, including man, to accomplish perfection and thereby fulfill itself.
God is omniscience, the only wisdom, all-knowing, all-intelligence. Throughout all creation, including man, omniscience functions as the "knowing idea."
God is Being. Being embraces all that has been referred to as God's nature or character. God as Being is the one Presence and one Power. Being is, thus it is always in the present tense, here and now.
Another name for God is Father-Mother; Jesus called Him "our Father" (Matt. 6:9) and also "the Father" (John 10:30). We think of "the Father" as that aspect of God which is the author of all life, the parent Mind, and "our Father" as the all-wise provider caring for us individually. There is also the mother aspect of God which nurtures all creation, feeding it with ideas of life, substance, intelligence . Man feels this mother-nature of God as the love that sustains and fulfills him.
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Preceding Entry: What attitude of mind leads to complete deliverance from adversity? Where is victory first won?
Following Entry: What is the relation of God to man, and to all His creation?
