This chapter shows the difference between continued life in the spirit world and immortality, and how those on the Divine Love path are even in their present life possessors of eternal life and immortality.
In TGRABJ/1/53 (paraphrased) we learn that Jesus was more than a mere reformer. He was not only a good and just teacher, but he was the first true son of God, and His messenger in bringing to the world the truths of immortality through the Divine Love of the Father, and the way to obtain it. He was indeed the Way and the Truth and the Life as no other teacher before him ever was.
Immortality means much more than a continuation of life. It means a life that has in it the Divine Love or essence of the Father. This makes the spirit divine, and not subject to death of any kind. No spirit has immortality just because it is continuing to live in the spirit world. Continuity of life in the spirit realms does not equate with immortality. Only at-onement with God provides the divine attribute of immortality.
Humans whose souls have received the Divine Love are immortal and can never cease to exist. They experience the great comfort and blessing of knowing this because they possess an immortal quality of God that can never have an ending. (TGRABJ/1/50).
Before the coming of Jesus, immortality was not available to humankind – even though some believed in it. That belief was based just on hope derived from spirit communication which showed that death had not annihilated the individual. Jesus brought not just hope, but knowledge of the truth. However, the mere fact of Jesus’ resurrection does not prove immortality. Only the Father is immortal, and only those to whom He gives His attributes of immortality can become immortal as He is.
The Divine Love – not merely the natural human love – is the key principle of immortality. The possessor of the Divine Love takes on the nature and likeness of the Father and thus a part of divinity. Consequently, they become immortal, and can never be deprived of their divinity.
In TGRABJ/1/47 (paraphrased), we learn about the difference between the human soul that continues its life in the spirit world and the soul that has experienced the New Birth. The latter not only continues living, but its condition makes its extinction an impossibility – even by God, who in the beginning of human existence created that soul.
Human souls did not always exist – they are not eternal, self-existing or independent. Rather, they depend on the will of God for their existence. It could therefore be inferred that in the future, a soul may have served the purpose of its creation and be disseminated into the elements of which it was created.
Myriads of souls in the spirit world are in a condition of perfection which was the state of the first humans at the time of creation, and which God pronounced “very good.” But as mortals have no assurance that at some time, the life of their souls will not end, so the spirits who have reached the perfection of their originally created state have no such assurance. While they have hope and belief that continued existence is their destiny, and are in a state of happiness, they do not have the knowledge that they are immortal. Rather they realize that they depend on the will of God for their existence.
God’s relationship with these souls is merely that of the Creator and created. By contrast, His relationship with the souls that have received the New Birth and hence the divine nature, is not only as a Creator and created, but also that of a co-equal so far as the quality of immortality is concerned. These souls become self-existing and not dependent on God for their existence. They are His true children by birth, not just by creation. (TGRABJ/1/122).
The focus of Jesus’ teaching was the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven, as shown by many references in the Gospels. Specifically, he brought the happy tidings (gospel) that every soul praying for, and receiving, the Divine Love could have eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom of God. In a way, this state can be a part of our consciousness and knowledge while still clothed in the flesh.
TGRABJ/1/47 teaches us that true immortality is the condition of the soul which knows that because of its essence and qualities, it can never cease to live.
Several Bible passages show that the eternal life and immortality given to us is not only for the future, but is a present state. For example, the author of Ephesians tells us:
Ephesians 2:6 – And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Unlike the first parents, Jesus did not turn down the offer of the Divine Love received through fervent prayer, and so became the first human ever to have possessed this substance of the Soul of God. We can read this in 1 John 5.
1 John 5:11-12 – God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
In Bible language, through the New Birth, as soon as we start receiving God’s Love, we “pass from death to life”. Indeed, Jesus came so that humans could have – upon receiving his teachings and applying them – immortal life. He brought life and immortality to light and became impersonation of the resurrection. This immortal life is both a present and future reality.
Ephesians 2:1-10 – As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world … gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. … But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith [in Jesus’ teachings and God’s Divine Love saving us] – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 10:9-10 – I [Jesus] am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. … I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me [my teachings] will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die [because they have immortality].
John 5:24-26 – “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned [by the law of compensation]; he has crossed over from death to life [through the Divine Love entering his soul and planting the seed of immortality]. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come [with the re-bestowal of the Divine Love] when the dead [in sins] will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear [listen and apply the teachings] will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in himself [through the Divine Love.]
2 Timothy 1:8-10 – God who has savedus and calledus to a holy life – not because of anything we have donebut because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealedthrough the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,who has destroyed deathand has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
1 John 3:14 – We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers [as a result of the Divine Love in our souls]. Anyone who does not love remains in death [doesn’t have immortality].
In summary, the potential for immortality was lost to humans when the first parents rebelled against God. Jesus became the Messiah and savior by announcing that the Father has re-bestowed the gift of immortality, and showing the way that individuals can avail themselves of this gift. The only way is by asking for and being transformed by the Divine Love imparted by the Holy Spirit into our souls. The continuation of life in the spirit world is not a guarantee of immortality, only the New Birth provides this state of being. Those without the Divine Love and New Birth will always remain dependent on God’s will and sustenance for their continued existence.