Christ

[Solve et Coagula]

CHRIST
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Today people divide Christ into aspects such as "historical," "cosmic," "mystical" and so on. But Christ in his essence is one and indivisible. *
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There is only one Christ - the living Christ who is the manifestation of God, the manifestation of Love.
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Christ is God revealing Himself to the world. *
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As a manifestation of God, Christ cannot be separated from Him, cannot be considered apart from Him. *
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And when I speak of Christ, I do not mean an abstract principle, but rather an actual incarnation of Love. *
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Love is the greatest reality and not an abstraction. It has form, content and meaning. *
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Christ - whatever conception people have of him as "historical," as "cosmic," as "mystical," - gave to the earth the fullest expression of Love. *
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This is because as an historic personality, as a cosmic essence, and as a mystical experience, Christ is and remains the most perfect expression of Love. *
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Indeed, no other man on earth before Christ had greater love than His. *
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There is neither in the cosmos without, nor in the mystic depths of the soul within, a fuller expression of Love than that which we personify in Christ. *
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Therefore, how are the words "historical," "cosmic," and "mystical" to be understood? *
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Manifested on the earth at a certain historical moment as the ideal man, as an example of the real man, Christ is "historical." And the times in which he lived record an bear witness to Him: "Behold, the man! Behold, the true man in whom Love, Wisdom, and Truth live, and who applies them." *
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When he is experienced in the inward depths, he is "mystical," and when he is comprehended and known as God manifested in the world, he is "cosmic." *
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The physical side of Christ is all of humanity united in one body. All human souls in which Christ lives, united into one - this is the physical aspect of Christ. *
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All angels, gathered into the heart of Christ, represent his spiritual aspect. *
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And all divine beings, united in the mind of Christ, are his divine aspect. *
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This is the "cosmic" Christ, God manifested in the world. *
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That is why the mystic sees Christ everywhere - as the great Brother of humanity, the archetype of man, the First-Born in the world, the beginning of the human race, the beginning of human evolution. The First-Born who developed and manifested all divine virtues, who applied all divine laws. *
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The mystic sees Christ as the First-Born who passed every trial and sacrificed all for his brothers. *
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Mountains, fields, springs, rivers, and seas, with all the natural wealth hidden therein - all this is an expression of this Great Brother. *
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But this is a great mystery, for the understanding of which thousands of years of unremitting work are necessary. *
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Thus does one need to conceive of Christ in his comprehensiveness. *
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He is One, although people consider him sometimes as "historical," sometimes as "cosmic," or as "mystical." *
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All these words must come to life in the true understanding of Christ as the manifested and revealed Love of God; they must not remain dry concepts, prisons for human thought. *
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Indeed, is not the "historical" Christ, who came to earth two thousand years ago, a prison for the minds of many Christians? Where in the Scripture did Christ two thousand years ago speak of himself as of an historical personality? He speaks of himself as Spirit, as one who will remain on earth "to the end of the ages," that is until the epoch of violence and evil, now in its last days, comes to an end. *
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"Go and preach," he says to his disciples, "and I shall be with you to the end of the ages." *
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One of the worst delusions is to think that Christ is in heaven, that he sits and waits for the Last Judgment, when he will begin to judge the living and the dead. *
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The truth is that Christ has never left the earth. Remember his words: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." *
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Christ is he Who has inspired, is inspiring, and will inspire the "historical," "cosmic," and "mystical" life of the earth and humanity. *
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Without Christ, there could be no history. *
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Without Christ, there could be no "cosmos," no organized and established world. *
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Without Christ, there could be no "mystical" life. *
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He is the great inspirer of all revelations in all times. He is the unseen moving force behind the whole spiritual life of humanity. *
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The Scripture, in which Christ is the central figure, is a witness to this. *
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Christ himself hints at this with the words: "Moses and the prophets wrote about me." *
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Moses, in a general sense, comprises all the spiritual leaders of humanity, all scientists, philosophers, writers, poets, artists and musicians who prepare the minds of men for the understanding of Christ, the divine Truth. *
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However transitory their works seem, however changeable their theories, they are not arbitrary; they are created under the influence of a universal law of the Spirit, working in mankind in a special way. *
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All those men, therefore, worked for the manifold upliftment of humanity; they prepared the way for the coming of Christ. *
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It is not easy for a great Spirit such as Christ to come among men. Men had to work hard in the course of several thousand years in order that Christ might appear among them. It is not easy to come to the earth. *
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But with his descent to the earth, Christ opened a new epoch in the evolution of humanity. He indicated the only way by which the human soul can ascend to God. *
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This is why he said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." *
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The Way: in the broadest sense of the word, this is the movement of the Spirit towards an intelligent application of the laws of Nature. *
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The Life: this is the harmonious organization of the elements and the development of the forces in the Divine soul. *
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The Truth: this is the manifestation of the One God, who creates the conditions for the development of all living beings. *
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Coming from the Divine world of Truth and descending to the material world, Christ connects human souls to the world of Truth, where the great aims of every life are hidden. *
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There must necessarily be a link to unite human souls sunken in matter, with God. Only Christ can form that link - only Christ can unite men with God. *
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He came down from the Divine world, bringing life from the world of Truth, and ascended back to it, and in this way he indicated the path leading from temporal life to the eternal. *
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"And this is life eternal," says Christ, "that they should know Thee the only true God, and him who Thou didst send Jesus Christ." *
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To know God is to know the seeds of the Spirit - the conditions, the powers, and the laws which sustain it, and according to which this wonderful order of things is built. *
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And Christ is the intelligent beginning who comes from the One God, bringing life to all beings, guiding them and sustaining them, and linking them to the initial center of all that is. *
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Christ is the way of this intelligent movement of souls which leads them to life eternal in Truth. *
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And when Christ is asked why he came to earth, he replies, "To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth." *

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http://www.libertyforum.org/showfla...mber=294269103&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=21&part=