The Heavenly Father

Jesus Christ calls the God his Father; he is true for he is indeed the Son of God.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the terms Father, elder brother and younger brother are used to explain the relationship between God, Son of God and the Spirit of Truth. It was essential for Jesus to explain what he knew in the form of parables and in simple terms because only then the simple folks around him could understand him.

In my book ‘A day with Manual‘ also (this book is given in this website) God is a character who talks and interacts with others. Giving God a form, a name, a shape etc. is the easiest way to make an ordinary person understand Him.

But this story type narration has some disadvantages. It can raise many questions like ‘If God is the Father then who is the mother? How can two people be brothers when there is a gap of around two thousand years between them?’ (between Jesus’ and the time of the Paraclete/ Spirit of Truth) even among ordinary people. And for a spiritually awakened person this concept of God, someone with a definite name and shape is not enough to satisfy him.

So we need to have a wider perspective to understand God better. Then what is God?

In Jesus’ own words God is a spirit; and they that worship him  must worship in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Spirit is the other name for Knowledge/Wisdom. Luke 2: 40 says And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Being strong in spirit is equivalent to being filled with wisdom. Again John 6:63 says It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. The Gospel exemplifies that there is no difference between the Spirit of God and wisdom.

The common belief is that a life is born when it is gifted with the Spirit of God. It is not the child’s parents who provide him the knowledge on when and how to grow in the womb and when to come out to the outer world, but it is the Heavenly Spirit. A body has the knowledge on when and how to age and when to die. It can be rightly deducted that the spirit governing a man is that invisible knowledge/ wisdom.

Those poor in spirit are those lacking in that guiding knowledge/ wisdom. The handicapped on birth, especially the mentally challenged are the ones who lack the Heavenly Spirit and so, they are the responsibility of the Supreme Spirit.  That is why Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:3) The Heavenly Father will compensate for those poor in spirit because the Supreme Spirit is none other than him.

What proof other than a gain in wisdom can a person who claims to have received the Holy Spirit present before others? The Apostles began to speak in foreign languages when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2: 4-6) Ordinary people like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and others were filled with Holy Wisdom and so that they could give us the Gospel and spread the light of the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

Apart from the spirit what else is the Holy Father? Mark 14:62 says, And Jesus said, You shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. By the word ‘power’ Jesus means the Heavenly Father. John 1:4 says, In him (God) was life, and the life was the light of men. There is no distinction between life and the light of men and between life and the spirit (wisdom). So the light of man is the Spirit (Wisdom) and it is the Spirit of God. (God is the light of man, but the light of man is only a part of the God because he is the Supreme light) He is the Supreme power that is driving this universe. And those blessed with the grace of God are those walking in his light.

Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walks in darkness knows not whither he goes. While you have light believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. (John 12:35-36) He has also said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) Note that Jesus called himself both light and life. And we have seen that the Supreme light is the Heavenly Father. He thus describes himself as a part of the Supreme Light or the Supreme Light itself.

Esias, the prophet also called him light. The people who sat in darkness saw great light; and to them, which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. (Matt 4: 16)

Luke 6:19 says, And the whole multitude sought to touch him; for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. John 17: 1-2 says, And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. The light or the life, Jesus, transformed into power or energy on that occasion.

The words light and fire stand for the power or the energy that is driving life on earth.

When the Heavenly Father is the Supreme Spirit (wisdom) and Supreme Power (light or fire) those aiming to attain Him should attain Supreme Wisdom and Power i.e. they should be baptized with spirit and fire. Hasn’t John, the Baptist bare witness to the truth that Jesus shall baptize us with the Holy Spirit (Spirit and Ghost are the same) and with fire. (Matt 3:11) Those not baptized with the Holy Spirit and light will literally be burned up like chaff in the unquenchable fire of Hell.

Jesus Christ was blessed with Spirit/wisdom and Power. The words and acts of that child of wisdom justified him. (Luke 7: 35) And the fact that virtue emitted from him so that he could cure people (Matt 8:1-13) proves that he was blessed with power too. So both the Heavenly Father and Jesus were Spirit and Power. The words of Jesus, the Father and I are one (John 10:30) and that the Father is in me and I am in him (John 10: 38) become true because both are one and the same, Spirit and Power.

Both the Father and the Son are unbound by time as wisdom and power are timeless. When Jesus said, Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad, and when asked how he, not even fifty years old could see Abraham, didn’t he answer, Before Abraham was I am. (John 8:56-58) His bearing witness to the Son of man on the Judgment Day also proves that he was unbound by time.

Spirit and Power can’t be destroyed also. Though power can be transformed from one form to another, the total power in the universe remains constant. Life is possible on earth as long as it is in an equilibrium state i.e., the power the mankind receives should be equal to the sum of the power it uses up and contribute back.

Mankind as a whole is required to contribute to this Power and when this contribution goes below a certain minimum threshold then power from the Supreme Power will flow to compensate that.

So, who is God?

God is the Supreme Power which is the sum total of all powers and knowledge; God, the Omnipresent, Omnipotent and omniscient One.

This Supreme power is inclusive of but not limited to the following powers 1.The positive power generated in you by your positive thoughts and deeds, 2. the negative (Satanic) power emitted by negative thoughts and deeds, 3.  the empowered positive forces called angels, 4. the arch-angels who harbor negative  powers after becoming angels or fallen angels.

When God is the Supreme Power it is inclusive of my power as well as your power. In other words I am in God or the God is in me. You are in God or the God is in you. You and I are essentially parts of God. (Aham Brahmasmi as per Hindu Philosophy.)

When you do a positive deed you increase your positive power and that in turn adds to the total Power. When you give to the needy, even if you do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you;  Because you are adding to his Power and He can’t remain unaware when his power increases.

When you do a negative deed you generate negative power which will affect the total power adversely.

In other words negative power is also a part of the Supreme power. If God lets positive power dwell here he has to let negative power also dwell here. In the Book of Job you can see God addressing Satan in friendly terms.

Can the God have a form and a name?

How can the God be confined to a particular form when He is inclusive of all the forms? So He can take any form to manifest Himself.

How can He be confined to a particular name when He is inclusive of all the names? So He can take any name for manifestation.

But how can He not have my form when my form is included in Him? How can He not have your form when your form is also included in Him? So he can take my form or your form, my name or your name.

Calling the Supreme Power Jehovah, Allah, Ishwar, Paramathma, Father, Lord or any other name is similar to calling the moon different names in different languages. You are right because that name can be His name but you are not fully right because other names can also be His names.

Now let’s go to Lesson 3 to understand Holy Spirit better. But before we proceed further let’s go through some notes.

Notes:

The life on earth is pre programmed.  It’s like the origin and growth of a child in the womb.

A sperm and an egg fuse to form a single cell and it divides into two after a particular time because it has been programmed so. Then it divides into four and the cells increase in geometric progression. Some cells develop into brain and controls the body, some others become the heart and supports life. Some organs function voluntary and some involuntary.

The brain controls the body but is dysfunctional unless the heart supports it. The heart supplies blood to the brain but it is useless if the brain is dead.  Every organ is important because the body can’t function smoothly in the absence of any other. And to the one who views the body from outside the different organs are invisible, the body is a single entity and he wishes all the organs to function in harmony.

 After taking birth the body knows when to grow, when to age and when to die. Mankind’s is also a similar phenomenon. God created mankind and they multiplied manifold and settled on different parts of the world. Languages and religions cropped up. Some knew the Creator and worshipped him while others worshipped idols and other Gods. Yet the God didn’t destroy any of them because they also are a part of this world, which he himself programmed.

 As everyone can feel the power of God at one point or the other saying that no God exists is folly. 

When the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck people of all religions perished. Wasn’t the Christian God powerful enough to save the Christians? Weren’t the Hindu Gods capable of saving Hindus and the Muslim God capable of saving Muslims?

 The answer to these questions is simple. All deities are one and the same. It’s the same divine power that is driving all the religions. Can anyone be so foolish to look at the sky and say, the stars and the moon that I see is the true one? Others are also seeing the same moon and stars, but from a different location.  Every one can see it, as long as he takes pains to raise his head and look up. They might even call by different names, but does it make it any difference.

 It’s not a picture, a holy book or an idol that is sanctifying a place of worship. The size and the structure of the building are unimportant. It’s the people there who sanctify it.  If the lowest person there is the one who takes in a stranger, who feeds the hunger and thirsty, who clothes the lonely ones with his company then he is sanctifying it more than the deities. 

Two major religions worship the Father and another worships his son. Instead of understanding that all religions teach people different ways to maximize positive energy they act myopic. And they fight! It’s like the right hand fighting with the left hand and the eyes with the ears.

When the organs of the same body fight with each other it is a pathetic situation. The only remedy is to give it a chance to commit suicide or allow euthanasia.

 So the sentinels of all religions,  beware and keep watch, because a lot is expected from you.