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Man is EverythingThe proper definition of man is not mortal man, mankind, or that which we call human. Man is the Son of God. One God reflects but one man -- his image and likeness. This man has infinite presence and power to do whatever he wants. There is only one desire, one glory, and one grand reflection because he is what one Mind thinks. To grasp this view, we must understand that in the universe of infinite Mind, whatever we call finite has no meaning and therefore does not exist. Jesus implored us to seek out the true definition of man and his infinite nature. "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. ... ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23, 24). Mary Baker Eddy begins her definition of man as follows: "MAN. The compound idea of infinite Spirit; the spiritual image and likeness of God; the full representation of Mind" (SH 591:5). The Bible introduces this compound idea of Spirit in its opening verses, Gen 1-2:3. What appears as a creation story of seven days is actually a progressive unfolding of one singular message -- the definition of God's son as all that is. Each so-called day unfolds the nature, quality, and infinitude of the one man reflecting the eternal Principle, God. Here man is presented from God's point of view. There is no other vantage point to see or know the Son of God. There is but one grand vista. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). The term "beginning" can be rendered as only, Principle, or it may merely indicate the introduction to God's definition of man. It could be stated this way; "First of all, let it be understood that all creation is man, yes, even the heaven and earth. "The earth was without form, and void" assures us that man is not composed of matter, that he did not evolve from a beast, nor did he originate in the sea. "... he is not physique" (SH 475:14) Man is light. "God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Jesus said it this way, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). The first six days of creation represent periods of unfoldment from simple idea-forms to the compound idea of all ideas. The "grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind" indicates that "the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life … reproduces … and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man" (SH 507:11-18). "Spiritually interpreted, rocks and mountains stand for solid and grand ideas. ... The fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal and divine Principle, Love" (SH 511:24-25, 28). Man is the reflection of God, the sum total of all right ideas including the universe. This is what is meant by having dominion over the fish of the sea and the foul of the air. "By this reflection, man becomes the partaker of that Mind whence sprang the universe" (Mis 235:6). The sixth day presents the composite of God's idea of man, his image and likeness ? the perfect reflection of all. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;" (Gen. 2:2). Seventh-day rest affirms that, as reflection, man is the Comforter presence -- the Science of one whole infinite Principle. In other words, man is the understanding of every idea derived from divine Mind. "He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness" (SH 475:13-16). When Jesus called on us to be with him on the throne, he meant that we are to recognize that man is one stupendous whole. Sitting on the throne is our conscious home, the natural outgrowth, product, or emanation of universal Love; it is New Jerusalem, the new heaven and new earth. We are the morning stars that sing together and the evening recognition of all accomplishment; and God sees that it is good. All the good that we see and all the good thoughts we think are whispers of reality -- elements of the one all-inclusive man, made in God's image and likeness. "The world believes in many persons; but if God is personal, there is but one person, because there is but one God" (SH 517:15-17). We must sweep away the veil of human sense and self and discover our fullness, prove our fullness, and be the fullness. There is no other! "The numerals of infinity, called seven days, can never be reckoned according to the calendar of time. These days will appear as mortality disappears, and they will reveal eternity, newness of Life, in which all sense of error forever disappears and thought accepts the divine infinite calculus" (SH 520:9). Right now, God is living Us, thinking Us, loving Us into existence. Therefore man is the infinite product of God -- everything! George Denninger © |
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