Chapters 8 to 9 - Christ’s Teachings and Today’s Christianity

- 23 - He has conferred the management of creation upon the Son, in a way similar to when a factory owner places the management of his factory in the hands of his oldest son and puts the entire working force under his supervision. In cases of this kind the son in question receives his instructions and orders from his father, upon whom he remains dependent in all things, since the father continues to be the master and owner of the factory, while the son may act only within the instructions received from him. But as far as the workmen and employees are concerned, the son is the ‘master’, whose orders they must obey, and whatever wishes they want to make known to the father as the owner of the factory must go through the son as his agent and representative. Translate this example taken from human experience into the relationship existing between God and His Son, and all utterances of Christ upon that subject will at once be clear to you. He has been given all the authority he needs to rule over creation as his Father’s representative. This he holds not by virtue of his own power. Everything is subordinate to the Son, but only because it was so ordered by the Father. Whatever the Father desires to perform in His universe, He does through the agency of the Son he appointed, and only through the Son can the Father be reached. Hence, as Christ says: ‘N o o n e c o m e s u n t o t h e F a t h e r, b u t b y m e.’ The Son receives his Father’s directions, and those which are not to be executed by him personally are passed on to the spirits best suited for the task in question, who perform it at the direct command of the Son and at the indirect command of the Father. This also is the meaning of the words Christ addressed to the Apostles when he sent them forth, and which are somewhat incorrectly repeated in your Bible: Matthew 28: 19: ‘Go you therefore, and teach all the peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, in a holy spirit.’ The mission on which Christ sent the Apostles had been assigned by the Father; consequently, the Apostles were acting indirectly in the Father’s name, but inasmuch as they had been sent directly by the Son, it was in his name that their mission was carried out, and since it could be done only if one of God’s spirits helped them with his power, it was said to be performed under the power of a holy spirit, or ‘in a holy spirit’. The holy spirits that the Apostles needed for their tasks were assigned to them by Christ himself. Therefore, the Apostles constantly invoke them in their preaching and emphasize that the truth was r e v e a l e d t o t h e m b y a h o l y s p i r i t . • So, it is in everything that you do that is God's will – you are acting in the fulfillment of His will, and consequently i n t h e n a m e o f t h e F a t h e r. The will of God is revealed to you through the Son, so you are acting also i n t h e n a m e o f t h e S o n; and the power you need is given to you by a holy spirit. Hence, you are performing your task in a holy spirit. Second: There is little to be found in the New Testament concerning G o d ’s C r e a t i o n a n d i t s d e s t i n y. The facts relating to the creation of the spirits are, • the defection of a part of the spirit world under Lucifer’s leadership,

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