Redemption

Neville Goddard 10-21-1969

We are told in Paul’s letter to the Romans that this world is a world of sorrow. Then he gives us the reason and the glorious end it produces, saying: “I consider the sufferings of this present time not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in us. The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was made subject unto futility – not of its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; for the creation will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Here we see that the redemption of the universe depends upon the revealing of ourselves, for, buried in this world, we are the sons of God but we do not know it. The world did not subject us; we subjected ourselves. No one took our lives; we laid them down ourselves. We have the power to lay our life down and the power to take it up again. Coming into this world for a purpose, we deliberately became what we are in the hope that one day we would rise and redeem the world by setting it free from its bondage to decay.

Your connection with the plan of redemption called Jesus Christ can be told in this manner. It is like a visible history which is compressed within a few years, and the eternal history of salvation, which continually unfolds throughout the ages. At a certain moment in time these two histories come together to unite into one person, who is the Son of God and the unveiling of your true identity. You and I departed the world of eternity and came here for a divine purpose. And it is here where our real humanity and the true divinity of Jesus Christ unite and become one person.

Think for a moment of Jesus Christ as divine history which will be experienced by you while you are in the world of human history. John tells of this event in the story of the raising of Lazarus. (Remember, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not historical characters, but books bearing their names. The authors of these books took events which are separated in time and wove them into one dramatic experience.) The 11th chapter of the Book of John begins by identifying Lazarus as the one who is loved by the Lord Jesus, but is dead. Jesus, having heard this news, delays his journey and when he arrives, Martha (Lazarus’ sister) said: “If you had not left us, my brother would not have died.” And when they took Jesus to the cave where Lazarus was buried and he gave the command to remove the stone, Martha said: “Lord, by this time he stinketh as he has been dead for four days.”

Prior to this event Jesus knew himself to be the resurrection, and when he asked Martha if she believed, she answered in this manner: “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of the Lord God who is coming into the world.” Notice the tense given here: he who is coming into the world; therefore, where is he being addressed? If you and I were speaking face to face would you not be here with me? So is the conversation not taking place within, as self speaking to self? Are you not telling yourself that you are the Lord who is coming into the world?

Now, when the command was given to remove the stone, the statement is made that there will be an offensive odor. This is a very important sign, for when the stone was removed, he said, “Lazarus, come out.” Then the one who was dead, bound hands and feet, with a napkin covering his head, came out. They unbound him and let him go.

You may think this is secular history, but I tell you it is not. John took events in divine history which were separated in time and wove them into this one grand experience. This I know to be true. John took the first event (which is resurrection) and the last event (which is the descent of the Holy Spirit in bodily form as a dove) and wove them into one grand complex picture; yet the events are separated in time by three and one-half years.

The resurrection of Christ in you and your birth from above are inseparable for “We are born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ within us.” John takes the first event as someone he is going to raise, yet refers to it as the last event; and unless you have had the experience or know someone who has, you cannot understand it. I have books on the Bible at home, yet no scholar has touched this truth, for truth is not logically proved. It proves itself through revelation.