Neville Goddard Lecture, Redemption

Redemption

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REDEMPTION

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. In my own case, the last event was when the Holy Spirit descended upon me in bodily form as a dove and smothered me with love. A woman at my side observed the descent, and said: “They avoid man because man gives off such an offensive odor. But he loves you and to demonstrate his love for you he has penetrated the ring of offense.” Here we find the sign as an offensive odor.

It was not just an odor, for an odor may be pleasant. The author was revealing the intensity of disgust felt regarding the world into which the sons of God had descended. Everything decays here – but everything! No matter how long a thing seems to live, whether it be animate or inanimate, in time it decays and vanishes. And the generative organs in the state of decay have a peculiar, offensive odor. On many occasions I have awakened knowing a friend or relative has died because I have smelled his odor, only to received confirmation during the day. The odor is associated with the decay of God’s creative power upon which the world is built. When the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon me, it was a woman – not a man – who told me of his love, saying: “They avoid man because man gives off such an offensive odor.” The creation, waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God, avoids this odor. But at a moment in time, contact is made between the two histories: the human history of 6,000 years and the eternal history of salvation. They touch, and one new person is created, without loss of identity. You are aware of being touched and the being doing the touching. That being is Jesus Christ, the eternal, heavenly man. Soon after that moment you will take off your garment of flesh and leave this world of death for the last time, for you will have come into your heavenly inheritance, which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Creating anything at will, your every wish will become objectively real. That is the power you are inheriting, along with a body to fully appreciate it. Now, the creation waits for such contacts, for the creation has been subjected to futility – not by its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it in the hope of revealing God’s sons, for such everyone is.

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