Paper 119 Overview: The Bestowals of Christ Michael

This paper chronicles the seven bestowal incarnations of Michael of Nebadon, our Universe Creator Son, which were required for him to attain full sovereignty over his created realm. These bestowals, spanning nearly one billion years of universe time, demonstrate the profound principle that true understanding of created beings requires experiential participation in their existence. Through successive incarnations as a Melchizedek, a Lanonandek System Sovereign, a Material Son, a seraphic counselor, an ascending spirit-form mortal, a morontia personality, and finally as the human Jesus of Nazareth, Michael progressively acquired the experiential wisdom necessary for just and compassionate universe sovereignty.

Each bestowal not only contributed to Michael's personal development as Universe Sovereign but also manifested a specific aspect of Paradise Deity will: the first showing the united will of Father, Son, and Spirit; the second expressing the Father-Son will; the third revealing the Father-Spirit will; the fourth portraying the Son-Spirit will; the fifth demonstrating the will of the Conjoint Actor; the sixth manifesting the will of the Eternal Son; and the seventh living out the will of the Universal Father. The culmination of these bestowals at Urantia established Michael as the supreme sovereign of Nebadon, recognized by both the Ancients of Days and the Paradise Trinity, while simultaneously augmenting the evolving sovereignty of God the Supreme through the synthesis of experiential divinity expression. This bestowal process transformed Michael from an existential Creator to an experiential Sovereign capable of ruling with both justice and mercy born from firsthand understanding of his created beings.

Presented by Gavalia, Chief of the Evening Stars of Nebadon and commissioned by Gabriel, this paper reveals the sequence and significance of the seven bestowal incarnations through which Michael of Nebadon earned his status as supreme sovereign of his local universe. The narrative establishes that the attribute of bestowal is inherent in the Paradise Sons, originating with the Eternal Son, who bestowed himself seven times on the circuits of Havona during the ascension of Grandfanda and the first pilgrims from time and space. This pattern established a precedent that Creator Sons follow as they organize and develop their respective local universes, undertaking a sequence of bestowals that enables them to comprehend experientially the lives and challenges of their created beings.

When a Creator Son leaves Paradise to establish a local universe, he commits through a solemn oath to the eternal Trinity not to assume full sovereignty until successfully completing seven creature bestowals certified by the superuniverse Ancients of Days. These bestowals serve primarily as educational experiences that transform divine Creators into wise, sympathetic, just, and understanding sovereigns who have personally experienced the conditions of those they govern. While numerous incidental benefits accrue to the worlds, systems, and beings involved in these bestowals, their fundamental purpose remains the personal development of the Creator Son himself, enabling him to administer his universe with the unique combination of justice and mercy that can only come from direct experiential knowledge of created existence in all its diverse forms.

Approximately one billion years ago, on Salvington, Michael of Nebadon announced his impending departure to fulfill the bidding of his Paradise Father, temporarily transferring administrative authority to his Paradise brother Immanuel, the Union of Days. Following a farewell broadcast that included specific instructions to the Constellation Fathers, Michael vanished from the dispatching field of Salvington and remained absent for twenty years of standard time. Only the Divine Minister and Immanuel knew the nature of his mission, with Immanuel sharing this confidential information solely with Gabriel, the chief executive of the universe and Bright Morning Star.

Three days after Michael's unexplained departure, a communication arrived from the Melchizedek sphere reporting the appearance of a strange Melchizedek Son who, while not part of their original number, was identical to their order. This visitor, accompanied by an omniaphim bearing credentials from the Ancients of Days on Uversa and endorsed by Immanuel, was integrated into the Melchizedek emergency service corps. Records preserved on the Melchizedek homeworld later revealed that this unique being served faithfully on twenty-four emergency missions during his hundred-year sojourn before disappearing as mysteriously as he had arrived. Though these records do not explicitly identify this visitor as Michael, it is universally accepted throughout Nebadon that this exceptional Melchizedek was indeed their Creator Son fulfilling his first bestowal mission, demonstrating the wisdom, love, and devotion to duty that would earn him the enduring loyalty of the Melchizedek order.

Nearly one hundred and fifty million years after the completion of the Melchizedek bestowal, a significant crisis developed in system 11 of constellation 37 when a Lanonandek Son named Lutentia, serving as System Sovereign, instigated one of the most widespread and disastrous rebellions against Michael's authority in Nebadon's history. After more than one hundred years of dissatisfaction following an adjudication by the Constellation Fathers that he rejected, Lutentia led many associates into open rebellion, ruling supreme on his headquarters planet for more than twenty standard years before the Most Highs, with approval from Uversa, ordered his segregation and requested Salvington to appoint a replacement System Sovereign.

Concurrent with this request, Michael issued his second extraordinary proclamation transferring universe authority to Immanuel while he departed to "do the bidding of my Paradise Father." Three days after his disappearance, a new and previously unknown member appeared among the reserve corps of primary Lanonandek Sons, accompanied by a tertiaphim bearing credentials from the Uversa Ancients of Days and instructions signed by Immanuel appointing him as Lutentia's successor. For more than seventeen years, this mysterious temporary ruler administered the demoralized system with exceptional justice and mercy, even offering the rebellious Lutentia an opportunity to share the system throne if he would apologize for his indiscretions—an offer Lutentia refused, recognizing that this benevolent ruler was actually Michael himself. When the officially appointed permanent successor arrived, the inhabitants of Palonia mourned the departure of this extraordinarily noble and benign ruler, who had through wisdom and compassion rehabilitated their troubled system before returning to Salvington to resume his duties as Universe Sovereign.

The third bestowal was precipitated by a request from Life Carriers on planet 217 in system 87 of constellation 61 for the dispatch of a Material Son to assist them. This planet was situated in a system where another System Sovereign had rebelled, the second such rebellion in Nebadon's history. After transferring universe direction to Immanuel and command of celestial forces to Gabriel, Michael vanished from Salvington's dispatching field as he had on previous occasions, embarking on his third experiential mission as a created being in his realm. Three days following Michael's departure, a strange Material Son appeared unannounced on the headquarters world of system 87, accompanied by a lone seconaphim bearing credentials from the Uversa Ancients of Days and certification from Immanuel.

Immediately appointed as acting Planetary Prince of the troubled world 217, this emergency Material Son worked in isolation for an entire planetary generation on a quarantined, rebellious world without direct communication with the outside universe. Through patience, fortitude, and skill, he achieved the repentance and reclamation of the defaulting Planetary Prince and his entire staff, restoring the planet to loyal service to Paradise rule. When regular Material Son and Daughter rulers arrived to assume visible planetary leadership, the temporary Planetary Prince formally departed, and Michael subsequently reappeared on Salvington as the superuniverse broadcasts announced the further advancement of his sovereignty in Nebadon. This third bestowal demonstrated to the Material Sons throughout Nebadon that their Creator had personally experienced and understood the challenges of their planetary missions, forever eliminating any temptation for them to complain about difficult assignments.

During one of the periodic millennial roll calls of Uversa, Michael again placed the government of Nebadon in the hands of Immanuel and Gabriel before disappearing on his fourth bestowal mission. On the third day following his departure, the universe broadcasts to Uversa reported the unannounced arrival of an unknown seraphim at the seraphic headquarters of Nebadon, accompanied by a solitary supernaphim and Gabriel himself. This unregistered seraphim, bearing credentials from the Uversa Ancients of Days certified by Immanuel, tested as belonging to the supreme order of angels and was promptly assigned to the corps of teaching counselors.

For more than forty standard universe years, Michael remained absent from Salvington, serving as a seraphic teaching counselor to twenty-six different master teachers across twenty-two different worlds throughout Nebadon. His final assignment placed him as counselor and helper to a Trinity Teacher Son during a bestowal mission on world 462 in system 84 of constellation 3. Throughout the seven years of this terminal seraphic assignment, the Trinity Teacher Son never fully confirmed the identity of his seraphic associate, although all seraphim during this period were regarded with heightened interest and scrutiny, as the celestial community recognized their Sovereign was among them in angelic disguise. This bestowal experience enabled Michael to understand firsthand the nature and perspective of the angelic hosts who serve throughout his universe, making him the only Creator ever to have been "in all points tried and tested in the likeness of seraphic personality."

More than three hundred million years ago by Urantia reckoning, Michael again transferred universe authority to Immanuel but this time announced that his destination would be Uversa, the superuniverse headquarters. While no mention of Michael's arrival appeared in superuniverse broadcasts, an entry soon appeared in the Uversa records noting the arrival of "an unannounced and unnumbered ascendant pilgrim of mortal origin from the universe of Nebadon, certified by Immanuel of Salvington and accompanied by Gabriel of Nebadon." This mysterious personality, who was received into the fellowship of spirit pilgrims and became known on Uversa as Eventod, lived and functioned as a typical ascending mortal of spirit status for eleven years of Orvonton standard time.

On Salvington, universe administrators followed this spirit pilgrim's career with consummate interest, aware through Gabriel's presence that this unassuming and unnumbered ascender was their Creator Sovereign experiencing the spirit phase of mortal ascension. Eventod fulfilled all responsibilities of a spirit mortal, proving worthy of the confidence of his superiors while commanding respect from his fellow spirits, until he advanced with a group of ascending mortals to Havona. Before departing Uversa, he conversed with the Ancients of Days and then, accompanied by Gabriel, took "sudden and unceremonious leave" before reappearing on Salvington. This unprecedented bestowal as an ascending mortal marked a significant development in Michael's progressive incarnations and led the Melchizedek colleges to begin teaching the possibility that Michael might eventually incarnate as a flesh-and-blood mortal on an evolutionary world, though the technique of such an incarnation remained a mystery that even Gabriel confessed he did not fully comprehend.

For his sixth bestowal, Michael gathered the sojourners on Salvington and, for the first time, unveiled the remainder of his incarnation plan, announcing his imminent departure to experience life as a morontia mortal at the courts of the Most High Fathers on the headquarters planet of the fifth constellation. In this unprecedented disclosure, he also revealed that his seventh and final bestowal would take place on an evolutionary world in the likeness of mortal flesh. After addressing the assembled inhabitants of Salvington, Michael departed in full view of everyone, accompanied by a lone seraphim and the Bright and Morning Star of Nebadon, having entrusted universe administration to Immanuel with a wider distribution of responsibilities than in previous bestowals.

Michael materialized on the headquarters of constellation five as a fully-developed morontia mortal of ascending status, adopting the identity known as Endantum. While detailed information about this extraordinary experience remains restricted by the terms of Gavalia's commission, it represented one of the most remarkable phases of Michael's bestowal career, perhaps rivaling even his dramatic sojourn on Urantia. When Michael returned from this morontia bestowal, it became evident to all observers that their Creator had achieved a profound new level of empathetic understanding, having genuinely become a fellow creature and sympathetic helper even to the lowest forms of created intelligence. The universe inhabitants welcomed him back with numerous addresses celebrating his return, to which he humbly responded: "I have simply been about my Father's business. I am only doing the pleasure of the Paradise Sons who love and crave to understand their creatures." This penultimate bestowal further crystallized the progressive development of Michael's experiential sovereignty, preparing him for the culminating incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth.

For tens of thousands of years, the inhabitants of Nebadon had anticipated Michael's seventh and final bestowal, understanding from Gabriel's teachings that it would occur in the likeness of mortal flesh, though remaining uncertain about the specific time, place, and circumstances. The public announcement that Michael had selected Urantia as the theater for this terminal bestowal came shortly after the default of Adam and Eve, placing this previously obscure planet in a position of unprecedented cosmic significance for more than thirty-five thousand years. Unlike previous bestowals where Michael had appeared as a fully developed individual of the selected order, the revelation that he would manifest as a helpless infant represented an unexpected and thrilling development that underscored the profound risk and vulnerability he was willing to accept.

The birth of Joshua ben Joseph in Bethlehem represented not merely another bestowal but the most precarious step in Michael's entire career, as he temporarily relinquished all sovereign authority to experience the complete development of human life from infancy through adulthood. The only supernatural element associated with Jesus' birth was the seraphic announcement to a group of Chaldean priests led by Ardnon, carried out by angels formerly attached to Adam and Eve in the first garden. For thirty-three years, all eyes throughout Nebadon focused intently on Urantia, recognizing that in this final bestowal their Creator was not only completing the requirements for absolute sovereignty but also engaging in a cosmic struggle of unprecedented significance, given the Lucifer rebellion in Satania and the Caligastia disaffection on Urantia itself. The mystery of how a Paradise Creator Son could incarnate as a naturally born human being remains one of the unsolved secrets of Sonarington, exclusively understood by those divine Sons who have themselves experienced bestowal incarnation.

Following his successful completion of the seventh bestowal on Urantia, Michael was formally recognized by the Ancients of Days as the sovereign ruler of Nebadon and acknowledged by the Universal Father as the established director of the local universe of his creation. His return to Salvington was marked by the eighth proclamation of his sovereignty from Uversa, accompanied by a joint pronouncement from the Universal Father and the Eternal Son constituting him the sole head of his universe. This formal recognition precipitated instructions for the Union of Days on Salvington to withdraw, along with directives for the Faithfuls of Days to retire from the constellation councils of the Most Highs. However, Michael personally requested that these Trinity Sons remain in service to Nebadon, a petition they conveyed to their Paradise directors, resulting in mandates permanently attaching these representatives of the central universe to Michael's administration.

The entire bestowal career of Michael, spanning nearly one billion years of Urantia time, not only secured his supreme authority in Nebadon but also made significant contributions to the evolving sovereignty of God the Supreme. Through his seven bestowals, Michael progressively revealed different aspects of Paradise Deity will: the united will of Father, Son, and Spirit in his Melchizedek incarnation; the will of Father and Son as a Lanonandek; the will of Father and Spirit as a Material Son; the will of Son and Spirit as a seraphim; the will of the Conjoint Actor as a Uversa mortal; the will of the Eternal Son as a morontia mortal; and the will of the Universal Father as Jesus of Nazareth. These cumulative experiences elevated Michael from a Creator to a Master Son and member of the divine corps constituting the Trinity Ultimate. The completion of these bestowals transformed Urantia into the sentimental shrine of all Nebadon, the mortal home of Christ Michael, sovereign of Nebadon, a Melchizedek minister, system savior, Adamic redeemer, seraphic fellow, ascension associate, morontia progressor, Son of Man, and Planetary Prince of Urantia. And Jesus has promised someday to return to the world of his terminal bestowal.