Paper 21 Overview: The Paradise Creator Sons

The Paradise Creator Sons function as the primary architects, makers, and sovereign rulers of the local universes comprising the grand cosmos. These divine beings embody the dual-natured characteristics of the Universal Father and the Eternal Son, yet each maintains a unique identity and personalized expression of deity. Their administrative methodology involves a progressive acquisition of experiential sovereignty, achieved through seven creature bestowals whereby they gain an intimate understanding of their created realms from the perspective of their inhabitants.

The bestowal career culminates in the attainment of supreme sovereignty, exemplified in our local universe by Christ Michael's incarnation on Urantia nearly two millennia ago. This final bestowal represents the transformative capstone of their developmental sovereignty, elevating them from vicegerent representatives to fully empowered Master Michaels with virtually unlimited authority. Though their current functions appear primarily finite in nature, the Paradise Creator Sons potentially harbor latent superfinite capacities that may manifest in future universe ages, suggesting an evolutionary trajectory that parallels the actualization of the Supreme Being and potentially extends toward absonite levels of reality transcendence.

The Creator Sons constitute the makers and rulers of the local universes throughout time and space. These remarkable beings manifest dual origins, embodying the characteristics of both the Universal Father and the Eternal Son while simultaneously expressing a unique and individualized personality. Each Creator Son represents the "only-begotten Son" of the perfect deity ideal from which he originates, ensuring cosmic diversity amid divine perfection. In their extensive universe-building endeavors, these Sons maintain intimate fellowship with the Universal Father, whose profound affection for these divine progeny mirrors the beautiful relationship between mortal parents and their children.

Upon departing Paradise to establish their universes, these primary Paradise Sons receive the designation of Creator Michaels, and upon attaining supreme sovereignty, become known as Master Michaels. The sovereign of our universe of Nebadon occasionally receives the appellation Christ Michael, though all Sons of this order reign according to "the order of Michael." The original or first-born Michael, unlike his brethren, has never experienced incarnation as a material being but has traversed the seven circuits of Havona as a spiritual ascender. The Michael order possesses comprehensive knowledge of the grand universe from one extremity to the other, having personally participated in every essential experience of time-space children, thereby partaking not only of the divine nature but also of all natures, from the supreme to the most humble. The presiding head of these Paradise Sons recently convened an extraordinary conclave on Paradise comprising one hundred fifty thousand Creator Sons engaged in deliberations concerning universe unification and stabilization.

When the absolute spiritual ideation within the Eternal Son encounters the absolute personality concept residing in the Universal Father, and when this creative union achieves perfect and complete attainment, an extraordinary phenomenon occurs: without diminishing either parent deity, a new and original Creator Son flashes into full-fledged existence. Each Creator Son represents the only-begotten and only-begettable offspring produced by the perfect union of the original concepts from the two infinite and eternal perfect minds of the universe Creators. The singularity of each Son is assured, as each embodies the unqualified, finished, and final expression of every phase and feature of every possibility of every divine reality derivable from the creative potentials that united to bring that particular Michael Son into being.

The divine natures of these Creator Sons originate equally from the attributes of both Paradise parents, with each Son partaking fully of the Universal Father's divine nature and the Eternal Son's creative prerogatives. Nevertheless, observable differences emerge in the practical implementation of Michael functions throughout the universes. Some Creator Sons demonstrate characteristics more reminiscent of God the Father, while others more closely resemble God the Son. In Nebadon, for instance, the administrative approach suggests that its Creator and ruling Son manifests a nature and character more closely aligned with the Eternal Mother Son. The exact number of Creator Sons remains undisclosed, though reasonable evidence suggests their population exceeds seven hundred thousand. This continually increasing number already surpasses the stationary complement of seven hundred thousand Unions of Days, suggesting that one such Union is stationed in each local universe as a Trinity ambassador. The destiny of Michaels beyond this number remains unrevealed.

The Paradise Sons of the primary order function as designers, creators, builders, and administrators of their respective domains—the local universes that constitute the fundamental creative units of the seven evolutionary superuniverses. Before a Creator Son may initiate even the physical organization of his universe, he must devote an extended period to observing the efforts of his elder siblings in various creations located in the superuniverse of his projected action. Prior to this observational phase, the Michael Son completes his long and unique experience of Paradise observation and Havona training, preparing him for the monumental task of universe creation.

Upon departing Paradise to embark upon universe-making, the Creator Son encounters a new relationship with the Third Source and Center, as the Infinite Spirit functions as the actual and effective helper of each Creator Son. Accompanying each Creator Son is a Creative Daughter of the Infinite Spirit, destined to become the Divine Minister and Mother Spirit of the new local universe. This departure from Paradise liberates the Son's creator prerogatives from the Paradise Sources and Centers, though certain limitations persist, including the Infinite Spirit's dominion over energy-matter, the Eternal Son's control of creature designs and types, and the Universal Father's exclusive design and bestowal of personality.

After resolving initial materialization challenges and establishing equilibrium in the new cosmic domain, the Universe Son and Universe Spirit initiate a co-operative liaison that enables the procreation of the innumerable hosts of local universe children. Though all Creator Sons possess divine similarity to their Paradise parents, each is unique, diverse, and original in both nature and personality, ensuring that their respective realms exhibit diversity in every form and phase of Michael-derived living existence created or subsequently evolved therein.

A Creator Son receives jurisdiction over a universe through the consent of the Paradise Trinity and with confirmation from the supervising Master Spirit of the relevant superuniverse. This action establishes title of physical possession, a cosmic leasehold. However, the transition from this initial self-limited phase of rulership to the experiential supremacy of self-earned sovereignty results from personal experiences in universe creation and incarnated bestowal. Until achieving this bestowal-earned sovereignty, the Creator Son functions as vicegerent of the Universal Father, representing divine authority rather than exercising self-derived power.

The sovereignty of a Creator Son progresses through six, possibly seven, stages of experiential manifestation, appearing sequentially as: initial vicegerent sovereignty (solitary provisional authority exercised before the Universe Mother Spirit acquires personality); conjoint vicegerent sovereignty (joint rule with the Paradise pair after the Universe Mother Spirit attains personality); augmenting vicegerent sovereignty (advancing authority during the period of the seven creature bestowals); supreme sovereignty (settled authority following completion of the seventh bestowal, which in Nebadon dates from Michael's bestowal on Urantia approximately nineteen hundred years ago); augmenting supreme sovereignty (advanced relationship resulting from most creature domains settling in light and life); Trinitarian sovereignty (exercised after the entire local universe attains light and life); and unrevealed sovereignty (unknown relationships of a future universe age).

To attain supreme sovereignty, a Creator Son must complete seven creature bestowals, traversing seven creature levels, making seven consecrations to the Paradise Trinity, portraying the pinnacle of creature life to Paradise Deity, revealing one phase of the sevenfold will of Deity on each level, unifying these sevenfold experiences, and achieving a new relationship with the Supreme Being. In Nebadon, Michael's final bestowal as Jesus of Nazareth completed this process, granting him unqualified authority and establishing him as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."

The bestowal Creator Sons are classified into seven categories based on the number of times they have bestowed themselves upon the creatures of their realms, ranging from initial experience through five additional spheres of progressive bestowal until they attain the seventh and final bestowal episode. Avonal Sons always bestow themselves in the likeness of mortal flesh, but a Creator Son's seven bestowals involve appearances on seven different creature levels, pertaining to the revelation of the seven primary expressions of the will and nature of Deity. Without exception, all Creator Sons must complete this septuple self-giving before assuming settled and supreme jurisdiction over their created universes.

While these seven bestowals vary across different sectors and universes, they invariably include the mortal-bestowal adventure. In the culminating bestowal, a Creator Son appears as a member of one of the higher mortal races on an inhabited world, typically amongst the racial group containing the largest hereditary legacy of Adamic stock that has been imported to elevate the physical status of the animal-origin peoples. Only once in his sevenfold career does a Paradise Michael experience birth from woman, as recorded in the narrative of the babe of Bethlehem. Following each bestowal, the Creator Son proceeds to the "right hand of the Father," there to receive acceptance and instruction preparatory to the next episode of universe service. After the seventh and final bestowal, a Creator Son receives from the Universal Father supreme authority and jurisdiction over his universe.

The divine Son who appeared on Urantia was a Paradise Creator Son who had completed six phases of his bestowal career; consequently, when he relinquished conscious grasp of incarnated life, he could truthfully declare, "It is finished." His death completed his bestowal career, fulfilling the sacred oath of a Paradise Creator Son. From this experience, such Sons become supreme universe sovereigns, no longer ruling as vicegerents of the Father but in their own right as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."

The power wielded by a Master Michael derives its unlimited nature from experienced association with the Paradise Trinity, while its unquestioned authority stems from actual experience as the very creatures subject to such authority. The nature of this sovereignty achieves supremacy through three fundamental attributes: it embraces the sevenfold viewpoint of Paradise Deity, it embodies the sevenfold attitude of time-space creatures, and it perfectly synthesizes Paradise attitude with creature viewpoint. This experiential sovereignty comprehensively encompasses the divinity of God the Sevenfold, culminating in the Supreme Being, mirroring the personal sovereignty of a sevenfold Son in its all-inclusive nature.

Upon attaining supreme local universe sovereignty, a significant transformation occurs: the Master Son loses the power to originate entirely new types of creature beings—a restriction that, paradoxically, marks the beginning of settled administration rather than a limitation. This acquisition of supreme sovereignty signifies the commencement of a more stabilized universe order wherein that which cannot eventually achieve spiritualization will face disorganization, and that which cannot be coordinated with cosmic reality will ultimately face destruction. The Master Michaels possess supreme authority within their respective domains, limited only by the cosmic pre-existence of certain forces and personalities. They exercise full control over all other Sons of God functioning within their territory and may freely govern according to their concept of the needs of their realms, particularly regarding the planets of their creature sojourn and especially the world of their final bestowal incarnation. These Master Sons maintain perfect spiritual communication with their bestowal worlds through their own spiritual presence, the Spirit of Truth, which they can "pour out upon all flesh," while simultaneously maintaining an unbroken connection with the Eternal Mother Son at the center of all things.

No finite being can definitively pronounce upon either the natures or destinies of the sevenfold Master Sovereigns who rule the local universes. While we understand that each Paradise Michael embodies actual phases of the infinity of the Universal Father and the Eternal Son, they must necessarily remain partial in relation to total infinity. Nevertheless, they likely represent absolutes within that portion of infinity relevant to their origin. Although current universe age observations reveal only finite actions from these sovereign beings, they potentially harbor superfinite capacities that remain self-contained and unrevealed.

The completion of creature-bestowal careers and subsequent elevation to supreme universe sovereignty presumably signals the liberation of finite-action capacities accompanied by the emergence of more-than-finite service capabilities. This transition manifests in the restriction against producing new creature types—a limitation potentially necessitated by the liberation of superfinite potentialities. In future ages, when the universes of outer space continue their development, the liaison between a sevenfold Master Son and a seventh-stage Creative Spirit may achieve absonite levels of service, introducing unprecedented things, meanings, and values of transcendental universe significance.

Just as the Supreme Being actualizes through experiential service, Creator Sons achieve personal realization of the Paradise-divinity potentials inherent in their unfathomable natures. Christ Michael's declaration on Urantia, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," foreshadows the Michaels' literal destiny to become "the way, the truth, and the life," eternally blazing the path for all universe personalities from supreme divinity through ultimate absonity to eternal deity finality.