Paper 115 Overview: The Supreme Being

The Supreme Being is a special part of God that is growing and changing as the universe develops. The Supreme Being connects God the Father with his creatures by bringing together both spiritual and material reality. This Supreme Being is different from the absolute God because it can evolve and change through experiences.

The Supreme Being helps beings like humans understand God by providing a connection between the finite (limited) universe and the infinite (unlimited) God. As creatures in the universe grow in spiritual understanding and make good choices, they contribute to the growth of the Supreme Being. This relationship benefits both the creatures and the Supreme Being as they evolve together.

When we think about God the Father, the most important relationship is sonship, which means being his children. But with God the Supreme, we must actually do things and achieve things, not just be something. The Supreme Being requires both being and doing.

Our minds need frameworks to understand the universe, even though these frameworks are never completely accurate. These mental frameworks help us organize our thoughts, but they are only relatively true and must change as our understanding grows. Even our understanding of God as a Father, while true, is not the complete picture.

The universe is organized into different levels: the finite (limited), the absonite (in-between), and the absolute (unlimited). Only the absolute level is truly eternal and unchanging. The other levels exist because God has a purpose for them, even though finite creatures like us may not understand why.

From the highest viewpoint, nothing completely new can happen in the universe because everything is already contained in the infinite nature of God. However, from our limited perspective, many things appear as potential futures rather than current realities. This allows for new experiences to unfold.

Values in the universe can be increased when we better understand their meanings. The universe works through the process of turning possibilities into actualities. This happens through experiential evolution in the finite realms and involves the Supreme Being.

The concept of infinity is impossible for humans to fully comprehend. We can only understand parts of it by breaking it down into smaller ideas. The unity of infinity needs to be divided into components before human minds can begin to grasp it.

The absolute level can be understood in three phases: the Original (the First Source and Center), the Actual (the union of the Son, Spirit, and Paradise), and the Potential (the union of the three Absolutes of potentiality). These three phases work together to create the possibility for universe growth, which is essential to the Supreme Being.

The Supreme Being begins with the Paradise Trinity, which is the original Deity. The Supreme is a derived Deity that grows and evolves. The Supreme has a spirit personality that comes from the Trinity and also grows through the two triodities (groups of three) of actual and potential.

The Supreme Being helps connect the infinite with the finite levels of existence. Even though the infinite contains the finite, the Supreme makes it possible for the two to interact. The growth of the Supreme comes from the Trinity and the success of the Sevenfold God in the evolving universes.

The Supreme Being completely depends on the Paradise Trinity for his personal and spirit nature. While the Supreme grows through relationships with the triodities, his spirit personality comes from the Paradise Trinity. The Trinity remains the absolute center of stability around which the Supreme develops.

The Trinity functions on all levels, including the level where the Supreme operates. As the universe ages move forward, the creative acts shift from the Trinity to the children of the Paradise Deities.

The triodity of actuality (Paradise, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit) continues to function directly after the Havona era. Paradise gravity controls material existence, the Son's spirit gravity works on spirit values, and the Conjoint Actor's mind gravity holds all intellectual meanings.

As creation moves outward into space, it becomes less directly influenced by the central Isle of Paradise and its Deities. These cosmic areas become more dependent on the three Absolute potentialities. The Supreme Being moves in two directions - inward toward Paradise and outward toward the unlimited Absolutes.

In the Supreme Being, God the Father has achieved some freedom from the limitations of infinity, eternity, and absolute nature. However, the Supreme experiences limitations that the absolute God does not face. The Supreme must deal with time, partial existence, and the need for growth and experience.

This arrangement is part of the Father's plan, which requires finite progress to come through effort and achievement. This makes it possible for finite creatures to exist and eventually reach the divinity level of the Supreme. The Supreme connects the finite with higher levels of reality and unifies the different aspects of Deity.