Paper 2 Overview: The Nature of God

The nature of God can best be understood by studying the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who revealed the Father to humans. The human concept of God is limited by our finite minds, but we are helped by the divine spirits within us and around us. Understanding God's character involves learning about his infinity, perfection, justice, mercy, love, goodness, and truth.

God is infinite and eternal, knowing all things and having complete power, yet he lovingly connects with his mortal creatures. Though we cannot fully comprehend God's infinity and perfection, he shares his divine nature with us and offers us the opportunity to become more like him. God's love is shown through his mercy, justice, and goodness in his relationships with all his universe children.

The highest possible human concept of God involves understanding him as a perfect and infinite personality. It helps us to study certain characteristics of God that make up his divine nature. The nature of God is best revealed through the teachings of Michael of Nebadon and through Jesus' life on earth.

We face challenges in trying to understand God due to the limitations of our mortal minds. However, we are aided by the Thought Adjuster within us and the Spirit of Truth around us. With these divine helpers, we can attempt to better understand the nature of God and his relationship with his creation.

God is infinite and impossible for finite beings to fully understand. He is described as dwelling "in the thick darkness" because his presence is so bright that it blinds lowly creatures. God is the Supreme Soul, Primal Mind, and Unlimited Spirit of all creation, who makes no mistakes and is full of majesty and glory.

Unlike his creatures, God fully understands his own infinity, perfection, and power. He sees the end from the beginning and is never surprised by events. God inhabits the circle of eternity with no past, present, or future - all time is present to him. His infinity prevents direct personal communication with material beings, but he reaches us through his Paradise Sons, the Infinite Spirit's personalities, and the Thought Adjusters.

God is eternally present in his universe, unchanging in his divine nature. His counsel is immutable, and his acts are divine and infallible. God's perfection is beyond human understanding, both in the scope of eternity and in the magnitude of his nature.

God's primal perfection is the inherent goodness of his divine nature. He is not self-centered but continually bestows himself upon all self-conscious creatures throughout the universe. Though God cannot personally know imperfection as his own experience, he shares in the consciousness of all imperfect beings. Through this sharing, God participates in the experiences of all moral beings in the universe.

God is perfectly righteous and just in all his ways. His judgments cannot be influenced by the actions of his creatures, as there is no unfairness with the Lord. It is useless to ask God to change his decrees to avoid the consequences of breaking his natural laws and spiritual commands.

The ultimate punishment for deliberate rebellion against God's government is the loss of existence as an individual. This extinction is not immediate but follows a full legal process through the universe courts. When confirmed, the sin-identified being instantly ceases to exist, with no resurrection possible. However, for Adjuster-indwelt personalities, the experiential spirit values survive in the Adjuster.

Mercy is justice tempered by the wisdom that comes from perfect knowledge and full recognition of mortal creatures' natural weaknesses. God is naturally compassionate, gracious, and full of mercy from everlasting to everlasting. His mercy endures forever.

God is inherently kind and naturally compassionate. He does not need to be persuaded to show mercy - a creature's need automatically calls forth the Father's tender mercies. Divine mercy represents a fair technique for adjusting between perfect and imperfect levels of existence. It is not a violation of justice but an understanding application of supreme justice to the spiritual beings and material creatures throughout the evolving universes.

God's personal attitude toward universe affairs is always one of divine affection. The Father loves us enough to give his life to us, making his sun rise on both good and evil people. It is wrong to think God needs to be convinced to love his children - "the Father himself loves you."

God's greatest evidence of goodness and the supreme reason for loving him is the indwelling gift of the Thought Adjuster, which patiently waits to be eternally united with its human partner. Though we cannot physically see God because of our limited nature, we should realize that God lives within us. He has bridged the gulf between us by sending his spirit to live and work with us on our eternal career.

The goodness of God can only be truly found in the spiritual world of personal religious experience. Religion is basically a faith-trust in God's goodness. We might fear a great God, but we trust and love only a good God, whose goodness is part of his personality.

When Jesus revealed God as a Father to each human, he illuminated our concept of God. God loves as a father does, not like a father. His selfless love seeks understanding fellowship with his children. The love of God saves the sinner while the law of God destroys sin. When we consider the personality of God, we discover he is a loving person with personal love who ministers forgiveness to his creatures.

All human knowledge is relative and only partially complete. Physical facts are fairly uniform, but truth is a living and flexible factor in the universe. Divine truth is uniform and universal, though its application may vary across different universes and worlds.

Truth is beautiful because it is complete and balanced. When searching for truth, humans are pursuing the divinely real. The eternal quest is for unification and divine coherence. As humans ascend the scale of spiritual living, the qualities of truth, beauty, and goodness become increasingly unified in God, who is love. These values, when coordinated in personality experience, result in a high order of love guided by wisdom and qualified by loyalty.