Paper 120 Overview: The Bestowal of Michael on Urantia

Michael of Nebadon, a Creator Son, was preparing for his seventh and final bestowal which would take place on Urantia (earth) in human form. This bestowal would complete his required experience to gain full sovereignty over his created universe, enabling him to rule not just by divine right but through earned experiential authority. Before his incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth, Michael met with his Paradise counselor Immanuel to receive final instructions and guidance for his life as a mortal being.

During this momentous meeting, Michael turned over the administration of his universe to Immanuel and Gabriel while he would be living as a human. Immanuel provided specific counsel regarding how Michael should conduct himself during his mortal life, including advice to terminate the Lucifer rebellion, remain focused on spiritual matters rather than political concerns, and avoid establishing a formal religion. The purpose of this bestowal was not only to complete Michael's requirement for universal sovereignty but also to enhance the revelation of God to humanity and the universe.

I, the Melchizedek director of the revelatory commission, am authorized to present this narrative of the events preceding Michael's arrival on Urantia as a human being. Every Creator Son must bestow himself in the likeness of various orders of his created beings as part of the price for obtaining full and supreme sovereignty over his self-made universe. Before coming to Urantia as Jesus, Michael had already completed six previous bestowals among different orders of his diverse creation of intelligent beings.

In each of his previous bestowals, Michael had voluntarily subjected himself to the will of the three Paradise Deities and their divine associations. Rather than asserting personal sovereignty as was his right, Michael chose to ascend through actual experience in cooperative subordination to the Paradise Trinity. This path would qualify him to rule his universe with the perfection of insight and wisdom that characterizes the exalted rule of the Supreme Being. Through these bestowals, Michael would not only complete required experiential understanding of his creatures but also demonstrate his willingness to represent the maximum authority of the Paradise Trinity in the administration of his local universe.

Immanuel, Michael's Paradise counselor, presented the seventh bestowal commission as Michael prepared to begin his final universe bestowal experience. He acknowledged Michael's faithful execution of the six previous commissions and expressed confidence in Michael's triumphant completion of this terminal sovereignty bestowal. Unlike previous bestowals where Michael appeared as a fully developed being, this time he would arrive as a helpless infant, experiencing the full price of bestowal and complete enlightenment of incarnation as a Creator in the likeness of the lowest order of his intelligent will creatures.

Immanuel explained that during this bestowal, he would assume unqualified jurisdiction over Michael's universe while Michael would be wholly dependent upon his Paradise Father. This dependence would teach Michael the true meaning of the faith-trust he required from his own creatures. Immanuel reminded Michael that his only concern should be the unbroken communion with his Paradise Father, as this relationship would reveal the Father more fully to the universe. He assured Michael that the universe would be secure during his absence, as the Ancients of Days had mandated the instantaneous extinction of any being who might attempt rebellion during Michael's bestowal.

Immanuel outlined specific guidelines for Michael's bestowal experience, explaining that arrangements had been made for his birth and development as a normal child on Urantia. He suggested that in addition to Michael's primary mission of revealing the Father, he should also terminate the Lucifer rebellion while he was on Urantia. Immanuel pointed out that this task would be especially fitting if accomplished by Michael as a mortal human rather than through his divine power, as he had previously declined to do.

Michael was counseled to accept the title of Planetary Prince of Urantia after his bestowal and to work to atone for the confusion caused by the Caligastia betrayal and the Adamic default. Immanuel advised Michael to function primarily as a teacher who would liberate and inspire humanity's spiritual nature, illuminate their intellect, heal their souls, and free their minds from fear. He instructed Michael to pour out the Spirit of Truth upon completion of his mission, making the Paradise Father's Thought Adjusters immediately accessible to all normal mortals on the isolated planet.

After providing the primary directives, Immanuel offered additional advice based on consultation with Gabriel regarding the more practical aspects of Michael's forthcoming life. He counseled Michael to give some attention to practical matters that might immediately help his fellow humans, while still focusing on his spiritual mission. Michael was advised to honor the accepted customs of family life as they existed in his day and generation.

Immanuel recommended that Michael limit his efforts to spiritual regeneration and intellectual emancipation, avoiding entanglements with economic structures and political commitments. He was instructed not to leave any writings behind, make no images of himself, and create nothing that could potentially become idolatrous after his departure. While Michael was told he could live a normal social life, he was reminded of the incarnation mandate forbidding him to leave human offspring behind. In all other details, Michael was to follow the guidance of his indwelling Adjuster and his expanding human mind of hereditary endowment.

The bestowal of Michael as Jesus silenced forever those who had accused him of selfishly seeking rulership through the unreasoning loyalty of his creatures. Through his life of self-forgetful service subject to the will of the Paradise Father, Michael demonstrated his true character to the universe. This incarnation experience was not a case of God associating with a human but rather God incarnate in human form – a true union of the divine and human natures.

Christ Michael did not progressively become God during his earth life, nor did God suddenly become man at some point during Jesus' life. Jesus was always God and man combined in one being, just as the Paradise Trinity is one Deity comprised of three beings. The supreme purpose of Michael's bestowal was to enhance the revelation of God to the world. To the citizens of Nebadon, the appearance of a Creator Son on earth through apparently natural processes was considered the most intriguing of all miracles – the operation of universal laws beyond normal comprehension.