Paper 4 Overview: God's Relation to the Universe

The Universal Father executes an eternal purpose throughout the universe of universes, creating everything according to his sovereign will and eternal plan. Only the Paradise Deities and their highest associates truly understand God's eternal purpose, while even the exalted citizens of Paradise hold diverse opinions about the Deities' eternal purpose. The amazing plan for perfecting evolutionary mortals and providing further training for future work appears to be one of the chief concerns of the seven superuniverses, though this is not the only pursuit engaging the celestial hosts.

God maintains an active role in universe management, constantly upholding and renewing his creation while allowing for evolution and growth. His relationship with the universe is characterized by love, wisdom, and purposeful action rather than arbitrary interventions. The Universal Father's unchanging character stands in contrast to human misunderstandings about his nature, with many primitive and erroneous beliefs persisting through religious traditions that misrepresent the true nature of God.

The Universal Father has an eternal purpose pertaining to the material, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of the universe of universes, which he executes throughout all time. God created the universes through his own free and sovereign will, aligning with his all-wise and eternal purpose. It remains doubtful whether anyone except the Paradise Deities and their highest associates truly comprehends the eternal purpose of God, as even the exalted citizens of Paradise hold varying opinions about the Deities' eternal purpose.

The creation of the perfect central universe of Havona was primarily for the satisfaction of the divine nature, serving as a pattern for all other universes and as a finishing school for time pilgrims journeying to Paradise. Beyond this, the plan for perfecting evolutionary mortals and providing further training for some undisclosed future work appears to be a primary concern of the seven superuniverses and their subdivisions. However, this ascension scheme for spiritualizing and training mortals of time and space is not the exclusive occupation of universe intelligences, as many other fascinating pursuits engage the celestial hosts.

For ages, the inhabitants of Urantia have misunderstood the providence of God, often viewing it as a childish, arbitrary, and material ministry. In reality, God's providence consists of the interlocking activities of celestial beings and divine spirits who, following cosmic law, work unceasingly for God's honor and the spiritual advancement of his universe children. This divine providence aligns with progress rather than opposing it, as some have mistakenly believed.

Throughout long ages of human struggle, Providence has been implementing the plan of progressive evolution. Divine providence never opposes true human progress, either temporal or spiritual, as it remains consistent with the unchanging and perfect nature of the supreme Lawmaker. God is faithful, his commandments are just, and his word is established in heaven. There is no limitation to the forces and personalities the Father may use to uphold his purpose and sustain his creatures, providing refuge and support for those who trust in him.

Nature represents the physical habit of God in a limited sense, where his conduct is qualified by the experimental plans and evolutionary patterns of a local universe, constellation, system, or planet. God acts according to well-defined, unchanging laws throughout the master universe, yet modifies his patterns of action to contribute to the coordinated and balanced conduct of each level of creation. These modifications align with the local objectives and evolutionary plans unfolding at each level.

From a mortal perspective, nature presents the underlying foundation of a changeless Deity whose immutable laws are modified by local universe plans and impacted by planetary circumstances. For example, God's laws ordained in Nebadon are modified by plans established by the Creator Son and Creative Spirit of this local universe. Additionally, these laws are further influenced by errors, defaults, and insurrections of beings on Urantia and within the planetary system of Satania. Nature therefore carries a thread of perfection from eternity, yet is modified and sometimes marred by the acts and mistakes of evolutionary creatures.

For too long, humans have conceived of God as being similar to themselves, attributing human emotions and reactions to the divine nature. God is not, never was, and never will be jealous of humans or any other beings in the universe of universes. Rather, knowing that humans were intended to be the masterpiece of planetary creation and rulers of earth, God and his Sons feel jealous for humans when they witness them being dominated by base passions or bowing before idols of material things and selfish ambitions.

The eternal God is incapable of experiencing wrath and anger as humans understand these emotions, as such sentiments are unworthy of even being called human, much less divine. These attitudes are completely foreign to God's perfect nature and gracious character. Much of the difficulty Urantia mortals have in understanding God stems from the Lucifer rebellion and Caligastia betrayal, which caused confusion, distortion, and perversion of concept. On worlds not affected by sin, evolutionary races can formulate better ideas of the Universal Father without such confusion.

God is the only stationary, self-contained, and changeless being in the entire universe of universes, having no outside, no beyond, no past, and no future. God is purposive energy (creative spirit) and absolute will, which are self-existent and universal. Being self-existent, God is absolutely independent, with an identity that inherently resists change. While God himself does not change, he can modify the manifestations of his absoluteness in various ways without compromising his immutability.

God possesses absolute self-determination, with no limits to his universe reactions except those he imposes on himself. His freewill acts are conditioned only by the divine qualities and perfect attributes that characterize his eternal nature. The Father-Absolute created the central and perfect universe and is the Father of all other Creators, sharing many characteristics with humans and other beings while maintaining the unique quality of infinity of will. In all his relationships with universe creatures, the First Source and Center consistently manifests as a loving Father motivated by the perfect idealism of divine love.

Religious tradition represents the imperfectly preserved record of the experiences of God-knowing individuals from past ages, but these records cannot be relied upon as guides for religious living or as sources of accurate information about the Universal Father. Ancient beliefs have invariably been altered because primitive humans were natural mythmakers, transforming their limited understanding into religious narratives that often misrepresent divine nature.

One of the greatest sources of confusion on Urantia regarding God's nature stems from the failure of sacred texts to clearly distinguish between the Paradise Trinity personalities and between Paradise Deity and local universe creators and administrators. Throughout past dispensations of partial understanding, priests and prophets failed to differentiate between various celestial rulers such as Planetary Princes, System Sovereigns, Constellation Fathers, Creator Sons, and others, often presenting messages from subordinate personalities as if they came directly from God himself. This has led to persistent misconceptions about the Universal Father and his relationship to creation.