The Realization of the Divine Nature
Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series
where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years,
the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them
with you. This morning we seek to understand the realization of the divine nature
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Realization of the Divine Nature
Jesus said, "At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." John,
Chapter 14, Verse 20.
Brothers and sisters, in today's broadcast, we shall examine the process of the realization of the
divine nature, the Son in the Father, and we in him, and he in us. We know that this nature is
imparted to us by the heavenly Father when we accept Jesus. This divine nature grows along side
the material nature, or the animal nature. We shall see how this divine nature is realized even though
the animal nature remains. Throughout our life in the flesh, we can not escape the animal nature, but
we can increasingly subject it to the aims and purposes of the spirit. Even though we must live our
material life through, even though we cannot escape the body and its necessities, nonetheless, in
purpose and ideals we are empowered increasingly to subject the animal nature to the mastery of the
Spirit, to submit our wills to the Father's will.
The human nature we know is self-evident. We are conscious of our human nature at all times. It is
with us all the time, and we are forced to listen to its voice. The great drives of the material nature
are always present in our material consciousness. We are also conscious of other material
personalities. We can see, feel, touch, and communicate with them, can interact with them, and this
interaction is subject to demonstration over and over again. We are also conscious of our material
environment. We can and do effect material changes in our material environment that we can plainly
see with our physical senses.
The material mind is also conscious of the meanings and values associated with material activities.
These meanings and values consists of material memories associated with material relationships and
events, feelings, human affections, human desires, urges, and drives. These material values and
meanings are usually associated with Self Maintenance, Self Perpetuation, and Self Gratification,
and they are selfish in their intent.
Of the divine nature, we are faith conscious or may become faith conscious of it. The divine nature
is growing in our souls in the midst of our material consciousness. This soul reality is conscious of
the divine nature, but can not transmit this consciousness to the material mind in turns that it can
understand. And even after the material mind becomes spiritualized sufficiently to comprehends the
divine values and meanings, the spiritual nature still remains a faith reality. Being a faith reality does
not mean that the reality is something that is nebulous or something that does not really exists, but
rather suggests that this is a new kind of reality, that the material mind is not able to discern as it
does the material reality which it is marvelously aware. So since the material mind is not aware of
this new reality, some mechanism must be made available so that the self can comprehend this
growing reality of the soul and in the soul. Since the material mind can not demonstrate the reality
of the divine nature, then faith becomes the mechanism whereby it becomes conscious of these
values and meanings of the spiritual nature. The soul which is neither material nor spiritual can not
be tested by material or spiritual means, the reality of which must be accepted by faith. The faith
consciousness can not be tested by material methods as the human consciousness can. The faith
consciousness can only be tested by spiritual means.
The divine spirit is the source of the divine nature, and this spirit can not be demonstrated to the
material consciousness, but is demonstrable to the soul. "While you cannot observe the divine spirit
at work in your minds, there is a practical method of discovering the degree to which you have
yielded the control of your soul powers to the teaching and guidance of this indwelling spirit of the
heavenly Father, and that is the degree of your love for your fellow men. This spirit of the Father
partakes of the love of the Father, and as it dominates man, it unfailingly leads in the directions of
divine worship and loving regard for one's fellows."
Jesus said, "at first you believe that you are sons of God because my teaching has made you more
conscious of the inner leadings of our Father's indwelling presence; but presently the Spirit of Truth
shall be poured out upon all flesh, and it will live among men and teach all men, even as I now live
among you and speak to you the words of truth. And this Spirit of Truth, speaking for the spiritual
endowments of your souls, will help you to know that you are the sons of God. It will unfailingly
bear witness with the Father's indwelling presence, your spirit, then dwelling in all men as it now
dwells in some, telling you that you are in reality the sons of God."
We know, then, that the divine spirit "ever works by love." And with our endowments of the Spirit
of Truth, along with the Holy Spirit, we are able to realize this divine nature. We can do this because
we are sons of God, and all the sons of God have divine natures. But before proceeding with our
realization of the divine nature, it would be helpful if we analyzed what it means to realize
something. Realization is the act of recognizing a reality that before even though it may have been
present was not a reality in the conscious mind. So the essential task of making something real to the
consciousness must proceed in this fashion. We must find a way to make something that is conscious
become attached to something that is not conscious, and to allow the portion that is conscious to pull
the portion that is not conscious into the conscious mind. It is like a hand reaching below the surface
of the water to grasp an unseen object and pulling it to the surface of the water so that it is seen.
In the material sense some kind of event occurs that is conscious and in association with reflection,
the process of joining the conscious event with the unconscious event, pulls the unconscious event
to the surface of consciousness. For example, lets take the example of the material phenomenon of
cancer. Now this is probably the most dreaded disease that afflicts mortal man, and that is because
of the deadly consequences often associated with it. When we think of cancer, we usually think of
death because so often the two go together. Usually this disease goes unnoticed for sometime. It is
only when its effects are felt that we begin to identify its presence, to become conscious of it. Now
we see the joining of the conscious effect with the unconscious event and reflection brings about the
meanings, and like all realizations in the normal mind this brings about a change in our attitude. In
this material example, an attitude of seeking treatment becomes apparent at once.
In the spiritual sense as noted above, the Spirit of Truth speaks for the endowment of our souls and
helps us to know that we are sons of God. It unfailingly bears witness with the Father's presence,
our spirits, telling us that we are in reality the sons of God. How does this spiritual phenomenon
makes us aware of our divine nature? A spiritual event has happened. The divine spirit has come to
indwell the human mind, co-creating the soul--an unconscious event. The material mind does not
nor can it recognize this. Then some other spiritual event, the Spirit of Truth--which the soul is
conscious of--joins the unconscious awareness of the divine spirit together and as it were pulls the
consciousness of the divine spirit into faith consciousness so that the spiritual nature is realized: the
soul recognizes that it is son of God.
In practical experience, this becomes consciously realized in human experience when the stimulus
of evil is presented, and the self reaches deep down into its soul, even to where the divine spirit
resides, the divine nature, and responds with divine goodness, discovering from personal experience
that it truly desires to love divinely, to love unselfishly. This discovery is the realization of the divine
nature.
This concludes today's message on understanding the realization of the divine nature. We hope you
find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Realization of the Divine Nature
