What it Means
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 meaning of being a son of God while we live in
the flesh.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
What it Means to be a Son of God While Living in the Flesh
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that
when he shall appear, we shall be like he is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth
himself, even as he is pure." First John, Chapter 3, Verses 2 and 3.
Brothers and sisters, in today’s broadcast we shall consider what it means to be a son of God while
we still live the life in the flesh. We know that while we are living in the flesh that we are indeed
two-fold creatures. We are composed of two natures, one of which is derived from our animal nature,
the other from our divine inheritance.
This divine inheritance is the result of our spiritual nature being created by the spiritual heavenly
Father. This creation is our soul, our ever-progressing spiritual self, and the fact of this creation
makes us sons of God. That is, our souls share the very essence of the Father, even as our material
natures makes us sons of man, though we may still be material children. The truth of our being sons
of God makes us divine through Jesus’ spirit, the Spirit of Truth.
This is a faith divinity because the primary association of consciousness in the material life is
material. Therefore the consciousness of the soul’s reality--though being a bonafide reality--must be
grasped by faith. This faith grasp of the soul’s reality and the reality of the divine spirit which dwells
in the mind and the soul constitute the reality of divine sonship. All that is required to make such a
divine reality real in the personal experience of the self is for the self, the free moral will, to embrace
it.
This embracement of the soul’s spiritual reality is the free will choice to submit to the Father’s will.
This submission to the Father’s will, choosing good over evil, is both the beginning of the divine
experience with the creation of the soul and the continuing experience of divine sonship after the
soul’s journey in the material mind is completed. But let us see how this works in the life of one who
is dedicated to doing the Father’’s will.
Our sufficient example is the divine Son, Jesus, who demonstrated in human experience the
perfected experience of the human nature in subjection to the divine nature. This example and
demonstration conclusively proves that "When divinity becomes like humanity, inherent in this
relationship is the possibility that humanity can become divine." "Behold what manner of love the
Father has for us that we should be called the sons of God.”” New potentials were liberated when
this transaction of God becoming man-actualized. And the most pertinent one for our purposes and
edification is that we can experience divinity while still in the flesh.
When he was incarnate in the flesh, the divine son said ““if you love one another as I have loved you,
then all will know that you are my disciples.”” Loving others as Jesus loves us is the earmark of
divinity in the flesh. It at once demonstrates the consciousness of the soul to perceive superhuman
reality which was not possible before the incarnation and demonstrates that the soul is functioning
divinely even while still in the flesh.
Let us use an illustration from the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When the master asked Tom, who was
his slave, how did he know that Jesus was real and not just a figment of his imagination, Tom
replied: "felt him in my soul, Mas’’r-feel him now! Oh, when I was sold away from my old woman
and the children, I was jest amost broke up, I felt as if there were nothing left, and then the good Lord
stood by me and He says, ‘‘fear not Tom’’, and he brings joy and light into a poor fellas soul, and
I feel so happy and loves everybody and feel willing just to be the Lord’s and have the Lord’s will
done and be put jest where the Lord wants me to be put. I know it couldn’t come from me, I am a
poor complaining creature. I know it comes from the Lord, and I am sure the Lord will do the same
for Mas’’r.””
And this fictional excerpt is one of the clearest statements of the believer’s relationship with the
Father that has ever been pronounced. Tom comprehended the reality of that inspiring and
comforting truth, ““The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in
the Holy Spirit." And throughout every trial and in the presence of every hardship, spirit-born souls
are sustained by that hope which transcends all fear because the love of God is shed abroad in all
hearts by the presence of the divine Spirit. Being divine in the flesh does not change our social,
intellectual, or physical status. In fact our social, intellectual and physical statuses are the raw
materials out of which comes that stimulation to choose the divine will. Being divine in the flesh
does assure us of continuing life, peace in this one, an endless career of growth and development in
the next. It assures us that one day we shall stand in the actual personality presence of the heavenly
Father on paradise.
The divinity of the mortal son is not material but spiritual, and the hallmark of this divinity is
unselfish love. When the soul wakes up, via the born-again experience, it bears the stamp of this
divinity: divine love. Divine love functions on the spiritual level and is destined to transform all
humanity, which will in turn lead to amazing social and economic changes. But these are the by-
products of doing the Father’s will while in the flesh, not the purpose.
It is the Father’’s will that all of his mortal children maintain active relationships with him and reveal
his nature through his Son, Jesus, to others. If we do this, we will experience the personal satisfaction
of being divine while in the flesh, for it ever remains true that what the true son desires, and the
Father wills, is.
It is one step beyond this truth to realize that if we conform our will and mind to the divine spirit,
then we will achieve divinity attunement not just on one occasion but at all times. To continually
subject our wills to the divine nature is achieved first by desiring it, by the faith accepting that it can
be done, and by making those decisions that are reflective of choosing the Father’s will. Jesus said,
““if you love one another as I have loved you, you will be my disciples, and if you keep this
command, my Father and I will live in you.””
Because Jesus and the Father reside within us, we can recognize the divine will. Choosing the
Father’s will is an active process. We choose the divine will when the "leadings of this will
consciously differs from the desires and impulses of our natural material minds.””
And now are we willing to accept our divine birthright? Why should man refuse to acknowledge his
spiritual inheritance? Why should he refuse to grasp that liberating truth that he is a son of God? If
he is son of God, he most assuredly is divine in potential, and all that is needed to make this divine
potential actual is his living faith and his whole-hearted desire to do the Father’s will. Such a
decision will turn on the spigot of spiritual fruits that will flow uninterruptedly from the divine spirit
through Jesus and out through his soul to spiritually water his brothers and sisters. Jesus says, "I am
the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." After all,
we are to be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect.
This concludes today's message on understanding the what it means to be a son of God while living
in the flesh. 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.
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Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
What it Means
