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In
the previous Interim- Papers we have reviewed the meanings of the TRUE
WORSHIP of
the
Paradise Universal Father, the PRAYER SUPPLICATIONS to the realms of the
Paradise Eternal Son and His Spirit of Truth, and qualified PRAYER
REALIZATIONS by the spirit
agencies of the Holy Spirit, the mind expression of the Paradise
Conjoint Actor.
The
following Interim-Paper is devoted to further enlightenment about the true
nature of God.
*****
The Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First
Source and Center of all things and beings. He is first God as a creator,
then as a controller, and lastly as an infinite upholder.
The truth about the Universal Father had begun to dawn
upon mankind when the prophet said: "You, God, are alone; there is none
beside you. You have created the heaven and the heaven of heavens, with all
their hosts; you preserve and control them. By the Sons of God were the
universes made. The Creator covers himself with light as with a garment and
stretches out the heavens as a curtain." Only the concept of the
Universal Father--one God in the place of many gods--enabled mortal man to
comprehend the Father as divine creator and infinite controller.
The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be
eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings
who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The
universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his
diverse creatures. "God created the heavens and formed the earth; he
established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to
be inhabited."
The enlightened worlds all recognize and worship the
Universal Father, the eternal maker and infinite upholder of all creation.
The will creatures of universe upon universe have embarked upon the long,
long Paradise journey, the fascinating struggle of the eternal adventure of
attaining God the Father. The transcendent goal of the children of time is to
find the eternal God, to comprehend the divine nature, to recognize the
Universal Father. God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just
one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres,
like Him as He is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in His
universal sphere of righteous supremacy. From the Universal Father who
inhabits eternity there has gone forth the supreme mandate, "Be you
perfect, even as I am perfect." In love and mercy the messengers of
Paradise have carried this divine exhortation down through the ages and out
through the universes, even to such lowly animal-origin creatures as the
human races of Urantia.
This magnificent and universal injunction to strive for
the attainment of the perfection of divinity is the first duty, and should be
the highest ambition, of all the struggling creature creation of the God of
perfection. This possibility of the attainment of divine perfection is the
final and certain destiny of all man's eternal spiritual progress.
Urantia mortals can hardly hope to be perfect in the infinite
sense, but it is entirely possible for human beings, starting out as they do
on this planet, to attain the supernal and divine goal which the infinite God
has set for mortal man; and when they do achieve this destiny, they will, in
all that pertains to self-realization and mind attainment, be just as replete
in their sphere of divine perfection as God Himself is in His sphere of
infinity and eternity. Such perfection may not be universal in the material sense,
unlimited in intellectual grasp, or final in spiritual experience, but it is
final and complete in all finite aspects of divinity of will, perfection of
personality motivation, and God-consciousness.
This is the true meaning of that divine command, "Be
you perfect, even as I am perfect," which ever urges mortal man onward
and beckons him inward in that long and fascinating struggle for the
attainment of higher and higher levels of spiritual values and true universe
meanings. This sublime search for the God of universes is the supreme
adventure of the inhabitants of all the worlds of time and space.
THE FATHER'S NAME
Of all the names by which God the Father is known
throughout the universes, those which designate Him as the First Source and
the Universe Center are most often encountered.
The First Father is known by various names in different
universes and in different sectors of the same universe. The names which the
creature assigns to the Creator are much dependent on the creature's concept
of the Creator. The First Source and Universe Center has never revealed
Himself by name, only by nature. If we believe that we are the children of
this Creator, it is only natural that we should eventually call him- theFather. But this is the name of our own choosing, and
it grows out of the recognition of our personal relationship with the First
Source and Center.
The Universal Father never imposes any form of arbitrary
recognition, formal worship, or slavish service upon the intelligent will
creatures of the universes. The evolutionary inhabitants of the worlds of
time and space must of themselves--in their own hearts--recognize, love, and
voluntarily worship Him. The Creator refuses to coerce or compel the
submission of the spiritual free wills of His material creatures. The
affectionate dedication of the human will to the doing of the Father's will
is man's choicest gift to God; in fact, suin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>And so, on different worlds and in various universes, the
Creator becomes known by numerous appellations, in spirit of relationship all
meaning the same but, in words and symbols, each name standing for the
degree, the depth, of his enthronement in the hearts of his creatures of any
given realm.
Near the center of the universe of universes, the
Universal Father is generally known by names which may be regarded as meaning
the First Source. Farther out in the universes of space, the terms employed
to designate the Universal Father more often mean the Universal Center. Still
farther out in the starry creation, he is known, as on the headquarters world
of your local universe, as the First Creative Source and Divine Center. In one near-by constellation God is called the Father of
Universes, in another, the Infinite Upholder, and to the east, the Divine
Controller. He has also been designated the Father of Lights, the Gift of
Life, and the All-Powerful One.
On those worlds where a Paradise Son has lived a bestowal life, God is generally known by some name
indicative of personal relationship, tender affection, and fatherly devotion.
On your constellation headquarters God is referred to as the Universal
Father, and on different planets in your local system of inhabited worlds He
is variously known as the Father of Fathers, the Paradise Father, the Havona Father, and the Spirit Father. Those who know God
through the revelations of the bestowals of the Paradise Sons, eventually
yield to the sentimental appeal of the touching relationship of the
creature-Creator association and refer to God as "our Father."
On a planet of sex creatures, in a world where the
impulses of parental emotion are inherent in the hearts of its intelligent beings,
the term Father becomes a very expressive and appropriate name for the
eternal God. He is best known, most universally acknowledged, on your planet,
Urantia, by the name - the GOD.
The name He is given is of little importance; the
significant thing is that the man should know Him and aspire to be like Him. Urantia’s prophets of old truly called Him - the
“everlasting God" and referred to Him as the one who "inhabits
eternity."
Reference:
The Urantia Book, Paper 1, Section 1.
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