The History and Origin of The Spiritual Structure
In accordance with the Divine Plan of establishing a Spiritual Structure, by which humanity would unite with the Divine, God chose Abraham as an instrument for accomplishing this goal. Abraham obeyed God through faith, thereby exhibiting the foundational elements for the Spiritual Mountain. Although faith and divine service were exhibited by Abraham, at that time they had yet to be clearly defined. These inchoate elements of productive faith* were later clarified: psychic faith was defined according to God’s Saving Plan through the Son, and ultimately through the Holy Spirit, and definite laws were given to humanity, first through Moses and later modified by Jesus. As a result of Abraham’s obedient (i.e., productive) faith, God credited him with justice, and promised to make him the father of many nations, and to give his descendants a land rich with milk and honey. (Although God’s promise to Abraham was accomplished in the natural sense, it is now being fulfilled in the spiritual realm, through Mount Zion.)
God continued to renew His promise to Abraham’s descendants, first through Isaac, and later through his son Jacob, whom He renamed Israel.
As a result of famine, Israel migrated to Egypt with his twelve sons, where they were enslaved a long time. Eventually, God liberated the children of Israel, through Moses. He led them on an exodus through the desert, toward the promised land, providing them with nourishment and protection: the manna from Heaven, safety from foes, shelter by day, and light by night.
At Mount Sinai, on this exodus, God gave laws to this chosen people, through Moses, to guide their actions; and indicated He would send another prophet like Moses whom they must listen to:
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my word in His mouth and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever does not listen to my words which He shall speak in my name, I will make him answer for it (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).
This Event on Mount Sinai was significant, as it marked the first-time humanity received a set of laws from God to guide their actions.
Through this preliminary code, known as the law of Moses, the criteria for one element of productive faith, namely, divine service, was introduced. The other element, psychic faith, had yet to be established with respect to the Trinity. At that time, a quasi-faith existed in union with the law. According to this system, the Israelites were only required to obey the law. Paul observed:
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed (Galatians 3:23).
The Old Covenant system was restricted to two variables: God’s providential care—the dependent variable—and obedience to the law—the independent variable. In essence, the system’s response field—salvation—was limited to a plane surface: the earthly plane. Hence, the divine response in this system—the blessing and the curse for loyalty and disloyalty—was of a temporal nature (Deuteronomy 28). God’s providential care for this people was contingent on their obedience to the law. But the law was complex, ritualistic and rudimentary; its emphasis was on the correct adherence to procedure. And by this measure, the Israelites could hardly remain justified for long. Hence, the Scriptures noted:
Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and precepts whereby they could not live (Ezekiel 20:25).
As the people journeyed through the desert to the promised land, they were, repeatedly, subjected to trials. In the promised land, the Israelites were surrounded by enemies, who continually opposed them.
Over the years, God raised many prophets from among the people. They pointed to a New Era and the coming of a Messiah, who would bring deliverance to humanity. Just before the fulfillment of the prophecies, God sent a herald, John the Baptist, who preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He thereby cleared and leveled the ground (the hearts of the people) in preparation for laying the foundation of the Spiritual Structure, which was to be built through this Messiah. Hence, the Scriptures described John the Baptist as the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” (Matthew 3:3; Isaiah 40:3-4).
When the time finally came for the fulfillment of the prophecies, Jesus was born to Mary. Paul noted that the role of Jesus was to liberate from the bondage of the law:
But when the appointed time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the status of adopted sons (Galatians 4:4-5).
The birth of Jesus marked the advent of the new faith, and the incipience of the Kingdom of God on Earth. While on Earth, Jesus modified the law of Moses, discarding all but the Ideal law of God, and preached the good news of God’s Kingdom
The modified law, however, remained in union with the quasi-faith, up until the critical moment during Jesus’s Mission on Earth, when Simon, one of His disciples, identified Him as the Son of God (through whom the Holy Spirit was to come); he was the first just person to profess the new faith. Through Simon’s profession, psychic faith was instituted, replacing the quasi-faith of the Old System. At this time, faith became liberated from its union with the modified law. As a result, there are now two independent variables—the new faith, and obedience to the modified law—instead of the single, independent variable of the Old System: obedience to the law of Moses.
It was through the development of faith and divine service as independent variables, by Simon (an apostle) that the foundation for the three-dimensional Spiritual Structure was laid on the grounds prepared by John the Baptist (a prophet). Whereas the response field in the Old System—salvation—was confined to a two-dimensional plane, the new Spiritual Structure offers the freedom of higher dimensional planes within a three-dimensional System.
In a parallel development, Simon’s profession of faith enabled the petals of the flower bud (Jesus) that sprouted on the stump of Jesse to open, freeing the ovary for fertilization (Isaiah 11:1). This was a novel occurrence for this tree stump; until then, it was unable to produce any (life-giving) fruit.
To mark this memorable occasion of Simon’s profession of faith, Jesus renamed him Peter, meaning Rock, the symbol of the Spiritual Structure; the foundation of which had just been laid through Simon.
Thereafter, Jesus began to elaborate on the new faith, and on His Sacrificial Agency: that He would suffer, die, be buried, raised up on the third day, and ascend to God the Father in Heaven. He observed, however, that if (these Events did not materialize and) He failed to go to the Father, the Holy Spirit would not come—John 16:7— (the Structure would not be complete, and thus faith would not be consummate). Note that, hitherto, only the foundation of the Spiritual Structure had been laid; there was yet no Supporting Beam.
Three days after Jesus’s crucifixion, death and burial, He rose from the dead, and ascended to God the Father in Heaven. Through the ascension of Jesus, the Beam—Cornerstone—of the Spiritual Structure was erected, stretching from the earthly plane to the Father’s Throne in Heaven (the highest star-position on Mount Zion). Subsequently, the floodgates of Heaven were opened, thus, beginning the process of the outpouring of Grace—the Holy Spirit—into the world. It is through this effusion of the Spirit that the connecting pathways of the Structure are enabled, linking the earthly plane with the Beam, and providing the children of God with access to the Heavenly Sanctuary; thus, faith was being consummated. While the Holy Spirit, the Good Spirit, was being poured out to the world from Heaven, the Evil Spirit also emanated from Heaven. Jesus had a vision of this latter Event: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven” (Luke 10:18).
In summary, the ground for the foundation of the Spiritual Structure was prepared (cleared and leveled) through John the Baptist, the foundation itself was laid through Peter, and the Cornerstone was erected through Jesus, thus initiating the development of the rest of the Framework. This Structural Framework, which forms the basis for Justice, is, so to speak, patterned after the manner of Abraham’s justification—productive faith.
The Scriptures said of those who ascend the Structure:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers, and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the Household of God. You form a Building which rises upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [who are represented by Peter and John the Baptist], Jesus Christ, Himself, being the Cornerstone. Through Him the Whole Structure is fitted together and framed as a Holy Temple in the Lord: to become a Dwelling place for God in the Spirit [that is, Mount Zion] (Ephesians 2:19-22)
Thus, the realism of this Mystical Structure is portrayed in the Scriptures.
It is through this Structure—the Holy Spirit—that God’s eventual promise of salvation becomes a reality for all those who ascend through productive faith. Thus, the Holy Spirit is, ultimately, the Consummate Salvation of the world. As a living creation of God, the Apparent Structure is capable of growth. Inasmuch as pilgrims constitute the building blocks of the Apparent Structure, each pilgrim must share the responsibility for this growth, if it is to reap the full benefits of God’s love in the Holy Spirit. By gaining knowledge and understanding of God’s Plan, pilgrims can enhance their potential for lasting contributions to this growth process. However, it is only through dedication to God, in the Trinity—positive actions—that one actually makes these contributions. Let each person, therefore, strive for higher spiritual heights, and contribute, in a meaningful way, to the growth of the Spiritual Structure, rather than be content to stagnate at the lower levels.
This sequence of Events describes how God the Father, as Architect and Builder, supervised the establishment of His Kingdom on Earth. The inauguration of this Structure—the Kingdom—was the purpose for Jesus’s Coming, and the theme of His Gospel.
The Old and The New Spiritual Structure
While the Apparent Structure** is new, the underlying Potential Structure is eternal, without beginning. Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Potential Structure was transformed symbolically into the form of human flesh, personified in Jesus (the incarnation). It is in this sense that Jesus spoke thus: “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Jesus’s passion, death, resurrection, ascension into Heaven, and the resulting outpouring of the Holy Spirt signified the renewal of the Potential Structure, thus permitting humanity to ascend it. The Scriptures attested to this renewal:
The former things have passed away. And He that sat upon the Throne said: ‘Behold, I make all things new’ (Revelation 21:4-5).
The Scriptures affirmed also that this change has, already, taken place: “It is done” (Revelation 21:6). Prior to the renewal of the Potential Structure, God was transcendent, and unapproachable to humans.
In the Early Testament, references were made to the Potential Rock:
For who is God save the Lord? And who is a Rock save our God (2 Samuel 22:32; Psalms 18:31)?
The Rock: How perfect are His deeds! How just all His ways! (Deuteronomy 32:4).
For you are my Rock and my fortress, therefore, for your name’s sake lead me, and guide me (Psalms 31:3).
But the Lord is my defense, and my God is the Rock of my refuge (Psalms 94:22).
In the Early Testament Era, the meaning of these passages was limited to the natural level: As the Rock of refuge and salvation, God delivered the Israelites from their natural enemies. However, in the New Era, these passages have a much broader spiritual implication: the fulfillment of God’s Ultimate Plan of eternal salvation for all people.
The Tree of Life
By Jesus’s last Passover, the flower bud that blossomed on Jesse’s stump, through Peter’s profession of faith, had developed into a mature ripe Fruit. On that Day of Passover, Jesus offered this First Fruit to His disciples to eat. Through His death and burial, the Seed of the Fruit that remained was planted outside of old Jerusalem; thus, the final vestige of Jesse’s stump—the Old Order—was buried. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, following Jesus’s resurrection and ascension into Heaven witnessed the germination of that Seed into a Young Plant—a New Order—which continued to grow, providing shelter, and life-giving fruit to members of God’s household.
This Tree, which symbolizes the Holy Spirit, always was, is, and always will be. Prior to these Events, humanity was forbidden to eat of the fruit of this Tree (Genesis 3:22-24). Now, however, all are invited to eat of the fruit to gain wisdom and eternal life through productive faith in the Holy Spirit:
Whoever has ears should listen to the Spirit’s words to the Churches: He that surmounts [Mount Zion] will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).
{This Blog Post is an excerpt from the Book, between Pages 113-118 (pdf) and [93-98] (text)}
Definitions
* Faith which is independent of action is referred to as psychic faith; in order to produce fruit, psychic faith must be coupled with positive action. Faith that is confirmed through positive action is referred to as productive faith. Whenever the word faith is used alone her, it will be in reference to psychic faith.
**The Spiritual Structure consists of an infinite number of potential, latent pathways leading to and from the Heavenly Sanctuary—The Potential Structure. The pathways leading to the Heavenly Sanctuary compose the Good Spirit, while those leading away from the Sanctuary constitute the Evil Spirit. And the entire Potential Structure represent the Holy Spirit. However, it is the pilgrims who ascend and occupy these pathways that outline or reveal the Structure, and thus define the size of the Apparent Structure. Just as iron filings reveal a latent magnetic field, so pilgrims manifest the Holy Spirit in the Structure. Growth in the population of the pilgrims, and their advancement to higher spiritual heights result in increase in the size and height of the Apparent Structure. The Structure, then, has both a Potential or Absolute Peak of infinite height, and an Apparent Peak capable of infinite growth. Jesus’s parables of “the mustard seed”, and “the leaven bread” relate to this growth process.