These essays are written in sequence and build on each other. Read the preceding essay here.
We have been exploring the concept of The Word, i.e. The Message of Christ, as the manifestation-cum-communication of Divine Truth.
On our journey thus far we have touched on many principles revealed through The Word: the Christian mindset, Truth, Knowledge, Faith, etc.
We also mentioned a very fundamental principle: the unity of God’s Love and God’s Will, to which we now return.
In that essay we discussed the fact that since God needs nothing (He only gives), everything that He wills is only willed out of Love. This means that His Will is inseparable from His Love. They are Two, but One in Him.
Let us explore Christ’s explanations on this.
Will without Love?
Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?
— KJV, John 7:19
How is it that Christ said none of the people kept the law?
Not the pharisees? Not the sadducees? Not the scribes? Their followers? Even with all their rules and regulations?
This must indicate some fundamental misconceptions on the part of all men.
We gave an example of this in an earlier essay:
Instead of understanding that observance of the Sabbath Day is to prompt man to regularly put aside time to reflect on his spiritual journey (and thus become more spiritualized and less materialistic), man focused on physical rest on Sabbath Day.
Men believed they were righteous if they remained physically idle on that day, even if they were spiritually inactive. They lost the actual meaning of the commandment because they focused on the earthly instead of the spiritual.
The problem here, which may not be immediately obvious, is the attempt to interpret and obey God’s Will (as represented in the Commandments) without reference to His Love.
God only gives. Therefore God’s Will for us as outlined in His Commandments and instructions and in The Word are gifts.
Our mindset should be to interpret God’s instructions and Commandments not as commands but as loving advice.
To construe the Commandments as commands (i.e. the sort of instructions that bossy human beings like to give) is an approach that smacks of anthromorphism in the things of God.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
— Matt 22:37-40
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Here, The Word confirms the unity of The Love and The Will (Law).
When we seek to unify The Love and the The Will on a particular matter, it leads us to ask why such loving advice has been given. We then arrive at a deeper understanding that makes our obedience authentic and knowledge-based instead of forced and external.
This deeper way of understanding arises severally in The Word. For example:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
— Matt 5:21-22
Thou shalt not kill;
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment
Human beings had focused on the earthly, physical aspect of the word “murder”.
But intentional physical murder arises from a desire to cause harm. It is the desire (the will, the volition) to harm that eventually leads to intentional murder.
So the inner desire to harm is the fundamental problem. The physical action of murder is merely an after-effect.
If human beings had considered the word “murder” from the perspective of Love, this would have become obvious: the desire to harm cannot arise in the heart of him who has cultivated love for his fellow man.
This also implies that certain things that are viewed as less serious than physical murder are only different forms of the same thing. For example, slander can be viewed as a form of moral murder which stems from the same desire to cause harm to another, only that the harm in this case is directed at the person’s reputation and not his physical body.
God’s Will and God’s Love are One. We must understand this if we are to understand how Creation works.
Only when we seek in a spirit of humility and selflessness do we find deep Truths like this in The Word, which unlock the mysteries of Creation.
Today’s Resolution
- We will unify the concepts of Divine Will and Divine Love in our minds, so that we can gain a true spiritual appreciation of The Word.
The Word, (Re)Discovered 