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188:5.1 The [[cross]] of [[Jesus]] portrays the full [[measure]] of the [[supreme]] [[devotion]] of the true [[shepherd]] for even the unworthy members of his flock. It forever places all [[relations]] between [[God]] and [[man]] upon the [[family]] basis. [[God]] is [[the Father]]; man is his son. Love, the [[love]] of a [[father]] for his [[Children|son]], becomes the central [[truth]] in the [[universe]] [[relations]] of [[Creator]] and [[creature]]—not the [[justice]] of a [[king]] which seeks [[satisfaction]] in the [[sufferings]] and [[punishment]] of the [[evil]]-doing subject.
188:5.2 The [[cross]] forever shows that the [[attitude]] of [[Jesus]] toward sinners was neither [[condemnation]] nor [[condonation]], but rather [[eternal]] and [[loving]] [[salvation]]. [[Jesus]] is truly a [[savior]] in the sense that his life and [[death]] do win men over to [[goodness]] and [[righteous]] [[survival]]. [[Jesus]] loves men so much that his [[love]] [[awakens]] the [[response]] of [[love]] in the [[human]] [[heart]]. [[Love]] is truly [[contagious]] and eternally [[creative]]. [[Jesus]]' [[death]] on the [[cross]] exemplifies a [[love]] which is sufficiently [[strong]] and [[divine]] to [[forgive]] [[sin]] and swallow up all [[evil]]-doing. [[Jesus]] [[Revelation|disclosed]] to this world a higher [[quality]] of [[righteousness]] than [[justice]]—mere technical right and wrong. [[Divine]] [[love]] does not merely [[forgive]] wrongs; it [[absorbs]] and actually destroys them. The [[forgiveness]] of [[love]] utterly [[transcends]] the [[forgiveness]] of [[mercy]]. Mercy sets the [[guilt]] of [[evil]]-doing to one side; but [[love]] destroys forever the [[sin]] and all [[weakness]] resulting therefrom. [[Jesus]] brought a new [[method]] of [[living]] to [[Urantia]]. He taught us not to [[resist]] [[evil]] but to find through him a [[goodness]] which effectually destroys [[evil]]. The [[forgiveness]] of [[Jesus]] is not [[condonation]]; it is [[salvation]] from [[condemnation]]. [[Salvation]] does not slight wrongs; it makes them right. True [[love]] does not [[compromise]] nor [[condone]] [[hate]]; it destroys it. The [[love]] of [[Jesus]] is never [[satisfied]] with mere [[forgiveness]]. [[The Master]]'s [[love]] implies [[rehabilitation]], [[eternal]] [[survival]]. It is altogether proper to [[speak]] of [[salvation]] as [[redemption]] if you mean this eternal [[rehabilitation]].
188:5.3 [[Jesus]], by the [[power]] of his [[personal]] [[love]] for men, could break the hold of [[sin]] and [[evil]]. He thereby set men [[free]] to [[choose]] better ways of [[living]]. [[Jesus]] portrayed a [[deliverance]] from the [[past]] which in itself [[promised]] a [[triumph]] for the [[future]]. [[Forgiveness]] thus provided [[salvation]]. The [[beauty]] of [[divine]] [[love]], once fully admitted to the [[human]] [[heart]], forever destroys the [[charm]] of [[sin]] and the [[power]] of [[evil]].
188:5.4 The [[sufferings]] of [[Jesus]] were not confined to the [[crucifixion]]. In [[reality]], [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]] spent upward of twenty-five years on the [[cross]] of a real and [[intense]] [[mortal]] [[existence]]. The real [[value]] of the [[cross]] consists in the [[fact]] that it was the [[supreme]] and final [[expression]] of his [[love]], the completed [[revelation]] of his [[mercy]].
188:5.5 On millions of [[inhabited worlds]], tens of trillions of evolving [[creatures]] who may have been [[tempted]] to give up the [[moral]] [[struggle]] and [[abandon]] the [[good]] fight of [[faith]], have taken one more look at [[Jesus]] on the [[cross]] and then have forged on ahead, [[inspired]] by the [[sight]] of [[God]]'s laying down his [[incarnate]] life in [[devotion]] to the [[unselfish]] [[service]] of [[man]].
188:5.6 The [[triumph]] of the [[death]] on the [[cross]] is all summed up in the [[spirit]] of [[Jesus]]' [[attitude]] toward those who assailed him. He made the [[cross]] an [[eternal]] [[symbol]] of the [[triumph]] of [[love]] over [[hate]] and the [[victory]] of [[truth]] over [[evil]] when he [[prayed]], " Father, [[forgive]] them, for they know not what they do. " [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_23]That [[devotion]] of [[love]] was [[contagious]] throughout [[Nebadon|a vast universe]]; the [[disciples]] caught it from their Master. The very first [[teacher]] of his [[gospel]] who was called upon to lay down his life in this [[service]], said, as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen they stoned him to death], " Lay not this sin to their charge."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Acts_of_the_Apostles#Acts.7]
188:5.7 The [[cross]] makes a [[supreme]] [[appeal]] to the best in man because it discloses one who was willing to lay down his life in the [[service]] of his fellow men. Greater [[love]] no man can have than this: that he would be willing to lay down his life for his [[friends]]—and [[Jesus]] had such a [[love]] that he was willing to lay down his life for his [[enemies]], a love greater than any which had hitherto been known on [[earth]].
188:5.8 On [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_49 other worlds], as well as on [[Urantia]], this [[sublime]] [[spectacle]] of the [[death]] of the [[human]] [[Jesus]] on the [[cross]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary Golgotha] has stirred the [[emotions]] of [[mortals]], while it has aroused the highest [[devotion]] of the [[angels]].
188:5.9 The [[cross]] is that high [[symbol]] of [[sacred]] [[service]], the [[devotion]] of one's life to the [[welfare]] and [[salvation]] of one's fellows. The [[cross]] is not the [[symbol]] of the [[sacrifice]] of the [[innocent]] [[Creator Son|Son of God]] in the place of [[guilty]] sinners and in order to appease the [[wrath]] of an offended [[God]], but it does stand forever, on [[earth]] and throughout [[Nebadon|a vast universe]], as a [[sacred]] [[symbol]] of the [[good]] bestowing themselves upon the [[evil]] and thereby saving them by this very [[devotion]] of [[love]]. The [[cross]] does stand as the token of the highest [[form]] of [[unselfish]] [[service]], the [[supreme]] [[devotion]] of the full [[bestowal]] of a [[righteous]] life in the service of wholehearted ministry, even in [[death]], the death of the [[cross]]. And the very [[sight]] of this great [[symbol]] of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_120 bestowal life of Jesus] truly [[inspires]] all of us to want to go and do likewise.
188:5.10 When [[thinking]] [[men]] and [[women]] look upon [[Jesus]] as he offers up his life on the [[cross]], they will hardly again [[permit]] themselves to [[complain]] at even the severest [[hardships]] of life, much less at petty harassments and their many purely fictitious [[grievances]]. His life was so [[glorious]] and his [[death]] so [[triumphant]] that we are all enticed to a willingness to [[share]] both. There is true drawing [[power]] in the whole [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_120 bestowal of Michael], from the days of his [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_123 youth] to this overwhelming [[spectacle]] of his [[death]] on the [[cross]].
188:5.11 Make sure, then, that when you view the [[cross]] as a [[revelation]] of [[God]], you do not look with the eyes of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN primitive man] nor with the [[viewpoint]] of the later [[barbarian]], both of whom regarded [[God]] as a relentless [[King|Sovereign]] of stern [[justice]] and rigid [[law]]-enforcement. Rather, make sure that you see in the [[cross]] the final [[manifestation]] of the [[love]] and [[devotion]] of [[Jesus]] to his life [[mission]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_119#119:7._THE_SEVENTH_AND_FINAL_BESTOWAL bestowal upon the mortal races] of [[Nebadon|his vast universe]]. See in the [[death]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Man Son of Man] the [[climax]] of the unfolding of [[the Father]]'s [[divine]] [[love]] for his [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE sons of the mortal spheres]. The [[cross]] thus portrays the [[devotion]] of willing [[affection]] and the [[bestowal]] of [[voluntary]] [[salvation]] upon those who are willing to [[receive]] such [[gifts]] and [[devotion]]. There was nothing in the [[cross]] which [[the Father]] required—only that which [[Jesus]] so willingly gave, and which he refused to avoid.
188:5.12 If man cannot otherwise [[appreciate]] [[Jesus]] and [[understand]] the [[meaning]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_119#119:7._THE_SEVENTH_AND_FINAL_BESTOWAL his bestowal on earth], he can at least [[comprehend]] the fellowship of his [[mortal]] [[sufferings]]. No man can ever [[fear]] that the [[Creator]] does not know the [[nature]] or extent of his [[temporal]] [[afflictions]].
188:5.13 We know that the [[death]] on the [[cross]] was not to [[effect]] man's [[reconciliation]] to [[God]] but to [[stimulate]] man's [[realization]] of [[the Father]]'s [[eternal]] [[love]] and his [[Creator Son|Son]]'s unending [[mercy]], and to [[broadcast]] these [[universal]] [[truths]] to a whole [[universe]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_188 Go to Paper 188]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 188 - The Time of the Tomb]]
188:5.1 The [[cross]] of [[Jesus]] portrays the full [[measure]] of the [[supreme]] [[devotion]] of the true [[shepherd]] for even the unworthy members of his flock. It forever places all [[relations]] between [[God]] and [[man]] upon the [[family]] basis. [[God]] is [[the Father]]; man is his son. Love, the [[love]] of a [[father]] for his [[Children|son]], becomes the central [[truth]] in the [[universe]] [[relations]] of [[Creator]] and [[creature]]—not the [[justice]] of a [[king]] which seeks [[satisfaction]] in the [[sufferings]] and [[punishment]] of the [[evil]]-doing subject.
188:5.2 The [[cross]] forever shows that the [[attitude]] of [[Jesus]] toward sinners was neither [[condemnation]] nor [[condonation]], but rather [[eternal]] and [[loving]] [[salvation]]. [[Jesus]] is truly a [[savior]] in the sense that his life and [[death]] do win men over to [[goodness]] and [[righteous]] [[survival]]. [[Jesus]] loves men so much that his [[love]] [[awakens]] the [[response]] of [[love]] in the [[human]] [[heart]]. [[Love]] is truly [[contagious]] and eternally [[creative]]. [[Jesus]]' [[death]] on the [[cross]] exemplifies a [[love]] which is sufficiently [[strong]] and [[divine]] to [[forgive]] [[sin]] and swallow up all [[evil]]-doing. [[Jesus]] [[Revelation|disclosed]] to this world a higher [[quality]] of [[righteousness]] than [[justice]]—mere technical right and wrong. [[Divine]] [[love]] does not merely [[forgive]] wrongs; it [[absorbs]] and actually destroys them. The [[forgiveness]] of [[love]] utterly [[transcends]] the [[forgiveness]] of [[mercy]]. Mercy sets the [[guilt]] of [[evil]]-doing to one side; but [[love]] destroys forever the [[sin]] and all [[weakness]] resulting therefrom. [[Jesus]] brought a new [[method]] of [[living]] to [[Urantia]]. He taught us not to [[resist]] [[evil]] but to find through him a [[goodness]] which effectually destroys [[evil]]. The [[forgiveness]] of [[Jesus]] is not [[condonation]]; it is [[salvation]] from [[condemnation]]. [[Salvation]] does not slight wrongs; it makes them right. True [[love]] does not [[compromise]] nor [[condone]] [[hate]]; it destroys it. The [[love]] of [[Jesus]] is never [[satisfied]] with mere [[forgiveness]]. [[The Master]]'s [[love]] implies [[rehabilitation]], [[eternal]] [[survival]]. It is altogether proper to [[speak]] of [[salvation]] as [[redemption]] if you mean this eternal [[rehabilitation]].
188:5.3 [[Jesus]], by the [[power]] of his [[personal]] [[love]] for men, could break the hold of [[sin]] and [[evil]]. He thereby set men [[free]] to [[choose]] better ways of [[living]]. [[Jesus]] portrayed a [[deliverance]] from the [[past]] which in itself [[promised]] a [[triumph]] for the [[future]]. [[Forgiveness]] thus provided [[salvation]]. The [[beauty]] of [[divine]] [[love]], once fully admitted to the [[human]] [[heart]], forever destroys the [[charm]] of [[sin]] and the [[power]] of [[evil]].
188:5.4 The [[sufferings]] of [[Jesus]] were not confined to the [[crucifixion]]. In [[reality]], [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]] spent upward of twenty-five years on the [[cross]] of a real and [[intense]] [[mortal]] [[existence]]. The real [[value]] of the [[cross]] consists in the [[fact]] that it was the [[supreme]] and final [[expression]] of his [[love]], the completed [[revelation]] of his [[mercy]].
188:5.5 On millions of [[inhabited worlds]], tens of trillions of evolving [[creatures]] who may have been [[tempted]] to give up the [[moral]] [[struggle]] and [[abandon]] the [[good]] fight of [[faith]], have taken one more look at [[Jesus]] on the [[cross]] and then have forged on ahead, [[inspired]] by the [[sight]] of [[God]]'s laying down his [[incarnate]] life in [[devotion]] to the [[unselfish]] [[service]] of [[man]].
188:5.6 The [[triumph]] of the [[death]] on the [[cross]] is all summed up in the [[spirit]] of [[Jesus]]' [[attitude]] toward those who assailed him. He made the [[cross]] an [[eternal]] [[symbol]] of the [[triumph]] of [[love]] over [[hate]] and the [[victory]] of [[truth]] over [[evil]] when he [[prayed]], " Father, [[forgive]] them, for they know not what they do. " [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_23]That [[devotion]] of [[love]] was [[contagious]] throughout [[Nebadon|a vast universe]]; the [[disciples]] caught it from their Master. The very first [[teacher]] of his [[gospel]] who was called upon to lay down his life in this [[service]], said, as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen they stoned him to death], " Lay not this sin to their charge."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Acts_of_the_Apostles#Acts.7]
188:5.7 The [[cross]] makes a [[supreme]] [[appeal]] to the best in man because it discloses one who was willing to lay down his life in the [[service]] of his fellow men. Greater [[love]] no man can have than this: that he would be willing to lay down his life for his [[friends]]—and [[Jesus]] had such a [[love]] that he was willing to lay down his life for his [[enemies]], a love greater than any which had hitherto been known on [[earth]].
188:5.8 On [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_49 other worlds], as well as on [[Urantia]], this [[sublime]] [[spectacle]] of the [[death]] of the [[human]] [[Jesus]] on the [[cross]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary Golgotha] has stirred the [[emotions]] of [[mortals]], while it has aroused the highest [[devotion]] of the [[angels]].
188:5.9 The [[cross]] is that high [[symbol]] of [[sacred]] [[service]], the [[devotion]] of one's life to the [[welfare]] and [[salvation]] of one's fellows. The [[cross]] is not the [[symbol]] of the [[sacrifice]] of the [[innocent]] [[Creator Son|Son of God]] in the place of [[guilty]] sinners and in order to appease the [[wrath]] of an offended [[God]], but it does stand forever, on [[earth]] and throughout [[Nebadon|a vast universe]], as a [[sacred]] [[symbol]] of the [[good]] bestowing themselves upon the [[evil]] and thereby saving them by this very [[devotion]] of [[love]]. The [[cross]] does stand as the token of the highest [[form]] of [[unselfish]] [[service]], the [[supreme]] [[devotion]] of the full [[bestowal]] of a [[righteous]] life in the service of wholehearted ministry, even in [[death]], the death of the [[cross]]. And the very [[sight]] of this great [[symbol]] of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_120 bestowal life of Jesus] truly [[inspires]] all of us to want to go and do likewise.
188:5.10 When [[thinking]] [[men]] and [[women]] look upon [[Jesus]] as he offers up his life on the [[cross]], they will hardly again [[permit]] themselves to [[complain]] at even the severest [[hardships]] of life, much less at petty harassments and their many purely fictitious [[grievances]]. His life was so [[glorious]] and his [[death]] so [[triumphant]] that we are all enticed to a willingness to [[share]] both. There is true drawing [[power]] in the whole [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_120 bestowal of Michael], from the days of his [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_123 youth] to this overwhelming [[spectacle]] of his [[death]] on the [[cross]].
188:5.11 Make sure, then, that when you view the [[cross]] as a [[revelation]] of [[God]], you do not look with the eyes of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN primitive man] nor with the [[viewpoint]] of the later [[barbarian]], both of whom regarded [[God]] as a relentless [[King|Sovereign]] of stern [[justice]] and rigid [[law]]-enforcement. Rather, make sure that you see in the [[cross]] the final [[manifestation]] of the [[love]] and [[devotion]] of [[Jesus]] to his life [[mission]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_119#119:7._THE_SEVENTH_AND_FINAL_BESTOWAL bestowal upon the mortal races] of [[Nebadon|his vast universe]]. See in the [[death]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Man Son of Man] the [[climax]] of the unfolding of [[the Father]]'s [[divine]] [[love]] for his [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE sons of the mortal spheres]. The [[cross]] thus portrays the [[devotion]] of willing [[affection]] and the [[bestowal]] of [[voluntary]] [[salvation]] upon those who are willing to [[receive]] such [[gifts]] and [[devotion]]. There was nothing in the [[cross]] which [[the Father]] required—only that which [[Jesus]] so willingly gave, and which he refused to avoid.
188:5.12 If man cannot otherwise [[appreciate]] [[Jesus]] and [[understand]] the [[meaning]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_119#119:7._THE_SEVENTH_AND_FINAL_BESTOWAL his bestowal on earth], he can at least [[comprehend]] the fellowship of his [[mortal]] [[sufferings]]. No man can ever [[fear]] that the [[Creator]] does not know the [[nature]] or extent of his [[temporal]] [[afflictions]].
188:5.13 We know that the [[death]] on the [[cross]] was not to [[effect]] man's [[reconciliation]] to [[God]] but to [[stimulate]] man's [[realization]] of [[the Father]]'s [[eternal]] [[love]] and his [[Creator Son|Son]]'s unending [[mercy]], and to [[broadcast]] these [[universal]] [[truths]] to a whole [[universe]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_188 Go to Paper 188]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 188 - The Time of the Tomb]]
