Last January I wrote:
Today is what in this world we would call my 74th birthday, but since, in my true and permanent identity, I am immortal (with no beginning and no ending), and therefore never “born,” I don’t wish to acknowledge it as my “birthday,” but rather as the day I “put on” what Paul refers to as “sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3) or “mortality.”
I do not wish to celebrate that mortality or “corruption.” I want, rather, to “put on” immortality, as we are instructed to do.
(1Corinthians 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
2 Corinthians 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.)
Of course, in our humanity, we are incapable of “putting on” immortality. But identifying with and submitting to the immortal Christ within, letting go of the personal, mortal ego that wants to be or do something—that is putting on immortality.
Joel Goldsmith defines immortality as “the realization of our true identity as God-being, an identity without beginning and without end, eternal and everlasting: It is a recognition of God as the Father and God as the Son” (“Art of Meditation”).
Now, six months later, I wish to return to this subject.
We have thought of “mortality” only in terms of our physical bodies. And this body is indeed “mortal” as Paul tells us:
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
But “mortality” refers to all that the human (carnal) mind has conceived and brought into manifestation. It is but a belief in the consciousness of man which is out-pictured in what we call “matter.”
“Immortality” is life everlasting, without beginning or end—the only life that there is. It is Spirit (the Spirit that dwells in us and “quickens” our mortal bodies). It is that which causes the heart to beat and the food to digest. When that Spirit departs from the “mortal” body, there is nothing remaining except inert “matter.” There are eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear and a heart that cannot beat. The mortal body has no life in it.
In truth, there is nothing but Spirit—that which cannot be seen by human eyes. What the human eye sees is matter (that which has atomic structure) which is Spirit slowed down to human visibility and which has the ability to disintegrate or “die” because it is not in the consciousness of God and therefore has nothing to sustain it.
The original creation (recorded in Genesis 1 and includes man) is in the consciousness of God and therefore eternal. It has no ability to experience anything inharmonious or evil. What we see with our human eyes is not the original creation, but rather our distorted concept of that creation which is of course subject to imperfection, disease and death. It is a mind-formed creation which has no reality in God (see Go Within and See the Invisible).
That’s why Paul admonishes us to look not at the things that are seen and passing away but rather at that which is unseen and eternal (2Corinthians 4:18). And that’s why God descended in the form of Jesus and “appeared” (manifested) as matter (in a form that could be “seen” and “handled” by man—so that we could know our immortality (eternal life).
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Yes, Jesus came to “manifest” this “eternal life” that “swallows up” the death realm that we have created for ourselves by our belief in our separation from our Father who begat us out of Himself.
I began meditating on this subject of putting on immortality because my brother departed from his mortal, corruptible body day before yesterday, after several years of illness, both physical and mental. I have been troubled as I have watched so many people my age struggling with multiple health problems. It’s almost their only topic of conversation. There seems to be a preoccupation with mortality and death.
Yet we were created immortal and with dominion over all the rest of creation:
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness [which would be immortal]: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
But when we entertained the thought that we had a separate identity from our Father and that there is another power besides God who is opposed to God, we descended into the realm of “mortality” (the knowledge of good and evil that brings about death) (see Belief in Two Powers). We became conscious of and thereby created for ourselves a world of “appearances” of good and evil, mostly evil. We thought we had to do something to become like God (thus bringing in the law), which caused a “veil” of perceived separation between us and our Father.
But Paul tells us that our Father God
2 Timothy 1:9 . . . hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
We can see that we’ve always been both “saved” and “called” “before the world began.” It has nothing to do with what we’ve done or haven’t done; it is “according to his own purpose and grace.”
But we were in such “gross darkness” that the “great light” had to “appear”:
(Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.)
That is why God descended in the form of Jesus and took mortality (“sinful flesh”—Romans 8:3) upon Himself—that He might “abolish death” so that we could rise (ascend) into the consciousness of our “life and immortality.”
The “gospel” through which this “light” came is the “good news” that we are one with our Father (as Jesus prayed in John 17 we would know), that indeed there is but one Spirit and one body, and that we are individual members of that immortal body, of whom Christ is the head
(Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
1Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1Corinthians 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.)
We know that every “member” of this one body descended into mortality; but the good news of the gospel is that every “member” of this one immortal body will come again into the recognition of his immortality:
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Hebrews 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
As Paul said, “This mortal must put on immortality” (1Corinthians 15:53)
To “put on immortality” is to recognize and accept what is already true. That’s the sole reason for our coming into “this world” of appearances—to come to a knowledge of this truth of our true and permanent identity:
1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
We saw above (in 2Timothy 1:9) that we were already “saved” and “called” “before the world began”; we just have to come into the recognition and acceptance of this truth.
Jesus gave Pilate His reason for coming into this world:
John 18:37 . . . . To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
The apostle John says concerning Jesus:
John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
And Jesus said of Himself:
John 8:12 . . . I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
And as members of His body, once we have been enlightened ourselves (put on immortality), we are to bring others to the light (the knowledge of the truth of their true identity):
Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world.
As I was meditating on all this in connection with my brother’s departure from this realm, I understood that my brother is but one of the many members of the one body who is Christ. God came into expression in this realm as my brother, and that is how I am to know him. I am not to attach myself to his personality (or persona or “mortal” body)—which is not his true identity. His true identity (as is that of everyone else) is the Christ. Paul understood this:
2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Though we may grieve when a particular expression of that one body (which is Christ) is no longer visible to us, we are never to confuse the mortal concept of body with the immortal body “eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens). Jesus loved John (John 13:23), Lazarus, Martha and Mary (John 11:5), but He attached Himself to no persona, not His disciples, not the members of His family. And He was always trying to explain to His disciples why they must not attach themselves to His physical presence. He told them that it was better for them that He “go away” so He could “come again” as the Comforter. After the resurrection, He appeared in several different forms to demonstrate the unimportance of the form that is visible to the human eye. He taught that there is no marriage amongst those who have risen from the dead (Mark 12:25), and Paul said:
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
In other words, we are not to know one another “after the flesh” or expect our personas (which are “mortal” and “corruptible”) to be reunited after they have been “put off.” We cling to this “mortal” realm which is the source of all our suffering rather than “ascend” into the realm of the immortal, the only place where “death is swallowed up in victory” (1Corinthians 15:53), the only place where we can experience the destruction of the “devil” (the canal mind that is “death”—Romans 8:6) which releases us from the bondage to the fear of death:
Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
If I can see my brother as God expressing Himself in a particular form, I can enjoy that “form” as long as it “appears” to me in “this world” without attaching myself to the form itself (persona), knowing that I am enjoying but one member of the one body which is Christ. That way I can let go of the form that I knew as my brother and continue to enjoy all the other forms that Christ appears as. I look beyond the mortal to the Christ that is the true identity of every form, remembering Paul’s words:
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Sad to say, we have become so attached to this “death” realm (mortality) that we have celebrated codependency and called it love. We find our sense of security (howbeit a false sense) from that which we can see and handle. The disciples did too; that’s why they were so distraught by the death of the man Jesus.
We have books written about the five stages of grief that we must go through when losing a loved one. Anyone who has the revelation that Jesus had, that we are never alone because our Father is always with us (John 16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.), and is able to receive whatever he needs from the Father alone (see All I Need Is God), able to continue to live in righteousness, peace and joy after the passing of a loved one, is oftentimes accused of not loving that one. We think it “normal” and healthy to experience anger and depression when those we love “put off” the “mortal” body.
And that is true in our humanity (old man, natural man, mortality) which is a “vapor” or “shadow” that is “vanishing” or “passing away” (James 14:4; Psalms 144:4). But we are being challenged to ascend into our true identity which is immortal, eternal, everlasting—where we again experience our dominion (see Under HIS Feet), where nothing ever dies, where God wipes the tears away and there is no pain and sorrow (see The New Jerusalem). It is returning to the original creation that was created perfect and has always remained so. Our descent into the material, death realm of matter had no effect upon God’s creation. The “evil” that we experience is our own creation of the “mortality” that we must “put off.”
In Scripture this realm of mortality is always characterized by darkness, death, heaviness, the “works of the flesh,” limitations of time and space and every imaginable evil. It is referred to as “this world,” the “beneath,” the “without” and “hell.” It is the realm of “sight,” the realm of that which is experienced by the five human senses, the realm of the visible.
But the realm of immortality is characterized by life and light and love, and the “fruits of the Spirit.” It is referred to as the “above,” the “within,” the Paradise of God, the “mountain of the Lord,” the “new Jerusalem” and “heaven.” It is the place that Jesus “prepared” for us (John 14:3), the realm of Spirit, the “invisible” realm of “faith” that cannot be accessed through the human senses.
Jesus said that all mankind was from “beneath” (of this world) while He was from “above” (not of this world) (John 8:23).
And that’s precisely why God descended in the form of Jesus:
Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
To get from the “beneath” to the “above,” I must be “resurrected” (put off mortality and put on immortality):
That’s what Paul admonishes us to do:
Ephesians 5:14 . . . Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
The “veil” that separates these two realms is the belief that we are material beings subject to all the laws of matter (which includes laws of aging, disease and death). That “veil” was “rent” when Jesus took this belief in the reality of evil (our humanity) to the death of the cross. Now we have to recognize and accept this truth, “reckon” it to be so, in order to “rise” or ascend into our immortality where the limitations of “this world” no longer apply to us. We remain “in” the world in order to appear to it and bring others to the “light” but we are no longer “of” it. Our dominion has been restored.
We see this vividly demonstrated in the life of Jesus as we see Him walk on water, turn water into wine, find tax money in a fish’s mouth, dissolve the pictures of sickness and death in those who touched His consciousness and even show three of His disciples His “body not made with hands” (His “resurrection” body even before His “death” on the cross) on the Mount of Transfiguration.
We also see the ascent into immortality illustrated in the lives of the disciples. Philip was “transported” from one location to another by the Spirit alone, with no “material” aid (Acts 8:26-40). Peter and Paul showed disease and death not to be a reality on several occasions. People were “healed” by coming in contact with Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15-16) and Paul’s clothing (Acts 19:12). Paul was stoned and left for dead, but rose up and kept on preaching (Acts 14:19-21). He also survived the poisonous bite of a “viper” (Acts 28:3-5) and a day and night in the “deep” (2Corinthians 11:25). They both did the “impossible” works that Jesus did, as He said we all would.
God is no respecter of person (Romans 2:11). What was true for Peter, Paul and Philip is true for everyone who “believes” that this visible, material, “mortal” world is not reality. When the invisible, Spirit realm of perfection becomes my reality, my ONLY reality (I cannot remain double-minded—James 1:6-8), I will also be able to exercise my dominion over the pictures of evil in this realm. In the recognition of the real, that which has no reality “dissolves.” When the light that the Christ gives me as I “arise from the dead” (the realm of mortality) (Ephesians 5:14)—when that light shines into the darkness, the darkness is no more.
Now when my carnal (mortal) mind suggests to me that I am sick or injured (physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, socially), I just “ascend” (“rise from the dead”) into my immortal self that cannot know inharmony of any sort. I know myself as I am known of God, perfect and complete, lacking nothing. And in that recognition (that “knowledge of God”) I receive the dominion originally given me by my Father, dominion over the belief in inharmony, and thereby dissolve the evil pictures that have no reality (see Dominion Is Received, not Taken and Under HIS Feet).
Because we are all members one of another (there is but one Spirit and one body), what I can do for myself, I can do for the other “members” of this one immortal body. I see each member as he is, not as he “appears” to be in “this world.” Anyone who “touches” my consciousness of his true identity will also experience “healing”—or dissolution of the evil pictures of mortality.
When I pray for myself or others, I will pray (as Paul prayed), not to improve our humanity, but that Christ would be “formed” in us (Galatians 4:19), that we would rise above our humanity into our Christ identity where we can experience the original creation, the one that God made, the one where “everything” is “very good” (Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good).
Even if it should “appear” to be evil, it has no ability to harm us (Luke 10:19); it can only work for our good (Romans 8:28).
Paul could say of himself:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
When that becomes my reality, when it is no longer the persona (that I have believed myself to be) but rather the Christ (that I am in in my true identity) that is living my life, I will indeed have “put on immortality.”