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by Rev. Nancy Burrell
Although many assume God to be without form, Jesus tells us: "... nevertheless, He is of form, which only the soul perceptions of the soul of a man which has arrived at a certain degree of development, that is taken on the Divine nature of the Father and thus become a part of the Soul of God, can discern and realize as an entity" (True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus, Vol. I, p. 60).
And it is impossible for us to imagine God's form because "there is nothing in all nature with which men are acquainted or have knowledge of, that can be used as a comparison, even in the spirit perceptions, with this Great Soul" (Vol. I, p. 60).
Jesus goes on to say:
"But, nevertheless, God is of form such as to give him an entity and Substance and seat of habitation, in contradistinction to that God which, in the teachings of some men, is said to be everywhere in this Substance and entity--in the trees and rocks, and thunder and lightning, and in men and beasts, and in all created things, and in
whom men are said to live and move and have their being. No, this concept of God is not in accord with the truth, and it is vital to the knowledge and salvation of men that such conception of God be not entertained or believed in" (Vol. I, p. 61)
In addition to having form, God also has personality. According to Jesus (Vol. I, p. 62-63), "this is expressed and made known to man by certain attributes..."--attributes which are not God, but which "...are only the results or effects of the workings of His spirit, which spirit is only the active energy of His Soul--Himself." "The spirit of God is characterized by the attributes of Love and Wisdom and Knowledge and Power" ( Vol. I, p. 65).
God's greatest attribute is Love, not the natural love that we experience as human beings (although this love, too, is a gift which He has given us), but Divine Love. The Divine Love-and this is the revealment to which we referred earlier-the "one Great Gift of the Father which all may obtain" (Vol. II p. 149), the reception of which causes a transformation in the soul of man which results, ultimately, in at-onement with the Father, and the attendant realization of that fact. The disciple John describes the process this way (Vol. I, p. 224): "AS THIS LOVE FLOWS INTO A MAN'S SOUL IT PERMEATES THAT SOUL AS DOES LEAVEN THE BATCH OF DOUGH, AND THAT SOUL PARTAKES OF THIS DIVINE LOVE AND THEREBY BECOMES LIKE THE FATHER IN HIS DIVINE NATURE, AND FITTED TO INHABIT HIS KINGDOM."
Indeed, says Jesus (Vol. II, p. 34), "this Divine Love is the one great power that moves the universe…" and "is also the influence which makes men on earth think and do that which makes for peace and good will among men. It is not possessed by all men, in fact, by comparatively few, yet its influence is felt over nearly the whole earth."
However, this Love "is a greater attribute than even life, but love is not God, just as love is not man, though it is his greatest possession when it exists in its purity; and as man has many attributes which altogether do not make the man, so God has many, and yet they are only parts of His nature and not He" (Vol. I, p. 65).
So, though we may say that God is Love, this is not exactly right; "...not all these attributes together constitute God, for He is a personality from which all these attributes flow…." (Vol. I, p.65), the greatest of which is Divine Love.
