As Meredith and Alex found some extra seats in the back of Linda’s conference room, they tried not to make any noise to disrupt as they sat down and began listening attentively.
The view Meredith and Alex had revealed something similar to a college classroom setting but on a smaller scale. There were about six rectangular tables that acted as desks with two chairs per table so each of the team members could choose their own table and have plenty of room to spread out any materials they used during their meetings. Robert chose the very front table on the right, Ananias Faust chose the second row table on the left and physicist Spence Albrecht chose the second row table on the right not far behind Robert. Author Eve Brilliant chose the third row table on the left to sit at and Alex and Meredith were also seated on the third row at the table to the right of Eve. Two large dry erase boards were positioned at the front of the room in front of a large drop down projection screen where more technical presentations or videos could be projected onto. Some new plants and a large sixty gallon empty aquarium sat on a long granite countertop in the back of the room next to some hors d'oeuvres and a few pitchers of water.
"Let's go ahead and get started," Linda said as she stood at the front of the room. “I feel that one of the best ways for us to identify the scroll and learn of it’s origin is to understand the teachings it contains. So with that in mind, I wanted to share a few thoughts. Have any of you read the bible but felt that there were still unanswered questions about God and life?” Everyone in the room answered ‘yes’ in near unison. “So would you agree with the analogy that the bible starts a sentence but it seems incomplete or unfinished? Sort of leaving you hanging about truths about God and the purpose of life that you’d like to know?” Again, everyone in the room agreed. Then Linda said something profound. “We will find in our search together that my father has found a scroll…or something that provides the kind of insight into the bible that helps it all make sense doctrinally. These insights finish the sentence. These doctrinal insights complete the sentence the bible started. It compliments the bible. It does not compete with it.”
“Are you saying that this completing or complimenting information will provide…a fullness? A fullness of Christ’s gospel as we’ve only begun to understand from the bible?” Robert asked curiously.
“Something like that. And one of the most important questions it answers is the question most of us have asked at one point or another in life. It answers the question of why God allows suffering. And we will learn that the beautiful answer to that question is a two part answer. First, there is no pain we experience and no suffering or sorrow we go through that he will not make up. God will make up perfectly for every loss, every pain, every sorrow we go through. Some of it gets fixed in this life and other things get fixed in the next life. But ultimately He will perfectly resolve all losses, all pains, all suffering. Every negative thing will get fixed in a way that we will agree is the perfect remedy to make up for our suffering. Secondly, the best way any of us can understand and appreciate more fully how God will heal us and make up for all of our losses and suffering is through a correct understanding of the fullness of the Gospel. Understanding the Lord’s gospel fully and following Christ, doing things in our lives in ways He assures us are the best ways to do things for our greatest happiness and success in this life as well as for the next life is the most important way we can understand why God allows suffering to occur in life.”
“I read in the notes something about going through life, including pain and sorrow, so we can appreciate just how amazingly awesome heaven is when we die. But we could never appreciate or understand joy, like heaven is overflowing with, without understanding its opposites such as sorrow and loss and pain.” Spence noted aloud.
“Yes. We’ll be discussing that section of the notes eventually.” Linda replied.
“Would you feel that one way, an important way, to describe the gospel of Jesus Christ is that His gospel blesses families?” Robert asked further.
“Yes. It blesses individuals and families.” She said almost reverently. “I believe that’s the sole point of what Jesus Christ is all about.” Robert nodded confidently in agreement. He was glad to see that she viewed it the same way he did. She then took a few minutes to tell the group of the enlightened perspective she received from Pastor James recently about the research and about how some people follow the pattern of apostasy by rejecting the words of prophets God sends us.
“But, thankfully, the righteous are not contributors to apostasy. It’s the righteous that are most open to hearing more of the word of God. It’s the righteous that are willing to believe the truth of all things and let God speak as he will when he will and to whom he will,” Linda added.
“Pardon me,” Spence raised his hand. “What’s an apostasy?” Eve replied without hesitation.
“Every dispensation of people have gone through a period of time that led to apostasy.” Eve said. It was clear she was thinking deeply as her brows furrowed and she leaned back in her chair. “What creates the apostasy is people doubting revelation given to God’s chosen prophets. People begin to harden their hearts against truth, against God’s revealed words, against His great plan for our happiness. In every dispensation there are some people that reject the truth, mock the truth or spread lies so good people seeking the truth can’t find it as easily.”
“Spread lies? What lies?” Spence asked innocently.
“Well, lies about who God is, for example.”
“That’s an excellent point!” Robert added eagerly. “In Jeremiah 2:11-13 and Jeremiah 16:19-21 there are prophesies being fulfilled in our modern day times. In Jeremiah 2:11-13 it basically says that a nation changes its God to be no God. Changing the glory of God into a way that can’t benefit anyone. Then in Jeremiah 16:19-21 it talks about people in our times being taught false doctrine. It talks about many of our religious traditions being made up of lies, straying far away from the gospel Jesus himself taught. It sounds pretty clear to me that it’s prophesying about people waking up, right here in the United States of America, waking up to the truth about God and the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It reads, ‘The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make Gods unto himself, and there are no Gods?’ Isn’t that what some men have already done? Redefining the meaning of God and doing so in a way that contradicts what Jesus Christ taught. Redefining God in a way that makes a God that isn’t really God and then circulating that false and confusing information into specific churches that will allow such a false definition.”
“Isn’t this interesting?” Eve asked openly. “Doing that breaks the commandment God set forth in the Ten Commandments.” She said this before tapping her pen a few times on her desk and raising an eyebrow as if to give Robert a confirming look.
“Which commandment is that?” Spence asked curiously.
“Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,” Eve replied naturally. “For example, when people get together and agree that the official definition of God is one that describes him, in part, as one that is unembodied…”
“A God that doesn’t have a physical body, right?” Robert asked.
“Yes,” Eve clarified. “If people agree to worship a god that doesn’t have a physical body or any emotions then they’re basically agreeing to not worship Jesus Christ.”
“You know that’s such a good point,” Linda said as she walked closer to Eve. “Any man or woman that disregards the concept of an embodied God disregards the teachings of the New Testament and the Old Testament. They disregard both the mortal and the resurrected Christ. So to disregard such is to disregard Christianity.”
“Just speaking for myself, as a Christian, I have no interest in disregarding the teachings of the bible that prove a correct definition of God is just as Christ taught.” Robert added warily.
“Same here,” Eve chimed in as most of the rest of the
group agreed. “Especially since so many different verses in the Old and New Testaments describe God as having a face, a mind, eyes, ears, a mouth, hands, arms etc…” she paused to look up the references in her notes. “Revelation 22:3-6, Exodus 19:9, John 12:28-29, Numbers 12:5-8, Hebrews 1:1-5, Philippians 2:5-6, 1 Corinthians 11:7, John 20:27, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6, Genesis 3:22…”
But before she could finish her references, Robert eagerly requested, “If you have a list of scriptures that show God has emotions…”
“Passions? Emotions?” Eve responded confidently. “Yes.” She then quickly ran down another list. “Love… John 3: 16. Anger… Jeremiah 4:8. Fury and anger… Jeremiah 44:6. Hate… Jeremiah 44:4. And God is also long suffering, merciful and gracious. That’s in Exodus 34:6. His emotions are perfectly appropriate, perfectly timely. Perfectly suited to match the circumstance. He’s temperate.”
Then Robert quoted a verse. “In Philippians 2:5-6 it says ‘Christ Jesus’ was, in reality, ‘in the form of God.’”
“And several verses also show how God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose but not one in body. But don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself in verses such as Matthew 26:39-42, John 17: 20-22, John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Ephesians 4:5-7, John 15:26, Acts 2:38-38, Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 1:10-11, Luke 3:21-23, Matthew 3:15-17, John 17:3-5, John 14:28 and Acts 7:55-56.
“Even Jesus Himself taught us that it’s super important to have a correct understanding of God. He said, very clearly, that it’s both possible to know God and desirable to know God. The fact is, how can we exercise faith correctly in a God we can’t accurately identify?” Robert mentioned openly.
“The bible will back you up on that too,” Eve smiled confidently. “See for yourself in John 17:3 when Jesus teaches us that it’s ‘life eternal, that they’ meaning all of God’s children –– obviously including all of us here today –– ‘might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ Jesus used the word ‘know’ in that verse. The word ‘know’ means not having to guess but to have accurate information. And since He described it as ‘life eternal’ He’s saying that salvation requires we have that information right. How quickly does God want us to have His salvation? Ideally A. S. A. P.”
The room became quiet with the exception of some in attendance flipping the pages of notes to look for other references or write truths they were learning.
“Please feel free to ask any questions or point out anything that stands out to you so far about my father's notes,” Linda said openly to the group to encourage more discussion. Robert was the first to comment.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to mention a basic pattern that I've seen in his notes here," he said to Linda as he opened up to a page in his copy of the notes.
"Please tell us your thoughts." She said as she sat down in a chair that faced the group near the front.
"It seems to me that he has a pile of scriptural references marked in various colors. On the first few pages he's clearly marked 'Old Testament' and then it looks like he's written the book, chapter and verse number he's referring to with his notes." Robert then turned over a few pages and said, "But then by page three, it looks like he thinks it takes too long to keep writing it out that way and after a few attempts to modify them into a form of shorthand, it seems by page four that he ultimately ends up simply writing what appears to be the bible page number and then the verse number. Now he starts doing this in brown ink. It seems clear to me that he's using the King James Version of the bible or what some of us simply refer to as the KJV bible which was first made available to people several hundreds of years ago.” He looked over his notes briefly and continued.
“I mention the brown ink and the KJV holy bible because, for example, his later reference to '1139:7' seems to be calling attention to the book of Amos 3:7 since his notes say 'God often waits to do things –– especially regarding the destruction of a land or people –– until he first tells His prophets what He'll do so that prophets can then warn anyone who will believe. This is a pattern of love from God to give us a chance to be ready so we don’t have to suffer from the destruction with the wicked but rather to instead be protected by His Divine Providence because God is merciful to those that obey his laws for happiness." He then looked to see if everyone understood what he was saying.
“May I ask you a question?” Eve politely asked with her hand respectfully raised.
“Of course.” Robert answered casually. “We’re all here to contribute together, right?”
“You mentioned how Amos 3:7 shows us a pattern of God, that he speaks to us through his prophets. Have you noticed the pattern throughout both the Old and New Testaments that the righteous people believe them because they are humble and teachable? The righteous are more open to Gods truths but the wicked are not open to any more truth. The wicked don’t want more of Gods words. The wicked don’t want to hear that God has something new to say that is especially for the period of time they live in. So there is also a pattern of wicked people disbelieving those same prophets God sends us.”
“Yes.”
“Have you also noticed that disbelief occurs, in part, from priests and ministers changing the teachings of God to suit their own preferences so they can basically create their own religion rather than let God be the one that guides them?”
“Yes. It’s a sad pattern.” Robert reflected on what he’d noticed about the pattern and added, “I actually think we’re seeing that pattern again today.”
“That’s exactly what I was about to say. There are people today, good people that would honestly believe God would again send prophets to teach us today. But there are, unfortunately, others, more wicked and proud people, that would probably never believe it if God had followed his pattern again by sending us prophets to teach us today, in modern times.” Eve shook her head in disappointment that some people would be so incorrigible.
“It’s interesting,” Robert said thoughtfully. He then moved his chair around so he could see everyone in the group more easily. “In Moses time, he was the prophet God had called to save his people from both spiritual destruction as well as physical destruction. The people in Moses’ time didn’t rely on just the teachings of the previous prophet. They had different circumstances than the people of the previous dispensation. So it made sense that God would have a new prophet teach his people what they needed for the times they lived in. It was the same with Noah. God called Noah to teach the people of that time period what they needed to learn and be warned of for their unique circumstances. They didn’t rely just on the teachings of the prophet before him. Neither did the prophet Jacob or the prophet Jeremiah. Otherwise, why did God continue calling new prophets?”
“Clearly, God has a pattern that he keeps since God is an unchanging God. He reaches across heaven down here to earth to ask someone to do his work for him. To teach his words to his children for him. The men he has asked have always been men that were humble, men that never expected God to ask it and men that always gave the same promise to those that heard the words.” Eve added like an after thought.
“What promise?” Spence asked curiously. He then began shuffling through some of his papers thinking he might have recalled seeing something relevant.
“That if anyone that hears the words wants to get a confirmation from heaven for themselves by praying, by asking God if the things being taught are true, God will confirm it if it’s true. That means that if the teachings are true then the man teaching them is actually called of God. He’s a prophet. Then after other prophets, the long awaited fulfillment of the greatest prophet was fulfilled when Christ Himself was sent of the Father. Time and time again, God hoped people would believe the prophets he sent to teach us as his children. Although many people believed and were saved, the ending in each dispensation was the same.
“How do you know God will confirm truth?” Spence asked somewhat skeptically. He had stopped looking through his notes in favor of
catching what ideas he could from the ensuing discussion.
“Matthew 16:13 - 18. Specifically verse 18.”
“Which means…” Spence waited impatiently for Robert’s reply.
“Jesus was asking his apostles who they thought He was. They gave some suggestions of the rumors other people were spreading. Rumors like maybe he was John the Baptist returned to life or that he was Elias or Jeremias or one of the past prophets. Then Jesus clarified his question. He said basically, but who do you say I am? He put the question back on them. Then Peter said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Now that simple reply was huge. It broke ground for what Christ was there to do. Jesus was thrilled that Peter was finally understanding and was setting the exact good example Christ hoped for. The reason why Peter’s answer was so important was because, as Jesus taught, God the Father was the one that taught it to Peter. God the Father helped Peter to know for himself by personal revelation that Jesus was and is the Christ, exactly as he said it. The very Son of the living God.”
“I’m sorry,” Spence chuckled. “I’m still not following you. Could you expound a bit further, please?”
Robert smiled with an abundance of patience and clarified kindly. “Jesus taught Peter and the rest of his disciples, in that moment, two very important things about revelation from God. First, that God gives each of us personal revelation to teach us what is true and to guide our lives. Secondly, that it’s through revelation that God still leads his church, just as He did with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and others. In other words, there is a promise with any truth we hear from someone else. We don’t have to take some pastor’s word for it. If some minister or priest tells us something about God and we want to know for ourselves if what we are learning is true or not, all we have to do is ask God. Pray to God with the kind of heart that is both willing to believe the truth and then to do what God asks us to do with the truths we receive. We don’t have to just take someone else’s word for it. God will tell us himself.”
“How?”
“In verse seventeen, Jesus explains, basically, that the revelation came through the kind of power that can’t be created by man. No human could convince him of that saving truth. It was by the power of God that Peter came to know what was true about the sacred identity of Jesus Christ.”
“A power not of this world.”
“Yes. Heavenly power. A divine power not of this world.”
“I wonder if that’s where John began to understand that promise for himself. If he didn’t learn it there, with Peter’s inspired answer, then he learned either before it or after it that God would show us what’s true and what isn’t. I mean look at what John 7:17 says,” she said as she pointed in her copy of a KJV bible. “It reads, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of god or whether I speak of myself.’ Both Peter and John were actively doing the will of Christ, which means doing the will of God. So they knew that the doctrine was of God and from just some guy teaching some of his own made up stuff.”
“And what about wicked people in the past changing things in their churches. Creating their own teachings. Doing their own thing. That’s a pattern in the history of mankind too?” Spence asked. Robert didn’t hesitate to answer and he couldn’t help but to stand as he spoke.
“They changed the way they worshipped to satisfy their own wants and to justify wickedness and they usually tried to kill the prophets. They were killing the true prophets, the prophets sent of God who tried to fix it or tried to discourage the false worship. Eventually, God decided to be even more clear with His teachings. God figured that certainly if he sent his own Son that the people would accept Him. But even though many did accept Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, there were powerful people who didn’t. Priests and rabbis didn’t. So they provoked an illegal order to execute or kill Jesus.”
“You said they changed ‘the way’ they worshipped. Since Jesus Christ is ‘The Way’, in fact, He is the only way, to salvation, they changed the meaning of God and His purposes and even the purpose of life.” Linda added.
“Then Christianity was labeled as a cult.” Eve chimed in.
“That’s true.”
“If you were a Christian just a few years after Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection, you were targeted for extermination for belonging to that cult called Christianity,” Eve said as she rolled her eyes at the thought that followers of Jesus, good people, could be labeled as a cult. “That’s so stupid to me that people could be so ridiculous to call them a cult when all they were doing is being kinder to one another, more gentle, loving, living lives of greater integrity and compassion.” Robert nodded his head and smiled in agreement. He then continued.
“Some of those that practiced false forms of worship weren’t evil but they were just misguided.” Linda chimed in. “Page 45 of my father’s notes, in the margins, is written how people misunderstood the teachings of Peter when Peter said that all you had to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus. But Peter learned about how people in his day were misunderstanding what he said so he clarified that obedience to the Lord’s commandments was essential to qualify for the grace of Jesus’ great atoning sacrifice. Even Jesus said obedience is needed. James also confirms that obedience is needed. The scriptures that correct the misunderstanding of Peter’s words in the bible are clear. In Romans 6:15 it reads: ‘What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.’ And in verse sixteen we are reminded that whomever we obey, we’re servants of, whether to be servants of sin by obedience or to God’s righteousness by different obedience. Just read Romans 6:12-16.”
“That’s right. I’m looking at that page now in his notes. Jesus knew people would be mislead by some to think that simply saying Jesus’ name or believing alone wouldn’t be enough. That’s why he ended His Sermon on the Mount in a very specific way that’s quoted in Matthew 7:21. It reads, ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.’ So Jesus is saying righteous words spoken are not enough. Righteous works must be done and He is the one to say what righteous works we are to do. And that’s what we’re learning about.” Robert agreed.
“So although salvation is a free gift of God through the sacrifice of Christ’s death and atonement, we must do good works ––even though the good works won’t save us. Right?” Eve asked.
“That’s right. Good works won’t save us. Only the grace of Christ’s gift of His great atoning sacrifice can save us. But in order for us to qualify to receive the great gift of His salvation, the Lord says we must do good works.”
“James also wanted to put an end to the confusion of what the Lord requires of us. He said faith alone isn’t enough and that there are works we must do to be saved. That’s in James 2:14-20. Look especially at verses 14 and 20. He says even the devil believes in Christ Jesus.” Linda said as she pointed at the verse in the bible.
“But the devil doesn’t do any righteous works. Satan doesn’t do any good. So I’m going to say it’s probably a bad idea to just simply believe and thereby neglect to obey the Ten Commandments and all of God’s laws since even the devil neglects to do so.” Eve was half-chuckling since she thought what she said seemed pretty logical and that most people would agree with such common sense.
“Yeah…there’s a word for doing whatever you want or ‘sinning’ in any way you want and not worrying about having a conscience over it. When you ‘sin’ and feel no regrets it’s called sociopathy.” Spence chuckled adding more logic to Eve’s comments. “Aren’t most sociopaths in jail right now if they aren’t out on the streets committing some horrific crime?” He chuckled more. Although most everyone in the room understood he was speaking the truth about such disturbing psychology, no one else laughed.
“We’re not here to criticize other churches. Right?” Robert asked addressing everyone in the room.
“That is absolute
ly correct.” Linda was glad he took the high ground. “Other churches may criticize other churches but I’d prefer us to be better than that.”
“I agree.” Eve added humbly feeling bad for any disruption she may have caused by her previous comment “Besides. Most people that start a church are honest people. They’re trying to do a good thing… even if they may be mislead and thereby innocently mislead others.”
“Do you think if we uncover information about Christ’s Gospel that proves other churches are wrong that the pastor that runs the church will just say ‘Oops! My mistake.’ And actually tell his flock how he was wrong?” Spence wasn’t entirely convinced that most people that owned or started a church would be so willing to admit an innocent mistake.
“The honest ones will.” Linda was confident.
Spence laughed quietly to himself. “I’d give a hundred bucks to see that.”
“You don’t think there are honest pastors in this world?” Linda countered.
“Look. You’re saying that if this project proves how some or many churches are…misguided,” Spence was looking for polite words to use. “…then they’d let go of the money? You really think they would not only admit they were wrong but then shut their doors to go join the better or more correct church? That would be one humble preacher to just quit and go get a regular job like everyone else so he can attend a different church.”
“Well believe it.” Linda replied politely. “Because those honest people exist either as pastors or regular people that are part of a congregation.”
“Okay. Okay,” Spence held up his hands briefly as if to surrender. “I’d like to know which church admits they were mislead and closes its doors if we discover something that they admit is correct that they didn’t understand before… especially if it proves them wrong.” He then asked curiously, “Are there some churches you already think are wrong?”
“Not at this time,” She replied honestly. “It’s my personal belief that it does no good to criticize another church by name. What we’re doing is discovering correct principles so we can better recognize truth from error and the doctrines of God versus the doctrines of man. I’ve met pastors and other good people that have told me that if Christ were to send them a message today, in these modern times, that He Himself has put His original church back on the earth then they, as pastors, would close the doors of their church and send their flock to His church or, if they hadn’t started their own church, that they would stop going to the church they were attending and begin to go to His church instead. Honest people are eager to learn what God has for them and to do what the Lord directs.”
“I completely agree.” Robert said. “Do you mind if I share another thought about accepting versus rejecting God’s chosen prophets?”
“Please do.” Linda answered kindly.
“When someone teaches the wrong things to people about God or teaches the wrong things about what’s needed to be saved then the one teaching is misguided… that is if you’re not intentionally trying to get fame or praise instead of honestly being interested in saving the souls of people. But either manner of teaching rejects the prophets, either innocently or by willfully rebelling.” Robert added solemnly.
“So that means that in every dispensation, after people rejected and drove out the prophets, there was an apostasy from Gods saving truths. This was followed by several years of people living without prophets and therefore without enough saving truths and lawful ordinances. Then in his repeated pattern of mercy, God called and sent another prophet to teach the new dispensation of people his laws for happiness and salvation. That pattern repeats over and over and over ever since the time of Adam.” Eve looked at Robert for confirmation to see if he noticed that same pattern. He nodded, again, that he had.
“It’s an amazing cycle of human history.” Robert said thoughtfully. “And certainly the holy word of God is the most accurate record of human history we have.” He said half-smiling from a mix of emotions. He was grateful for God’s perfect and eternal love for each of us as his children. Grateful for the Lord’s tireless efforts, refusing to give up on his children over the centuries and yet, sadly, so often there were only a few that accepted God’s love and ways for happiness.
“Please forgive me,” Spence said with his hand raised. “But I just was wondering if we’ve confirmed yet what the colors mean about which holy writings come from which sources, such as which ones tie into the Old Testament, which ones tie into the New Testament and which ones tie into the scroll? And what do you think he was doing by this…numerical sort of system he used in his notes? Will any of this actually tell us what God is or what God looks like?”
“We will definitely be discussing today the answers to what God looks like and what God is,” Linda smiled.
"Most definitely!” Robert smiled broadly. He sat back down and grabbed a paper he had set aside.” But before we get to that, let’s really quickly answer the first part of Spencer’s question. Basically Linda's father Jacob has essentially created his own shorthand to more quickly write out what verse or verses of scripture he was studying." Robert clarified. He then thought for a moment and made a suggestion for the group.
"I think as we discuss Jacob's research that anytime we refer to his notes that we should differentiate them from actual quotes from scripture. So I propose that anytime we quote a scripture from his notes or quote a scripture from our own notes that we preface our reading of it aloud by saying 'the scripture reads' and then read aloud the actual scripture as a quote. Then, if we refer to his notes and read them aloud here in our discussions, we know the difference between an actual quote from scripture as compared to his summary of what the scripture says when he clarifies his understanding of actual scriptures by book, chapter and verse. So unless we preface a quote by actually saying, 'the scripture reads' then we'll know it's only his summary understanding as notes and not an actual quote of scripture as far as we can tell. All agreed?" He said as he raised his own hand. Everyone else in the room nodded and raised their hand in agreement. The discussions then continued.
"You also mentioned the colors. What do you think the different colors mean?" Eve asked.
"May I?" Robert motioned to the board to ask Linda's permission to use it. She nodded for him to go ahead.
"Thank you." He stood back up and picked up a marker and walked over to the large whiteboard. He began writing which colors he thought referred to which scriptures. "Brown refers to the Old Testament. The color dark blue is obviously referring to the New Testament including, of course, the books of Acts to Revelations of the KJV because the reference in dark blue ink of '1195:48' appears to be referring to Matthew 5:48 as the notes next to it say: 'the only way we can be perfect is through the great atonement of Jesus Christ and it is a commandment of God the Father to do so and accept the sacrifice of His divine Son, Jesus the Christ, so that we may be as God the Father and Jesus Christ so that we may also be perfect.' So I've figured out what the brown colors are and what the dark blue colors refer to but I haven't figured out the connection between Jacob's use of the word 'scroll' in light blue is or what '39/17=36' means that's also written in light blue," Robert mentioned curiously as he went back to stand by his desk and then thumbed through various pages. "If anyone else has gotten further than I have please let me know," he said briefly looking up at the group as he continued to thumb through his notes.
"You know what comes to my mind is the book of Genesis. Even though the reference of '39/17=36' appears to somehow relate to the scroll and is written in light blue, the notes for it say 'Jesus Christ created the earth as Jehovah for the purpose that God's children should live on it and own it and experience joy.' That just brings my thoughts back to the first few chapters in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament," Eve added thoughtfully.
"Although that makes sense, there aren't any notes I see right now that connect that light blue reference to any brown Old Testament references," Robert said as he still searched through the two
-inch thick draft of notes Linda provided.
"While you guys are searching for the significance behind the use of the light blue color, I just wanted to ask if any of you took a look at his notes on page thirty-two about God. Does anyone have any thoughts about page thirty-two they're open to share?" Spence asked.
As Eve turned to page thirty-two of Jacob's notes, she said, "As I recall, I believe I marked a few things on that page as I went over it. Here it is. If you'll look near the middle of the page it has written in light blue notes that 'God has a glorified and perfected body of flesh and bone.' It also says that 'God is our merciful and loving Father in Heaven.' That makes sense to me since He is perfect and we're told in Genesis 1:26, as the scripture reads, 'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' and in verse twenty-seven, the scripture reads, 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.'
"Also in light blue ink his notes read that he has emotions like we do although he is in perfect control over them. 'He is overjoyed when we do what's right and he cries with us whenever we grieve or are in pain.' Then it also says that prayer was specifically designed so he can communicate with us as well as our being able to communicate with Him." Spence said curiously.
Eve thought more then added, "I like that more notes say, 'He intended for us as His children to be successful in life,' and that, 'life is an opportunity for us to experience growth and to learn.' Then it reads, 'Our Father in Heaven in His mercy has made a way for us to come back to live in his presence.' "
“Welcome to University Earth. This is a course called Life 101,” Spence half-joked. “I’d believe it,” he added with a grin.
“Yeah, I like that.” Robert nodded.
“That makes perfect sense to me that a loving Father in heaven would want so eagerly for each of his children to return to him and live with him again.” Linda added wistfully. “I mean, think of those parents that have missing children. They are such unfortunate parents but their love for their children drives them to hang up pictures of their missing child all over the city and to travel wherever they think they need to go to find their child literally year after year after painful year. They never, ever give up. Their love is forever and they never forget their child. To have their child back means everything to those parents. Although God knows exactly where each of us is, we are spiritually lost without His salvation. So he’ll never give up trying to help us find our way back home through his plans for happiness.”
Spence chimed in as he continued reading the notes. " 'The only way to do that is through obedience to God's commandments which helps us become pure and clean while our disobedience further separates us from God. Obedience to His commandments and making good choices is the way we show our faith and our love for God.' " He then looked to Robert to see what his thoughts might be about that reference.
"What seems like the key point in all of this is that the atonement of Jesus Christ is the foremost part of our Heavenly Father's plan. Both Christ's suffering and death on the cross along with His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane is what constitutes the Atonement which gives us the strength to face life's challenges because we have a better world to look forward to for ourselves in this life as well as the next life specifically because the Atonement of Jesus Christ frees us from the stain of our sins. This makes it easier for us to have faith in the blessings God intends for us through the Atonement of Christ." Robert added. He then returned to the large dry erase board to write again.
"This is a God I've never even heard of before. Is anyone else surprised to learn this?" Spence asked timidly.
"Yes! I love it! Don’t you?” Eve asked excitedly.
“This is really exciting truth, isn’t it?” Linda smiled with agreement matching Eve’s excitement. “Some of this is new to me too, but not all of it."
"And it gets even better. Apparently there are teachings of Christ that the scroll refers to that help us to understand that God states that little children are so important because of their purity that all little children who die before an age where they can understand the basics between right and wrong – such as the age of eight – those children who die before that age immediately inherit the highest blessings of salvation in His highest kingdom of heaven. So little children are considered perfect and already saved by God no matter what. That’s wonderful to me! That is incredibly good news!” Robert smiled widely. “And we’ll talk more later about that highest level of heaven." Robert said eagerly. Everyone in the room looked to be in pleasant shock over the immediate blessings of salvation for infants and other children. He then referred to a sheet of paper with his own notes on it.
"Out of the roughly four hundred pages Linda provided us of typed up notes from her father, more than half of them were written in this light blue ink that clearly represents this scroll or ancient record he somehow learned of. Now here's some of the things that I noticed." He then drew a series of bulleted points and proceeded to write down various core points. God is our merciful and loving Father in Heaven, We are God's children, God seeks to bless us, His gospel blesses individuals and families, His gospel includes a plan for us which outlines both His role in our lives and our role in His life, Why He created the earth for us to live on, One of the first lessons in the Garden of Eden: God encourages our freedom to choose right from wrong.” As he continued speaking, Meredith quietly grabbed a few snacks from the counter behind her for her and Alex to enjoy. She then sat back down and Alex was the first to enjoy a refreshment
"Now this last point about choosing between right and wrong ultimately encourages our freedom to choose our own destiny of happiness or misery, success or failure." Robert continued. "We've already discussed the first point of who God is and the second point of who we are since He is our Father and we are His children. We've already reviewed the third point because the greatest blessings we receive come through our Heavenly Father's greatest sacrifice of His divine and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for us by helping us to have the faith and strength we need to live this life successfully –– especially when it's hard –– plus, the greatest blessing which is to be able to go back and live with Them in heaven. Since He's making these available to everyone who will freely choose it, that means there's a good chance we'll see our deceased loved ones again and be reunited with them in heaven after this life. We’ll recognize our loved ones and they’ll recognize us and God will heal us of any pains we’ve had in life so that heaven can be a place of blissful reunion."
"Now the fourth point, 'His gospel blesses individuals and families' is key because according to notes in both the light blue ink and the dark blue ink but especially the light blue Christ's gospel gives answers that help with modern challenges and anything that applies to us as individuals and families," Robert said enthusiastically.
Eve added thoughtfully, "Healthy, productive relationships are such a vital part of life and there's no question in my mind that God's truths understood correctly by His gospel help us as we aim to establish stronger relationships. It's these eternal truths that help us to have spiritual strength that we need to have successful and happy families."
"Did any of you see the notes he wrote on page thirty-four about God the Father having a plan for happiness for us all again as either individuals or families?" Linda asked curiously.
"I certainly did." Robert answered eagerly. "And I'll tell you what really grabbed my attention was the apparent link between Christ's atoning sacrifice as the foundation of that plan for happiness primarily because the Lord created families so we could experience happiness and have a much better understanding of God’s love for each of us as his children. God is clear in His purpose for the family being the most vital social unit in this life as well as in the eternities. That tells me that part of His plan for our happiness is a way for families to remain united forever throughout the eternities if they freely choose it. Nothing says 'ultimately supported of God' more clearly than the c
oncept of an eternal family unit. Husbands and wives together for eternity. Parents and children together for eternity. That to me is beautiful!"
"I agree it sounds wonderful but what about the reality of so many couples who aren't happy and their children who sense it." Spence asked reluctantly.
Linda decided to address Spence's question first. "If you look at the notes in light blue near the bottom of page thirty-four, they read, 'teaching children correct principles is best done in a loving atmosphere with the most effective point of origin for such lessons being the home.' Now we're all adults and we know we need to learn correct principles for ourselves and then live them to the best of our ability before we can teach them to our children most effectively at home. And in a way that's what we're all doing here today. We're learning correct principles so we can choose to live them and experience a natural byproduct of happiness by that choice so we can more effectively pass on those lessons and blessings to others, usually those we love, such as our children. The notes continue to say that doing this 'prepares both us and our children for eternal life' and that 'eternal life' isn't as much of a length of time or length of existence as much as it is a quality of life since living in heaven again with God is the highest quality of experience and happiness one can hope to attain."
"That reminds me of what you said earlier, Linda, about your conversation with Pastor James. True doctrine of God brings peace to the sincere seeker of Jesus Christ. When you look at the notes in light blue, they read, 'the Spirit of the Lord will be a natural presence in a home where gospel principles are taught and His Holy Spirit is often detected by feelings of happiness, peace and joy.' " Robert added.
Linda looked as if she was learning at that moment and said, "Just like Pastor James said: God has always followed the same pattern when calling prophets."
"Do you mean like every prophet called in the past learned about God's perfect plan for happiness for us all and that these past prophets taught it to their people?"
"And very likely even recorded it as scripture." Linda continued.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" Robert smiled.
She then smiled in deep, peaceful thought and added, "The scroll."
"The scroll." Robert nodded as he smiled.
"Okay. I can see how we just covered point number five but what about point number six? I agree I'm getting a better perspective of life but what was it that stood out to you that you wrote 'Why He created the earth for us to live on'?" Eve asked.
"That's an excellent question, Eve. Let's get to that. In fact, would you mind coming up here and drawing a timeline of the life of mankind according to whatever notes you've already read?" Robert asked as he moved out of the way.
"Draw it on the second board to the right if you don't mind," he added as he pointed to the additional dry erase board.
"My pleasure." Eve began to draw a horizontal line from left to right in the center of the board in red and then drew a mark at the far left and wrote: 'Adam and Eve are created' and at the far right of the line she drew another mark and wrote near it: 'Present Day.' She then made a mark a few inches to the right of the center part of the line and wrote: 'Birth and later death of Jesus Christ.'
"Is there anything else you want to add to it?" He asked her.
"No. I think that pretty much sums it up. I mean we all know the Old Testament covers the time before Christ and that the New Testament covers the life of Christ along with His death and resurrection." She answered.
"That looks a lot like how I would've drawn it too. But if everyone wouldn't mind turning to page forty-two, I'd like to show you what some of the dark blue notes and light blue notes have to add to this timeline," Robert said as he joined the others in turning to the page.
Meredith and Alex felt a bit lost without having notes of their own to refer to but they enjoyed learning as they did.
Robert used a light blue dry erase marker to draw a large circle to the far left of the red timeline. He then pointed to the circle and continued in a softer, more reverent tone. "We lived with God as His literal spiritual offspring. We lived with Him as His children before we were ever born to earth to receive a physical body."
A hush fell across the room as this sunk deeply into the minds of all present.
He continued. "Now, looking closer at page forty-two, we were encouraged of our Father in Heaven to be like Him but we weren't yet like him back here or what was our premortal life," he said as he pointed again at the light blue circle. "And the only way for us to have all of the blessings he enjoys was for us to get a mortal body and that required we leave the blue circle or leave the state of premortality and come down to this red timeline and be born on earth. Now since doing this separates us from God, He provides for us a way to return to live with Him again in heaven while also helping us to have ways to find peace in this life by pursuing now the path of ultimate joy to live with Him again in the next life. The way He provides all of us for our safety and happiness is through Jesus Christ. Now, if everyone will turn back to page thirty-four...no...thirty-five," he said as he turned the pages of notes,
"Going back to God's perfect plan for happiness for us as His children, His glory and ultimate goal is to help all of us to enjoy every single blessing He enjoys and we not only learned of His perfect and merciful plan for a happy and successful life, but we all actually voted on it. Two thirds of us voted in favor of it before we were born to earth."
"As I look back on page thirty-four," Linda added, "he wrote out to the side: 'God's merciful plan of salvation' and also, 'God's plan of redemption.' It's written in light blue. So it's called by a few different titles." She said as she looked at the notes.
"Regardless of which of those titles you choose to refer to it as, the bottom line is that Jesus the Christ, as God's divine Son, is at the very center of that plan. Our opportunity to enjoy eternal life and immortality is made possible only through the grace of the atonement of Christ. Without His great sacrifice, none of us could become like our Father in Heaven and so our Heavenly Father's plan for happiness would be frustrated." Robert added matter-of-factly.
Eve sighed and said, "And only one being wanted to frustrate that plan because he is so opposed to it, and that being is Satan as he is the bitter enemy of God's plan."
"Which brings us to the vital subject of freedom of choice so we can choose to either follow Jesus Christ in life or Satan," Linda added thoughtfully.
"Choosing freely to follow Jesus Christ and God's plan means we will become like our Father in Heaven, which is the ultimate way to share the ultimate power of all things that are good. No other plan is so generous. No other plan is so merciful. No other plan brings about greater blessings. This is so loving of Him to encourage us and enable us and ennoble us toward the ultimate in universal success for good to the blessing of as many as will freely choose it," Robert said reflectively.
"I noticed his notes also mention that because we don't remember our life with our Father in Heaven before we were born to earth that this is why we learn to live by faith as opposed to living by sight." Linda noted.
"That idea of living by sight tells me that if we could recall or see that previous world we lived in then we wouldn't need faith. That tells me two things: a) that previous world exists, and b) that there is a way for us to actually see it with our eyes." Spence said curiously.
Robert looked confused. "I'm not sure what you're getting at."
Spence chuckled, "Okay. I'm the odd one out of the group, I admit. After all, I'm the only one here who isn't yet convinced that there is indeed a God although I will say that the God that has been described here today certainly has the most appeal to me simply because it makes so much more sense than any other description I've heard before. But I'm still not quite convinced yet to move from my current personal belief in a supreme organizing intelligence to actually calling that same supreme organizing intelligence by the title of 'God.' However, I still want to mention that it fascinates me tha
t there could be a way for us to see that pre-life world or premortal place with our eyes and the reason that seems to strike me now is primarily because it's safe to say most of you here believe that God created this planet we call earth that we're also living on, right?" Everyone nodded in agreement and Robert sat down to let the attention focus on Spence's thoughts.
"Now in order for that to happen He would have to be outside of earth in order to put all of the elements together that are needed and do so in just the right sequence to get the result known as the planet earth." Spence said enthusiastically.
"Because two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time, right?" Ananias reluctantly chimed in.
Spence coughed lightly and answered, "According to one theory, an older one, I should say. But quantum physics disagrees as there is the belief now that multiple dimensions can occupy the same space. Multiple as in maybe six or seven. Some even believe a dozen or more." Ananias looked confused.
"Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself," Spence chuckled softly. "My point is, we're able to see planets and galaxies from incredible distances across space and know that so much of what is also out there is billions of light years away and if we could create the technology to see that premortal world that this scroll and the bible suggests that we came from, what would it take to actually see that world with our own eyes?" he eagerly wondered.
The room again became silent as all were deep in thought and were imagining such a possibility. Alex easily visualized everyone that was ever born or would be born as living before physical birth and being dressed in all white, existing as living, talking, walking, and thinking beings that were free to choose. She could see groups of premortals as radiant spirits living in a beautiful world filled with white light. A place where all life was created spiritually first. This meant that such a world would include beautiful and colorful trees, flowers and animals where we all lived in a peaceful environment of happiness and learning with the freedom to vote for what we felt was right regarding God's plan for our eternal progress.
Linda then broke the silence and suggested, "What if all that is required to see it is simply spiritual sight for those with enough faith to believe it?"
"It makes sense to me to have spiritual sight in faith. It's the simplest answer." Alex said in a childlike innocence.
Meredith then whispered a gentle chastisement to Alex, "We're here to listen. Not to participate."
"Sorry to interrupt." Alex added humbly.
This surprised Linda. "No. Please contribute as you'd like. I invited you two to come. I certainly don't expect you to sit in silence if you feel you have something to contribute." She said warmly.
"Thank you. I guess we'll start chiming in if we have a thought we think might help." Meredith replied graciously. She then whispered "Sorry" to Alex for misunderstanding. Alex smiled and felt glad they could feel free to participate.
"So if spiritual sight is the answer, then why did man invent the telescope?" Spence asked curiously.
"Personally, it's my belief that God inspired man with the ideas of how to use resources the Lord already provided so that once man made the telescope, that man would find additional witnesses towards the most logical conclusion that the supreme organizing intelligence that exists is, in fact, God, and that such understanding comes in the most convincing manner possible via our spiritual eyes as the inspiration of certain truths flows through to us as thoughts and ultimately rings true in our heart." Robert replied with a wink and a smile.
Eve then picked up on another pattern in Jacob's notes as she said, "So the light blue references work in harmony with the brown reference of '942:5' which is Jeremiah 1:5 in the Old Testament. The scripture reads: 'Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;' so the Lord is saying He and Jeremiah had a friendship and were therefore well acquainted with one another as friends before Jeremiah was even born to the earth by Jeremiah's mothers belly or womb."
Robert stood by the board again. "I like that, Eve. That's an excellent point." Now addressing the group, he asked, "Is it safe to say we've got a good idea of why God created this earth for us and that He is in fact the One who created this planet and all other planets and that He created every living thing here on earth?" No one in the room objected.
"Maybe we should summarize what we've gone over so far. Would anyone like to volunteer to do that?" Linda asked openly.
"I'd like to." Meredith offered.
"Please do." Linda smiled.
"To summarize, God's plan is a perfect plan for us to be happy and that at the core of that plan is our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that we are here to learn and choose His plan by choosing to learn what is right, meaning to learn God's will and to do His will which is to follow the Savior by of our own free choice as opposed to following Satan who is opposed to God's plan." Meredith said.
"Exactly." Robert smiled.
"And if we do what's right by obeying God's commandments then we get to live in heaven with God and all of our friends and loved ones." Alex added optimistically.
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Robert smiled as he winked at Alex. Both Meredith and Alex were glad to be learning such wonderful lessons of hope.
"If I may, I have a thought about God's creation of the earth." Meredith said. Robert and the rest of the group listened attentively. "Well, early in the book of Genesis, the first role we see in God is the role of a Creator. So this shows us that this is one of His primary roles is to create. His sharing of His power with us to create –– especially to procreate or reproduce–– is such a sacred power with such a sacred purpose that this is why it is a solemn mockery of God for us to use that power of procreation for selfish indulgences outside of the bounds that He has specifically placed for our Eternal happiness. That sacred gift to create families and thereby experience and discover some of the greatest joys in life is of God. But Satan would have us mock God by the abuse of that sacred gift since Satan rebels against God and rebels in misery. As the adversary and opposer of happiness he wants us to also rebel and be miserable too as a natural consequence of making wrong choices. But when we know this we can recognize his various temptations for what they really are choices for misery and instead choose what's right and avoid that misery and enjoy instead a life of happiness by following Jesus Christ," she said insightfully.
Everyone in the room were deep in thought and many were nodding that it made sense to them. "You know, I am really enjoying this!" Robert added enthusiastically.
"So am I. Thank you, Meredith, and all of you for your thoughts," Linda said. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add to the subject of the creation the God's made of the earth?" she asked inquisitively. No one responded. "Okay. I suppose we'll move onto the last point for today about our freedom to choose."
Robert began. "So most of us who have read the brown references have read the passages in the Old Testament in Genesis 1:2631 and Genesis 2:1517. The light blue notes confirm these biblical teachings as true while also shedding more light on the meaning of the teachings in Genesis." He then briefly thumbed through his notes. "Now the things we come to understand are that the first of Heavenly Father's children to be put on earth were Adam and Eve. At that time in the Garden of Eden they had the ability to live forever. They were also still living in the presence of our Father in Heaven. God provided everything they needed because Adam and Eve were inexperienced and innocent. Neither Adam nor Eve had learned anything yet about good or evil. In the garden, there was one specific tree that had fruit on it that God commanded them not to eat of. The tree God spoke of was known as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The fruit of this tree was called 'the forbidden fruit.' Now here's where a lot of the light shines from the light blue references.
"So long as Adam and Eve continued to obey the commandment to avoid eating the Forbidden fruit, they would not be able to progress through experiencing mortality and the lessons about opposition and the challenges that it brings. Sure. They could still live i
n the Garden of Eden no harm, no foul and they wouldn't get kicked out, but they also wouldn't progress towards becoming like their Father in Heaven because they would be stuck in a state of innocence. But remember joy is the state of being God lives in, yet Adam and Eve wouldn't have a clue what joy felt like because they wouldn't have a clue what pain and sorrow feels like and going through mortality by eating of the Forbidden fruit was the only way to learn and appreciate the difference between happiness and sorrow and joy versus pain.
"When Satan, also known as Lucifer or 'the devil', came along and tempted Adam and Eve to eat the Forbidden fruit, this was actually all part of God's plan to begin teaching them by experience the right way to use their freedom to choose. This was all a part of God's plan to move Adam and Eve along the path of eternal progression so as to activate God's plan for happiness. Remember, God allowed Adam and Eve to choose freely regarding whether or not they would choose to eat of the Forbidden fruit. This is a vital insight into God's character. Heavenly Father never forces us to do His will. But He does allow Satan to have power with limits to influence us, and if we will let God turn our mistakes into something good, that is exactly what God will do for us – so long as we don’t keep looking for excuses to keep making the same mistakes.
"Now since Adam and Eve chose to eat of the Forbidden fruit, they got kicked out of the garden because they became mortal. Their getting kicked out is known as 'the Fall' of Adam and Eve.”
“Like the Original Sin?”
“Exactly. The Original Sin made them mortal and being mortal means they were now able to experience physical death as an inevitable part of being mortal. Physical death means the separation our spirit from our physical body as we all started out as spirit children of God before we got a body through birth on earth. But worse than physical death is spiritual death since spiritual death is when we are separated from God's presence. Because it's the presence of God that sanctifies us when we have a body and are progressing in God's plan for happiness. To 'sanctify' means, of course, to purify us and prepare us to be able to live with God again and experience joy in it.
"Being mortal, as we all know, means we can experience a whole variety of types of suffering and diseases and sicknesses. Now although this gift of the freedom to choose helped Adam and Eve to progress and have the option to make right choices, it also gave them the choice to sin and this is an important challenge to understand about the fall because mortality is essentially an imperfect state of being which by nature makes it harder to do everything right. So even though Adam and Eve were now learning and progressing in their mortal state, the risk to sin and not have salvation was very real so they needed a Savior and the plan was for Jesus Christ to fulfill that role to atone for Adam and Eve's transgression so that the rest of humankind is not punished for Adam and Eve's transgression.
"Also, now that Adam and Eve were mortal, they could have children which is exactly what needed to happen so that the remainder of God's spirit children could also be born to the earth and receive a physical body to progress and become like Him as they are also tested in life to see if they will freely choose to learn of and follow God's beloved Son, Jesus the Christ or to follow God's enemy, Satan.
"The core meaning behind why so many people around the world call the United States of America 'God's country' is because it is the only country on this planet that was specifically founded upon the principle of freedom in religious worship. It is freedom of religion that allows U.S. citizens and those living here to choose what religion they want to practice, if any. Remember, one of the primary character traits of our Father in Heaven is that He is opposed to tyranny and thus He is a champion of freedom and will never force any of us as His children to do what is right. And since God is the creator of the miracles that helped America to be born so we could enjoy these and other freedoms America enjoys as a nation, He simply hopes and encourages us to honor Him as the author of such freedom by choosing Him to be the one true God we all worship and to have us as a nation reflect such worship by keeping a wise balance of mercy and justice in how we deal with ourselves and others by following the example of His beloved Son in showing us the way to follow His perfect plan for our happiness and success.” He paused for a moment and smiled softly with gratitude for Christ in his heart. He then continued.
“This is the sacred principle behind the concept of 'one nation, under God' and 'indivisible' as our founding fathers had envisioned as men who were inspired of God. It's clear by the lessons in the Garden of Eden that God encourages us to worship Him according to the guidance of our own conscience while also encouraging each of us individually to be obedient to the laws of the land as laws are designed to provide peace and order to best serve the very people the laws serve."
"What does it mean to worship God according to our own conscience?" Alex asked.
"It means to do what we feel and know is right to do. It's an inner feeling and knowledge of right from wrong. So when you do what's right, what you feel God would approve of to help you live according to His plan for happiness, then you're following your conscience to do things that are good for you and others," Meredith replied.
"That's about how I would describe it," Eve added. Linda and Robert nodded in agreement.
Spence looked lost in thought for a moment before asking another question. "As much as this stuff is actually blowing my mind," he chuckled softly, "and I say that as a compliment since it seems so rational I'm still stuck back on the concept of God and how we look like Him. I mean, I look at Eve and Linda and Meredith and even Alex all who are females who don't look male to me. Do you see where I'm going with this?" he asked the group inquisitively. Robert looked intently at Spencer picking up at what he was likely getting at.
"Some of the other light blue notes explain how both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the God's as in plural who created Adam and Eve." Linda replied.
"I propose that we simply believe that what's written in Genesis 1:2627 is actually true. In other words that we look like God and He looks like us." Eve said frankly. Spencer shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Robert.
"No. No. That would just make too much sense." Linda jested. Most of the others chuckled understandably. But Robert didn't laugh as he was thinking rather deeply and then began to add insightfully, "And also that the word 'God' here means a holy union of both a male God and a female God." The entire room became completely silent in awe as Robert continued. "As in two different sanctified and perfected beings make up the word 'God' simultaneously and that 1 Corinthians 11:11 is right, that you can't have, as the scripture reads, 'the man without the woman or the woman without the man in 'God.'" As Robert continued, he addressed the room in subdued tones that teemed with reverence. "I'm talking about the concept of loving, merciful, godly parents. Parents in heaven are not single parents. How else do we have women on earth if our first earthly mother Eve wasn't made after the image of a godly mother?" Robert asked. Silence and awe filled the room.
"Now that would definitely make too much sense." Linda added in a humble and more serious tone.
Spence nodded with a soft smile being glad that Robert sensed correctly what Spence was thinking of. Eve slowly stood up and in a most dignified and reverent manner said, "In light of the clear logic just proposed, referring to the concept of heavenly parents, I think such matters are too sacred to discuss."
"I wholeheartedly agree." Robert answered reflectively. Eve quietly sat back down.
"We've all heard and read about the historical violence and injustices and modern day vulgar jokes men make about Christ, the most sacred male representation of God, and the very fact of how the devil encourages men, and at times women, to destroy the virtuous power of women says it all. The evil of constantly abusing women by treating them as an object primarily for the selfish satisfaction of the lusts of men. Let's not dwell on the likely sacred reality of God Himself having a loving wife deity that He treats as an equal to Him as I feel any possible thing said or d
one to mock the very eternal and holy companion of His bosom would bring down the kind of righteous indignation and justifiable wrath that can destroy entire planets quicker than the blink of an eye. No. Let's not bring down such divinely justifiable biblical calamity on ourselves now.
"I propose out of all respect and reverence for the very holiness which sustains deity that we follow the example of God and protect the sacred subject of the reality of our Heavenly Mother by leaving that subject undiscussed and for God to continue to protect… unless someone here would like to voice that he or she doesn't believe these truths of the sacred union of both a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother," Robert said most reverently. All in the room remained silent. He then added humbly, "That's what I thought."