Awakening to CosmicConsciousness

We read in the bible that the Jews of Jesus’ day accused Him of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God: “Because you, being a Man, make Yourself God” (John 10:33).

His response is intriguing: “Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law [in Psalms 82:6], “I said, ‘You are gods’ ”? If He called them gods, can one say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?’” (John 10:34-36).

In other words, Christ, called human beings gods, why should we be upset when one states, I am god?” The problem lies in that we identify ourselves with body and mind, instead of realizing, that our essential essence is spirit, oneness with God. Jesus referred to himself, his body as son of man and his essence as son of God, oneness with God, ‘I and the father are one. John 10:30. ‘God is a spirit John 4:24. There is only one spirit that resides in all.

“Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”? 1 Corinthian 3:16 (NLT)

So are human beings actually gods? What did He mean?

In Psalms 82:6, from which Jesus quoted, God says to human beings: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.’

The Hebrew word translated “gods” is elohim, which literally means “gods” or “mighty ones”—although it is often rendered as “God” (that is, the true God) in the Bible. That’s because, although plural in form, the word elohim is often singular in usage.

Some have argued that the word in this context should be translated “judges” (“mighty ones being seen by some here as simply powerful human beings). But the original New Testament manuscripts translate Christ’s quotation in John 10 using the Greek word theoi,”gods". But, again, can human beings legitimately be referred to as gods, as Jesus said? How are we to understand this?

The key here is to see ourselves as parts of God’s family comprising of more than one God Being.

Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Indeed, from the beginning God intended to add many children to His family. In Genesis 1, after creating plants and animals to reproduce each “according to its kind,” God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added throughout)—showing that man was created according to the “God kind.” To help us understand the parallel with God creating man in His image and likeness. So God was essentially reproducing Himself through humanity.

The apostle Paul told the men of Athens, “As also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’ ” (Acts 17:28).

Psalm 82 (KJV) is much easier to understand in this light. In verse 6, I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

That makes perfect sense. When any entity bears offspring, its offspring are of the same kind. The offspring of God are “gods.”

God is eternal spirit. Human bodies are mortal flesh but infused with a soul being a part of the Spirit of God.

God intends to exalt us from this fleshly existence to the same level of divine spirit existence that He has, as we will see.

A new awakening in us needs to take place

This involves a process of spiritual awakening in which God fathers us as His children. It starts with His Spirit joining with our human spirit: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16, KJV). Through this miraculous union, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Thus the Spirit-begotten Christian is a child of God, an actual member of elohim, the family of God.

The apostle John wrote: “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). We will receive the divine glory of the Father and Christ (Romans 5:2; 1 Peter 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Colossians 1:27).

As coinheritors with Christ, we will receive dominion over all things, including the entire vast universe—dominion just as Christ has (Romans 8:17; Hebrews 2:5-9; Revelation 21:7). To truly exercise dominion over all things requires the omnipotent power of God.

What about our minds? As human beings, we couldn’t count all the individual stars of the universe in a trillion lifetimes. But God, in a passing remark, says He knows all the stars by name (Psalms 147:4). Amazingly, Paul states, “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known that is, by God”

(1 Corinthians 13:12), showing that we will possess the omniscience of God, and why not, for we will have the Holy Spirit and the mind of God in full?

Indeed, at that time, like Jesus, we will at last be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19; compare Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9). How can someone be filled with all the fullness of God and be anything less than God? Therefore, at our ultimate change, we too will be divine—though the Father and Christ will forever be greater than us.

The teaching of deification

This wonderful truth will surely come as quite a shock to those who have heard only the traditional view of mainstream Christianity regarding the ultimate reward of the righteous. Yet those who might be quick to assail this teaching will perhaps be even more surprised to learn that many early “church fathers” of mainstream tradition—not so far removed from early apostolic teaching— did understand this incredible truth, at least in part.

“The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’ [2 Peter 1:4]: ‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine son ship, might become a son of God’ [St. Irenaeus, Adv.  haeres (against Heresies). 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939]. ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’ [St. Athanasius, De inc., 54, 3: PG 25, 192B]. ‘The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us share in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods’ St. Thomas Aquinas."

This teaching is even more prevalent in Eastern Orthodox tradition, where it is known by the Greek term theosis, meaning “divinization” or “deification.” However, it is wholly unlike the New Age concept of “I am god”—looking to the self as supreme. Notice the remarkable explanation of the early theologian Tertullian, writing around A.D. 200:

“It would be impossible that another God could be admitted, when it is permitted to no other being to possess anything of God. Well, then, you say, at that rate we ourselves possess nothing of God. But indeed we do, and will continue to do so. Only it is from Him that we receive it, and not from ourselves. For we will be even gods, if we deserve to be among those of whom He declared, ‘I have said, “You are gods,”’ and ‘God stands in the congregation of the gods.’ But this comes of His own grace, not from any property in us. For it is He alone who can make gods”.

Of course, Christianity is not a polytheistic religion. There is but one God. The term gods is really meant to distinguish multiple God Beings constituting the one God—the one God meaning the one God family. As mentioned before, there are at present two fully divine members of that family—two distinct Beings—God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. And, as incredible as it sounds, there will be more to come.

There are many more who are already members of the God family. Having all measure of the divine through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, they are in the process of deification. However, they are not yet themselves truly divine. But one day, if they remain faithful, they will be. And ultimately all of mankind, that is, those who are willing, will follow in the same course.

“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18). And He means it. God will not forever kid Himself into thinking we are His children when we really aren’t. No, the Father intends to have  us as His full children, to transform us into the very kind of beings that He and Christ now are—though, again, forever subject to Their loving authority.

Indeed, even though saved human beings will be elevated to existence at the God level as real children of God and full members of the God family, they will never challenge, individually or collectively, the preeminence of the Father and Christ as leaders of the family. Truly, all will be subject to Jesus, except the Father, and Christ will Himself be subject to the Father (see 1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Their positions at the top of the family will never be challenged or threatened by even the addition of billions of divine children.

This, then, is the ultimate potential destiny of all human kind. It is the awe-inspiring purpose for which we were created. As Jesus quoted, foreseeing our destiny reached, “I said, ‘You are gods.’” Let us all, then, be ever thankful. For it can’t get any higher than that.

Glory to God, Amen.