For the New Church, the figure of Jesus is THE central religious image. Often referred to as the Divine Human, Jesus is seen as the very embodiment of God. His life was a life of moving more and more into that power, a power of His Human being made completely Divine.
Interestingly, Jesus never says, literally, that He is “the Son of God” preferring instead the phrase that He is “the Son of Humanity.” Why is that? It is my best understanding that Jesus consistently focused on the unity of God, the unity of creation, the unity between the spiritual and natural. We are the one’s who broke it apart, creating a paradigm where the sacrifice of a son atoned for the sins of masses to avoid the world’s destruction by an angry God – the Father. That is more a human story unfortunately, a human paradigm, than God’s.
Reading the text can yield that position but a deeper reading appears to support a Man whose primary concern, primary love was people, was compassion. Christianity then turns from being a belief system – “Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?” – to a creed of life, a creed of consequential faith in which love of others, includes one’s enemies, is the ultimate fruit.
Jesus used many metaphors for His life. “I am the way, the truth, the light ….” Few of us would take those statements literally. We would see the far deeper poetic truth within it. References to the Son of God are likewise pieces of poetic truth that help to unfold a deeper reality – a God who lives, breaths, and exists with us.
