Neville Goddard 03-24-1969
God's plan of redemption for us is the most incredible, exciting, and amazing
story ever told It is the story of the creator of the universe, who so loved us
he became us; and how he is transforming us into himself, so that we are no
longer the created, but the creator No longer the made, but the maker. The
gospel tells us how this is accomplished In the Book of John, we read: "In
the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God He was
in the beginning with God All things were made through him and without him was
not anything made that was made In him was life and the life was the light of
men," Here we see the Word was not only with God but was God and then
personified
Let us continue: "He was in the world and the world was made by him, yet
the world knew him not" It has been established he is the Word, for:
"The Word was made flesh and dwells within us." (The Greek word
translated "among" is the preposition "in" or
"within") John completes this statement as: "He dwells within us
full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-18) Suddenly now the name Jesus Christ
is introduced into the narrative, and the secret is revealed, for "Grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ" So the Word, full of grace and truth,
is Jesus Christ He who was in the beginning with God and was God, now dwells in
us, transforming us into himself that we may become as he is We are told:
"Your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name" If your
maker is your husband, are you not his emanation, his wife, until the work that
he began in you is brought to completion?
In Genesis, we are told: "Woman came out of Man; therefore, Man must leave
father and mother and cleave to his wife until they become one flesh" The
Man spoken of here is the Word, out of whom all things come Having come out of
the Word, we are his emanation, his wife, which he must cleave to until we
become one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all How can we, the
made, be transformed into the maker? Through the story of the
transformation.
One of our great poets said:
"There is an inmost sense in us all
Where truth abides in fullness
To know, consists of opening a way
Out of which the imprisoned splendor may escape
Which, in effect is an exit for a light that Is supposed to be without."
If grace and truth abide in Jesus Christ in their fullness, and Jesus Christ is
in you, is not truth in you in its fullness? Your splendor is imprisoned within,
waiting to unfold himself in you. And when he does, you will tell it knowing not
everyone will accept your story. Knowing your earthly parents as well as your
educational, financial and social background, they cannot believe that God has
unfolded himself in you.
But God did not just become you to the point where you are two - you and God. He
left everything to become one with you. Although I am a male, what you see when
you look at Neville is God's emanation, which is made. Regardless of your sex,
you are God's emanation, yet his wife; for God is your husband, your creator,
called the Word. The same Word that was with God and was God, became you when,
full of grace and truth, he clothed himself in flesh. You can test him and find
out for yourself that Jesus Christ is in you. I have tested him and know from
experience that this presence who created the universe, is my own wonderful
human imagination. Called Jesus in the New Testament and Jehovah in the Old, his
revealed name is I am. I am is he who was with God and is God I am is an
eternally abiding presence. When I am imagining, God is acting, sending Jesus;
for when you imagine, you send yourself into the world to fulfill what you have
imagined.
God has imagined himself as you He has taken upon himself a garment of flesh and
blood for a purpose. Having sent himself, God cannot return to himself empty,
but must accomplish his purpose and prosper in the thing for which he was sent
God died in order to transform that which was his emanation into himself. When
God awoke within me there were not two of us, only one I am. I am he who had the
experience. I am he who pushed that stone away and came out of my tomb. I am he
who held the child in my arms and heard God's son call me father. I am he who
experienced the complete severance when my body was torn from top to bottom. And
when the dove descended and smothered me with love, I am he who experienced
it.
Jesus, your I am, is the Word that was sent to transform you into himself. He is
the creator of it all, for although you seem so limited and unable to create
anything here, you can see everything made perfect in your imagination. You can
imagine a state, remain faithful to it and it will be made alive for you. Now,
if I am made everything and you know you imagined it before it appeared, and it
appeared because you imagined it, then you have found Jesus Christ to be your
own wonderful human imagination.
I am interested in sports. I do not go to the races often, but I do enjoy
watching the feature race on TV every Saturday. Last week a young jockey by the
name of Angel Cordova was interviewed after winning the feature race. Wearing
gay colors and looking almost like a circus clown, he was asked about his riding
ability, and answered: "The ability to ride has nothing to do with winning.
It is all in feeling lucky. I could ride the best horse there is, but if I do
not feel lucky he won't come in first." This chap came to the track feeling
lucky. Was he not imagining that he was lucky when - at the end of the day - he
took home maybe $10,000 just for running the race? He may not know that his
ability to imagine and feel "lucky" is Christ, but it is, for by him
all things are made and without him is not anything made that is made. The
jockey imagined himself a lucky man. He would not have been lucky if he lost the
race. Only by feeling lucky could he bring the horse in first. Anyone who has
succeeded in applying this principle will have felt that same emotion, for
feeling causes action, and no power can stop that action called Jesus Christ,
the human imagination.
John begins his prologue in the 18th verse as: "No one has ever seen God,
but his only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father he has made
known." Our scholars claim that this Greek passage should have been
translated thus: "No one has ever seen God. He (no name to it) who is in
the bosom of the Father has made him known." In the 1st verse of this first
chapter of John it is established that the Word is Jesus Christ, who is one with
God the Father. So we know that Jesus Christ is not the one in the bosom of the
Father; so who is this only begotten? I have searched the scriptures and found
him in the form of David. In fact, he can be found all through the Psalms, as
that only one who can reveal you to yourself as God the Father. I can tell you
this from now until the end of time, but you will not believe me with certainty
until David stands before you and reveals you to yourself. Although, after this
experience you will remain limited in your garment of flesh, you will know who
you are. And you will continue to wear your garment of limitation until your
ministry is over. Scholars have tried to estimate that ministry, claiming it to
be from a few months to twelve years. No one seems to go beyond 12 years, from
the moment of resurrection to the end of the ministry. They are not referring to
the physical birth from a woman's womb, but to the second birth out of the skull
of Man.
Now let us return to the beginning, which is the Word - the meaning behind the
plan. That meaning was with God, and actually was God. By him all things were
made, and without him was not anything made that was made. He was in the world.
The world was made by him, yet the world knew him not.
How many people today can pinpoint their success or failure to their
imagination? The average man will say: John Brown did it, or the storm, or the
president. Only a few will confess that their success or failure was created in
their imagination. But I tell you: Christ in you creates your life, for you are
all imagination and your imagination can be used for good or for evil. When you
think of God as a man of imagination, you are recognizing the power behind the
mask God wears. Rather than giving credit to the mask, praise the wearer, who is
Christ. It is Christ who erupts from within us. It is Christ who comes out of
the skull of the mask he wears. Christ is the one who bears the name I am, which
is what the words Jesus, Joshua, and Jehovah really mean.
When union is complete there is no one else, just you, and you are all alone.
Having cleaved to you - his wife - until you become one flesh, you are that one
and only body; and in becoming one body there is only one Spirit, for God�s
name and your name are now the same I am. When you think of another you say
"we are", but there is no other when you say "I am." You are
all alone when you awake and you are aware, therefore you are silently saying I
am. You are aware of pushing the stone away and coming out of that tomb, and
your awareness is I am. Truth is within us It takes no rise from outer things
what`ere you may believe. To try to effect some entry from without cannot be,
for truth comes from within.
The world is blessed, but they do not know it and think they must earn
salvation; however, it cannot be earned. Salvation is grace, which is God's gift
of himself to every child born of woman. God died in the most literal sense of
the word by forgetting that he was the one who created the universe. He had to
do it in order to become you, the created. His love for you was so great he left
all to cleave to, and become one with, you. And when his work is complete, God,
now individualized, will awaken. I know, for I awoke to find myself completely
entombed where the Word - called the seed of God - fell. A seed must fall into
the earth and die in order to be made alive, for unless it does it remains
alone; but if it does, it bears much fruit God's fruit is to individually awaken
as God Himself.
The first 18 verses of the first chapter of John is the prologue. If you will
start with the first four verses, then skip a few verses which speak of John the
Baptist, to the 10th verse, you will be able to weave the story together. The
10th verse begins: "He was in the world and the world was made by him and
the world knew him not" Do you know that imagination made the entire world?
Do you know that a change in imagination will change the entire world? Do you
realize that if you would begin to imagine something entirely different
concerning your life instead of accepting that the so-called wise people say it
must be, your world would rearrange itself to reflect the change? You, all
imagination are in the world which you made; yet the world does not know that
imagination made it.
Now, the next couple of verses tell of the kind of birth which will be yours:
"Born, not of blood or of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh but
of God." Here we see an entirely different birth, which will take place in
the one who finds Imagination, believes in him, holds onto and trusts him
implicitly. To prove that imagination causes change, you must first change your
imaginal structure; and when your world outpictures your thoughts, you have
found him. Then you will realize the truth of that 14th verse, for you will have
found the one called the Word. Having become flesh, the Word is dwelling in you
full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is not some historical being on the
outside. He became flesh and dwells in us. Ten years ago this coming July, he
who so loved me - his creation - took upon himself all of my afflictions, awoke
in me, and when he did he wasn't another. Imagination is the light which is the
life of every man.
In the 18th verse, the name "Father" is used for the first time:
"No one has ever seen God; the only begotten who is in the bosom of the
Father, he has made him known." It doesn't say who that begotten one is;
but if you will wait, he will appear. And when you find David, you will know he
is your son; and he - knowing you as his father - reveals you as God the Father.
Then you will perform your ministry for the allotted time, whether it be a few
months or years, before you take off your garment of flesh. No longer a part of
this world, you will find yourself in the world of God; for being one with God
you are part of that one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of
all.
Isn't that the most exciting story you could ever hear? That a man who, although
finding it difficult to pay rent, buy food, and clothe his family, discovers he
created this fabulous universe. That's the incredible story which every child
born of woman is destined to fulfill. The creator of this world and all within
it, so loved you he became you, bringing with him his plan of redemption, which
will erupt to reveal you as God the Father. I am convinced that not one will
fail. A warning is given in many passages of scripture that one must be watchful
and not turn back, but there is no mention of an ultimate failure.
Our priests accept this story as something that happened to another. They see
Jesus as a savior on the outside: but he is the eternal Word of God, full of
grace and truth, who took upon himself our garments of flesh and blood. Even
though he dwells in us, he is abiding forever and will continue to do so, even
though we turn back, for "My Word shall not return unto me empty. It must
accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent
it." With the Word being in you as God Himself, although you are free to
turn aside, you will be brought toward your predetermined purpose, which is to
make you himself, so no one can fail. I cannot conceive of anything greater than
this. No mystery story or play could even begin to compare to this concept. Here
is a love so great that he died to give that love to his beloved, thereby giving
it life; yet it does not even know that he exists. He is in the world, the world
was made by him, yet the world knows him not. Man, walking the streets, is
imagining the world around him; yet he is unable to recognize his own
harvest.
Let me tell you of two ladies who came to my meetings, one here on the West
Coast and the other in New York City. Both ladies were financially embarrassed.
They had no money and no one to turn to. All I asked them to do was assume the
feeling of financial security. One lady immediately began to search for the
feeling of security. Every day she imagined having all the money she needed to
take care of her desires. Then one day she visited a friend, where she met a man
she had known intimately 30-odd years ago. When he learned she was penniless, he
set up a trust fund for her, providing her with more than she needed to live
graciously. When the other lady heard the story she, too, began to assume she
had plenty. She told me that in the matter of one week, money began coming in.
What did they do? They used their human imagination.
I tell you: all things are created by Jesus Christ. Without him there is not a
thing made that is made, be it good, bad, or indifferent. It is Jesus Christ who
kills, makes alive, wounds, and heals. If he could not kill or wound, he is not
a creator. If Jesus, the I am, is absolute as a creator, then he has to create
everything. We are told in the 32nd [chapter] of Deuteronomy, "I kill, I
make alive, I wound, I heal and none can deliver out of my hands" Who else
could kill but the creator? Who else could heal or wound? Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ - not as you were trained to believe, but as your very self. Pray
to some statute or picture on the wall, and you are praying to that which is
dead. Nothing on the outside is alive, for life is within. The Word became flesh
and dwells in you. If this is true, then you should find out where he is and how
to reach him. Is he your human imagination? Test him and see.
When I was told I could not get out of the island of Barbados I said to myself:
all things are possible to Christ who became me and dwells in me, so right now I
believe I have the passage. Feeling the ticket in my hand, I walked up the
gangplank and onto the ship, Within a few hours the company called, and I sailed
just as I imagined I would, If Jesus Christ makes all things, then he made that
passage available to me, I tested him, and now I know exactly who he is, He is
my own wonderful human imagination.
Now, I tell this to everyone who will listen. I do not get acceptance from many,
because they still want to believe in and pray to a little Jesus on the outside.
In my vaudeville days my dancing partner had a picture she called Jesus. Wearing
very thick grease paint, she would kiss that picture three or four times a day
for good luck. And when she could no longer see the face she would tear the
picture up and get another one just like it. That was her little Jesus Christ.
She is not alone, Hundreds of millions of people believe in an external Christ,
and therefore are unable to believe my words.
I urge you to commit those 18 versus of the first chapter of John to memory for
everything is woven there. They are the prologue, the preface to the plan. The
play begins with the 19th verse and ends with the 20th chapter, leaving the 21st
chapter as the epilogue. Read the words carefully and you will see that Jesus
Christ is the Word, full of grace and truth. That Word dwells in you. You do not
have to look for truth on the outside, for grace erupts suddenly from within.
The world will never see the Word through your garment of flesh; but you will
know that God kept his promise when God's plan of redemption unfolds itself from
within.
Now let us go into the silence