"Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe." (John 4:48)

When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. "Unless you people see signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." "Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (John 4:45-50) 

Did Jesus come to heal everyone's body?

Here Jesus explains his reason for healing. He is responding to a "royal official” who begged Jesus to heal his dying son. Jesus responds with the above statement.

This illustrates that Jesus was not that interested in healing everyone’s body. Obviously, he was empowered with this ability: He could have healed everyone he saw if God wanted him to.

After Jesus’ first sentence above (4:48), the official said:

"Sir, come down before my child dies." (John 4:49)

In other words, the official did not care about what Jesus was teaching. He was only interested in his son’s survival. Jesus didn’t have to go to his son to touch him or anything. Jesus simply said, “You may go. Your son will live.” This could mean that Jesus didn't need to heal the boy - that he knew he would recover. Or it could mean that Jesus could heal the man’s son without having to see or touch him.

Either way, knowing that the boy would be healed from a distance was miraculous.

Did Jesus have some magical powers? Where did his miraculous powers come from? Actually, Jesus himself explained where these powers came from:

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 21:21-22)

This means that Jesus was accepting that this miraculous power comes from the Supreme Being. And it comes through connecting with God through prayer.

Could Jesus have been referring to himself? Praying to himself? This is not logical, because Jesus was standing there in front of them. There would be no need to pray to someone who was standing right in front of them.

This indicates Jesus is referring to praying to God.

Furthermore, there would be no need to do a miraculous sign in order to have the man or anyone else who saw Jesus believe that Jesus existed. They were seeing Jesus with their own eyes. They didn't need to believe in Jesus' existence.

The word "believe" in this statement and in John 4:48 is translated from the word πιστεύω (pisteuō), which means to trust - "place confidence in" or "to be entrusted."

Does this mean trusting in God?

In other words, Jesus wanted the man and those around him to put their trust in the Supreme Being. To trust in God means to accept that whatever situation we are in, it is for our best and there is a reason behind it and the Supreme Being is in control. While it doesn't mean we should not take care of our bodies, it means accepting that there is a purpose behind everything that takes place.

Typically, at least in the physical world with respect to hardships related to these temporary physical bodies, things happen in order to teach us.

But does this mean God wants us to suffer? Absolutely not. What is not understood is that these physical bodies are not us. They are temporary vehicles we drive for a short period of time and then they die. When they die we - the soul within - leave them behind.

What is physical pain?

The pains of the body are specific to the physical body, not the spirit-person. The spirit-person only connects with the pains of the body because we are in the illusion that we are these physical bodies. This is why Jesus also said:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." (Matt. 6:25)

Why is Jesus teaching this? Because he wanted them to put away their anxieties about their physical body and come to rely upon the Supreme Being.

To rely upon the Supreme Being means to trust Him. It means accepting that He has our best interests at heart. It means accepting God as our Loving Master and Best Friend.

And why did Jesus not ask God to simply heal everyone, but rather, he chose a select few to heal? Didn’t he care about the others? Jesus was giving everyone the solution to the pain, suffering and death of the physical body. He was trying to teach everyone that the physical body is a temporary vehicle, and the way out isn’t to heal the body: The way out is to return to God.

Should we come to trust and rely upon the Supreme Being - once we return to the loving service of God - we transcend the temporary anxieties related to this temporary physical body. And once the body is finished, we can return to our spiritual home to be with God and the rest of our spiritual family.

"Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:1-14)

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' " So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:1-14)

This event was also portrayed in Matthew and Mark as well, with some differences. In both, Jesus didn't see the healed man later. Instead, Jesus forgave his sins on the spot:

Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home." Then the man got up and went home (Matthew 9:2-7)

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Mark 2:3-12)

Why are these Gospels tell this event differently?

The details of these events indicate they are likely the same event. All have in common the instruction by Jesus to 'pick up your mat and walk.' But in Matthew and Mark, the emphasis is on Jesus forgiving the man's sins. In John, we find that Jesus connected the disability of the man with his prior sins - and warned him that further sinning would come with further consequences.

This is a rather stark difference, but they are connected. Since in John's version, Jesus tells the man that if he sins in the future, worse will happen, this means there was some purification involved, since he was no longer suffering from what must be his prior sinful activities. 

This means that forgiveness was involved in John's version, since he was no longer paralyzed. But John's event explains Jesus' teachings beyond simply healing the man and forgiving sins: Because Jesus links his activities to consequences in the future, this means that his prior activities also produced his paralysis.

This opens up a broader definition of "sinning" - one that is related to consequences. Our actions that harm others have consequences. It is a significant teaching of Jesus that isn't revealed in Matthew or Mark.

Why does Jesus teach about consequences to 'sinning'?

In this verse, the word "sinning" is translated from the Greek word, ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō). This word means, according to Thayer's lexicon, "to be without a share in," or "to miss the mark," or "to err, be mistaken," and "to wander from the law of God."

Because the central law of God is oriented around love for God and love for others, to wander - or miss the mark - is captured within the sense of self-centeredness. Self-centeredness is the diametrical opposite of love.

Furthermore, to act in a self-centered manner and harm others, as a result, encompasses the true essence of "sin."

And as Jesus points out, such activities that harm others have consequences.

This indicates that Jesus taught that there was a connection between the action of sinning and physical reactions such as becoming crippled or worse. This is the fundamental law of the physical world: Cause and effect. How we use our physical bodies will create a reaction: "As you sow, so shall you reap."

This is particular to using our bodies for self-centered purposes. Another word for this is consequence. The physical world is a world of consequence.

Why? This is how the Supreme Being set it up. God set up a world of consequence to help teach us how to improve our consciousness, and evolve spiritually. Why? Because God knows that we will only be happy when we return to our original position as His loving caregiver.

What is consequence learning?

Teaching through consequences is a well-known behavioral method in child-rearing. Child psychologists have studied child behavior and found that applying a system of consequences for bad behavior is by far the best method of producing children that head out on the right track.

Why is this? Because consequences maximize learning. When a child does a bad thing, these researchers have discovered, punishing a child can yield a long-term traumatic effect. But this is not true for consequence learning.

In consequence learning, there is a consequence for both good and bad activities. For example, if a child throws food, then they must clean up and even pay for the damage. That is the consequence of throwing the food. If the child does their chores, they get an allowance or time to play.

The Supreme Being has set up the ultimate consequence system within the physical world. When we do something that hurts someone else, we will end up being hurt in precisely the same way that we hurt another. When we do something to help someone else, that also comes back to us.

Is being self-serving so bad?

Being self-serving in itself is not necessarily wrong. One can be self-serving to protect oneself. One can certainly be self-serving when it comes to acting responsibly. After all, to survive in this world we must keep the body alive. We must gather food and water, and sometimes that means being competitive.

But when that self-serving activity harms others unnecessarily, this is categorized as sinning by Jesus. The opposite of sin is service to God and love for others. When we act to please God or because we love others, there is no physical consequence created. This is because service to God and loving others lie outside the domain of the physical world. These are spiritual activities.

Since the man had been paralyzed for 38 years (John 5:5) we know from Jesus' statement that something the man had done (sin) previously caused him to be crippled. Since he was crippled since childhood, did he do something during his childhood to cause his being crippled? And what about people who are born crippled? Why are they born crippled?

Why are some people born crippled or born into poverty?

Past life research over the past fifty years has accumulated a large amount of data indicating that most of us have occupied previous physical bodies. A substantial amount of scientific evidence of past lives was documented by Dr. Ian Stevenson, a medical doctor and professor of research at the University of Virginia, Department of Psychiatric Medicine.

Over several decades of research, Dr. Stevenson and his associates clinically studied thousands of children who accurately recalled in detail a previous lifetime. This research was soon corroborated by the results of many other researchers.

Past-life memory was only accidentally discovered by Dr. Stevenson, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia. Being a conservative psychiatrist and professor, Dr. Stevenson had no prior belief in the transmigration of the self before these accurate past-life accounts began unfolding.

The research documented children who detailed previous lifetimes as historical persons, describing events with a clarity and experience only possible from having lived personally in that situation.

The research did not stop there. The scientists then researched the historical accuracy of the statements heard by children, to confirm whether (1) the subject could have known these facts otherwise, and (2) whether the facts can be confirmed as being historically accurate. In both instances, the evidence supported transmigration.

Though undoubtedly controversial, the research has been thoroughly peer-reviewed and clinically supported.

In addition, many other studies have documented similar findings. Many studies have utilized hypnotherapy - by M.D.s and/or licensed psychiatrists - to assist with the recall of a past life - with similar results after investigation of the historical person.

Some thirty scientific books and hundreds of scientific papers have been written to document these research studies. Dr. Stevenson’s research itself spanned over thirty-seven years and documented at least 2,500 cases of previous life recognition by children who accurately remembered their past lives.

Dr. Stevenson's corroborated research indicated that past life recollection fades by about age seven. Before that age, children will often speak spontaneously about their previous lives as historical individuals, recalling historical details decades old and otherwise unknowable.

Dr. Stevenson wrote several books on the subject, presenting the evidence in a clinically rigorous and scientific manner (Tucker 2005; Stevenson 1997). As mentioned, a number of other scientists have documented regressing patients into verifiable past lives, including Dr. Helen Wambach (1978), Dr. Morris Netheron (1978), Dr. Edit Fiore (1978), Dr. Bruce Goldberg (1982), Dr. Joel Whitton (1986), Dr. Brian Weiss (1988), Dr. Christopher Bache, Dr. Winafred Lucas (1993), Dr. Marge Rieder (1995; 1999) and a number of others.

Some of the studies targeted particular periods or events among subjects. Dr. Rieder, for example, documented regression sessions with certain patients that revealed historical information regarding Millboro, VA — a pivotal village during the Civil War. Dr. Rieder’s patients accurately described many detailed elements of the war and the town, including the uncovering of previously unknown hideaways and tunnels used during the civil war in Millboro.

Did Jesus teach transmigration? 

The evidence points to yes. Not only in this statement but elsewhere. For example, in John 9, Jesus was asked by his disciples:

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2)

Let’s consider the question asked carefully. Why did Jesus’ disciples ask this question? First, we should consider that multiple disciples asked this question and not just one ‘rogue’ disciple. This means that it was a question that arose from an understanding between Jesus and his disciples from Jesus’ teachings.

In other words, it was assumed that before the man was born, he had the ability to sin. In other to have the ability to sin, the man must have had a previous physical body. Why? Because as Jesus taught previously, sinning was an action brought upon by the flesh. In other words, the person must have had a prior physical body in order to have sinned before he was born.

Note also that Jesus did not ridicule or criticize this question. He took it in stride. He did not say, “what a preposterous question.” What he said was:

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me.” (John 9:1-3)

Because Jesus accepted that the man could have previously sinned, he admitted that the man must have lived prior to his being born into that body - since he was born blind. While he is saying that the activities of his previous life did not cause his blindness, Jesus is acknowledging that they could have. Jesus is saying that there was another purpose to the blindness other than as a consequence of his previous activities — previous to being born blind: A purpose arranged by God.

Jesus also directly admitted transmigration when he said that John the Baptist had appeared in a previous lifetime:

But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished." (Matthew 17:12)

Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:13)

The bottom line is that the physical world is a place of consequence and learning, created by God. Although it is hell (yes, this is hell), the physical world maintains a perfect mechanism for teaching us the consequences of our actions; and it is this mechanism that causes the suffering we see in the world today (in other words, we cause our own suffering). This is all part of God's lesson plan, meant to help each of us evolve spiritually.

Should we learn life's lessons, and evolve spiritually, and re-develop our love for God, we will leave the physical world and these temporary bodies behind, and return to the spiritual world, because "flesh gives birth to flesh and the Spirit gives birth to the spirit." (John 3:6)

"No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (John 11:4)

"This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (John 11:4) 

Why is Jesus saying Lazarus won't die?

This statement was made by Jesus when he heard about Lazarus, whose body was sick. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. All three were students of Jesus. The Mary here is the person who had washed Jesus' feet with her hair and applied scented oil to him as she worshiped him.

Here Jesus is not only predicting that Lazarus' body would not die from this illness. Jesus is explaining why the miracle would take place. He was also aware that Jesus was actively glorifying God with his life and teachings.

First Jesus states, "it is for God's glory." This is the ultimate purpose, and the purpose of Jesus' miracles and teachings: To help us resume our lost loving relationship with God.

Note that Jesus did not indicate that the miracle of healing Lazarus would occur for the benefit of Lazarus. This is the prime motive that so many go to see charismatic preachers who claim to heal people in the name of Jesus. They do not go to glorify God. They do not go to learn about Jesus' teachings. They go to get healed, just as one goes to a doctor.

This is a self-centered approach towards the worship of God and Jesus. This approach assumes that God and Jesus are our servants and we simply order up some health (or any other material benefit) and they deliver it. Actually, it is the other way around. We are God's servants.

What does Jesus mean by 'God's Son'?

Then Jesus says, "so that God's Son may be glorified through it." "God's Son" is translated from the Greek phrase υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. τοῦ θεοῦ means "of God." While υἱὸς can be translated to "son" in the context of a physical father-son relationship, this is, to quote the lexicon, "in a restricted sense, the male offspring (one born by a father and of a mother)."

In the absence of that literal meaning of a physical father and son, the lexicon also translates υἱὸς as "used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower." 

Since Jesus was not referring to a physcal body father/son relationship, and was referring to his spiritual relationship with God, the latter translation applies. This translates to, 'dependent follower' or better, 'loving servant' more appropriately.

But then we can add Thayer's lexicon statement about the use of this Greek word υἱὸς:

"The Jews called the Messiah υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ pre-eminently, as the supreme representative of God"

Utilizing this context, as Jesus was specifically sent by God - this could be translated to God's servant, but in this context, the more appropriate translation would be God's Representative.

Is this referencing servants of God?

Servants of God is consistent with the original texts translated to the multiple references to "Sons of God" among the English Bible translations:

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4)

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6)

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. (Job 2:1)

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matt. 6:9)

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

Each of these references to "sons of God" refers to those who are devoted to God - those who lovingly serve the Supreme Being.

But in the case of Jesus, as God has specifically sent Jesus to teach us, Jesus is a special type of servant of God: He is also the Representative of God.

This also means that υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ is best translated* to Representative of God: and Jesus' statement to:

"so that God's Representative may be glorified through it."

And why would the Supreme Being want to glorify His representative? God wants to bring attention to His representative's teachings. Why? Because God wants us back. He wants us to be happy, and the only way we will be happy is by resuming our natural position as the Supreme Being's loving caregivers within the spiritual dimension. This is why Jesus' primary instruction was:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)  

Why did Jesus heal Lazarus and not everyone else?

This also brings up the notion of unfairness. Why does the Supreme Being heal some people and not others? Why was Lazarus healed and not others? Is God unfair? Was Jesus unfair?

This brings into view the bigger picture of this, which is why some people are born into poverty while some children die of starvation. Many in fact have questioned God's kindness and even His very existence because of this fact. The question posed is:

Why, if God is kind and loving, is there so much suffering in the world?

The answer to this comes from understanding what the physical world is, and who we are, why we are here. While this has been discussed elsewhere in detail in these writings, let's summarize:

1) We are not these physical bodies. We are each individual and eternal spiritual living beings, temporarily driving a particular physical body.

2) The physical body is a temporary machine designed to reflect the current state of our consciousness, combined with the accumulation of consequences from our prior activities. We might compare this to a car. We buy a car based on a combination of our particular preference of cars and our bank account balance (which is based on our prior activities and earnings). 

Then we drive that car around for a few years, and at some point, it breaks down (or we sell it first). Then we get out of the car and then buy another car - and again the car we end up buying and driving is the result of a combination of our preference for cars (consciousness) and our bank balance (the accumulation of prior activities).

3) Because the physical body is only an exterior vehicle, what happens to it does not happen to us. We can certainly experience and learn from what happens to the body, but because we are eternal spiritual living beings, what happens to the physical body does not happen to us. We get out of the body unscathed (except for our learning experiences, which we keep).

4) The purpose of pain and suffering in the physical world is to teach us and help us rehabilitate. We fell from the spiritual dimension because we became self-centered. The spiritual world is a place where everyone loves and serves God - and each other. This is our home. But because the Supreme Being gives us freedom (love requires freedom), each of us has the choice to be God-loving or self-loving.

Self-centeredness is not a characteristic of the spiritual world. It is a characteristic of the physical world. When we took on these temporary physical bodies we were granted the freedom to exercise our self-centeredness.

5) The physical world, however, is a place of consequence. Everything done selfishly - even if it is for our family or country - has consequences. As we cycle from one lifetime to the next, the type of body we take on will depend upon our past decisions and actions. This serves to teach us. It helps us to understand the consequences of our choices, just as consequence learning helps children grow into responsible adults.

6) Should we learn the lessons of the physical world, we may rise to an intelligent human form and have the opportunity to hear from God's representative. Should we take their teachings seriously and apply them to our lives, we may, with the Supreme Being's help, be rehabilitated and become ready to return to the spiritual world.

Utilizing this information, we can now see the suffering of the physical body for what it is. We can also learn to grow beyond it by applying Jesus' teachings.

This is why Jesus is focused on glorifying God. Glorifying God heals our selfishness. When we glorify God, we are re-developing our lost loving relationship with Him.

*Here is the translation of Jesus' statement according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“This sickness will not cause death, but will serve to glorify God, and thereby glorify the Representative o God.” (John 11:4)

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who ..." (John 12:46)

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." (John 12:46) 

Why is Jesus comparing himself to 'light'?

Jesus also compared himself to 'light' in John 12;35-36. The Greek word φῶς (phōs) does translate to "light," but he is not saying that he is physically illuminated. Jesus is not comparing himself to a light from a light bulb or the sun.

Rather, Jesus is utilizing a metaphor. According to Thayer's lexicon, the word, when used in the metaphorical context can mean, "of truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it."

It can also refer specifically to God. "God is light because light has an extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality."

In this context, Jesus is utilizing both meanings for this metaphor. Jesus is illuminating his followers with Truth and knowledge: Truth and knowledge that relate directly to coming to know and love the Supreme Being.

What does Jesus mean by 'darkness'?

This metaphorical use also applies to the Greek word, σκοτία (skotia), which has been translated to "darkness."

According to the lexicon, the Greek word σκοτία (skotia) can also be used metaphorically. The lexicon suggests that is relates to: "ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery in hell."

'Ignorance of divine things' relates directly to the opposite of the illumination of Truth about the Supreme Being. Having such ignorance is specifically linked to loneliness, heartache and suffering in general.

Jesus' use of darkness also describes wickedness. Wickedness is self-centeredness. In this physical world where ignorance of God is common, wickedness prevails.

This accommodates, as the lexicon suggests, the "resultant misery in hell."

Is hell somewhere else?

Hell is not necessarily a physical place. Hell is a matter of consciousness. Hell is that consciousness where ignorance of God and self-centeredness - wickedness - prevails. Hell is described in scripture as relating to pain, agony, death, and violence.

A cursory review of the international news clearly indicates this world contains all these elements. Every inhabitant of the physical world must deal with periodic pain, periodic agony, and periodic violence in one respect or another. And all of the physical world's inhabitants must deal with the death of the physical body.

Yes, every physical lifetime ends in tragedy. One may suffer at any point during our physical life. A soul may be born into a body with suffering, and experience such tragedy throughout that physical lifetime.

Or a soul may be born into a body that experiences only intermittent sufferings in the form of diseases, injuries and accidents.

Regardless, every body ends up dying. At its time of death, the body typically suffers great pain, which is relieved when the soul leaves that physical body.

Yes, every physical lifetime is a story of tragedy in one respect or another. Even the greatest, most famous and wealthy physical lifetimes will end in suffering, forcing the soul to leave the body and all those riches and fame behind.

Why are there so many hardships in this world?

The physical world is a place of consequence, and each of us must work through the consequences of our past activities of this lifetime and prior lifetimes. Why? To learn and understand what our actions produce.

A person who causes the suffering of others is destined to suffer in the same way. Jesus stated this clearly as he spoke to a man he had healed:

“See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14)

This is meant to teach us. Just as "consequence learning" has become the scientifically best way of raising children, it is also part of God's design for our rehabilitation. And why should we be rehabilitated? Aren't we all "okay"?

What causes ignorance?

Due to the illusory nature of this dimension, as we vie for the temporary tidings of this world we choose to ignore the suffering involved in it.

It is ignorance that prevents us from seeing the physical world as it is. What causes this?

We are so caught up in our self-centered search for happiness that we refuse to see all the suffering around us. And we tend to forget our own pain - thinking that we can somehow be happy in this world even though our bodies are quickly aging, and headed for death.

Yes, self-centeredness produces ignorance.

Why is ignorance connected to wickedness?

These two words - ignorance and wickedness - sum up our current consciousness in the physical world. Here we walk the planet in search of our own happiness. We want to make me happy. We want stuff for me. We want others to love me. We want money for me. We want success, acclaim, power and wealth, for me. It's all about ourselves. It's all about our self-centered search for our own happiness.

This is ignorance - the "darkness" Jesus speaks of. We are ignoring the reality of the relationship that exists between each of us and the Supreme Being. What is that relationship?

The relationship we are ignoring is that the Supreme Being created us to be His caregivers. Our natural position is to love Him and please Him. He created us to share a relationship with Him, but while He certainly enjoys loving us and taking care of us, the foundation of our side of this relationship is our loving service to Him.

Even when two people come together as a couple, the relationship is based on each person doing things that please the other person. From the very beginning, when the man presents a flower to the woman, the relationship is an exchange of loving service to each other. And the success of that relationship is also dependent upon the continuation of loving service to each other. But this is all related to choice. Each has the freedom to love or not.

Do we have a choice to love God?

Our relationship with the Supreme Being also has that freedom. We can essentially choose to love Him or choose to love ourselves. This is the choice that the physical world presents to us.

Now we dwell here in a physical body that allows us to ignore God. We cannot see God with the physical senses of these bodies because these bodies were designed not to see God. They were designed to allow us to forget God. The Supreme Being is giving us the 'space' to love Him or not. It's our choice.

If we make the choice not to love Him, we remain here, virtually away from Our Best Friend and Companion. This is virtual because we can never really get away from the Supreme Being. He is present everywhere through His expansive qualities. 

God is here as the Creator of this world, but also He is present through personal expansion. He thus dwells unseen next to each of us, simply watching, waiting and lovingly helping when we need it.

This has been spoken of in the Biblical scripture as the Holy Ghost, but God's expansive capability is not a ghost. His ability to expand Himself into the environments He creates is quite complex, yet simple for Him. 

Just think of how we can now broadcast television into millions of homes at the same time. The Supreme Being utilizes His own broadcasting method to extend Himself and be personally present for each of us.

This is the purpose of prayer. We can communicate to Him if we want. We can ask if we can come home and return to our constitutional loving relationship with God.

This is the "light" that Jesus was trying to illuminate our lives with, in order to remove our "darkness" of ignorance. This is why Jesus' most important instruction was:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

"Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet ..." (John 13:10)

"Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." (John 13:10)

What does Jesus mean by 'clean'?

Jesus using a metaphor. He is comparing being clean physically with being spiritually purified, as he replied to Peter's enthusiastic statement:

"Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" (John 13:9)

This is confirmed as Jesus said: "And you are clean, though not every one of you."

The word "clean" is being translated from the Greek word καθαρός (katharos). This can mean "clean," but also "pure." According to the lexicon, it can mean "free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt."

Thus, Jesus is pointing out that most of his students of his were purified. Apparently, except one. This, apparently, refers to Judas, confirms later in this conversation:

So Jesus is indicating that all those disciples who were with him and getting their feet washed by him were purified. The statement, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean," metaphorically indicates that he considered the disciples spiritually purified, and thus his washing their feet would be compared to maintaining an already purified state.

The first question this brings is that if some teachers are right that we can only be "saved" or "cleansed of our sins" - or purified - by Jesus' dying for our sins, how were Jesus' disciples purified before Jesus was crucified?

Some teachers go to the extent of saying that no one was saved prior to Jesus' dying for all of humanity. Some even claim that anyone who died before Jesus had to wait around for Jesus' crucifixion before they can be saved, which is supposedly why all the "prophets" were predicting Jesus' coming to save all of humanity. And now they say we have to wait again for Jesus to "come again."

This teaching makes no sense. They are claiming that those blessed ancient teachers such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Job, Samuel, Eli, David, Noah, Isaiah and so many others who directly communicated with God and served Him with love and devotion were not "saved"? That they too had to wait around for Jesus to die on the cross for their sins?

This nonsensical proposition was developed by institutional Roman Catholic teachers desiring to control the population through religion. They sought a doctrine that claimed the only way anyone could become spiritually purified, or "cleansed of their sins," or "saved" was through Jesus' crucifixion. (An amazing irony, given the Romans' involvement in Jesus' crucifixion.

This is despite the fact that many were saved and purified before Jesus as we see evidenced in the Books of the Old Testament. And Jesus purified and cleansed those around him long before he was crucified.

Isn't this a place of consequences?

Everything we do that affects others physically or mentally has a consequence. These will produce a corresponding effect upon our future in order to teach us, good or bad, the results of our activities. This is for educational purposes. We are here to learn, and consequences allow the physical world a process for teaching us.

In other words, we learn about how to be more empathetic, by becoming more aware of how our actions affect others.

This is about learning to love. Empathy towards others is about loving others. When we love someone, we automatically empathize with them. The ability to love can also be gradually developed through empathy.

These lessons are part of the design of the physical world, created by the Supreme Designer, God. We might compare this to a very advanced video game. Just as a person can sit down at the computer and start up a video game, the spirit-person takes on a physical body in the physical world.

Just as a person might choose a suitable icon to play in the video game - and come to identify with that icon - the spirit-person begins to operate and identify with a temporary physical body in the material world based upon the lessons that need to be learned. And just as the video game is programmed with various rules of engagement, the physical world is also programmed with consequences.

Typically a video game will come with a series of challenges in the form of virtual opponents, virtual race tracks or whatever. We might have to fight or steer a car or whatever. As we play the game, we win points if we follow the rules and we play the game well. If we don't follow the rules, or don't play well, we lose points. Most video games come with a combination of winning points and gaining advantages. When we win points we also move up to a higher level. In other words, the way we play the game comes with consequences - good and bad.

The physical world is comparable. We accumulate advantages when we do things that help others, and this leads to positive consequences. But if we do things that hurt others, this leads to negative consequences, which typically reflect what we did. If we punch someone, we're likely to receive something reciprocal. If we steal from someone, we'll be put in jail (our freedom stolen from us). These are all negative consequences.

Does this describe 'eye for an eye'?

Consequence learning is the notion of 'an eye for an eye.' But many have misinterpreted this to mean humans have to take violent responses to others' activities. As Jesus taught when a woman was about to be stoned to death, mercy is the greater position.

As this is applied to consequences, we can be merciful and render just and fair sentences.

In some cases, we are not responsible for rendering justice. For events outside the realm of crimes, the physical world is designed for automatic consequences. We don't have to enforce these, because the physical world is already programmed within its design to present consequences to each of our self-centered actions.

Sometimes, the consequences do not come so quickly. They may take a few years, or even a lifetime to come back to us. In other words, the activities of our current lifetime will produce consequences into our next physical lifetime - assuming we choose to remain engrossed in our physical identities.

Did Jesus teach this?

This is why Jesus' disciples asked Jesus the following question when they came upon a person who was blind from birth:

His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2)

If the man did not live a previous lifetime, how could he have sinned previous to being born blind? We know from this and other statements that Jesus indeed taught that the spiritual person can transmigrate from one body to the next.

This also gives us a clear understanding of the term "going to hell" - a term accepted by practically every organized religion. If a person dies, and the body is buried and decomposes, how could that person possibly "go to hell"?

The only way that person could "go to hell" after the body dies and decomposes is if the person is not the physical body. The person must be able to separate from the body at death in order to "go to hell."

Where do we think hell is?

In some underground cave, full of fire with horned devils brandishing pitchforks? Have we found any of these yet in our drilling and excavations of the earth?

What about the suffering we see right here on this planet? What about the children born into starvation? What about women born into countries where armed men rape them, torture them and burn their villages? What about the people who are - and especially those from times past - born into slavery, to be whipped by cruel masters? (Slavery in different forms continues to this day.) Are these people not in hell?

And what about the rest of us? Are we in that great a place? Are we not also born into relative suffering, as we cry during birth, only to struggle with diseases, survival, and aging, to become crippled and then die in pain? Are we also not suffering - albeit not as bad as some others?

This physical world is hell. Hell is that place designed for those whose consciousness and previous activities are being reflected right back to us. In other words, our individual suffering has been caused by each of us. No one else is to blame.

Does God want us to suffer?

So then we must answer that question that so many sane people ask when they try to relate a Supreme Being with the suffering evident in the physical world. They ask:

If God exists, then why is there so much suffering?

or

If God is a loving God, then why is there so much suffering?

These are both logical questions that most sectarian institutions have no reasonable answer to. 

The first part of the answer goes back to the video game analogy. Just as the computer operator is not the video game icon that he or she is playing in the video game, we are not these physical bodies. Our physical bodies are like automobiles that we get in and drive. They are not us.

And just as the computer operator playing the video game can turn off the computer and walk away (or the car driver can step out of the car), we  - the spiritual person - can each also leave our physical body and this physical world, and return home to the spiritual realm.

In other words, the suffering that we see is not happening to us or others. It is happening to these virtual machines called our physical bodies - which we, unfortunately, identify as ourselves.

This means that the suffering of the world is only taking place to these physical machines - not us. Our only suffering is due to our misidentification with them - and our being away from the Supreme Being.

This element - that we become engrossed in the identities of our physical body by virtue of our desires - is also part of the Supreme Being's design. Why?

The objective of the design of the virtual physical world programmed by the Supreme Being is to give us:

1) A place where we could virtually escape from God's presence
2) A place where we could seek out our own enjoyment
3) A place where we could pretend that we are the center, and the universe revolves around us

But at the same time, He also programmed the physical world with a rehabilitation (consequence) system to help us. Why? Because the Supreme Being loves us and knows that we will only be happy if we are with Him, being His playmate and caregiver in the spiritual realm. This is our true identity. So out of love, the Supreme Being programmed into the physical world:

1) A facility that allows us to re-learn the meaning of caring for others
2) A facility that allows us to re-learn what love is and what compassion is
3) A facility that teaches us about humility
4) A facility that shows us how alone we are without Him
5) A facility that pushes us to re-evaluate our decision to be away from Him

These traits; love, compassion, humility, and being connected and dependent upon the Supreme Being, are our lost natural traits. So He is simply trying to remind us - through this virtual medium - of who we really are, in hopes we will return to our natural position.

How does this relate to consequence learning?

Let's compare this to the consequence learning system that good parents train their children with. If the child steals something, they get grounded and can't play with their toys for a period. If the child messes up something, they have to clean it up. What does this teach the child? To respect others' possessions and things. In other words, we can see what the parents are trying to teach by the consequences the child is given.

If we look around us at the various consequences of the physical world, we can see what is trying to be taught to us: Love, caring for others, respecting others, and so on.

And the state of our learning travels within our consciousness, as we travel from moment to moment, year to year, and lifetime to lifetime.

Some like to argue that there is no way the spiritual person could inhabit another physical body. Yet we are inhabiting multiple bodies even within this lifetime. The body we wore as a child is not the same body we are wearing as an adult. The entire body - every atom and molecule - is different. Even the molecules making up our genes have recycled. Therefore, we are changing bodies all the time. Science has determined that within five years, the body's molecules have been recycled.

What is the self?

So what is the permanent 'thing' among our changing bodies? It is the self - the spiritual person that operates the body. When we look in the mirror we do not see our self. We see the physical body that our self operates. When we look at our childhood picture, we see the body our self operated before - which is now gone. Now our self is operating a physically different body.

But the pure spiritual self is not the only thing that travels through changing bodies. Our consciousness also travels with us. This consciousness covers the pure self with desires and consequences (the state of our learning), and it is this consciousness that determines the shape of our physical bodies.

It is like carrying around baggage. If we want to go to Detroit so that we can have fun on the town, we will travel there carrying a suitcase full of clothes suitable for going out on the town. If we didn't want to go out on the town, we wouldn't need those clothes. Now if we didn't work hard at our job, we couldn't afford to put nice clothes in the suitcase. We would put whatever clothes we could afford in there.

In the same way, our desires determine what kind of future body we will wear, limited by our past activities. The more we treat people with care and kindness, the fewer limitations our future bodies will have in satisfying our desires.

But whether our past activities have been good or bad, as long as we maintain self-centered desires, we will remain trapped within the confines of the physical world. Here we will remain in hell - experiencing virtual pleasures and pains to the degree of our desires and past activities.

In other words, hell is that place where we are disconnected - by our selfish desires - from God and our loving relationship with Him.

What is spiritual purification?

Becoming spiritually purified has nothing to do with our wanting to be cleansed of our sins. The desire to be cleansed of our sins is still a self-centered desire, so it has nothing to do with spiritual purification.

A person becomes spiritually purified when their objective and mission is to please (do the will of) the Supreme Being.

In this condition, the person is cleansed of self-centered desires, because they have fallen in love with God, and they seek to please the one they love.

This change in consciousness has a completely purifying effect on our consciousness. It is like the person going to Detroit realizing they do not need to go. They won't need a suitcase. In the same way, if a person does not have self-centered desires, they don't need to carry around a self-centered consciousness and the prospect of future physical bodies. They can return home to the spiritual realm after this physical body is finished.

The reason Jesus indicated that his disciples were "clean" - or purified - is because they became part of his mission. His mission was to please the Supreme Being because He loved God. Because Jesus' students wanted to please Jesus as their teacher, they were hooked up with his mission - and thus lost the 'baggage' of self-centered goals. Even if they were not perfect in their love for God, as long as they were linked up with the mission of Jesus, their consciousness was cleansed.

Of course, a person can change, in either direction. The Supreme Being gives us the freedom at any moment to move closer to Him or away from Him. Thus, for those who are moving towards Him, most of us still need further preparation before our consciousness is perfected enough to return to the spiritual realm. This is a personal and often gradual process.

Challenges are put in front of us to test us, and we still face consequences for whatever activities we do with self-centered intent. These can serve to make us stronger, wiser, and more aware of who we are and what our ultimate position is - assuming we continue to desire to return to our relationship with the Supreme Being. As our love for Him grows, our self-centered desires burn away, and we become prepared to return home.

This is the core of Jesus' instructions, and why his most important one was:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-40)

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace ..." (John 16:33)

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

What kind of 'peace' is Jesus referring to?

Most people think of peace as the absence of war or fighting. But this is not the kind of "peace" that Jesus is discussing here. Jesus is speaking of inner peace - a state of inner tranquility. How can we arrive at such a state of peace within?

When Jesus says, 'I have told you these things' he is referring to his teachings. "These things" are being translated from the Greek word, οὗτος (houtos) which means "these."

This is followed by λαλέω (laleō) which means "what I have said" or "spoken." What has Jesus been speaking about to them? He has been teaching them about God. These are Jesus' teachings.

Jesus' teachings will give them peace within. Jesus has introduced his students to the Supreme Being and given them the opportunity to re-establish their loving service relationships with God.

Because a loving relationship with God satisfies our need for love and to be loved. We no longer need to seek to be loved and appreciated by others because we have His love. We no longer need to seek to control or dominate over others because we become His subjects. This satisfies the emptiness that lies within.

We are empty without our loving service relationship with God because this is our natural position. God created us to love Him and serve Him. This is who we are.

But because love requires freedom, God gave us the choice to love Him or not. Those who choose not to love Him get sent away to the physical world - "the world."

What does Jesus mean by 'the world'?

Understanding what Jesus means by "the world" is the key to understanding this verse.

Many read this as though "the world" means the people of the world - as though Jesus is talking about conquering the people of this world like some sort of conquering emperor like Alexander or many others over the centuries who have sought to conquer nations and peoples.

But this is not what Jesus is referring to here.

The "world" is being translated from the Greek word κόσμος (kosmos), which can certainly be translated to "world" but this is a superficial translation. According to Thayer's lexicon, the word can also refer to "world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly - the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire;" and "the ungodly multitude, the whole mass of men alienated from God."

This meaning still exists in the English language today, as people often use the term "worldly things" to describe materialism.

In other words, Jesus is not referring to conquering the people of the world as in ruling over them. He is talking about conquering materialism - the self-centered world of the physical body and its various illusions.

The physical world may be a real place, but it is full of illusions. The first illusion is that we think we are these physical bodies. The physical body is a fleshy shell - a temporary vehicle each of us - the spirit-person - drives for a few decades. At the time of death, we each leave these physical bodies. 

This has been proven scientifically in hundreds of thousands of clinical death cases where the person revived tells of leaving their body and watching their body from above, and witnessing things that only a person who has left their body could have witnessed.

But the illusion of this world is that we feel that we are these bodies. It is like a car driver thinking he is the car. This illusion causes so many erroneous contemplations as we seek happiness within the physical world. We try to satisfy these bodies in so many ways. And even if they are well-fed and perfectly taken care of, we still are not satisfied. This is because we are not the physical body.

It is like a hungry car driver thinking that filling the car up with gas will satisfy his hunger.

This world also provides a platform for our exercise of self-centeredness. Here in "the world" everything revolves around greed. "Greed is good" is the mantra of Wall Street today. Capitalism is the perfect example of "the world" because self-centeredness is what drives consumerism and the economies of "the world."

Here in "the world" we also chase name and fame, control over others and acceptance by others. This is why people strive to be CEOs, star athletes, movie stars and business moguls. It is also why people join clubs and groups, and even become parents. Everyone is striving to be in charge - to be accepted - to be appreciated - to be praised - to be adored.

And as we know from simple observation, all of these things are fleeting and temporary. The CEO must retire one day. The rock star or movie star will get old and lose their popularity. The business mogul will sell his business. The parents' kids will grow up. And all that acceptance from clubs and groups - these groups don't really care about us. They just want us to join so they will feel they are part of a big group and feel accepted. They are just as empty as we are, in other words.

Yet all of this is what Jesus is referring to as "the world." This is the illusion of future happiness founded upon the false identification with the physical body.

Jesus also points out that "the world" brings pain and suffering: "In this world you will have trouble." Actually, the word "trouble" is a poor translation of the Greek word θλῖψις (thlipsis) which means, according to the lexicon: "oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits."

Yes, this world is also a place of affliction and distress - a place of pain and suffering. It is, in fact, hell. While some threaten us with going to hell while preaching that we pray to achieve wordly wealth, success and fame, Jesus teaches that this world is a place of affliction and distress.

Yes, Jesus is teaching that we are already in hell.

How has Jesus 'overcome the world'?

Jesus' teachings also deliver the solution to the hardships of the world. He says, "But take heart! I have overcome the world."

How?

With his loving relationship with God. Jesus is God's perfect loving servant. He is devoted to God and connected to God because his activities are motivated by his desire to please God.

This "overcomes the world" because "the world" is controlled by the self-centered motives of its inhabitants. When a person's motives are to please the Supreme Being, they "overcome the world" because they are no longer controlled by the self-centered desires that drive the rest of the world. They become aloof to the issues of "the world" because they are linked with God through their intent to please Him.

This is Jesus, and this defines salvation. Jesus wasn't seeking to "overcome the world" as Alexander or Hitler sought to conquer nations and peoples of the world. He had already "overcome the world" because he loved and served the Creator and only Owner of the world: The Supreme Being.

Why does Jesus say, 'in this world you will have trouble'?

Jesus is speaking of the nature of the physical world. This is a world of learning. It is a place full of challenges. It is also messy. Every body comes with pain. And no body makes it out alive.

These bodies are in pain from the moment of birth onward. The baby cries out in pain when born, and the early years are wrought with pain as the body begins to adapt to the outside world. Then come the pains of teething and intestinal issues. 

Then come the various scrapes and bumps as the child begins to walk. Then come the pains of the playground - both physical and emotional. Soon the child experiences the suffering of peer pressure and discipline as the child must learn to follow the rules. Then come the sufferings of adolescence with the pressures of school, friends and homework.

Then come the difficulties related to adult life - of finding a job and working for a boss and company that we'd rather not. And if we can't find a job - the pain and suffering related to survival itself - getting shelter and eating. 

Along with these afflictions come many others, including bouts of sickness, stress, fighting with others, and struggling for position with those who compete for what we seek. Then the people we take shelter in - parents and other relatives - die. Then our own body dies.

Most of today's sectarian institutions cannot explain why the world is such a place of suffering. They cannot explain why some children are born into starvation and rape. They can't explain why God wouldn't make the world a happier place without so much pain and suffering. They can't explain why every body dies.

That is because they do not understand who we are and why we are here. And why we've come to occupy a painful body that is destined to die.

The physical world is that place of learning for those who seek self-interest. It was set up by the Supreme Being to give us the freedom from Him that we desire. We desired separation. So He gave it to us in the form of giving us a physical body with a mind that has forgotten Him.

But it is also set up to teach us that we will never be happy away from Him.

It is set up to show us this through hardship and consequence learning. This is because He wants us to be happy. Like a parent who disciplines a child because they don't want their child to end up in jail for the rest of their lives, God teaches us through the events and consequences of the world - which take place through His programming.

But the bottom line is that the suffering of the world is our responsibility. Suffering is the natural consequence of our own actions combined with a learning experience. Yes, we create our own suffering and the suffering of others by our activities of self-centeredness at the expense of ourselves and others - in this lifetime and previous lifetimes.

Jesus specifically points out that his teachings bring relief from the pain and suffering of "the world." They also bring us peace from within.

This is because Jesus' most important teaching was:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

*Here is the translation of Jesus' statement from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"These things I have said to you so that you may have tranquility. The material world gives you adversity, but take courage: I vanquish the material world.” (John 16:33)

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know You ..." (John 17:25)

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent me." (John 17:25)

Why doesn't the 'world' know God?

Jesus is continuing his open prayer to the Supreme Being. This part of his prayer reveals a gaping hole among many popular interpretations about Jesus today.

It is the hole that misses the entire purpose of Jesus' coming to the physical world.

This is related to us not knowing the Supreme Being.

These teachers and institutions do not teach about the Supreme Being because they do not know Him.

As Jesus states, "the world does not know You."

Why not? Typically before we can come to know someone we must have some contact with that person. 

Why don't we have contact with God? Is it because He doesn't want us to know Him?

It is because we don't want to.

Each of us is here in the physical world because we do not want to know Him. We want to be away from God, and create an environment where we are the center of the universe.

We are not these physical bodies. We are the invisible (to the physical eyes) spirit-persons that live within and drive these physical bodies. This spirit-person - our spiritual self - cannot be perceived by the physical eyes, nor measured by any of the physical senses or their instrumental extensions (microscopes, MRIs, etc.).

This is why, when a person dies, the exact same body with every organ, every cell, every molecule, every atom that was there when the body was alive is still there in the dead person. Nothing changed, except the personality is gone. The life within the body is gone. The person's goals, desires, aspirations and mission in life are gone. Everything else - everything physical - is still there in the dead body.

This is because the spirit-person leaves the physical body at the time of death. This spirit-person is of another dimension. And because the spirit-person is of another dimension we cannot see it with our physical eyes or otherwise sense it with our physical senses or their extended instruments.

But we know that we exist. And we know that we have existed even though our bodies have completely changed from childhood to adulthood. Science has determined that within five years every molecule in our body has been recycled. This means we are effectively changing bodies even while we are here. If we look at a picture of our childhood body and compare it to our adult body, we can know that the childhood body in the picture is gone. All the molecules have been recycled into the environment. And we are now wearing an altogether different body.

Yet we still feel that the child in the picture was "me" and I am still "me." Who is the "me"? It is the invisible spirit-person that occupies this physical body.

Now we must ask why can't I see my spirit-person self, and why can't I see others as spirit-persons? Why do I only see physical bodies and physical forms?

Because we are currently identifying with these physical bodies. We believe this body is me and this world around us is our home. We think we are physical and we thus rely upon our physical senses as the ultimate seers.

Even though our physical body is constantly aging and closer to death, we still think this body is me. Even though this body will die at any moment, we still think this body is me. And even though we know our senses are extremely limited and pick up only a small bandwidth of even the physical spectrum, we believe that unless our senses can see something, it doesn't exist.

What really exists?

We can compare this situation to those who play computer video games. Why do some become so attached to computer gaming?

Because after they begin to play a particular game they begin to identify with their avatar or icon in the game. They begin to identify with the virtual environment. They become immersed into that virtual environment.

The video game really exists, but it does not exist in the same way that the house the gamer is living in exists. The video game is a virtual environment created by the software.

In the same way, this physical world is a virtual environment. It is created to allow the physical avatar or icon to orchestrate this environment. 

This doesn't mean that the education that exists within the physical world is not real. We are learning real lessons here in the world.

It is the same in a video game. Let's say a videogame is about being a warrior - as many games are. The video game will teach the player certain skills and lessons - say how to shoot faster or evade an opponent.

The physical world teaches skills of love and relationships. It teaches us to be kind and patient and humble in our approach to the world.

Otherwise, the world teaches us lessons that show us that these lessons of love and caring for others is a better way of living.

This is why we cannot see into the spiritual dimension. Even though we are spiritual in composition, we cannot see into the spiritual dimension because we have suspended our spiritual selves while we immerse ourselves within the temporary environment of this physical world.

Why do we forget who we really are?

We forget because it helps us learn. Forgetting our past lives and our nature as spirit allows us to learn lessons without bias.

This is sort of like medical science testing, where the patients and the doctors are blinded - they don't know who is receiving the treatment and who is receiving the placebo. If they don't know then bias won't have as much interference in the results.

In the same way, if we forget who we are, we can learn in this virtual environment without bias.

The elements of forgetfulness were studied by Dr. Ian Stevenson, a medical doctor, and professor of research at the University of Virginia. 

Dr. Stevenson discovered in his research among thousands of patients that children tend to forget their past lives around the age of seven. By that age, they become immersed in the trappings of the particular situation their current body resides in, and the memory of their previous life dissolves. They have successfully suspended their previous lifetime - and their spiritual selves along with it.

The fact is, this is all by the arrangement of the Supreme Being. Just as a programmer ultimately writes the code for a computer-internet video game, the Supreme Being has written the code for this physical world. He has set up the physical world in such a way that we become completely immersed within it.

 

The Supreme Being gives everyone the option to love Him or not. This is because love requires choice. How could God enjoy our loving Him if He was forcing us to love Him? Therefore, in order to achieve the full enjoyment of receiving pure love, the Supreme Being had to give us the choice to love Him or be not.

Those of us who have made the choice to not love Him naturally became self-centered and ultimately became envious. Because this mentality is not compatible with the loving nature of the spiritual realm, this required us to be sectioned off from the spiritual realm, in order to try to enjoy ourselves separately. How could we possibly escape Him when He is present throughout the spiritual realm? Where in the spiritual realm is God not present?

The Supreme Being set this all up for us out of His kindness. He set up different forms and different types of identities - like avatars - for us to choose from. Just as a person chooses a Halloween costume to act out a particular fantasy, the Supreme Being gave us choices of different types of physical bodies, according to a combination of our desires and the lessons we must learn.

God designed the physical world in such a way that our physical senses and minds have no entrance into the spiritual realm, and our self-identification with these physical bodies blocks our remembrance of our true selves as spiritual beings.

But it is not as if the physical world is some sort of heavenly spot where we can live forever and forget God forever. In fact, if this were such a great place with only pleasure and no pain and no suffering, we wouldn't want to return to our true selves.

And the reality is, we are ultimately miserable here, despite an accumulation of wealth, admiration or success we may achieve in the physical world. We, like the so many wealthy and powerful people of this world, are miserable and lonely, regardless of how large our bank account is, how big our family is or how many adoring fans we have.

The spiritual realm is not compatible with self-centeredness. It is a place of love and kindness. Therefore, this virtual physical world is teaching us how to live in the real world - the spiritual world.

We will only be happy when we return to our loving nature within our true identities within the spiritual realm.

The Supreme Being also programmed the physical world to be a rehabilitation center of sorts. The physical world was programmed with consequences: This creates consequence learning - the ultimate way to learn.

And what is consequence learning? What we sow, so shall we reap. This is consequence learning in a nutshell. Good or bad, whatever self-centered act we do that affects others will come back to us, in one form or another. If we hurt someone's physical body, our physical body or a future one will be hurt in a similar manner.

This is why there is so much suffering in the world. Each person's individual suffering (of their temporary physical body or mind) is the result of their making someone else's body or mind suffer in that way in the past.

In other words, the suffering of the world is our responsibility. Each of us, and all of us as an aggregate, have caused the suffering of the world as a result of our self-centered activities.

So the Supreme Being is not making us suffer. We are making ourselves suffer. He simply set up the physical world as a mirror - a reflection of ourselves.

Did Jesus teach this?

The fact that Jesus confidentially taught these points to his close students and disciples is confirmed by a simple question asked by his disciples:

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:1)

This question not only accepts the notion of consequences but that the man could have caused his being born blind from activities prior to this lifetime. This assumes consequence learning.

But we must understand that we are not these physical bodies. So just as the computer game avatar might get blown up but the person sitting at the computer is not blown up, our physical bodies suffer remotely from our spirit-person. The spirit-person only suffers to the extent we are identifying with these physical bodies.

And the reason for the consequence learning system set up by the Supreme Being? To teach us. To help us evolve. To teach us the benefits of loving others and caring for others. Just as parents' will set up consequence learning to help teach the child not to steal or hurt others and become a responsible adult, the Supreme Being has set up consequence learning to help us evolve to a point where we are ready to return to our natural constitution: Our true nature as loving, caring individuals who want to return to our loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

And as we evolve to the point where we sincerely want to return to the spiritual realm and our relationship with the Supreme Being, God will send us a guide to re-introduce us to Him and help guide us back to Him. Jesus confirmed this many times, with other statements, such as:

"I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent me.” (John 7:28-29)

This is who Jesus is. The Supreme Being's loving servant, sent to the physical world to help guide those who want to return home to God.

This is why Jesus says in his open prayer:

"and they know that You have sent me."

Jesus is speaking of his sincere disciples and students here ("they"). He is speaking of those who were seeing - perceiving - Jesus' identity as being sent by the Supreme Being to guide them back to the spiritual realm: In essence, re-introducing them to the Supreme Being.

And what will that result in? Why was Jesus making such a big deal about knowing the Supreme Being? Because we must know the Supreme Being before we can love Him. We cannot love someone we do not know.

And Jesus' entire mission revolved around helping his students come to know and love the Supreme Being. He wanted to re-introduce them to the beautiful loving nature of the Supreme Being. This is why Jesus wanted them to praise and glorify the Supreme Being and His Names. And this is why his most important instruction was:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

*Here is the translation of this verse of Jesus' prayer from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"O righteous LORD, although the material world doesn’t know You, I know You and these know that You sent me.” (John 17:16)