The Mystery of God in Man

This article is one of the Unity Classics written by legendary leaders of Unity. Some date back decades, even a century. That’s why the language may seem a bit formal, and the writers sometimes used masculine nouns and pronouns that were considered proper for their era.

Within every person is the unborn possibility of limitless growth, and ours is the privilege of giving birth to it.

Paul obviously had this in mind when he referred to: ... the mystery hidden for ages and generations ... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:26, 27).

Studies of God have abounded in all the religions of the world, most of which have dealt with an intellectual construction of a Being "out there." And we have been subtly conditioned by artists' visualizations such as Michelangelo's classic frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. A massive figure of a man, representing the Almighty, reaches down to touch man. It is a beautiful work of art, but not the best example of man's attempt to define the indefinable.

Through the ages of man's quest for Truth and reality, there has appeared, here and there, a lone figure who caught the idea of the mystery of God in man. Ikhnaton, King of Egypt from 1379-1362 B.C., was a forerunner of the ideal. His is probably the first awareness of "God is one and man is one in that one."

Among the Greek philosophers, Plotinus stands out as a forerunner of the new insight of Truth. He caught the idea of a cosmic force that is both imminent and transcendent in life. 

Each being contains in itself the whole intelligible world. Therefore all is everywhere. Each is all, and all is each. He saw man at the very center of the universe which rushes and streams and pours into him from all sides while he stands quietly.

But for the most part, this idea of God in man has been a well-kept secret in the field of religion, and a rejected theory in science.

This could well be the most colossal blunder ever made by man, for while man has searched the heavens and the Earth, the great secret of existence lies within himself. It is only through realizing this mystery of God in man that we can understand one like Jesus, with all His spiritual power, as a demonstration of that which is fundamental in all life.

Dwell for a while on the idea of the universe as the allness that we call God, realizing that everything within it, from the vast galaxies to the subatomic particles, is created in and of the universe. You may wonder about the vastness of the universe and peer at it through a telescope. However, you are not on the outside looking in. You are on the inside looking out. You are the universe at the point where you are.

You Are the Center of the Universe

Attributed to Saint Augustine is this profound thought: God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. If the center is everywhere, it is where you are. You are the center of the universe, the center of God. This is not a point to be made egotistically, but transcendentally.

There is that of you which is centered in God, and which is a point of God-activity flowing forth into expression as you. And, the circumference is limitless. There is no limit to God, or to man in God consciousness.

God is not in you like a raisin is in a roll, but like the ocean is in a wave. The wave is nothing more nor less than the ocean formed into the shape of a wave. And you are nothing The Mystery of God in Man more nor less than God expressing as you. Thus divine sonship is not a projection of the Divine into the human. God cannot project Himself outside Himself; He can only express Himself within Himself. Man is not an individual in God, for that would presuppose isolation and separation. Man is an individualization of God.

This is fundamental for all persons. Thus, any kind of phenomena displayed by uncommon men and women are but the erratic manifestation of a higher state of consciousness that will be the natural possession of the man of the future. As Jesus said: " ... he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do ... " (John. 14:12). God in each of us is the allness of which we are an eachness, and the constant need in our lives is to unfold more of our allness in a process of conscious evolution. It is not trying to get into God or to get God into us. It is to, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10).

We all have a long way to go, but Jesus demonstrated a goal that is believable and achievable, and He pointed to that in us which is perfectible. Wherever we are along the way, no matter what the problems or challenges, there is always more in us, the Christ in us as our hope of glory, which means our potential for healing, overcoming, prospering, and succeeding. And there is no limit!

This excerpt is from Eric Butterworth's book, Celebrate Yourself!. For more about his teachings, visit EricButterworth.com.