Out of the Tomb
Martin Cecil April 16, 1960
When man first fell, in his endeavor to be as God he proceeded to use his body and his various capacities for expression to distort, to prevent and to nullify the Divine expression through himself on earth—symbolically, this is portrayed as crucifixion. That which occurred in relationship to our Master Himself was a revelation of that which man had been doing ever since he first fell. Our Master came into the world to offer human beings an opportunity to let some changes come, so that the crucifying of things Divine on earth might cease. It is evident that the opportunity was rejected. And so, that which occurred in relationship to our Master was merely the evidence, brought to focalized point, of that which had been true of mankind ever since he first fell. The expression of the only begotten Son of God had been crucified and prevented from manifesting through the children of men by reason of human self-activity. The opportunity to let the essential changes come, having been rejected, then that which had been true of mankind as a whole was brought to bear in relationship to the body of Jesus, so that there might be, amongst other things, a clear revelation of what human beings had been doing. That clear revelation has apparently not been recognized yet. Human beings have continued to do exactly the same thing as they did before our Master came—namely, distort, prevent, and nullify the expression of the only begotten Son of God through themselves on earth. If that particular event which is commemorated at Eastertime has not yet shocked human beings into a vivid recognition of their own abject failure, then I wonder what would.
Everything that is of God is eternal. It does not pass away, therefore it must be present with us in this moment. Only the things which are not of God pass away—the untrue pattern, the untrue form, those things pass away. Therefore when human beings look back to that which has been experienced in the past, when they look back to our Master's life on earth, they do not see, actually, what it was, because the Truth in relationship to our Master's life is present with us now—the Truth does not pass away. Attempting to look back and understand our Master's life and experience cannot give a true picture, because the things that are back there are the things that have passed away. It is only as there is recognition of the relatedness of that back there to this present moment that the things of God in relationship to it can be seen. This principle operates in relationship to everything, not just to our Master's life. In our consideration of that which is contained in the Bible you know very well that we look at it from the standpoint of its meaning to us now. The concepts which human beings have about our Master do not present a true picture. It is only when we see it in the light of the present moment that we can know the Truth, because our contact with the Truth is in the present moment, and the Truth does not pass away.
In the Easter season the story as it is recorded in the New Testament is recalled. Human beings consider it again, but almost entirely on the basis of looking back to something, and what they see is not a true picture; it cannot be; whether it is with respect to our Master’s life or to the concluding experiences of it. It is only as we see these things as they relate to ourselves here and now that meaning begins to appear and that we begin to gain a true vision of what it was that occurred long ago. The approach, then, is in relationship to immediate application with respect to ourselves here and now. When we begin to comprehend that, then we can begin to comprehend the situation as it was long ago. In this we can see why there are so many ideas with respect to what did happen, and none of them are true—they are all colored and distorted.
In the experience through which our Master passed—the mockery of the trial, the scourging, the crown of thorns, the abuse, and finally the crucifixion—the opportunity was offered to human beings at that time, when that was the present moment, to see in that experience what human beings as a whole had been doing to that which comes from God all down through the ages. It was brought to point for them there and then, but of course they did not see it and consequently they could not understand that which had been working out in relationship to the human race before. Because they did not see the Truth in its application to them there in that moment, they certainly did not comprehend or understand what it was that had been transpiring in relationship to the human race before that time. Because you have begun to recognize the application of Truth in relationship to your own living here and now you have gained some understanding of the Truth as it applies to the past, so that you can see something of the outworking of events, so that you can see something of the picture as it actually is in relationship to the human race. Mankind has been crucifying the Divine expression through itself for many thousands of years—distorting and nullifying the characteristics of God, preventing them from appearing through human beings on earth in the achievement of the Divine purposes. There has been, and is, an attempt to nullify God on earth.
We see it in its extreme form today, where man places himself as being the supreme apex of everything and God is not supposed to exist. It is a foolish idea, really. By reason of this endeavor on man's part, human beings have placed themselves in a tomb. This fallen world of man is one great tomb, the valley of the shadow of death. The darkness of the world is the darkness of the tomb. As long as human beings remain under the controlling influences of that Egyptian darkness—black magic—there is a process of disintegration. Human bodies, from the moment that they are born into this world, are disintegrating. Everything that man builds is in the process of disintegrating. Blood and sweat and tears maintain what man builds for a little time but, sooner or later, down it goes! The world of man is the tomb in which disintegration and decay take place. But it can be transmuted into something else. If there was an integrating process rather than a disintegrating process, then the nature of this darkened world would change from a tomb into a womb. It is dark in the womb—in the formation of the body of the babe in the womb there is an integrating process; something is taking form; there is a design. In the womb there may be a process of building which finally comes to a point of birth.
In our Master's own personal experience the tomb was transmuted into the womb, for there was no process of disintegration; the stone was rolled away and the physical body of Jesus came forth in birth out of the womb. These things have a direct relationship to ourselves, for we find ourselves in the tomb of this fallen world, the same as everyone else. Shall we just take the attitude that it is a tomb, and that is all there is to it?—which is the general viewpoint of human beings: “Everybody dies, after all, this world is a tomb, we all disintegrate.” This is the accepted viewpoint, is it not? Anything else would be considered to be utterly fanciful, visionary and foolish. How much have human beings seen of the Truth in relationship to that which our Master revealed?
If the tomb could become a womb for Him, the tomb can become a womb for us, so that that which transpires changes from a process of disintegration to a process of integration. Our Master revealed the way for all human beings everywhere, in this present moment, not something “way back when.” We might well be reminded of some words which He spoke: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”—if any man will share in proving that which He proved. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,” (as a human being) “and take up his cross, and follow me.” The cross has usually been looked upon as some burden, but the cross to which our Master referred certainly had nothing to do with that which was a revelation of man's failure—He was pointing to the way of victory. The way of victory does not lie in man's crucifixion of things Divine on earth. The cross relates to the facilities of man's being, body and mind and heart, the means created by God by which things Divine might cross over into the earth. Our Master did not say anything about denying ourselves “things.” He said, “Let him deny himself.” Stop trying to defend and uphold and protect that which you are as a human being. Here we have reference to the change which is necessary from a self-centered state to a God-centered state. Let him deny himself.
What did He do when He was on earth? He revealed Deity—the facilities of His being were used to that end. His capacities were filled full of Divine expression. He offered Divine leadership on earth. Human beings have been trying to follow God for a long time, and they have not made a very good job of it, because they are trying to follow something that is incomprehensible to them. No, we should not follow human beings, but human beings were created by God as a means for the Divine expression on earth—Divine expression is supposed to come through human beings. Our Master, when He was on earth, invited human beings to follow Him. Why? Because the Divine expression was appearing through Him. He was not inviting them to follow a man, a human being as such, but to follow God made manifest through Him—and He indicated that this was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It is only as God is made comprehensible by reason of the expression that comes through a human being that God can be known.
The world is waiting for the Divine leadership, but where is it going to come from? Well, from God of course—it could not be Divine leadership if it did not come from God. But how is it going to appear, if not through human beings? If we deny ourselves as human beings, take up our cross and offer it to God, then we may follow our Master in that which He did. What was it He did? He revealed Deity on earth and He provided Divine leadership on earth. This is the only way by which Divine leadership can be known on earth. But the Truth is not known until the individual recognizes how it applies in relationship to himself here and now: the experience of denying himself, taking up his cross and following our Master, actually doing it—letting it be done through oneself. Most human beings claim that they are too humble. “It could not be me!” If we all say that, who is it? Why should it be any less you than anyone else, or any more someone else than you?
Somewhere, sometime, through someone, the Truth must become known if the Truth is to have any meaning on earth. Just to think about it, talk about it, read about it, may delude some people into imagining that something is being accomplished but it is not until the individual accepts the Truth for him or herself in the present moment. Might we permit the tomb of the Egyptian darkness of this world to be transformed into a womb for us? so that because we are no longer centered in the patterns of the world’s black magic, no longer governed by the spirits of this world, no longer subscribing to the ideas and beliefs, concepts of this world, but beginning to find a centering in Heavenly Magic, a centering in Life, we may permit the experience of resurrection, or rebirth, to bring us forth from the tomb of the world’s darkness into the Garden of God on earth. It is here, waiting for someone to come into it, to come out of the darkness of the tomb in the dawn of a new day into the Garden of God. This invitation is extended to you, to all people. How would it be to accept it? not letting the human mind put forward its arguments to confuse, not being governed by fear or unbelief, but sharing in the true vision which permits the tomb to become a womb. Let us rest in the womb tonight, that we may discover what the dawn of a new day shall bring. Peace be unto you.
© emissaries of divine light
