“Be free!”… Sin, disease, and death are NOT real! Lesson Application Ideas for “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?”

Editor’s Note: The following background information and application ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson for this week are offered primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of daily study of the Christian Science Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp.

“Be free!”… Sin, disease, and death are NOT real!
Lesson Application Ideas for “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?” for April 9, 2006
by Corde Hanzlik, CS (Austin, TX)

The Golden Text of the Lesson, “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?” is the very treatment for the suggestive three. When we know the truth – the truth that God is all good, only good, and that we are His image and likeness, there is nothing else. That is the Truth. That very truth is the established law of our freedom. It is not necessary for us to make us free. Truth has done and is doing it. Let it! When in Christian Science we capitalize the word Truth, we know it means God. In the Bible, if you go to John and read the verse (or go to the last section), you will see that the sentence is lower case. If we use the sentence in the inspired Word and capitalize the Truth words, its value is infinitely multiplied!

Job is the Responsive Reading example to know this truth. Nothing went right for Job, yet early in his affliction he maintained that God is all-good, that he, Job, had done nothing wrong. He had his doubts and discouraging times as we read in the RR. But ultimately, the truth that he knew made him free as he “really” knew himself to be. It took a scolding from God and Elihu as well as understanding God more, but he was made whole and restored. Of course, we never go off the deep end like Job, right?

Section 1 The Almighty Creator/Author – God
Bible marker 1 establishes the strength and permanence of God’s authority. He doesn’t test us. We will see some of the “people devices” in the Lesson that challenge that individual to repent. God knows no evil because there is none. (B4)

Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures markers 3 and 4 give us clear instruction about K the T. (Know the Truth) We know the truth that God didn’t make erring belief. Understanding Him “strips off the disguise” of the belief. In S&H 4, “It is our ignorance of God” (not knowing the truth) “which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him” (knowing the truth, then the truth) “restores harmony”. God’s universe is naturally harmonious. There’s no room for discord. (S&H 5)

Section 2 Issac has double trouble
This week’s Lesson is following the Abraham’s family tree from the last 2 Lessons to the next generation. We have the story of Jacob and Esau, Issac’s twin sons. By reading the story you can get the idea of what a scoundrel Jacob was, yet it is his lineage that is important to us. We’ll see what happens to him in the next section. What is not in this part of the story is that when in their younger days, Esau was in dire extremes needing food and water. Jacob would gladly give it to him if Esau would give Jacob his birthright. (a privilege of being the first born son. What kind of a brother bargins the way Jacob did? Bad.) Grudgingly, Esau gave the birthright to Jacob. (Gen. 25:28-34, go to the Bible and read the complete story in this week’s Lesson and see how crafty Jacob was.) So even before the story that we have in this Lesson, Esau has it out for Jacob. Jacob was an inventive man. (B7)

This story represents a false sense of birthright and creation, human manipulation and fear driven motives. Mrs. Eddy’s correction for all of this is immediate in S&H marker 6, “Man’s genuine selfhood is recognizable only in what is good and true. Man is neither self-made not made by mortals. God created man.” Clearly both Rebekah and Jacob didn’t understand or trust God enough to work out Jacob’s life. What are the commands of Christian Science? (S&H 8) “To hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, and to overcome deceit with honestly.” Easy, right? We have the ability because we are “perfect and immortal’. (S&H 9) Are we ever tempted to be like Jacob and Rebekah?

Section 3 How do we know whether section 1 or 2 is the right creation? It always comes down to wrestling with our ‘self’.
We don’t intend to do or be evil. That’s not our true nature. Still, we do things that we really don’t mean to do. Jacob had to wrestle it out with his false material selfhood. He got the message. His whole character (name) was changed. He understood more of his spiritual selfhood as God’s idea created in section 1. Esau saw the change as well. Esau too, was a changed man.

Mrs. Eddy clearly explains the battle that we all must face. Let’s learn from the Jacob, now Israel, example. Israel’s wrestling set the course for all history, literally.

Section 4 The sin section – the sin of fleshly ties.
Jesus says to repent. Repent from what? Fleshly, earth thinking. Are we carnal, mortal or spiritual, eternal?(B13) Are we subject to God’s law or not? We can’t be both spiritual and material. The Romans citation gives us the comparisons/choices. The logical choice would be to choose God, life, freedom, be children of God. Is there really a choice?

By losing a sense of sin (anything less than God, good – missing the mark), we can easily see our true sonship (daughtership) with God. (S&H 13) It is a matter of turning, looking to our Parent. Obviously as marker 14 would indicate, suicide is not a way out. We will still have our wrestling to do, here or here-after. The sin doesn’t have any power to hold onto us. When we are obedient and see the Christ light, we are free. We will never escape the forever Love of God. We may have very difficult experiences, but God always loves us and won’t let us go.

Remember the K the T? Look at S&H 16. The list of errors may appear threatening, but “destroy the foe” (know the truth) and “leave the field to God” (truth makes free).

Section 5 Is disease real? Jesus didn’t think so.
Although the palsy was healed, look what Jesus told the man. His sins were forgiven – all wrong concepts of himself, wrestling, were dissolved by his Christly nature. “Go unto thine house (consciousness)” is to “Think for yourself, man!” Notice that Jesus didn’t say to the man, “Oh, you poor thing. Let me help you carry your bed.” He didn’t get into the false picture. The palsied man saw and felt the Christ firsthand. Jacob had seen what Jesus was practicing, not knowing that it was the Christ.

The frequent reference S&H 19 explains clearly why Jesus did what he did “in the same metaphysical process”(S&H 18). Jesus saw/knew only one man, ever, the perfect, whole child of God. What was the sin that Jesus spoke directly to? (S&H 21) The “belief that matter governs man.” The disease merely called itself palsy (immobility of right thought and action, paralyzed by false theology). Let’s not be tempted by false belief. (Especially after last week’s Lesson.)

Section 6 No death!
Why? We shall know the truth – “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” and that truth makes “free from the law of sin and death”. (B16,17) We are blessed! (B18) Christ Jesus proved the law of life, Life as we walk after the Spirit.

There is no death experience. It’s only unhandled belief. It seems like a very real belief, but it is illusion. “Life is real.” (S&H 24) We have the command in the last marker. “Follow!” “Be free!” “This is our divine right.”(S&H 25) In our Jacob wrestlings, we can know that we can only be winners. We are God’s sinless, healthy, eternal ideas. Sin, disease, and death are not real!

Camp Director’s Note: The above sharing is the latest in a long series of CedarS Bible Lesson “mets” (metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians. This document is intended to initiate further study as well as to encourage the application of ideas found in the Weekly Bible Lessons as printed in the Christian Science Quarterly and as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms.* Originally sent JUST to campers, staff and CedarS families who wanted to continue at home and in their home Sunday Schools the same type of focused Lesson study and inspiration they had felt at camp, CedarS lesson “mets” are in no way meant to be definitive or conclusive or in any way a substitute for daily study of the lesson in the books. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension, background and daily applicability to some of the ideas and passages being studied. The citations referenced in the “met” (metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible and Science and Health are the ordained pastor of the Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. The Lesson-Sermon speaks individually through the Christ to everyone, providing unique insights and tailor-made applications for each one. We are glad you requested this metaphysical sharing and hope that you find some of these ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor.)
Enjoy!