"Jesus sought to substitute many terms for the kingdom but always without success. Among others, he used: the family of God, the Father's will, the friends of God, the fellowship of believers, the brotherhood of man, the Father's fold, the children of God, the fellowship of the faithful, the Father's service, and the liberated sons of God." P. 1861

"(Jesus) next explained that the 'kingdom idea' was not the best way to illustrate man's relation to God... Jesus said, 'The people of another age will better understand the gospel of the kingdom when it is presented in terms expressive of the family relationship..." P. 1603

Jesus taught a radically new way of living, in family relationship, with God as our spiritual parent and all people as our sisters and brothers. This way of life can be thought of as patterned by seven central truths, each of which can be lived out within successively larger circles of family relationship.

1. The Fatherhood of God. The spiritual parent/child relationship is our primary experience in the family of God.

2. The Brotherhood of Man. Life in the family of God is profoundly fraternal and sororal.

3. The Indwelling Spirit. God has placed a perfect fragment of himself within each human being. Spiritual family life is intimate. It is close, constant, and comforting.

4. The Will of God. God offers us guidance in each passing moment. We can discern his will and attempt to follow it. Life in God’s family is progressive. We grow increasingly like God as we ascend toward his presence on paradise.

5. Love. Relationships in God's family are always affectionate, dedicated to the good of others.

6. Eternal life. We can feel secure because these family relationships will be there for us forever. We are just beginning an endless adventure of growth in God's family.

7. Faith. We can trust God utterly. As children in the family of a divine parent, we are perfectly cared for. Our ultimate welfare is secure. Increasingly, we can depend on God, follow him; and that changes the way we live.

The family of God experience involves living these truths in the context of at least five successively larger family circles, each of which is an arena of activity and/or service:

1. The Inner Family, including our Thought Adjusters, Jesus (the Spirit of Truth), our angels, and the presence of our local universe Mother Spirit.

2. The Home Family, parents and children (and/or others) who live together and create a home culture.

3. The Fellowship Family, any group of like-minded believers.

4. The Interfaith Family, the family of all believers, both within and outside of organized groups.

5. The Global family, all of God's children on this world, including those who have not yet discovered him.

Two additional family circles, which we will increasingly encounter in the eternal ascent, are important to consider:

The Original Family, the Paradise Trinity, providing the pattern for all subsequent family relationships: Universal Father, Eternal Mother-Son, and Infinite Spirit.

The Universal Family of all beings in the grand universe.

This constellation of thoughts regarding the family of God emerged during three years of research in The Urantia Book and in religious history on the general topic of the socialization of religion. I’d like to share a few of the other conclusions drawn from these studies, primarily regarding cult evolution, central spiritual truths, and religion as a way of living.

What does the book tell us about the socialization of religion? This quote focuses on the nature of cultism:

"Every inspiring ideal grasps for some perpetuating symbolism--seeks some technique for cultural manifestation which will insure survival and augment realization.... From the dawn of civilization every appealing movement in social or religious advancement has developed a ritual, a symbolic ceremonial. Every effective religion unerringly develops a worthy symbolism... Regardless of the drawbacks and handicaps, every new revelation of truth has given rise to a new cult, and even the restatement of the religion of Jesus must develop a new and appropriate symbolism.... This enhanced symbol must arise out of religious living, spiritual experience. And this higher symbolism of a higher civilization must be predicated on the concept of the Fatherhood of God and be pregnant with the mighty ideal of the brotherhood of man." (P. 965-6).

What is this higher symbol the revelators speak of? Once again the book provides us some guidance:

"The family occupied the very center of Jesus' philosophy of life--here and hereafter. He based his teachings about God on the family..." (P. 1581).

Rodan states, "'I do not hesitate thus to glorify family life, for your Master has wisely chosen the father-child relationship as the very cornerstone of this new gospel' "(P. 1776).

"(Jesus) next explained that the 'kingdom idea' was not the best way to illustrate man's relation to God... Jesus said, 'The people of another age will better understand the gospel of the kingdom when it is presented in terms expressive of the family relationship..." (P. 1603).

"Jesus swept away all of the ceremonials of sacrifice and atonement. ... The creature-Creator relationship was placed on a child-parent basis. ...All ceremonials not a legitimate part of such an intimate family relationship are forever abrogated." (P. 1133).

So, if we ask the question, "What might this central metaphor be, this new and higher symbol which eventually will develop out of the revelation?", perhaps the answer is family.

"No cult can endure and contribute to the progress of social civilization and individual spiritual attainment unless it is based on the biologic, sociologic, and religious significance of the home." (P. 966).

There are many other quotes that point to the family of God as the central symbol which emerges from a study of Jesus' gospel in The Urantia Book.

Returning to the broader subject of the socialization of religion, what is it about symbols and cult that make them so important? Modern life is very complex and distracting. The Urantia Book, while it is wonderfully clarifying, is also huge and many-faceted. We need a way to highlight and simplify its most essential truths, to remember them constantly, a way to carry them inside us. We need a way to hook these truths together into a meaningful whole, a vivid symbol which shapes the way we live.

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This symbol, this ideal, must motivate us. It must inspire us to live out the truth in our daily lives, both as individuals and in our various group relationships. Even beyond our personal and social lives, cult and symbol can equip us to act as a powerful cultural force which, eventually, can transform human society.

This way of living in the family of God is one possible representation of Jesus' gospel. It is a way of pulling together and connecting the central truths of the gospel, which are also the central truths of The Urantia Book.

The symbol of the family of God has value only insofar as we translate it into an actual way of living our lives. If it remains simply a set of ideas, then it is dead. It must become an ongoing experience, a set of unfolding relationships between God and human beings. These truths and family circles are simply a series of touchstones. If we use them, they can help us live more spiritually fruitful lives.

"Truth cannot be defined with words, only by living." (P. 1459).

"When theology masters religion, religion dies; it becomes a doctrine instead of a life." (P. 1141).

These elements of life in the family of God are simply a series of road signs that point the way along a path. They can help to keep us channeled within an unfolding process... a process of living out our lives as children in God's family.

You might ask, "why these particular seven truths ?" They emerged from the research in The Urantia Book. They appeared over and over again, hundreds of times, sprinkled throughout the text. And they were almost always highly emphasized as central to Jesus' gospel. Here are just a few examples:

Fatherhood of God. "And when all is said and done, I can do nothing more than to reiterate that God is your universe Father, and that you are all his planetary children" (P. 72).

Brotherhood of Man. "The acceptance of the doctrine of the fatherhood of God implies that you also freely accept the associated truth of the brotherhood of man" (P. 2053)

Indwelling Spirit. "'The kingdom of God is within you"' was probably the greatest pronouncement Jesus ever made, next to the declaration that his Father is a living and loving spirit" (P. 2084).

Will of God. "Jesus always and consistently interpreted religion wholly in terms of the Father's will" (P. 2088).

Love. "Therefore man's nearest and dearest approach to God is by and through love, for God is love" (P. 50).

Eternal Life. "... Jesus blended man's highest .... spiritual ideals with man's most sublime hope for the future--eternal life. And that was the gospel of the kingdom" (P. 1866).

Faith. "Jesus taught, 'Faith is the open door for entering into the present, perfect, and eternal love of God!"' (P. 1545).

Indeed, there are many quotes where four or five of these central truths of the gospel cluster together in a single sentence!

"….. a genuine religious experience ... concerns itself only with learning and doing the will of the Father in Paradise. The earmarks of such a religion are: faith in a supreme deity, hope of eternal survival, and love, especially of one's fellows." (P. 1141).

".… by faith accept the truth which portrays that the Universal Father so loved the world as to provide for the eternal spiritual progression of its lowly inhabitants... " (P. 28).

"….The religionist of faith believes in a God who fosters survival, the Father in heaven, the God of love." (P. 68).

It was as a result of this clustering of truths, and similar repeated support for the importance of the family circles, that this listing emerged. Hopefully, nothing really essential to the gospel has been left out, and all elements connect to the central symbol of the family.

These truths and circles can be explored and developed within each of our lives. If you would like to try working with this framework in your own spiritual life, you might start with Inner Family activity; prayer, worship, communion. The first priority is to begin and maintain a habit of regular prayer and worship. Even if you spend only 15-20 minutes a day, I believe you will start to experience powerful results.

You can use these elements of the family of God way as a framework, a kind of inner process template. You can try to spend inner time working with each of the seven truths on a daily basis, living with them, experiencing them, letting them unfold inside of you. And you can pray about how to live the truths more fully within each of the family circles.

You might find that, as you start to get your Inner Family life going strong, it is natural to begin applying these truths in the other family circles as well; in your home with your partners and children, with fellow believers and believers from other traditions, and in your life in general.

You may see these truths blossoming in your life in different ways:

encountering a sister or brother with a problem and feeling the satisfaction of helping them with it;

or encountering a difficult choice, asking for a sense of God's will, and getting clarity;

or perhaps during a pause in the day, feeling the Father's presence within loving you, and loving back;

or at the end of a long day , looking up at the stars in the night sky, and getting excited about the eternal adventure.

Living as a child in God's family can become an ever-present experience for each of us. The potential of the family of God symbol lies in the power it has to unify human experience, if it becomes an actual way of living. There is great life coherence in the integration of family relationships on all conceivable levels; from the original and inner families to the home family, from the fellowship family to the family of all believers, from the global family of all human beings to the universal family of all beings in the Father's vast creation.

Marvin Gawryn.