| Answer
from Jesus:
The question of
vicarious atonement has caused much confusion among Christians. I desire
to set the record straight.
The only way to fully understand this concept is to understand the law
of cause and effect, including the concepts of reincarnation and karma
(see Did Jesus teach reincarnation?).
When the universe returns your karma to you, you will be burdened by
that karma. Returning karma can manifest in many different ways, but
all of these ways will be a burden to you. Your karma will often limit
your ability to walk the spiritual path and raise your consciousness
above the level of the carnal mind.
When I came to earth 2,000 years ago, humankind was severely burdened
by returning karma created in past ages. It became clear to me that
people would have little chance of following my true teachings while
they were so burdened by this karma.
Therefore, I petitioned my Father in heaven to be allowed to bear humankind’s
returning karma for the next 2,000 years. I was granted that petition,
and therefore I have carried the burden of humankind’s karma for
the past 2,000 years.
Bearing the burden of someone’s karma is not the same as permanently
removing that karma. Therefore, it is not true to say that Jesus Christ
has taken upon himself the sins, or the karma, of the world. I have
given people a temporary reprieve from the burden of their karma. I
have not given them a permanent escape from that karma.
When you consider the idea of vicarious atonement, as it is preached
by some Christian churches, it is not difficult to see that there are
certain aspects of this idea that simply do not make sense. First of
all, we have the idea that I have taken upon myself not only the sins
that were committed up until my embodiment as Jesus, but also all of
the sins that could possibly be committed after that time.
How could I possibly take on sins that have not yet been committed?
Because I am not caught up in the carnal mind, I completely fail to
see how anyone can make any sense out of such an idea. This would be
giving humankind a blank check and allowing them to do whatever they
wanted without ever having to face the consequences. How could people
possibly learn from this?
I am a spiritual teacher. I desire to help human beings learn their
lessons and to learn them as quickly as possible. However, the very
essence of being a teacher is that you cannot learn someone’s
lessons for them. It simply isn’t enough that I learn that human
actions have consequences. You must learn that lesson for yourself,
or the lesson will have no impact on your life.
People must learn their own lessons, and they must do so by coming to
an inner realization of the truth of that lesson. A teacher can help
people learn their lessons, the teacher can point the student in the
right direction, but the teacher cannot learn the lesson for the student.
That is why I said: “You can lead a man to water, but you cannot
make him drink.”
If I were to take upon me the sins of the world, and thereby remove
those sins, I would also take away people's opportunity to learn their
lessons in life. I am a true spiritual teacher, and therefore I would
never deprive my students of their opportunity to learn.
Paying your debts to life
Let me tell you a little parable to illustrate this point. Two men went
to the bank, and each person received a $10,000 loan. Neither person
had to make any payments for the next five years, but then the loan
had to be paid in full.
One man spent the money on riotous living, and when the five years were
up he had no money left. He could not pay back the loan, and therefore
he was thrown in jail. The other man invested his money in a business
venture, and after five years he had made $100,000. Therefore, he paid
back the loan in full and hardly even noticed the sum that was taken
out of his account.
This is the divine intention for delaying the return of your karma.
The idea is that in the time between committing a wrong act and reaping
the karma of that act, you have time to increase your fortune. When
you commit a wrong act, you incur a debt to life. At some point in
the future, you will have to pay back that debt. Yet, when you commit
a righteous act, you make good karma and lay up treasures in heaven.
If you use your opportunity wisely, you can become a millionaire before
having to pay back your debt. In that case, paying back your debt will
be no big deal.
Likewise, when I volunteered to bear the burden of humankind, I intended
people to use their time wisely. I intended them to apply my inner teachings
and therefore increase the treasures they have laid up in heaven. When
my dispensation was over, people would be required to bear their own
karma and to pay back their debt to life. Yet, if they had used the
opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven, it would be a simple matter
to pay the debt in full.
Unfortunately, my original intention did not come to pass. Because people
were deprived of the keys to my inner teachings, most people have not
become spiritual millionaires in these past 2,000 years. At the same
time, most people have not made a sincere effort to rise above the
carnal mind and to put on their personal Christhood.
I am now faced with the following situation. The 2,000 years are up.
God will not allow me to continue to bear the karma of humankind. Therefore,
that karma must inevitably begin to descend, and you already see numerous
signs of this on earth.
God does provide the possibility that I, or one of my spiritual brothers
and sisters, could volunteer to take upon themselves the karma of a
human being who is still in embodiment. Yet, this is only allowed when
the person has truly learned his or her lessons in life, have abandoned
the carnal mind and have made a sincere effort to put on individual
Christhood. In such cases, we of the spiritual hierarchy can be permitted
to permanently remove someone’s karma. We have done so for many
individuals in the past, and we are still doing so today. However, this
can only be done on an individual basis, and it is only done when people
merit this grace.
What I am telling you here is that because of what has happened, or
rather what has not happened, over the past 2,000 years, humankind does
not merit the permanent removal of their karma. Therefore, I am not
allowed to permanently remove the karma of humankind as a whole. I am
allowed to do this only on an individual basis.
The returning karma of humankind is a serious matter that could cause
much upheaval on this planet. You might have noticed that in recent
decades there has been a dramatic increase in the number of prophecies
that have been brought forth from various sources. Although not all
of these prophecies are true, the very fact that so many prophesies
are springing up should demonstrate to you that you are living in unusual
times. The reason for the increase in prophecy is the return of humankind’s
karma.
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Copyright
© 2003 by Kim Michaels |
