Live for the Sake of Others (1)

God set the pattern for the universe. In the ideal existence we live for others. The subject exists for the object and the object exists for the subject. God’s definition of goodness is total giving, total service, and absolute unselfishness. We are to live our lives for others. You live for others and others live for you. God lives for man and man lives for God. The husband lives for his wife and the wife lives for her husband. This is goodness. And here unity, harmony, and prosperity abound.

Man is incarnate God

If there is a God of love, life, and ideals, and that God does not manifest all these qualities in man, His object, then God has defeated His very purpose of creating. God either projected the full value of Himself in His object, or He created nothing at all. God is the subject to man, and we are the objects to God. An object is the full reflection of the subject. So man is the visible form of God, and God is the invisible form of man. Subject and object are one in essence. God and man are one. Man is incarnate God. Otherwise, we would not be able to reflect God’s full image. God could not realize His joy, the purpose of His creation. When we as objects are not as perfect as God Himself is perfect, we cannot reflect the full love, life, and ideal of God. So man, the object of God, is as important in value as God Himself. If I made vigorous gestures and shouted to an empty auditorium, I am sure that anyone who saw me would wonder, “Is that man crazy?” But if I have someone to have give and take with, some object out there to respond to

me-even one small child in front of me-and I pour out my heart and soul to him, then I am considered normal. The sole difference is the presence of someone as object. But let’s say there is not even one little child in the audience. In desperation, I might pick up a little piece of dust, and looking at this dust, I could speak to it and still pour out my heart. Then I would at least not be a crazy man, for even a dust particle can serve as an object.

What I am trying to illustrate is the value of an object. As we are the objects to God, He has placed us in a position equal to Himself. Thus, man shares the same value as God and is just as important as God. Even though God is most high and noble and mighty, He too must have His object. Otherwise He feels no joy. Joy comes when you receive stimulation from the object. Not even God can be joyful alone. You must realize that God created man and the universe for joy. But God’s joy remains dormant until He can have give and take with His object.

So far in Christianity, we placed God so high up in heaven, and pushed man so low in hell, that there has been an un-crossable gap between them. A wide and raging river has separated man from God. Men do not dare to reach out to God as a living reality. Man has been unable to realize that God is so close, so real, so approachable, that we can even dwell with Him. We are supposed to be the living temples of God. Yet conventional Christianity has been unable to make that a reality.

No matter how wealthy and famous you may be, unless you have someone with whom to have give and take so that you can share your joy, your sorrow, your opinions, and your ideals, you are just a poor man. We feel joy and sadness because God’s heart can feel joy and sadness. Not until this time in history did we ever believe that God could feel sorrow. And God can feel excitement or indignation, just as we can. We, the objects of God, have this ability to experience emotion because our subject, God, has the same capacity for emotion. God is the first personality, and human personality comes from God. How them can we become true objects to God? By our efforts and hard work alone? No. There is but one way to come together in oneness with God. That way is through love-oneness in love with God.

Let me illustrate. Suppose there is a famous man. Opposite him is a woman who is unassuming and meek and without beauty or education. However, once this great man and this humble woman establish a circuit of give and take in love, she will instantly achieve his level of prestige. Let’s say the man’s name is Jones and he falls in love with this woman and marries her. She then become Mrs. Jones and returns his love with all her heart. Whatever power, authority and prestige Mr. Jones enjoys, Mrs. Jones would share in every respect. Now, what does this teach us? Once we have a relationship of love with God and become one with Him, our value increases instantly to the level of God’s value. And such love as this is everlasting, unchanging, and unique.