First Causes Part 1

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1

  I now come to a discussion of first causes, because creation—as opposed to construction—begins there.

   When you first tried to think about the difference between Spirit and Matter, you probably came to the point of view that Spirit is alive while Matter is dead, because dead means the inability to move. But now that you know from science that everything—from the rocks to your very own heart—is constantly moving and vibrating at different, unique frequencies. So, movement is not the differentiator between Spirit and Matter. Rather, Intelligence is.

   Although a rock may be moving internally, it is not intelligent in the sense that it has the ability—volition—to move itself without being moved by an external force. Intelligent beings, whether plants, animals or people, have volition and can decide—even if that decision comes from instinct rather than thought—to move themselves.

   The higher the level of Intelligence, the greater the capacity to think. So, you can assume rightly that human beings can act both by instinct and decision stemming from thought. When you come to the question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?, your understanding of first cause teaches you that the chicken had to come first. The egg is the reproduction of the chicken—a secondary cause—while the creation of the first chicken is a first cause.

   Thus, the original of anything is connected to first cause, while the reproduction of that same thing is a secondary cause.

   Put another way, first causes are creative while secondary causes are constructive.

   As you travel back in your mind to millions, billions or farther back trillions or quadrillions of eons ago, you will bump into the beginning: that place antecedent to space and time. There was only Self-Existent Spirit there and nothing else.

   My discussion of first cause must bring you to the question: What was around before the heavens and earth were created? The obvious answer is Spirit, because it is not possible for you to conceive of nothing. (Even empty space is something!) But your next question must be: What materials did Spirit use to make the heavens and the earth, if there was nothing else but Spirit at the beginning? This then is where your deeper inner  journey begins.

   Since there was nothing but Spirit at the beginning, Spirit contemplated Its Self and through involution—entangling Its Self to become other than Its Self—became the raw materials It needed to create the heavens and the earth. This involution—this divine engagement in becoming what was not Spirit—is the first cause that made creation itself possible. It is also the pattern by which Spirit has always operated.

   First comes Spirit, then Spirit’s involution or engagement in entangling Its Self in that which It is not. Out of this involution comes the raw materials from which Spirit created the heavens and the earth.

   Once you grasp the significance of Spirit’s penchant for involution, you will begin to see how and why God would become the Man Jesus in the same way that God becomes you. But for now, it is only necessary that you become familiar with the term involution.

   So, you see that first cause (the All-Originating Spirit of God) did actually create everything out of nothing external to Itself. Spirit created everything needed for creative activity out of Its Self!