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My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know Him, I know Him. Christ (John 8:54-55) Their preoccupation with earthly power and glory was the best evidence of their ignorance and lack of spiritual insight. They expected God to break the veil of secrecy and suddenly manifest His power and majesty by giving them visible dominion and supremacy over their enemies. (3:17) Divine Messengers provide the most direct and obvious link between God and His creatures. By speaking through them, God can maintain His secrecy and still talk to us in our language, just like another human being. It is impossible to imagine that God could speak more directly to us than this, short of actually revealing Himself to us as He does to His Messengers and Redeemers. (3:18) This is an amazing phenomenon: God, the Creator of the universe, speaking to us just like a friend and telling us that He is our true Beloved! Yet so many human beings refuse to accept this honor-- to be God's true lover and friend! (3:18) God respects our freedom. That is one of His choicest gifts to us. Without it we would be like slaves. He wants us to know Him and to love Him by choice, not by force; by desire, not by demand. Every choice is both an evidence and a test of our freedom. The tests bring to light our hidden selves. They show whether we are gold or mere glitters. They allow our souls to choose and reveal a given level of goodness and perfection. Some reach for the sublime; others for mediocrity. One drop out of the ocean of His bountiful grace is enough to confer upon all beings the glory of everlasting life. But inasmuch as the divine Purpose hath decreed that the true should be known from the false, and the sun from the shadow, He hath, therefore, in every season sent down upon mankind the showers of tests from His realm of glory.15 Baha'u'llah
(3:20)
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