“For the Father is sweet and within his desire is goodness. He knows the things that are yours so that you might find rest in them. For by the fruits one knows what is yours. The Father’s children are his fragrance for they are from the beauty of his face.” [19:1-4]
This chapter continues the flow of the idea from the end of the previous chapter that we are from the Father and all of us are in him, as one, by reminding us of the Father’s sweetness and goodness. The Father’s desire for us is to bless us and to lead us to peace, and to rest. As someone can judge the character of a person by examining the fruit of their actions, it is possible to see the character of the Father in us as we bear those fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. When we do these things, we become the “aroma of Christ” which is the fragrance of life. [See Matthew 7:15-20, Galatians 5:22-23 and 2 Corinthians 2:15-17]
“Because of this, the Father loves his fragrance and discloses it everywhere, and when it mixes with matter it gives his fragrance to the light. And in his tranquility he makes it surpass every form and every sound. For there are no nostrils which smell the fragrance, but it is breath and spirit that smells and draws the fragrance to itself, is immersed in the Father’s fragrance.” [19:5-7]
The Father’s love for us is about our connection to the Father. We are his fragrance which is “disclosed…everywhere” and which “mixes with matter [and] gives his fragrance to the light” itself. Our senses, properly attuned, can sense the Father’s presence. Our ears “do not smell the fragrance” but we can see the Father’s fragrance [or presence] in the light, and as we become aware of our immersion in the Divine fragrance, his pnuema [breath and spirit] draws us [as elements of his fragrance] back to the Father.
“It harbors it and takes it to the place it came from, from the first fragrance which has become cold – something in psychic form. It is like cold water which has flowed into loose earth. Those who see it think it is simply earth. Afterward, it evaporates and dissolves again; when a breath of wind draws it, it becomes warm. So the cold fragrances are from division.” [19:8-12]
So, as our fragrance originates from the Father’s fragrance, we return to “the place [we] came from.” But, somehow this “first fragrance” has “become cold” as if it were “something in psychic form” and is “like cold water which has flowed into loose earth.” Those who do not have eyes to see only perceive this cold fragrance as “simply earth.” They do not see the Divine presence or smell the Spirit’s aroma of life. They see only that basic matter and form which appears to be separate from the Father. What makes the fragrance of the Father turn cold is simply the illusion of separation or division, which prevents us from recognizing our Oneness with him.
I think this section about “the first fragrance which has become cold” is a reference to our human experience. Although we come from the Father and share his sweet fragrance, we grow cold – both because we are unaware of the Father’s loving presence, and because we have spent so much time separated from God in our minds. Our ignorance makes us cold. Our belief that we are far from God turns us away from the light of his eternal presence. We grow cold from apathy, ignorance, and a lack of passion for the infinite love of the Father. We become “something in psychic form” without shape or purpose. We are reduced to an untapped spiritual potential that wafts like smoke in a dark room without any sense of form.
“Trust came for this reason – to dissolve division. And it brought the warm fullness of love so that the cold might not return and that there might be a unity of perfect thought.” [19:13-14]
One translation of this section says: “For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he brought the hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but the unity of the Perfect Thought prevail.” This reference to “the hot Pleroma of love” is fascinating because it is an ancient reference to “the totality of the divine powers” which is another way of saying that God’s desire is to utterly obliterate the concept of division and separation using every last drop of his unlimited, infinite and irresistible power to do so.
The reality we abide in now is one where there is perfect unity where “the cold may not return” and “the unity of Perfect Thought” [or Divine Wisdom] may forever prevail.
Let it be so.
**
The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>
Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”
He co-hosts The God Squad podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.
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