In this lecture, Neville Goddard asserts that God became man so that man may become God, emphasizing that individuals are the divine beings who descended into human form. Referencing Psalms 82 and 22, he argues that humanity’s purpose is to remember its true divine nature and to raise creation to the level of infinite love. God’s crucifixion and resurrection are presented as a cosmic, eternal drama rather than a historical event bound to time. Goddard shares a personal visionary experience of uniting with man and fulfilling scriptural psalms to illustrate the process of redemption. He invites listeners to reverse their thinking, awaken their imagination, and actively participate in the redemption of all creation. The lecture concludes with an exhortation to dwell in silence and meditation to fully realize one’s divine identity.
You are told that God became man that man may become God. You may think you are the man that God, as another, became, but I tell you: you are the God who became man, that man may become you! Because my visions which parallel scripture are accurate, I can boldly say that what I have just told you is true. In the 82nd Psalm we are the speaker, speaking to ourselves, saying: “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you will die like men and fall as one man, O princes.'” We are the sons of the Most High, and we and our creator are one. Although we are now in a world of men, we have been promised that posterity will serve us and tell of the Lord who wrought it. You and I actually became human, that humanity may become spirit – as we are! You are not a little worm that God became. You were God before you devised the grand experiment, knowing it was the only way that man could become as you are!
Reverse your thinking: Think of yourself as God and you will have an entirely different feeling about becoming man. Although certain passages of scripture are not understood on this level, their meaning will be revealed, for we made everything because we loved it. Then we became man (man/woman) to raise and glorify our creations. We had to completely forget our true being in order to assume our creation and raise it to our level. The 22nd Psalm begins with our cry of despair: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” but ends on this triumphant note: “Posterity will serve him; men will tell of the Lord to the coming generation and proclaim that he has wrought it to those that are yet unborn.” This is not referring to another generation, but to the gods who have not yet discovered they came down, assumed human nature, and then accomplished what they set out to do.
The drama begins with the crucifixion, when God has union with man. It ends with the resurrection, when God raises man to the level of himself. Everyone will be raised to that level, because we are the gods who came down. The 82nd Psalm begins: “God has taken his place in the divine society; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment saying: ‘Ye are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you will die like men and fall as one man, O princes.'” Dying in order to become man, we have assumed man’s entire nature in order to raise man to the level of love, for in the end there is nothing but love. Look around and you will see what man has done, is doing, and is capable of doing and you will see the nature we took upon ourselves to raise it to the level of Infinite Love!
The crucifixion did not take place in the year 1 A.D., but in the beginning of time. The Bible begins, “In the beginning God.” The word translated God is Elohim, which is a compound unity of one made of many. We are the gods who created the heavens and the earth. Many years ago I relived that event by fulfilling the 42nd Psalm. Taken chronologically, this psalm appears to have happened in 1000 B.C., yet I remember when I became man. Hearing a voice in the depths of my soul proclaim I am God in the act of waking, I began to whirl in space and time. Then I felt myself being sucked into this crucifix. My hands were vortices, my feet vortices, my side a vortex and my head a vortex as I – life itself – became one with man. I was not man waiting for life; I was life which entered man. I took upon myself the cross that is man, to bear and raise it to the level of love. Everything – regardless of how horrible it seems to be – was made in love and must be raised to the level of love. One hundred and thirty-nine days after I awoke and rose from my tomb, God’s only begotten son, David, revealed me as his father. I did not become the Father at that moment, I was always the Father, but came down and took upon myself the cross that is man, to raise him to the level of Fatherhood.
Now, in the 10th verse of the 22nd Psalm we read: “Deliver my life from the power of the dog.” In the King James Version the Hebrew word yachid is translated as “my darling”, and as “my life” in the Revised Standard Version. The word first appears in the 22nd chapter, the 2nd and 16th verses of Genesis, where it is translated as “my only son”. That is what the word yachid means in Hebrew. So we see that the psalmist was asking to deliver his only son from the power of the dog. And in the 16th Psalm, David speaks, saying: “Thou wouldst not leave my soul in hell.” Here the word translated “hell” means “uncovered; to disclose; to reveal; to take off the cover”. In other words, do not leave me uncovered, but reveal me, that I – in turn – may reveal you; for the father will never be known save through his son, who must be uncovered.
The night I kept my promise, I exploded, and my son – he who had been concealed – was set free to reveal me as God the Father. I did not become God the Father, I was always he. I had purposely buried my son with me while I played the part of man. And then I unveiled my son so that he could reveal me as God the Father. The night I fulfilled the statement, deliver my only son from the power of the dog, I was possessed by a vision of two very handsome men standing at my side. They were about 40 years of age and were looking at my son – a lad about 12 or 13 – with lust beyond measure. Then I reminded them of David’s victory over Goliath, as I pointed to his severed head on a table before me. Leaning against an open door, my son was looking out on a pastoral scene, while I was seated at his right – in fulfillment of the statement: “Thou art at my right, so I shall always be saved.”
We are the gods who assumed human form. Now playing all the parts in the world, in time we will lift the part we are now playing up to our true self, who is God the Father. Before we descended, we were the Elohim who deliberately created the play; then we entered our creation to redeem it. Although this may seem arrogant, I know what I am talking about. Thomas Chancy, the editor of the Encyclopedia Biblica (which is one of the most scholarly of all the higher criticisms of the Bible) questioned how God could have taken his place in the divine assembly; yet I know that when we agreed to descend and dream in concert, the one made up of the many proclaimed: “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you will die like men and fall as one man, O Princes.'” We are all princes, for we are the gods who made up the God who came down into mortal form, to raise these forms to the level of ourselves.
Man has completely reversed it. Today a prophetic book is all about mechanisms. More and better mechanics. Instead of plowing the field with a hoe, man now uses a tractor. Instead of a wheelbarrow, we use a missile to go to the moon. Man is making greater and greater mechanisms – but no one is telling of a Lordlier humanity! No one writes of that which came down into man and cannot return until he is born from above. No one is telling of this being who is going to rise out of his mortal skull and take man with him. Rather, they tell of greater and greater mechanisms.
Yet I tell you: the eternal story is that I – the I AM – took on mortality. I am the god who now wears your mortal form. The union is so complete, I feel I am human, and I will take this human feeling with me back into the level of love. We are the gods who came down in order to become individualized. What we will do tomorrow I do not know. Will we again descend into another element of the animal world? Or will it be the plant or mineral world we will redeem? We must redeem everything we have created, for we cannot leave anything unredeemed. So as Tennyson said in his poem called “The Plan”: “Be patient. Our playwright will show in some fifth act what this wild drama means.” I, the playwright of this wild drama, will not be satisfied just to redeem one section; the whole of creation must be redeemed. This has been quite a challenge, but God has wrought it as you are told in the end of this wonderful story. “Posterity will serve him and men will tell of the Lord to coming generations and proclaim that he has wrought it.”
You are infinitely greater than you think you are. You and I were together in eternity, which is everlastingly enduring. What cannot endure forever ceases to be! When God ceases to imagine something, it vanishes. But you and I are eternal beings who came down into time. As Blake said, “We build mansions in eternity in these ruins of time.”
Not one thing that has ever happened, is happening, or will happen, is out of kilter. It is all in order. Recently the Pope said that a man should not go against his conscience, but his conscience must be educated to conform to the doctrine of the church! Of all the nonsense in the world. Here is a man who sets himself up as the criterion of all that is right or wrong! Let us get back to scripture, for it hasn’t a thing to do with this outside world of death!
Now, in the beginning we created the bull, the mule, the harlot, the homosexual, and the lesbian. We made everything because we loved it. So why, at the end of the drama, should two men look upon my only begotten son with such lust? To fulfill the 20th verse of the 22nd Psalm: “Deliver my only son from the power of the dog.” – the power of the male temple harlot, for that is what the word “dog” means. Seeing the look of lust in their eyes, I reminded them of David’s victory over the giant whose head, completely severed from the body, was on a table before me.
Everything is in order. The men had to be there when I broke the tomb, for I could not leave my only son in this world of death. Rather, I will take him with me; for being a man after my heart, David has done all my will. My son played every part that I have played while wearing the part of man. I would not leave my loved one in this world of death, so I broke the grave and resurrected him. Having redeemed him, I now take him into my heavenly state where – without speech – we share in each other’s wisdom.
I urge you to condemn no one. No matter what he has ever done, you have done it, will do it, or are doing it now. Every part was created by the gods who came down and assumed human nature in order to play them all. That was our crucifixion.
I remember the night I led the procession to the house of God. I can still feel the ecstasy I knew as I became the six vortices – the Magen David, the great Star of David – and was sucked into and took upon myself the cross of man. Now, like Paul, I teach Christ as Imagination’s power and wisdom, crucified. Christ is now in you because he has already been unified with the body you wear. And you will remember who you really are when you reenact the drama of scripture. If you really want to awaken, dwell upon what I have told you. I am not flattering you. You and I are the gods who came down. We are not less than we were before we came. We are greater for having descended and for redeeming this section of creation called man, but we cannot leave any section unredeemed. We have now proved that we can come into the world and overcome death, and we will redeem everything we created, in time. We created every state and loved it at the time of creation. And we will play every state before the quiescence of it all – our eternal beloved being called David, calls us Father. And you will take him with you, for he is your only begotten son who revealed you to yourself.
David died and was buried, but you will not leave him in the world of death. You will break the shell with a terrific explosion as though the skull erupts, and David – who was buried there – is set free to reveal you to yourself. Then, in time, you will take him back into the heavenly sphere, the eternal, the everlastingly enduring state of the redeemed.
Now let us go into the silence.
Neville Goddard's lecture reframes traditional Christian theology by positing that God and man are one and the same being operating on different planes of existence. He challenges the conventional view of God as an external entity who became a separate man, asserting instead that humanity is the divine consciousness that temporarily assumed human form. This pantheistic and panentheistic stance blurs the distinction between creator and creation, suggesting that every individual holds the creative power of the divine. By elevating the self to the status of 'I AM', Goddard empowers listeners to recognize their inherent omnipotence and to transcend the limits of mortal identity. This radical reinterpretation invites a deeper exploration of selfhood and the nature of reality.
Goddard’s exegesis of Psalms 82 and 22 demonstrates his skill at extracting metaphysical meaning from ancient scripture. He reads the declaration 'You are gods, sons of the Most High' as a literal injunction for humans to awaken to their divine origin. The crucifixion and resurrection become symbolic representations of the soul’s descent into embodiment and its subsequent return to spiritual sovereignty. Goddard’s analysis emphasizes the intricate wordplay in Hebrew terms like 'yachid', reinforcing his thesis that scriptural texts convey esoteric truths to those attuned to imagination. This approach bridges scholarly biblical criticism with mystical interpretation, offering a fresh lens for both occultists and theologians.
The personal visionary experience recounted functions as both proof and pedagogical tool. Goddard’s description of being sucked into a crucifix and embodying multiple vortices illustrates the vivid quality of his inner communion with the divine. This first-person narrative verifies his teachings on a subjective level, inviting the audience to trust their own imaginative faculties. Furthermore, his reference to Tennyson and parallelism with Davidic psalms situates his mystical journey within a broader literary and historical context. The vivid imagery not only captures the imagination but also serves as a blueprint for followers seeking direct spiritual experiences.
Practically speaking, the lecture culminates in an invitation to apply the law of assumption and to meditate on the divine within. Goddard encourages the audience to 'reverse their thinking' and to see life’s dramas as roles performed by the divine self. Meditation, silence, and the reenactment of scriptural narratives are prescribed as means to actualize one’s identity as 'I AM'. This method aligns with his broader metaphysical system where reality is shaped by consciousness and imagination. Ultimately, the lecture functions as both an intellectual treatise and a guided practice for spiritual self-realization and the redemption of all creation.
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