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Introducing Jesus | Who is Michael?
It is our suggestion that those who attempt to read The Urantia Book begin in Part 4, The Life and Teachings of Jesus. However, you will quickly realize that you are entering the story of Jesus ‘in the middle’ so to speak. It is evident that much had transpired before his bestowal on earth (Urantia) and the writer of the account assumes that the reader is familiar with Jesus’ pre-human history, as set forth in Parts 1, 2 and 3. So here, we endeavor to provide a summary or overview of Jesus’ pre-human existence, as told in the previous Parts, which we believe will make the entire account in Part 4, and The Bible, more understandable.
Part 4 opens with “The Bestowal of Michael on Urantia,” Paper 120. To many Bible readers, this is the first unequivocal identification of Michael as the pre-human name for Jesus. However, when The Bible refers to Michael, it identifies him as “one of the chief princes” as in Daniel 10:13, as “your prince” as in Daniel 10:20-21, as “the great prince” as in Daniel 12:1, and as “the archangel” in Jude 1:9. But The Urantia Book clearly identifies the pre-human Jesus as Michael and says he is one of the Creator Sons of God. It explains that each Creator Son is the creator of his own universe and the only-begotten son of the Paradise Father in that universe. The Apostle Paul explains it this way at Colossians 1:15-16:
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
- Colossians 1:15-16
The order of Creator Sons are all called “Michaels.” They are the appointed sovereigns who create their own universes and rule their universes by permission of the Paradise Father. In order to rule by their own right, a “Michael” must bestow himself on the seven primary orders of his creations and live the experience of his creations. Humans/mortals are the seventh and lowest level of intelligent creatures in the universe, and thus the bestowal on earth as Jesus was his seventh and final bestowal. When a “Michael” completes all seven bestowals, he becomes a Master Son. This is what happened to our Michael who incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth, as the
Apostle Paul explained in Philippians 2:5-11:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
– Philippians 2:5-11
So because our pre-human Michael had not yet gained his sovereignty in his own name, he could rightly have been referred to as a “prince,” “a great prince,” and as “one of the chief princes” as the Prophet Daniel called him. As for the account in Jude where Michael is called an archangel, that is a simple grammatical error. The Urantia Book explains that it should not have been recorded as “the archangel Michael.” Rather, it should have been recorded as “the archangel of Michael.”
And while it is important to know the actual name of our Creator and Universe Sovereign, the more important information is what he did and how his bestowal mission affected our lives. All of this and more we learn in The Urantia Book.