Claim. SMM teaches that restoration follows a mandatory upward path: servant of servants → servant → adopted child → child of direct lineage → parents — and cannot skip steps.
Elaboration. The Fall threw humanity below angels (God’s servants), making people “servant of servants” — those without a master (1.1.-the-old-testament-age-was-the-age-of-the-servant, 17-73, 1966.11.12). Each age of providence corresponds to one rung: the pre-Jacob era (servant of servants), Jacob to Jesus (servant), post-Jesus (adopted son), and the Second Advent (son leading into the parents’ age). Restoration cannot be arbitrary — “you cannot just ‘believe and be saved’” (ibid, 222-144, 1991.11.3). The path mirrors what was lost: since the princes and princesses fell beneath servants, they must climb back through every intervening position before returning to their original standing as God’s children.
See also. csg-three-ages-three-methods-of-return, csg-jesus-introduced-god-as-father
Referenced by. csg-six-thousand-year-search-under-grief