Theme: Entering the Mystery of Divine Sonship

I. INTRODUCTION: THE GATE OF BEGINNING
The Gate of Reuben—“Behold, a Son”—is the first of the twelve spiritual gates into the celestial city described in Revelation 21:12, where it is said that the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem bear the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Each gate is not only a point of entry, but a threshold of consciousness, a sacred doorway the soul must pass through in its ascent toward union with God.

The Gate of Reuben corresponds to the firstborn son of Jacob, whose name derives from the Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re’uven), meaning “See, a son!” or “Behold, a son.” This declaration is more than familial joy—it is prophetic, pointing toward a truth that unfolds from Genesis to Revelation: that the soul is not merely human, but born of God, a divine child awakening to its true nature.

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
— John 1:12–13

II. QUALITIES NEEDED: AWARENESS OF DIVINE SONSHIP
To pass through this gate is to awaken from spiritual amnesia. The soul must shed the false identity imposed by the world—national, ethnic, familial, even religious—and realize its true genesis is in the Light of God.

This is not merely belief—it is awareness: a conscious recognition that you were born from above (John 3:3), that you are not merely an earthly creature seeking heaven, but a spark of heaven walking the earth.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”
— 1 John 3:1

This awakening is the first initiation—not into doctrine or tradition, but into identity. The soul begins to see itself as God sees it, as a luminous being of divine origin.

III. INNER REQUIREMENT: NOT FLESH-BORN BUT LIGHT-BORN
Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of the necessity to be “born again,” but the Greek phrase is γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν (gennēthē anōthen)—which more accurately means “born from above.”

“Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
— John 3:3

To be light-born is to remember the preexistent nature of the soul. As Christ existed before Abraham (John 8:58), so the Son lives in the bosom of the Father before it is made flesh. Passing through this gate means reclaiming your origin in the Light—before trauma, before lineage, before form.

“For ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:5

This recognition is not mere poetry—it is spiritual genesis. One must say, as Christ did:

“I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
— John 16:28

IV. WHAT TO BRING: SINCERITY OF HEART, CHILDLIKE PURITY
To pass through the Gate of Reuben, one must bring no baggage of pride or self-importance. The keys to this gate are sincerity and innocence—not naivety, but purity of intent. A heart that still dares to trust, still hungers for God, still believes in goodness, even amidst suffering.

“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
— Matthew 18:3

This is the Christ-child consciousness—the state in which the soul sees all things with openness, without presumption, without cynicism, and without ambition for control. It is not weak; it is radiantly strong in its refusal to harden.

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
— Matthew 5:8

V. MELCHIZEDEKIAN INSIGHT: INHERITANCE BEYOND LINEAGE
The order of Melchizedek is a priesthood without genealogy (Hebrews 7:3), and this is essential to Gate 1. Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, lost his birthright through transgression (Genesis 49:3–4), and it was given not to the next brother, but ultimately to Joseph’s son Ephraim, and spiritually, to Christ—the Son not born of fleshly descent but of the Holy Spirit.

“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
— Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17

This priesthood recognizes no caste, no tribe, no nation. It transcends biology and enters divine filiation—you are a son of God not because of your parents, your blood, or your past, but because the Light begot you.

“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
— Galatians 3:29

Thus, Reuben’s gate is not only about seeing a son, but becoming the son you truly are.

VI. THE SON REVEALED IN YOU
The deeper mystery is not that you behold the Son outside—but that you behold the Son within. As Paul says:

“…it pleased God… to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen.”
— Galatians 1:15–16

This is the mystical awakening that Christ is not only a man in history but the Logos in you. The gate opens when you no longer speak of Him only in the third person, but say:

“I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
— Galatians 2:20

VII. CONTEMPLATIVE REFLECTIONS
What false names have I lived by?

Reuben is the renaming of your self-concept. You are not merely what the world called you.

Do I believe I was born from the Light?

If you trace your essence to trauma, you live bound. Trace it to God, and you are free.

What would it mean to live as a Son of God today?

Would you walk in fear, or in radiant boldness? Would you act from lack, or from wholeness?

VIII. PRAYER FOR PASSING THROUGH THE FIRST GATE
Father of Light,

I stand before the Gate of Reuben. I stand not as an orphan, but as Your child.

Strip from me all false names and borrowed beliefs.

Let me behold the Son—not as distant, but alive in me.

May the purity of my heart be enough.

May the Light that bore me remember itself.

And may I walk not as one seeking inheritance, but as one already crowned.

Amen.

IX. CONCLUSION: THE GATE OF IDENTITY
Reuben’s gate is not only first in sequence; it is first in necessity. Until the soul remembers who it is, it cannot walk through any other gate rightly. Identity is the foundation of all transformation. You must know you are a child of God before you can take another step into the Holy City.

To “Behold, a Son” is not to see another—it is to see yourself in the mirror of the divine.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18

This is Gate 1: the awakening of the Son.