Thursday, January 23, 2014

Analyzing the Mind of Christ - Part 1: The Reality Of His Will




I once experienced the presence of Jesus Christ. And one of the most striking things about this encounter was the tangible experience of His awareness. While on the floor of an old basement wood workshop, I knew that the eternal consciousness of Christ held everything together, and without his intention, the very fabric of space and time would disintegrate. It was as if all of reality was contained in His very thoughts. As I laid flat against the floor, trying to meld into the wooden surface in an effort to get lower while in the presence of perfect love, I felt the universe was eagerly conforming to his will. With what felt like limitless power, countless quantum particles wrapped around my body anxiously awaiting his command, as if their single purpose was to respond to His intent. John 1 states: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In the referenced verses, the word ‘word’ is the Greek word, logos, which had many meanings. In respect to one’s mind it means: Reason, mental faculty of thinking, cause, reckoning, calculating, thinking, thought & meditating. It becomes very interesting when you read the same passage while replacing ‘word’ with ‘thought’ or ‘reason’. What is a word but a thought manifesting through sound?

Maybe this is why sin (the result of OUR will) separates us from God. Because it’s not HIS thought/will/intention and by default, imposing our own thoughts prevents us from living in His. If the universe, life, power, energy etc. is actually a product of His will & thoughts, then employing our own will over His would literally be living in a different reality/universe, one we created, separating us from the mind of Christ, thus separating us from God. And any reality outside of one God creates, will decay. (Death) “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ.” Introducing Guilt, shame & fear into a reality we create by imposing our will, we can no longer exist in His perfect will/thoughts. It’s just not possible, if God is God. I believe that the fall of man happened when the human will created a reality outside of the will of God. In that moment a dying universe was birthed and was by default separated from the reality of Christ. Within that universe, darkness thrived and the inevitable decay doomed the new reality and all those who resided there. The cosmic conflict of wills had begun.


Although man now lived in a fallen universe, God still loved and desired humanity and the reality of his will and intent ultimately manifested through his Word in the fallen reality. God Preserved a chosen people who would carry the documented will of God through generations, until it manifested within the fallen reality in Jesus Christ who would ultimately reconcile all things to himself through an act of love: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  “…For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” But how did this work? Why did this act cause reconciliation? I mean, we all know the basic answer we have been given. That is, a perfect sacrifice of love covered the cosmic debt humanity incurred setting us free from sin and death. …But why? How? It’s quite a mystery…