Christ is How it All Works

We tend to think a lot about the person of Jesus Christ. What would Jesus do? Do these things to represent me. Jesus said to welcome the stranger. Jesus was a pacifist. There’s nothing wrong with that, as certainly Jesus is our model for faith.

But the concept of Christ isn’t simply Jesus, though Jesus makes that accessible for us. Christ is eternal. Christ is our creation. Christ is how things actually work in the cosmos. All of that became incarnate in Jesus. So yes, Christ became a person, but Christ is an eternal member of the Trinity. Jesus is God made flesh existing as one of us, yet Christ is the operative reality of existence itself. There was a large and loving sacrifice present in Jesus, but the point was to shine a light on God’s purpose and reality for us.

Your salvation is recognizing what is already true of the world and humanity. Jesus made a sacrifice, yes, but that wasn’t to appease God’s anger so we could get into Heaven someday. It was to open our eyes to seeing that Christ is in and all around us. Salvation is not transactional where we must believe the right things, do the right things, and avoid the wrong things. It’s not a reward. It’s being a part of what is already put in motion from the beginning of time. This is how you become fully human.

When I speak of Christ, certainly I do mean Jesus of Nazareth. But I also mean something more than that. I mean the logos, the divine order, the way in which all things are made and find meaning.

Some of you may be thinking, “Matt, you’re an old Colorado hippie, of course you think that.” Witness what Paul had to say about Christ:

Colossians 1:15-20

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Sometimes we’re so self-centered that we think the point of Christ is Christianity. We have it twisted. Paul is talking about Christ before Christianity. This is the underlying principle of creation and operation of the entire universe through love. The purpose of our churches and our creeds is not to define our Christ, even though it can feel that way when we say words like, “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son.” The purpose is to recognize that Christ is woven into the fabric of our existence.

Continue to follow Jesus but recognize the larger principle at work. When you forgive your enemy, you follow Jesus but that is also Christ at work in you. When you welcome the stranger, you follow Jesus but that is also Christ at work in you. You don’t do these things to get on God’s good side; there is only God’s good side. Dying to Christ is how you become fully alive. It means you put ego aside because ego blurs this eternal reality. Christ is reality and following Christ is simply recognizing the reality that’s always been there. You’ve always been saved, not by what you say you believe, but you’re saved because you were made as a child of God. It moves faith from performance to alignment.

Salvation isn’t something you achieve. It’s not even something you can choose. It is simply God’s eternal plan for you from the very beginning. Salvation in that sense means waking up to what is already true. The Christ principle is alive in your life, are you willing to put away the things that aren’t in alignment with that? You cannot bargain with reality, but you can choose to flow inside of it.

When you see Christ as the eternal purpose, you can let go of a lot of psychological burdens. It is liberating to stop worrying about why things are, but instead try to see your place in reality as a Christ-follower. I often say that I’m a leaf on God’s river. I can float along and enjoy the ride, or I can fight the currents and be torn up. Taoism highlights a concept of “wu wei,” which is often translated as, “effortless action.” The leaf doesn’t swim, yet it moves as fast as the water. My best action is simply to flow along where this Christ-river needs to take me. We are bombarded by self-help books, motivational speakers selling you a seminar, coaches selling you a better version of yourself (spoiler: you’re already the best you there is). Your full humanity isn’t something you construct through sheer willpower. Your humanity isn’t something you create by struggling against your reality in life. Don’t tear your leaf in half trying to swim slower or faster or a different direction, just flow. Humanity and purpose arise when you start living the Christ inside you during the entirety of your life and all creation.

Nick Ehrhardt (one of the top five Nicks in life) has a brilliant turn on Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” In his musical version, we slowly remove words in the phrase each time we move through the song. “Be still and know I am,” then, “Be still and know,” then, “Be still,” and finally, “Be.” That is how the leaf floats on the water. That is how a leaf maximizes its “leafness.” You, too, are already a Christ-filled human, so just be.

This is what we pray when we pray, “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.” This isn’t defeat or complacency, this is alignment. If you have a choice at all, it’s not about being saved to Heaven. It’s a choice to recognize the Christ principle at work in the entire universe, eternally, Alpha and Omega. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we are saying, “bring that Kingdom of God’s love and reality into my awareness, let me surrender to it and stop fighting against it, let me become the human you made to be right now, fully alive, fully myself, on Earth as I would be in Heaven.”

But didn’t Jesus tell us to do some things and shouldn’t we take those things very seriously? Yes, indeed. You need to love God and neighbor. You need to fulfill the social justice of the prophets. You need to clothe the naked, feed the poor, welcome the stranger in your land and forgive your enemy. But this is the deepest desire God has built into our lives. It’s a desire for love, meaning, connection and truth. They only seem difficult because Sin has separated us from God and God’s purposes for us. These things aren’t a Christian obstacle course to get us into God’s grace; they are invitations to participate in the life of Christ. God isn’t asking you to be religious, God isn’t asking you to sign on to certain beliefs, God is asking you to be fully human.

Don’t lie, not just because it’s commanded, but because truth is freedom. Live out empathy for others, not just because a lack of empathy is a sin, but because the Christ inside you lives in everyone. Don’t be greedy, not just because of the inherit moral injury it causes, but because it was all created through Christ and thus not yours to horde. Don’t abuse others, belittle them, mistreat immigrants, ignore homelessness and more, not just because Jesus would never do those things, but because Christ established infinite worth in every part of creation from the beginning of time.

Your job as a Christian is not to promote the religion because of fear of losing others to Hell. None of us get to decide whether we’re going to be part of reality or not. In that way, Christ is not a religion you join or reject, Christ is the way the universe works. When you invite someone to church, it’s not because you fear for the loss of their eternal soul, it’s because you recognize their eternal saved-from-the-beginning soul and want them to fully recognize it as well.

The Christ current is and has always been on the move. The only question is do you see it, do you ride it, or do you fight against it? When you give in it all starts to make sense. I know my atheist friends will say I’m suffering from illogical pattern recognition, but I believe there is evidence in my life for this purpose, this current. Pains I’ve felt that made me able to get others through their pain. Forgiveness and grace I didn’t deserve. The unexpected joy and relief of living authentically with my values. A mended friendship. A resurrection from failure. Don’t brush those things off. That is the incarnational reality of Christ. The signs are everywhere; you’re literally swimming in that river.