Who
is the
Christ?
Who is Jesus Christ?
As far as we can tell, the Man Jesus of Nazareth lived and preached in the midst of the Roman Empire, in the area round Palestine, some two thousand years ago.
He defied the Law of God that bound His people, curing on the Sabbath often and casting out devils from suffering people on this Seventh Day, set aside for rest and prayer. (Lk 13:10-17, Mk. 3:1-6, Mt. 12:2, Jn. 9:16)
He was known to have a great following, and was killed by the Authorities out of fear of rebellion.
But Who has Christ become?
*
Jesus Christ has become the very Image of God to over two billion human beings on the planet Earth.
It is Who He has become that we love, worship, emulate.
It is the Christ, the fusion of human and God, that is spoken of in the Gospels, the Epistles, the Revelations, and is predicted in the Hebrew Bible, as well as acknowledged in the Holy Quran.
It is the Son of Man, Who came to show us all the way to “overcometh” the satanic snares of this world! (Rev. 2:26, 3:21, 21:7-9)
What does this “overcoming” entail?
Liberation!
From the snares of the Devil. (Rev. 12:11, Heb. 2:14)
From the snares of the World. (1 John 5:4)
From the snares of our Flesh. (Rom. 7:19-25)
And from the tendency of the Spirit to separate us from our Bodies and from One Another, judging and condemning—becoming vain, acting “holier-than-thou”—looking down on others, as the scribes and Pharisees. (Luke 20:45-47)
We must be free!
And Christ Jesus, the First to triumph over death, shows us the path to Freedom.
*
The Key to Freedom is finding the Unity in all the Seven Spirits of God. (Rev. 3:1, 4:5)
All the Seven Spirits of ourselves.
This hearkens back to Isaiah the Prophet, who described the “seven spirits” of God, as well as the “rod out of the stem of Jesse.” (Isa. 11:1-4)
This language finds echoes in verses of the Revelations, connecting the last Book of the Christian Bible with the old Hebrew Bible—particularly the Prophet Isaiah. Just as in the later Revelations, Isaiah's musings on the “rod” and the “seven spirits” of God conclude with unity of opposites:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isa. 11:6 KJV)
This “child” predicted by the Prophet to “lead them” is none other than the “man-child” of the twelfth chapter of the Revelations—Jesus, Son of Mary.
Christ is the Sign of Unity of Self:
The Unity of God (Spirit), Goddess (Body—the Bride of the Spirit), the self in Imitation of Christ—and yes! Even the Devil can be broken of his desire to destroy us, and work for us, in achieving the Unity of God!
It is for each of us to discover the other Spirits of God in ourselves.
*
Christ is the Sign of Unity of opposites, of seemingly irreconcilable enemies.
The Sign of Universal Forgiveness and Reconciliation.
God, long an enemy to the Goddess Earth, distrustful of Her influence over our bodies and souls, comes to love Her.
And She makes the choice to support God—favoring the Image of Goddess that finds fulfillment in service, rather than in defiance of God—Mother Mary resisting the Dragon and his Whore of Babylon—the earth opening her mouth to swallow the flood unleashed the Dragon, and “help the woman.” (Rev. 12:16)
The Earth blesses the woman, the Mother of Jesus—the Mother of us all.
*
Christhood is the path to healing not only the animosity between God and Goddess, but between God and Satan!
Twice in the Revelation, near the beginning, and in the final chapter, we see the term “Morning Star.”
This was a term used by the Prophet Isaiah, to describe Lucifer, the “son of the morning.” (Isa. 14:12)
The Promise of Christ is the integration of all aspects of ourselves—our Spirit, our Bodies—even our Rebellion and urge to Question and Test the Truth.
This Rebellion and Questioning is embodied in the Image of the Devil.
Let us look at the two key mentions of the Morning Star in the Revelations:
*
The first mention of the Morning Star is preceded by the exhortation, as Christ, to “overcometh.”
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the Morning Star.” (Rev. 2:26-28 KJV)
After all the drama of the Revelations has unfolded, and the visions have come to an end—an allegory for the crisis of faith and sanity in the Self and in the World that can lead, through Christ, to great victory—to “overcoming” all obstacles—this “Morning Star” is mentioned again:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they might have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city. . . . I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:13-14, 16-17 KJV)
From “the stem of Jesse” (David's forefather) has come “the rod of iron”!
*
Note that unity is part of both passages.
The Gateway of Christ is to love beyond the Law, and forgive those who have failed to live up to God's old, stern demands.
Jesus forgives them so much, loves them so much—that He dies for them!
The Gateway of Christ is the Way of a Man Who would lay down his life for his friends—even unto crucifixion—the most painful and shameful way to die in Biblical Times!—and, making his last first, and his first last—serving all—that Man or Woman becomes powerful enough to rule the nations!
With a rod of iron that comes from the tongue of the believer, slain in the Christ—speaking His words in Prophesy! (Isa. 11:4, Rev. 19:15)
*
This Gateway enables us to become a Truly Whole Human Being.
To become ourSelves—in the highest sense!
No longer are we kept apart from ourselves:
No longer are our Spirits and Bodies trapped in separate prisons.
No longer is the Devil within us a rage of defiance against the Unity of Spirit and Body.
The Devilishness in us has been brought to heel, and placed at our service. (Rev. 2:28)
Christ, embodying all of humanness, carried the weight of sin as a cross upon his back, to which he was nailed till he died.
He went down into Hell, and conquered it!
Then He rose, as each of us rises, in His Name!
The Christ integrates all parts of us into One Self.
His love, His compassion, must emerge in each of us, in order to balance Spirit and Body, and integrate our Devilish side back into our Whole Self.
And, in Christ, that Self serves the Unified Community of God!
*
For the All Faith Church of Liberation, it is not Christ's death on the cross, but His resurrection and His becoming One with all of us, that is the Good News of the Gospel and the Revelations.
He embraced the cross, death, humiliation, abandonment and betrayal.
But now that He has done that—it is up to us to pick up the cross where He laid it down!
It is is up to us to suffer and celebrate, through feast and famine, our lives in this world.
Empowered by the Risen Christ—we each are called to be His brothers and sisters—testifying His Truth to all the nations!
For we have overcome the “powers and principalities” (Eph. 6:12) who work evil in the world, the enticements of Babylon:
And we have done it by loving our enemy—till the enemy is overcome.
We do this, in Christ, by loving God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds—and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves! (Mt. 22:35-40, Mk. 12:28-34)
For, in loving each other in God's Name, we create a community strong enough to defeat any enemy!