Allen Churchill

The Cosmic Christ

Christmas is the time when God went beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary. Yet sometimes it can seem so ordinary to us. No doubt, we shall be moved to some degree by Jesus' coming this Christmas. But is there intensity in our worship? Is there staying power in our commitment? Does Christmas make a permanent change in our lives that lasts beyond the season?

What we need is a restored sense of wonder at the majesty of God. Then, perhaps, we will commit ourselves to Him with greater resolve. Then our worship will become more meaningful, our work more effective and our witness more attractive.

Christmas in Revelation

You won't find the typical Christmas story in the book of Revelation. There's nothing there about the annunciation, Bethlehem, shepherds, wise men or the flight to Egypt. The Apocalypse opens, rather, with a marvellous vision of the cosmic Christ standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands (the churches of the world, ancient and modern). We see One like the Son of Man, clothed in a long robe with a golden sash. His head and hair are white, His eyes like fire, His feet like fine brass and His voice like the sound of many waters. He has seven stars in His right hand, a sword comes out of His mouth, and His face shines like the sun.

This is the picture of a Saviour who is at least partly beyond the confines of time and space. Yet the book of Revelation is very clear that this Christ of faith is none other than the historical Jesus of Nazareth whose life is outlined in the four Gospels. At least three pieces of evidence in the book of Revelation confirm this:

Revelation 5:5 describes the One who has the authority to open the scroll and loose its seals as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David". The One who qualifies to unfold history and interpret it is precisely One who Himself is part of history. He may be behind history, inaugurating it; He may be above it, directing it; He may be beyond it as its focus or goal. But He is also within history; He belongs to time and space. The historical Jesus is the cosmic Christ.

The Lion of Judah is also the Lamb who has been slain (Revelation 5:6). This is none other than Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of the world. The saints sing, "You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9-10). It is in the blood of the Lamb that the robes of those who have come through the great tribulation (the persecution of the church) have been washed and made white (Revelation 6:11, 7:9,14). The needs of persecuted Christians, abused by the Romans, could only be met by One who Himself had experienced maltreatment and death at their hands. The historical Jesus is the cosmic Christ.

In Revelation 12 we are shown a great sign that appeared in heaven: "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars, on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. . . . An enormous red dragon . . . stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne" (Revelation 12:1-5). Whether or not the mother described here is Mary or Israel or the church, it is clear that the child is the Messiah, that He was born in time and space. We are told specifically that the child was male and that He was caught up to God and His throne (which must mean that He spent time on earth). Once again, the argument of the book of Revelation is clear. It is the Jesus of history who is the cosmic Christ.

Overcoming evil

The cultural roots, birth and sacrifice of the Messiah, then, are central to the message of the Apocalypse. The book of Revelation is not supra-historical--it isn't above and beyond the historical. Of course, it deals with the return of Christ, the final judgement, the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth. But otherwise Revelation addresses the issue of the continual rise of evil upon earth and how the King of kings and Lord of lords overcomes it. Isn't this also the message of and about Jesus in, for example, the Gospel of John? "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us" (John 1:14); "Now is the time for judgement on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out" (John 12:31). In order that evil might be dealt with, the King of the universe had to enter His own creation and fight a battle on the inside against the internal forces of darkness. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) present individual cases of the exorcism of the demonic. The view of the demonic in John's Gospel and in Revelation tends to be from a more universal perspective. But it's the same battle!

Revelation 17:14 says, "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings." The world powers of darkness make war against Jesus Christ, but He destroys them. Christmas, then, is a declaration of war against the powers of evil!

A different view

Christmas is normally taken to be a quiet time, a time of reflection and joy. And so it is. We set aside business and focus on the serenity of a sacred birth. But there is far more to Christmas than that. The Christmas story in the Gospels reminds us of other themesinconvenience, rejection, dismay, flight, questions and, eventually, tragedy. The registration of citizens couldn't have come at a worse time. Try riding a donkey or walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem when you're nine months pregnant. And then the inn was full. When the wise men asked questions, Herod went into a rage and started killing the innocent, making it necessary for Mary and Joseph to flee with Jesus to Egypt. After He had returned, grown up and undertaken His itinerant ministry for a mere three years, Jesus was killed as a common criminal. When it came right down to it, what Jesus brought was division and tribulation: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34); "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death" (Matthew 10:21).

In the short run, Christmas doesn't really do us a favour. It forces us to take a different view of the world and a different view of God.

Christmas forces us to take the view that the world is in pretty bad shape. Otherwise the incarnation wouldn't have been necessary. Such strong medicine means that the body is really very sick. If a second Adam had to come to the rescue (I Corinthians 15:45), that means the first Adam had made a botch of things. The strength of the cure tells us just how bad the disease is.

Christmas forces us also to take the view that God is prepared to go to great lengths to set things right. That God should come into the world Himself is evidence of a great and incomparable love.

One with Christ

"The Lamb will overcome them . . . and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers" (Revelation 17:14). We will only overcome what is wrong in the world and what is wrong in us by being one with Jesus Christ. A believer is someone who is "with Him". You and I can't be "with Jesus" and be at arm's length from Him. There needs to be a blending of Christ and us, an interpenetration. We become one with Jesus by virtue of being called. We don't invite ourselves to serve Him; He invites us. Also, we are chosen to be God's by adoption. We are all orphans, and we need to be adopted (Galatians 4:4-5). Finally, we are one with Christ by being faithful, that is, loyal.

To know the Lord of lords and King of kings is to be saved by Him, to be under His authority. It is to love Him, serve Him, worship Him. There is no other way to be a Christian. There is no way of doing this casually. It is all or nothing!

Where do we begin to get a sense of this? It is as we realize that God has come to earth to find us and transform our lives that we begin to catch the marvellous reality that has come to pass. Then we may come to believe and begin to experience God and Christ.

The book of Revelation has its own version of the Christmas story. When we take it seriously, we see that it emphasizes another dimension of the gospel that is nevertheless also found in the Christmas stories in the Gospels. Besides peace, there is something provocative in the Christmas story. And that is what knowing the King of kings intimately forces us to take seriously.

Allen Churchill is senior minister of Dominion-Chalmers United Church in Ottawa. Adapted, with permission, from his book, Cultivating God's Presence. The book may be obtained from 355 Cooper St., Ottawa, K2P 0G8, phone (613) 235-5143.

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