Enjoying a hidden Christ
A couple weeks ago I posted on the hidden nature of Jesus because of the ascension. Acts 1:9 records that Jesus was taken up before the disciples very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. The hidden nature of Christ after the ascension is somewhat hard to make sense of. Matthew promises that where two or three are gathered, there Christ is as well. But John says that the Spirit cannot come until Christ ascends. There is a paradox of his absence and presence. Most of the time we consider the benefit of Christ to be his presence--however we make sense of it: for discipleship/sanctification; worship; communion; joy/peace/etc. However, I believe that his absence holds benefit, as well. Colossians 3 records Paul's exhortation to live the resurrection life: Set our hearts on the realm of heaven where Christ reigns ("is seated," 3:1, via the ascension). Because we died to the "world," we can live the resurrection in the world (where else can we live it?). Yet such living is dangerous; it got this letter's author killed. Yet Paul says that our life is hidden with Christ in God (v. 3) and that when Christ appears (now being hidden) we will also appear with him in glory--because he is our life. The resurrection life--life lived in the realm of the reigning Messiah--appears for all to see.
God protects the resurrection life in the hidden Messiah. As much as Christ is present, he brings change, spurs worship, and unites us. As much as he is hidden, we are protected. How upside down! The absent King is our protection!
God protects the resurrection life in the hidden Messiah. As much as Christ is present, he brings change, spurs worship, and unites us. As much as he is hidden, we are protected. How upside down! The absent King is our protection!
posted by Aaron Perry at
8:37 AM
10 Comments:
I'm not sure I see a problem. The Church continues to be the body of Christ--and Christ the head of God's community. Christ is both absent (hidden in God; removed from our sight) and present (wherever two or three are gathered; this is my body and blood). If he's not hidden, then I'm not sure what sense it makes to say he will appear in glory.
I was edified by this thought. Thanks for sharing AP
i think i will affirm everything you say there, tim. Christ is present where two or three are gathered in his name--and that can be accomplished in acts of service, too! the community of God is the presence of Christ.
i think hidden has more than visible elements, although that is certainly the starting point for Luke. after all, i remain visible, yet my life is hidden with Christ. i will have to work out exactly all that hidden entails.
another insight on the paradoxes of the Way, AP. "The absent King is our protection." Well said.
I haven't thought about the hidden-ness of Christ before, but this makes a lot of sense. The many paradoces of the Lord are a lot of why I fear Him so much. If you're into fiction reading at all, check out Ted Dekker's "The Circle" trilogy (Black, Red, White, in that order). He hits on God's nature when the God-parallel asks, "Am I a boy? Am I a lion?" The character knew that the divine character there was both and neither. Christ is similar - He is both present and absent. He is neither JUST present nor JUST absent.
I would think Christ is made present through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
I don't see how 1 member of the Trinity can be present without all 3 in some manner, also, being present?!
hey dave,
i think the language you use helps to point out some of the paradox. you say, "Christ is present through the Spirit," but not simply, "Christ is present."
re: the presence of all persons of God with the presence of one person: i don't think i can go there. to affirm this would be to affirm that God the Father was somehow suffering in the person of Jesus, which is patripassionism, a form of modalism, which was denied at the Nicene Council. (i do think the Father suffered, not in the Son, but as the Father.)
i think my point, and this may be helpful to Tim, is that Christ is present in/through another substance/person/community. i affirm this is a real presence, but only via another.
one questioner at the conference i just came back from asked me the role of the Spirit in not presenting himself, but presenting Christ. i responded that he makes eikons of the eikon. i suppose i can flesh that out here, tentatively and only without critical reflection, as presenting Christ through the sacraments or through the people of God as they are transformed by the Spirit's own presence and work.
"wherever two or three are gathered"
I think this may be the most taken-out-of-context passage in the NT. People most often bring it up at a time of prayer or a time of corporate worship to encourage people that we can be assured of God's presence. God is omnipresent, so we don't have to wonder whether he is there...He is! Sometimes, God sees fit to show up in a manifest way...however I don't think this is what the passage is talking about either... The passage is in the context of conflict between two believers and how to take care of that conflict... When people gather for the purpose of resolving conflict in the right way...God will be present with them.
AP, I didn't intend to imply the the Trinity share their persons. As in the Father was in the person of Christ.
Each member of the Trinity maintains their unique identity in their individual persons.
The best illustration I've found is an adaptation of C.S. Lewis' illustration of a Cube in "Mere Christianity". The adaptation would be turning the cube into a sphere.
Each dimension of the sphere represents the a member of the Trinity. You can remove 1 dimension and the other 2 dimensions continue to exist. However, as awhole, the Sphere/Trinity cease to exists. The reason I use the sphere is to accentuate the homogenius nature of the Trinity.
hey dave,
help flesh it out for me a little more. when you write, "one member cannot be present without all three being present in some manner" is different from "if God is not three persons, then God is not a Trinity."
if the Son is suffering on the Cross as the Son, then, by definition, the Father and the Spirit are not.
hey benson,
thanks for the reminder! the specifics of the passage are to asking for something in prayer--specifically the binding and loosing of sins. the amazement that comes with such a claim--forgiving and retaining sins!--is assured by Jesus: if this is done in my name, I am with them, so God will answer.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home