The Adventure of Discipleship

The cross and the crown of Jesus represent basically the two major aspects of His work.  The cross represents His humiliation which includes His incarnation, demonstration, and crucifixion.  The crown represents His exaltation which includes His resurrection, ascension, coronation, and revelation.  More specifically the cross has come to represent the crucifixion, atonement, and His role as Savior while the crown represents His coronation, kingdom and His role as King.

Historically there has been a fragile relationship between these two major elements of the Christian faith.  Due in part to our tendency to polarize what we cannot harmonize, the church has swung back and forth between these two truths:  a pendulum swinging reductionalism.¹

During much of the 20^th century there have been reactionary debates between those who focused on the cross and those who emphasized the kingdom/crown.  As mainline denominations began to emphasize the need to usher in the kingdom now, they either marginalized or dismissed the necessity of the atonement/cross.  More conservative camps reacted by emphasizing the cross and personal redemption thereby marginalizing the crown or relegating it to a future (eschatological) dimension.  The unintended consequence was a truncated gospel of sin management in which salvation is essential but discipleship is an elective.

The tension resurfaced in the latter part of the 20^th century when there was a debate over “Lordship Salvation”.  It pitted the view that belief in Jesus as Savior was all that was required against those who stressed the need to believe in Him as Savior and Lord.

More recently the “missional movement” stressed the gospel through the lens of restoring our culture in light of the kingdom.  Much like the earlier movements, the focus on kingdom living polarized the discussion as it tended to marginalize the cross and the atonement.

A second contributor to this polarization is found in the overall theme we ascribe to Scripture.  Most would agree that the grand theme is the revelation of God, but what is it after that?  Various unifying themes have been promoted:  Atonement, redemption, kingdom, Christ, etc.  The chosen theme can unintentionally create a tension in the union between the cross and the crown.

A third contributor to this tension is the influence of symbols.  Throughout Christian and secular history the cross has survived as the primary symbol for the Christian faith.  It has not always been so.  The cross was rarely used as a symbol during the first four hundred years of Christianity.  Prior to Constantine the early church used various symbols of faith.

“Early Christians used a wide variety of symbols to express their faith. The second-century Christian teacher Clement of Alexandria identified a dove, a fish, a ship, a lyre, and an anchor as suitable images to be engraved on Christians’ signet-rings (or seals).” ²  Archaeologists have confirmed this in various discoveries.

“Among the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish seems to have ranked first in importance.  Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) is an acronym a word formed from the first letters of several words.  It translates to “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior,” in ancient Greek.”³

 The symbol of the cross and crown together never quite caught on which is unfortunate in my opinion.  One reason could be that to draw a cross is much simpler than drawing a crown.  It is fairly easy to make the “sign of the cross” but the “sign of the crown” would take a lot more coordination!  So out of convenience we disconnected the theme of the kingdom of God and the atonement.

The atonement of Christ has both an individual and kingdom component.  Through the cross man’s rebellion to God’s authority (sin) has been dealt with and God’s wrath averted.  But the atonement has also set us free from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of God.  The atonement is both a substitution and a transference.  We have been brought into His story where we can now find our significance, identity, and responsibility.

I am sure the symbol of the cross originally carried with it the entire story of Jesus Christ the Lord.  But overtime and changing cultures, it has lost the context of the kingdom.  I am not crusading for a new, revised Christian symbol but rather a renewed union of the cross and the crown.  When the cross and the crown are united in our minds as the central theme of the gospel, then discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross will no longer be an elective but an essential and natural response.

1. The practice of simplifying a complex idea, issue, condition, or the like, especially to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it. For more background read The Crucified King, Jeremy Treat, Zondervan, pg. 26
2. Christianity Today, February, 2009, “When did the cross supplant the ichthus (fish) as a symbol of the Christian faith?” Everett Ferguson
3. New World Encyclopedia “Christian Symbolism”

The gospel (the good news, His story) is summarized in the three names most associated with the Son of God:  Jesus + Christ + Lord.  From Acts through Jude the New Testament writers use this composite 85 times in various orders:  the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ the Lord, etc.

There is a correlation between the defining moments in the story of the Son of God and the three names that form this triad.  “Jesus” is mostly associated with His earthly life from His incarnation (Act 1) through His demonstration (Act 2).  It is in the name Jesus that we most clearly get the concept that God has taken on flesh and blood, taken on our likeness.

“Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form” (Phil. 2:6-7)

The name Jesus or Joshua was a very common Hebrew name that meant savior.  Although there was a prophetic meaning that the angel gave it in his announcement to Mary (Matt 1:21), it was generally used to designate the man who was from Nazareth in Galilee, the son of Joseph and Mary, the man who became a great rabbi.  God could have selected it not only for its spiritual implication but for its commonness:  the One who lived among us.  The name Jesus clearly summarizes the initial story line of the gospel:  God now lives among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

The name Jesus is used twelve times in the book of Revelation beginning in the first verse with “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ”.  The name Jesus clearly links the incarnate Son of God who walked on earth to the one who is now in the heavens retaining his identity with humanity.

The name Christ adds more to His story.  Christ, the anointed One, the Messiah, brings the Old Testament expectation of a Deliverer, a Restorer of Israel into the picture.  The name Christ or Jesus Christ was a very common way to refer to the Son of God on the resurrection side of the cross.

The Jews, although anticipating a Messiah, were not expecting him to be divine.  Certainly anointed by God, this deliverer was to be a nationalistic figure that would bring peace and prosperity back to the nation of Israel.  The Jewish antagonism towards Jesus increased as they realized the kingdom to which he referred was not a physical one.   It really escalated when they understood that He was not only claiming to be the way into a new kingdom but making a claim to deity.

The defining moments of His story from the crucifixion (Act 3) through the resurrection (Act 4) and to the ascension (Act 5 is certainly wrapped up in the name Christ.  In the name Christ we have Savior, Deliverer, and final High Priest captured in a name.

The final name in the triad, Lord (although present in the Gospels) was amplified with His ascended coronation (Act 6) and his final Examination (Act 7).   Without the Son of God as Lord, the gospel is incomplete.  It is as much a part of His story and the gospel as His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.  Paul in writing to the Philippians focuses His story on the final scene of history:  the universal confession that the Son of God is Jesus Christ the Lord.

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW…and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11 NASB)

From the beginning to the end of the book of Acts, those that carried the gospel to their world told the story of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Peter

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

Paul

“And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters … preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered” (Act 28:30-31).

With an increasingly biblical illiterate culture we cannot assume that when people think of Jesus they think correctly.  We may need to start a dialogue with questions like:

• “What do you know about the Jesus of the Bible?”
• “If I said the Jesus of the Bible is the most significant person in all of history, would you like to know why?”
• “Have you ever personally explored who Jesus is and what He claimed to be?”

The gospel is in the name.  It is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that:

• We are to believe and find redemption.
• We discover the heart connection that has been lost
• We can boldly approach the throne of grace for help
• We live in victory over the forces of darkness including death
• We will one day live with Him in the new dimension of heaven called “home”

Act 7:  The Examination

The angelic audience, witnessing the epic drama of His story, now shift their focus from what is happening to what will happen.  For Act 7 they have been given the script for the final defining moment of the Son of God.  The details of their role are not yet complete, but they see enough to anticipate it with a combination joy and sorrow:  joy because they will get to announce His return and sorrow because they will help execute divine justice.

They are also amazed as they read the script to find people, especially those who read the Scripture, so cavalier about this final defining moment.  The angelic audience observes that people are living as though there is no continuity between their current life and the next.  They marvel that God’s people live as if there is no accountability for their lives…as though grace has wiped out personal responsibility.

The angels are especially perplexed that some would claim that the love of God will “win out” as if there is a competition within the nature of God in which one trait could trump the rest.  Considering the scope of Scripture, why would they have such a compartmentalized, mechanistic view of the nature of God in which certain traits can operate independently from the others?  The angels can only shake their heads in befuddled confusion.

In the scene yet to be played out on the stage of history, the music crescendos to a climax as the Son of Man (the previously invisible King) now takes his place as King Triumphant.  Accompanied by the hosts of heaven, He is announced with great power, splendor and glory for all to see.  When He returns, the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous…all will behold Him (John 5:28-29).  No one is excluded.

Not only does He return as the visible King, but also as the righteous Judge.  It is this part of His revelation that brings sorrow to the angelic army.  They know that their task is to separate those who have a “kingdom passport” from those who don’t.  Every person’s passport will be checked identifying their picture, date of spiritual birth, and country of citizenship.  There are only two options: the domain of darkness or the kingdom of light.   They are tasked with the sobering role of escorting one group into the eternal presence of God and the other to a destiny without Him.  There is no second chance and annihilation is not an option.

It is this display of the righteous wrath of God that is most sobering.  Sobering because despite the clear evidence around them, people refused to believe, choosing darkness instead of light and slavery instead of freedom.  They were warned yet rejected the message.  They blew it off, rationalized it away, creating a caricature of God that made sentimental movies but ignored truth.  Maybe they thought that since justice was delayed, it would never come.  But now the righteous Judge is here and the justice of God is revealed.

Along with the revelation of Christ as King/Judge and the exposure of His legitimate family, there will also be the revelation of each person’s stewardship of the one life he was given.  The assessment will be personal, thorough, accurate, and fair.  There will be no excuses, alibis, or defenses.   The revelation will be accompanied by retribution and recompense (1 Cor. 3:11-15, 2 Cor 5:10).

Considering the implications of this critical event, the angels ponder why the family of faith basically ignores it even though Jesus taught it clearly in his kingdom parables.   Paul continued the teaching claiming that this day of accountability was a personal motivation for his life and work (I Cor 3:10-15; I Cor 4:1-5; I Cor. 5:6-10).

But maybe it was important to Paul (and not others) because his life’s ambition was to please the One who had called him.  To Paul, accountability was more than the gain or loss of rewards, but the desire to delight the One he had come to know.  To Paul (and some in the family of faith) pleasing Him (not to be confused with appeasing Him) was the central motivation for living as His ambassador.  Their greatest reward will be to hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

At this final scene of His revelation all humanity from the beginning of time will see His return.  He will be revealed as sovereign King and righteous Judge, returning with power and glory.  Finally, continuity will be comprehended, justice served, and consequences experienced.  His patience will end, the Book opened, hypocrisy exposed, and faithfulness celebrated.  His family, permanently transformed into a new expression of humanity, will perfectly fit the new dimensions of their eternal home.

With the curtain on the stage closed the post production party begins.  The star of the drama, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lord, gives all the Oscars to the Father surrounded by the angelic hosts and His family of faith, each expressing worship in the language and music of their culture.

Although the curtain will come down on this epic drama, it is not the end.  It is only the end of the beginning.  With sin abolished, Satan banished, and time irrelevant, the journey of knowing Him will continue on forever in a renewed and recreated universe.

Drum roll please!  The curtain opens; the audience rises; the coronation is about to begin.

We have been looking at the great cosmic drama through the lens of the angelic audience as depicted in Eph. 3:10.  The Son of God has been revealed in:

•  Act 1:  The Incarnation
•  Act 2:  The Demonstration
•  Act 3:  The Crucifixion
•  Act 4:  The Resurrection
•  Act 5:  The Ascension

Now we begin Act 6  The Coronation

The angels marveled as they witnessed the expanding revelation of the wisdom of God.  They saw the Son of God invade human history and through that drama, many of the multi-faceted aspects of God’s nature were revealed in a whole new way.  Aspects they had not seen before were observed through the personal experiences of God’s family of faith.  The angels responded with adoration, worship, and praise.

At the ascension several historic events took place.  One is that the Son of God returned to heaven as the eternal God/man to be forever linked to humanity.  Another is that out of His love for His redeemed family, Christ became their High Priest and sent His own Spirit to dwell in each one providing power as well as the down payment on their vast inheritance.

But wait; there is more!  The curtain has opened for Act 6:  His coronation.  The audience stands in awe as the ascended Christ steps into the spotlight of heaven and takes His seat of authority with the Father.  He is given authority over the cosmos and all the powers and entities it contains.

This may not be a big deal to us, but it was in heaven.  It was this preeminent role that Jesus casually referred to when He gave the eleven apostles the “Great Commission” (Matt. 28:18-20).  It is this defining moment that the New Testament writers refer to when they admonish Christ followers to live according to the new kingdom.  The common phrase of the coronation of Christ is “He sat down at the Father’s right hand”.  The term does not imply inaction but rather divine authority.

The ultimate plan of God is revealed in which “He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:20-21 NASB).

Jesus, the Christ is now the Lord/King.  It was the Kingship of Christ that permeated the message of the gospel from the very beginning days in Jerusalem.  Peter in his initial sermon said, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, … let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified” (Act 2:32-36 NASB).

Paul states the application of this truth.  “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-3 NASB).

As the Son of God returns to the heavens and takes control, the angelic audience rejoices.  Never doubting His power or authority they now see His leadership through a clearer lens of grace, mercy, and love.  While they are taking it all in, they are also perplexed…baffled at the response of the family of faith on earth.  Confused at their casual indifference to the King and his kingdom.

They cannot understand why this new family of faith, having been given a new birth certificate (born into God’s family) and a new passport (citizens of Christ’s kingdom), live as though they are still trapped in the domain of darkness.  Don’t they know who they now are?  Don’t they realize that their permanent address has changed, that their home country is now the kingdom?  Don’t they understand that when they stand before God, He will not ask them, “Why should I let you into my kingdom?”  But rather He will simply look at their passport and say, “Welcome home”.  The crucifixion and resurrection guarantees their new birth certificate and the ascension and coronation guarantees their new passport.

Christ now sits at the right hand of the Father.  The Servant has become King…the Lamb the Lion.  The kingdom is firmly established and hope is guaranteed.  The Church has a Head and everything in heaven and earth is subject to Him…forever. Although His rule is currently invisible on planet earth, it is very real both in the heavens and in the hearts of His Family.  But the day is coming when what is hidden will become visible, what is hope will become tangible, and what has been promised will be delivered.

As the curtain comes up on Act 4 the spotlight is shining on a rock wall in a quiet garden.  This scene is unique as it doesn’t begin with Christ’s presence but with his absence.  We are not sure whether the audience knows what is about to happen or if they are as surprised as people in the story.  Certainly no one on stage has a clue.

Act 4:  The Resurrection

As the scene opens, three brave but cautious women approach the grave where Jesus was buried a few days earlier.  In their enthusiasm to finish treating the body of their crucified friend, they had not considered two huge obstacles:  a Roman guard and a massive stone.  But when they arrive they are overjoyed to see that both are removed.

When the women enter the tomb, however, their joy turns to surprise, confusion, amazement and fear.  Returning to town they report the empty tomb and the angel’s word of the risen Jesus to the apostles.  Surprisingly the women are not met joy and belief but with skepticism and adamant denial.  The resurrection of Christ was not last on the disciples’ list of possible outcomes, it wasn’t even on the page.  Later when Mary Magdalene told them that she had actually talked to the risen Christ, Mark says the disciples refused to believe it.

Over the next month, not only does the news spread, but the risen Jesus appears to around 500 of his followers in person.  Some believe right away, others need more convincing.  The apostle Thomas was one of those hard to convince.   His sight preceded his faith.  From now on, faith would precede sight.

Our angelic audience had to be astonished when the resurrected Son of God appeared still in the form of Jesus of Nazareth.  They had never seen anything like it. He looked like Jesus.  He took up space, talked, and ate, but he also moved with ease in and out of the natural physical dimension.  Could it be that the risen Jesus, the Christ, is now the first born of a whole new kind of family, the first of many?

One thing is certain.  The Son of Man has conclusively demonstrated that he is the Son of God.  Surely no one could doubt it now.  Paul, reflecting on the magnitude of this scene writes, “His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, (is) Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1-4).

The angelic audience sits in wonder as the Son of God is revealed as victorious over the great enemy of death.  The final sacrifice for sin is now complete.  No more annual temple offerings.  It has been done once for all and forever.  His power is demonstrated, his deity affirmed, his kingdom is established. Victory is complete, death defeated, continuity guaranteed and life is now eternal.

The resurrected Christ becomes a watershed moment in history.  To most it is foolishness, but to a few it is the hope of the future.  This moment becomes a core part of the good news announced to a pagan Roman world.  When the philosophers heard Paul speak on Mars Hill, it was the resurrection that drew a line in the sand; some thought it ridiculous, others were curious, and a few believed.  Nothing has changed in 2000 years!

Act 5:  The Ascension

In this scene the curtain is closed but on the front of the stage the disciples are gathered around the risen Christ in serious conversation.  As they are discussing what the next scene will hold, Christ removes their ethnocentric lens by informing them that they are to be his witnesses starting from Jerusalem and extending to the entire world.  While the disciples reflect on the enormity of the mission, Jesus is “lifted up” and disappears from their sight.

The disciples leave the stage rejoicing while the curtain opens onto another dimension called heaven.  What is now center stage is foreign to humanity, but very familiar to our angelic audience who celebrate as they observe heaven receiving back the Son of God.

Only a few men have been given a glimpse into this dimension.  Stephan when he was being stoned, Paul when he had his vision, and the apostle John in the book of Revelation.

But what surprises our angelic audience is not that the Son of God has returned to heaven, but that he has returned still identified with humanity.  He remains the God/Man in his resurrected form.  The Son of God has chosen to remain identified with man even to the point of retaining the scars of his crucifixion.  Humanity has now entered heaven for the very first time.

The angels remember Jesus saying, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” and they realize that the giving is more than just for a brief moment in history, more than the separation on the cross…he was given forever.  From the incarnation to eternity the Son of God would be wrapped in humanity.  Jesus has chosen not to return to his pre incarnation state of glory, but to remain identified with those who will become his family.

The once for all sacrifice is carried into the Holy of Holies by Christ, the final High Priest, and presented to the Father.  The sacrifice is complete, finished.  The ascended Christ becomes the representative and intercessor for his expanding family of faith in heaven.  Now each one can come boldly …with confidence …at any time …in his name.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  …Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14-16).

In the final moments of this scene one more momentous event takes place.  The Spirit of Christ is released to be the Son’s representative on earth living in the hearts of his new family.  It fulfills Jesus’ promise made in the upper room not too many weeks earlier.  The Spirit is now sent to bring power into the lives of men and women of faith:  to testify, remind, empower, and guarantee their place with him forever.  After the ascension, following Christ is no longer a matter of personal determination but an abiding cooperation with the indwelling Spirit of Christ.

Luke ends his gospel and begins his book of Acts with the ascension, telling us that

• At the cross the disciples were scared, confused and apprehensive
• At the resurrection they were surprised, amazed and excited
• But at the ascension they were filled with joy

In this scene God’s manifold wisdom is revealed as humanity enters heaven announcing:

• The incarnation has no expiration date,
• His sacrifice is accepted,
• Reconciliation is possible,
• The Holy Spirit is personal,
• Intercession is direct, and
• Christ is an elder brother.

Once again the heavenly audience sits in silence as they ponder the significance of all that has happened.  Can anyone ever again doubt His love for humanity or question his delight in the expanding family born through faith?  And as they ponder, they wonder what is still to come.

 Act 1:  The Incarnation

 Act 2: The Demonstration

In this next act the Son of God, now called Jesus, is revealed as a servant, fulfilling the portrait of a servant introduced by Isaiah the prophet hundreds of years earlier.  But now the heavenly audience sits in quiet amazement as they watch the prophecy take on reality.  The Creator of the universe, the One who spoke the entire universe into existence is living in obscurity, doing the work of peasants and common laborers just to make a living.  They watch him get tired, hungry, sweaty, and blistered.  But the hardest is to watch him be mistreated, rejected, and misunderstood.

The Apostle Paul reflecting on this scene years later writes, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant” (Phil 2:6-7).

Throughout this Act, truth walks in a body, light enters darkness, mystery takes on clarity, and power takes on poverty.   For thirty some years, omnipresence takes on space, omnipotence gets tired, and grace walks in sandals.  The angelic audience sits, wondering when Jesus will finally unleash his power, reveal his identity, and vindicate his glory.  How long will this humiliation go on?

Yet as Jesus lives out his humble life demonstrating patience and gentleness and serving rather than being served, something more is taking place.  On the surface he is our example, but at a much deeper level, he is our substitute.  He is living in total alignment with his Father’s will.  He lives as the second Adam in the way the first Adam should have.  His total obedience to the Father will give him the right to represent all of humanity and become the substitute for their unrighteousness.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

During his short 30 plus years on planet earth, Jesus never traveled far from his home town.  He spent most of his time among the poor and common people of a small but contentious nation that was a PS in the grand Roman Empire.    He never wrote a book, trying for the most part to stay out of the view of the politicians and religious elite.  He mostly taught about the arrival of the kingdom of God and what life in that kingdom looks like.  His message was as counter cultural then as it is now.  It was received with curiosity and skepticism.  Yet he boldly claimed that this kingdom was now accessible, he was the only doorway to it, and he was the rightful ruler of it.

The crowds, initially curious, even amazed at the authority of his teaching, took every opportunity to have him heal their sick, cast out their demons, and serve them a free meal.  They hoped that he would eventually use his power to liberate their nation from the oppression of Rome, giving them the peace that they had so long been waiting for.  They were willing even to promote him from rabbi to king if he would only do it now.  But as it became frustratingly apparent that a physical kingdom was not his agenda, they turned on him, accusing him with made up crimes and charges.

The angelic audience watches with increased anxiety as this scene goes from bad to worse.  The storm clouds are gathering.  They are realizing that if the plan is to gain a broad market for his message, it isn’t working.  Opposition mounts. The religious rulers are obstinately set on getting rid of him.  The few friends and followers he has are scared, confused, and unpredictable.  Then just when it seems like it couldn’t get worse, it suddenly did.

Act 3:  The Crucifixion

Act 3 lasts only a few days.  However, the impact of this defining moment will be felt at a cosmic level for ever.  In the natural 2-dimensional world, an obscure rabbi is unjustly accused and murdered for religious blasphemy.  Maybe a big deal to a small religious sect at a brief moment in time, but certainly not something that would be remembered very long or change the direction of history.  Caesar could…maybe.  Alexander the Great for sure, but not this one they call Jesus.

Since the Jewish leaders no longer have the right to use capital punishment, they threaten the Roman magistrate with possible insurrection.  They claim that the rabbi Jesus has been announcing his right to be their new king.  That did it.  Pilot gives in to their demands and after a beating and phony trial, Jesus is crucified on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem.  By all rights, this should finish the story.  He lived.  He died. The end.  Even his friends, as they put his body in a borrowed tomb, felt the disappointment and end of what was once a ray of hope.  Maybe in the future some will see him as a good man with a big heart or even a decent example to emulate.  He certainly had some great one liners and stories worth remembering.

But on a higher, spiritual dimension, this defining moment was the fulfillment of a masterplan laid out in the eternal mind of the Trinity before the earth was formed.  The Son of God becomes Jesus, the Son of Man, who then becomes the Savior of the world.  The accumulative sin of humanity is placed on the innocent, perfect Lamb of God.

Paul reflecting on this scene a few year later said, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

The ultimate “coup” is pulled off, rebellion is contained, the final sacrifice is made, sin is consolidated, God’s wrath is expiated, and the Trinity experiences separation.  At the cross God’s love meets His holiness in a brilliant display of grace.  Creation is liberated from the curse of sin and the bruised heel has finally crushed Satan’s head.

The angelic hosts never saw it coming.  They had never seen such a display of undeserving love.  Now grace takes on a new dimension, mercy is redefined, and love becomes iridescent.  They could hardly wait for the next Act to begin.  “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming!” 

The gospel is a story, a drama of epic proportions.  It is the revelation of God in and through his Son the one we call Jesus, the Christ, the Lord (Romans 1:1-3).  It is His Story.  What may surprise us in this drama is that it is not about us.  We are not the focus.  We are not even the main audience.  The Apostle Paul tell us what is really going on.

“I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.  God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.   This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:9-11NLT).

This perspective on what God is doing seems quite different from what is talked about on most Sundays.  Paul reveals that this great drama is about revealing God’s Son: who he is and what he is like.  The invisible (but real) spirit world is the audience, watching what is being played out on planet earth, comprehending with increased wonder God’s wisdom and glory.  And we, the one part of his creation that was made in his image, are the supporting cast!  We are being used to display (make comprehensible, glorify) his nature in all of its dimensions.

In our broken and sin infected world, we are the means by which God is displaying the depth of his glory and wisdom.  The angelic world is watching in amazement and we, for a brief moment in time, get to experience it.  It is not about us, but it is through us.

It may be humbling to realize that we are not the focus of this great drama.  We are in the play to illuminate the incredible nature of the Author and Director of the Story.  This concept is counter to our current narcissism where our overt mantra is:  “It’s all about me”.  This defiant chant has echoed down the halls of history to the present day.  The Bible begins the Story with the tragic fall of humanity into the “it’s all about me” declaration.  Yet the hope of the Christian faith is in its ability to deliver us from the slavery of our self-orientation and isolation to alignment with Christ under His loving authority.

Now playing:  His Story

From the theater of heaven, the angelic audience is looking at a small but special planet in a vast cosmos.  This planet and the activity on it are central stage for the continued revelation of the vast wisdom of God.

Reading the program for this cosmic drama we discover:

• It is written and directed by God the Father
• The music is performed by the Holy Spirit
• The central character with the starring role is the Son of God, the second person of the trinity, the one called Jesus, the Christ, the Lord.
• The setting and background is the created cosmos
• Earth is center stage: a significant, pale blue planet in the vast sea of the universe
• Supporting cast: All of humanity and in particular those called God’s family of faith

The drama consists of seven acts depicting the defining moments in the revelation of the Son of God.  Time can be described as either linear (chronos) or as a special moment (kairos).  A kairos moment is not measured in hours, days or years but as a period/season where something significant happens.  It could happen in a few seconds or over a lifetime.

The unfolding drama is made up of critical kairos moments (scenes) in which the Son of God is revealing who he is, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do.  Some of these moments are relatively short in duration (chronos time) while others happen over long periods of history.  In each kairos moment God is revealed in Christ from a different viewpoint, with different names, allowing us to experience his multi-dimensional nature.  Although he is always the same and never changes, his character becomes more obvious with each defining moment, giving us a complementary picture of the Son of God that together forms a grand, composite portrait.

 Prologue

The Old Testament is the background for what we are about to see.  Creation, the conflict between God and Satan played out in the Garden of Eden, the Patriarchs, the nation of Israel as a special people, all serve as the backdrop to the drama that is about to unfold.

Act 1:  The Incarnation

As the curtain is pulled back and this scene opens, our heavenly audience witnesses the eternal Son of God taking on humanity in an obscure little hamlet called Bethlehem.  They collectively break into song and applause while on stage only a few people even notice: just a few blue collar shepherds, a small band of curious scientists, and one irate, paranoid king.

Years later the Apostle John, tells his version of the grand Story.  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  The Apostle Paul commenting on this scene writes, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body” (Col 2:9).

The angelic audience is amazed as they witness eternity becoming an embryo, deity taking on humanity, glory becoming a shadow, perfection becoming vulnerable, greatness disguised by obscurity, and infinity clothed in mortality.

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son … He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:1-3).

The Son of God now calls himself the Son of Man, but his common, given name is Jesus.  Jesus is the English version of the Hebrew name Yeshua….a common name related to Joshua.  Whenever this name is used, it reminds people that the eternal God took on human form and became one of us.

The defining moment of the incarnation reveals the compassionate heart of God that had planned from eternity past to give up his natural expression of glory to become one with those who had rejected him.  His Love now becomes iridescent as it is diffused through the prism of humanity.

(Coming next:  Act 2 and 3)