What is Christ?

What is Christ?

The Way

The Truth

The Life

Sometimes I use Lectio Divina (the contemplative and meditative reading and reciting of Sacred scripture) as a way to connect with God. Oftentimes, I will discover a helpful insight or truth through this chosen spiritual practice, which leads to the experience of a mental/emotional breakthrough. That Truth creates an internal connection to, and experiential sensations with love, joy, and/or peace, which can also be described as Life.

On other occasions I might choose alternative forms of spiritual practice such as singing, playing guitar, praying, reading scripture, being in nature, reading a devotional, meditating, loving animals, fellowship with others, serving others, observing art, watching a positive movie or show, etc., Through these various ways, or forms of spiritual practice, I have often experienced the discovery of an internal Truth that sets me free from my previous worries, burdens, or oppression. The freedom (salvation) that I experience from that Truth (whether it be cognitive or non cognitive and simply experiential) feels like life. When I experience this type of truth-freedom-life phenomenon, I tend to perceive and explain the experience as having connected with the Presence of God.

So, what is it that brings us into connection with our Divine Heavenly Creator?

Christ said, "no one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

He had prefaced that statement by saying, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

But what does that really mean?

The Way

Christ is the way. To what? To the experience of a loving, joyful, and peaceful Life.

Perhaps we should say that Christ is all of the variety of ways by which we can find a connection with God. Whether it be singing, praying, worshiping, reading scripture, being in nature, reading a devotional, meditating, loving animals, fellowship with others, serving others, observing art, watching a positive movie or show, anything that directs our focus and our thoughts onto things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, things that have moral excellence and are praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8), these things things are the way. They are Christ. Christ is the Way, and the way leads to truth.

The Truth

Christ is the Truth. Which truth? Any truth that leads to freedom. Freedom in our thoughts, freedom from traumas, freedom from negative emotions, etc. Freedom is the ability to encounter and experience true and joyous life. Any revelation, experience, or discovery, (whether cognitive or non cognitive and simply experiential), of an internal Truth that sets us free from our previous worry, burdens, oppression, or negative thoughts, and emotions, is Christ. Truth makes us free to encounter, experience and enjoy the internal essence and flow of life. Truth is recognized by the internal freedom it offers: freedom from any aspect of darkness, heaviness, or negativity and into light, lightness, and a hopeful positivity. Truth leads to Life. This is Christ.

The Life

Christ is Life. Real life is expereinced when we have internal (mental and emotional) freedom. An incredible experience of freedom, love, joy, and/or peace, in which we would likely explain it as feeling that we are in heaven, or that we have been touched by God, this is Life. When we experience the truth and freedom phenomenon, it can feel so amazing that we might describe it as being in the Presence of God, abiding in His presence, Peace, tranquility, salvation, or a state of ecstasy and bliss. These various explanations are what can be called True Eternal Life. This life is Christ.

Connecting the three: The Way, Truth, and Life

When we focus our thoughts on things like gratitude: things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, things that have moral excellence and are praiseworthy—whether it be through singing, praying, worshiping, reading scripture, being in nature, reading a devotional, meditating, loving animals, fellowship with others, serving others, observing art, watching a positive movie or show, etcetera, this is Christ; and it is the Way. The way to discovering truth, and ultimately to connecting with the internal essence of life (aka, God).

The Way always leads to Truth. The Truth may come as a new perspective, insight, idea, revelation, or even a noncognitive experience that sets us free. But be sure, truth will set you free. This truth is Christ.

Freedom, which truth gives, can also be referred to as Life. A simple change in our mind or emotions, from an insightful glance at, and accepted perspective of truth, can drastically change our conscious experience. One moment we may feel tired, heavy, and weak, but a simple mental or emotional adjustment from an insight of Truth rips the veil and allows the Light of Life to shine on our hearts and minds once again. This is Life: the internal experience of child-like contentment, excitement, peace, love, and joy. When we had been distraught, unsettled, worried, and frightened, but suddenly have an internal shift toward peace and a confidence that all is well, this is Life. And it is Christ.

Christ is (was) the first of all creation: before heaven, before the spiritual realm, before angels, before earth and humans. Christ is the first and One celestial being directly descended from the unseen and unknowable God. Christ is the quantum realm. Christ is all that is good, all that is true, all that is lovely or joyful. Before Christ incarnated into human flesh, Christ was (and still is) the benevolent, loving, peaceful, uncontainable, wise, and powerful force that resides in and through all things. Christ is the force which holds all things together. (Colossians 1:15-20). It is Christ whom we ponder when we ponder the magnificence, beauty, power, or goodness of any thing. It is Christ whom we feel when we experience joy, beauty, peace, love, and life.

Choose Christ in the Way that you think. Look for the good (Christ) in all things. Walk along the proverbial Way to God via a spiritual practice of reading, or singing, or meditating, serving, etcetera; a way that promotes thoughts, ideas, perspectives and truths that align with selfless love, beauty, peace, and joy. The Way leads to Truth, and Truth leads to Life: Internal, inexpressible freedom, peace, love, bliss, and joy. These three are Christ, and Christ leads to the Father: the source of all Life.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Colossians 1:15‭-‬17 NLT

What is Christ? Christ is all that is good, beautiful, powerful, everlasting, healing, and right. Christ is these things and more. Christ is the wholesome thoughts and persepctives about these things. Christ is both the neuron and neural pathway, the positive logical (logos) thinking and perspectives that lead to the inner experience of Life. And when your renewed mind and thoughts (Romans 12:2) have led to and connected with the bliss, joy, peace, and internal essence of Life, this also is Christ.