Then, we need to note the definition of the “Christ” as “God’s manifestation”:
It’s worth our while to spend some time with the term “Christ.” Literally, “Christ” simply means “the anointed one.” We can expand this somewhat by saying that the “Christ” is someone who stands in for God, who manifests God. Thus, we rightly say that Jesus is Christ because he stands in for God. He is a manifestation of God. But we are all called to “become Christ.” And we manage this more or less well. Jesus managed perfectly, so that we speak of him as “the human face of God.” But in a very real sense, everything and everyone is called to be a manifestation, and expression of God.
Let’s explore this notion of someone who stands in for God, who manifests God. Remember Jesus saying “Be perfect (whole, complete, compassionate, or all-embracing—suggested by the Aramaic) as my Father is perfect.”? Remember the Beatitudes? They are a description of how we manifest God. The model we know best for living out this manner of being human is, of course, Jesus. What would the world be like if everywhere we turned and saw someone, we saw God fully revealed in all God’s Love and creativity?
So, our first tentative step is to conclude that of course Jesus is the “Christ,” but the Christ is much more than Jesus, since the ultimate goal is that all of us would fully manifest God each in our own way. Might this not provide us a clue of what we are talking about when we talk about the “Cosmic Christ”? What would the world look like if everything truly manifested God? If everything expressed exactly what God is dreaming of in creating this universe?
Meditation:
In what ways do you find yourself already “standing in” for God? When do you find yourself being a Christ? What gets in the way of you becoming Christ? What would happen in your daily life if you saw that your ultimate role was to be God’s Christ wherever you are?
How does this meditation make you feel?