The Cosmic Person in the New Testament - Part 6

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Dear All,

 

In Part 5 of " The Cosmic Person in the New Testament " , we concluded with these

words:

 

(P.123) The letter to the Colossians goes further than this when it speaks of

Christ as " the image of the invisible God " (Colossians 1:15). Christ is the

image, the icon, of God who is invisible, and an image in the deepest sense is

that which reflects, so the text is saying that Christ reflects, or manifests,

the invisible God. It goes on in the same verse to refer to him as " the

firstborn of creation " , which is to say that Christ is not only the man who

comes at the end, but the man who was in the beginning. This is the ancient idea

that the spiritual world comes first and the heavenly man is the archetypal man,

the man who was in the beginning, who is the exemplar from whom all humanity

derives. The original man is precisely the archetype, or the firstborn, of

creation. And " in him all things were created...all things were created through

him and for him " (Colossians 1:16), but, as we saw previously, not by him. God

creates all things in Christ, through Christ and for Christ, for this archetypal

man. The text of Colossians goes on to say that " in him all things consist "

(Colossians 1:17). (Page 124) In him all things come together and hold together.

He becomes that centre which gathers the whole creation into unity. Finally it

is said that " in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily " (Colossians

2:9). We can see now precisely how it can come to be said that Jesus is God. He

receives the fullness of the Godhead " bodily " , that is, in his human being. He

is the Cosmic Man in whom the fullness of the Godhead is revealed.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith)

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

Pgs. 123-124

 

Here now, is Part 6.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

The Cosmic Person in the New Testament - Part 6

 

(P.124) This conception of Jesus as the Cosmic Person or Cosmic Lord, who is

God's self-manifestation to the world, gives us the key to the New Testament

understanding of the relation of Jesus to God. This is shown in the use of the

term Son of God, as used both by Jesus himself and by his disciples after him.

Whether Jesus himself actually used this language has been debated, but, as

Oscar Cullman has shown, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it goes

back to him, though he used it with great discretion. There is no doubt that

Jesus experienced himself in relation to God as a son to a Father. He uses the

term 'Abba', " Father " , in addressing God, and it has been shown that this was a

term of extreme intimacy. This " Abba experience " was fundamental in the life of

Jesus. He knew himself in this relation of profound intimacy with God as his

Father, and the statement in both St. Matthew's and St. Luke's Gospels: " No one

knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son and he to

whom the Son chooses to reveal him " (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22), certainly

expresses the mind of Jesus himself. He knew himself in this unique mode of

consciousness, which could only be expressed by speaking of himself as the Son

in a unique sense. This, of course, becomes the main theme of the Gospel of St.

John, who was no doubt building on the knowledge of Jesus' own intimate

experience.

 

This is borne out in an interesting way in the letter to the Hebrews, where it

is said, " God who in various ways spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets,

in these last days has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all

things and through whom he made the world " (Hebrews 1:2). (P.125) Here Jesus is

seen, as in St. Paul, as the " heir of all things " , that is, as the One who

" brings all things to a head " and is the end of all evolution, but also as the

Cosmic Person through whom the world was made. But it is most interesting that

while the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews has this exalted understanding of

the nature of Jesus Christ, he at the same time has the most profound sense of

his humanity.

 

Nowhere in the New Testament is the human frailty of Jesus brought out so

profoundly as in this same letter, where it is said, " In the days of his flesh

Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who

was able to save him from death and was heard for his godly fear " . Again the

figure of the heavenly man and the suffering servant are brought together, and

it is said, " though he was a Son he learned obedience from the things which he

suffered " (Hebrews 5:7). Once again we see the rich complexity of the New

Testament concept of Christ. To this we have only to add the cry of Jesus on the

cross, " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " to realise the depth of the

mystery of Christ, who though he was " in the form of God " , yet emptied himself

and experienced that sense of separation from God, which is the burden of fallen

humanity.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith)

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

Pgs. 124-125