{"id":2322,"date":"2018-11-28T02:15:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T02:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/keithgiles\/?p=2322"},"modified":"2018-11-28T02:15:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T02:15:17","slug":"no-jesus-no-christ-know-jesus-know-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/keithgiles\/2018\/11\/no-jesus-no-christ-know-jesus-know-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"No Jesus? No Christ. Know Jesus? Know Christ."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Trying to clarify a bit more how I understand the Christ consciousness, as some call it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already written a few posts recently about how being\u00a0Christlike is not the same as being Christ<\/a>, and about how\u00a0Jesus and Christ are synonymous<\/a>. However, I still feel like there\u2019s one more thing I need to stress: You can\u2019t talk about Christ without talking about Jesus.<\/p>\n

In my ongoing dialog with a few of my friends who see Christ as being independent of Jesus, I often hear that Jesus isn\u2019t around anymore, and that Christ wasn\u2019t Jesus\u2019s last name, and other comments that essentially downplay the uniqueness of Jesus as \u201cThe Christ\u201d and emphasize our identity as Christ (or the reality of \u201cChrist in us\u201d).<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said before, I affirm that we are now the incarnation of Christ today, and I agree that Christ dwells in us. I even agree that we are no less \u201cChristlike\u201d than Jesus was, but we may be limited by our development in the Way of Christ.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, I also agree that everyone \u2013 not just Christians \u2013 are \u201cin Christ\u201d as Paul affirms when he preaches to the idol-worshipping pagans in Athens and says:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor in him [Christ] we live and move and have our being.\u2019As some of your own poets have said, \u2018We are his offspring.\u201d [Acts 17:28]<\/i><\/p>\n

But, I would argue that being in Christ is not the same thing as having Christ in you.<\/p>\n

Like an empty water bottle, we can be submerged deep in the center of the ocean of Christ, and in that sense we are all \u201cin Christ\u201d [because we are all surrounded by Christ]. But, until the cap is taken off that water bottle, the ocean of Christ is not in us. We have to consciously open ourselves up to Christ and allow Christ to abide in us \u2013 so we can abide in Christ.<\/p>\n

Now, after establishing all of this, let\u2019s get back to the original point I wanted to make: Christ is Jesus and Jesus is the Christ.<\/p>\n

For those who want to argue that Christ isn\u2019t merely Jesus, let me challenge you to describe or conceive of Christ without referring to Jesus. Personally, I don\u2019t think it can be done.<\/p>\n

As I see it, we only know Christ \u2013 and we only see and experience Christ \u2013 through the living example of Jesus.<\/p>\n

You could say, \u201cWhat about Gandhi, or Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, Jr.? Aren\u2019t they all wonderful examples of Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

And I would say, \u201cYes! But if you look closer you\u2019ll see that all three of them were inspired by the message and life and love of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, without Jesus, none of us would even have any idea of who or what Christ is.<\/p>\n

We cannot talk about or think about Christ apart from Jesus. If you remove Jesus, then you have no Christ to speak of.<\/p>\n

Yes, we can learn of Christ from Jesus, and we can experience Christ in our own life now, but all of this is explicitly because of Jesus.<\/p>\n

So, for me, Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus. I can be filled with Christ because of Jesus. I can learn to embody Christ by following Jesus\u2019s example and teachings. I can even be the incarnation of Christ in the world today [and in fact, this is my purpose and calling as a follower of Jesus].<\/p>\n

But I am not Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Christ is revealed to us in Jesus. Jesus Christ can be revealed in me, if I am in Christ and Christ is in me.<\/p>\n

The reality of what it means to be \u201cin Christ\u201d is a profound and fascinating study, which I invite you to explore in this post: \u201cIn Christ?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think? I\u2019d love to hear your comments.<\/p>\n

Thanks!<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

His\u00a0new book\u00a0\u201cJesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible<\/strong><\/a>\u201d,\u00a0is\u00a0available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.<\/em><\/p>\n

He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller,\u00a0\u201cJesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb<\/strong><\/a>\u201d with a Foreword by Greg Boyd.<\/em><\/p>\n

Keith also co-hosts the\u00a0Heretic Happy Hour Podcast<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on iTunes and Podbean. He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho, awaiting their next adventure.<\/em><\/p>\n

BONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my\u00a0Patreon page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying to clarify a bit more how I understand the Christ consciousness, as some call it. I\u2019ve already written a few posts recently about how being\u00a0Christlike is not the same as being Christ, and about how\u00a0Jesus and Christ are synonymous. However, I still feel like there\u2019s one more thing I need to stress: You can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3089,"featured_media":2328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260,399,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cosmic-christ","category-discipleship","category-following-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nNo Jesus? No Christ. Know Jesus? Know Christ.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trying to clarify a bit more how I understand the Christ consciousness, as some call it. 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