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John 1 begins with these words: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God..." Down around verse 14 we read, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Most Christians would agree that the phrase "the Word became flesh" is referring to Jesus, and that forms the basis of our worship of Him. We read this scripture and we say, "Yes, in the beginning was Jesus" - and I would say, "Not necessarily. Yes, it was Jesus, but this concept is bigger than the person we call Jesus."
Upon closer examination, the actual Greek word for "word" here is "logos" which translates as "logic" or "thought." A more accurate understanding of the entire scripture then would probably read like this: "In the beginning was the logic or thought of God and in time this thought showed up in the man named Jesus."
Allow me to propose that Jesus was not born perfect. Even Paul says "Once He was perfected, He became the atoning sacrifice for the world." I believe that in that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus, the man, surrendered His own will to the eternal will of God He became the Christ Principle; the thought and logic of God. Had Jesus not surrendered to the word and thought of God, I doubt we would still be talking about His "name" over 2000 years later.
The good news is, once Jesus surrendered to the Word of God, we can no longer tell where Jesus the person ends and Jesus, The Christ, the eternal thought and logic of God begins. He carries the eternal Word inside His nature. And that is why we worship the name of Jesus. So, as Christians, are we to focus on the person, or on the presence within the person? Are we to be mere believers, or are we to become like the Christ? Many times we think of "free will" only in terms of "accepting Jesus as our personal savior" - but here is where free will comes in...when we, as Jesus did, say to God, "not my will, but Thine be done." In that moment, we connect with the Christ Consciousness within ourselves just as Jesus did.
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