One of the sacred mysteries not revealed until after the ascension of Christ pertains to God’s purpose for mankind. This mystery was so shrouded in secrecy that God kept it hidden “since the world began” (Rom 16:25). In other ages, it “was not made known unto the sons of men” (Eph 3:5). Scripture testifies that this secret “from the beginning hath been hid in God” (Eph 3:9) and “hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest” (Col 1:26). What is this secret, this esoteric mystery that was not unveiled until the dawn of the church age?
The secret has two parts. First, it pertains to what is conspicuously absent from most of the Old Testament—the Gentiles: “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel” (Eph 3:6).
The Old Testament focused mainly on Christ as the person and Israel as the nation. Any mention of other nations or peoples was mostly in passing and in reference to their associations with Jews. To reveal that Christ opened the door for Gentile believers to be joint-heirs to the promises of God was shocking. But the secret did not end there.
The second half of the secret involved internal transmutation. “The riches of the glory of this mystery… which is Christ in you” (Col 1:27). Did you catch that—Christ in you? The secret of God’s purpose for humanity included a spiritual kingdom comprised of believers from every race, ethnicity, and culture—both Jews and Gentiles; both Israel and the nations. Further, God now abides within the heart of every regenerated believer on earth: “Christ in you” (Col 1:27).
This was something never heard of or imagined in times past. In Old Testament times, the indwelling presence of the Lord would come and go. But in today’s age, both the Holy Spirit and the resurrected Christ permanently indwells the believer’s body. The mystical body of Christ is collectively comprised of both Jews and Gentiles; and Christ individually communes in the heart of man.
These themes are captured and portrayed in Body of Christ as Papier-Mâché. Christ is at center, circumscribed by papier-mâché figures holding hands. This symbolizes the inextricable connection all believers share. We collectively form Christ’s mystical body. Christ located within the interior of the papier-mâché portrays His presence within our individual bodies. He sits upon the throne of our hearts and we are His temple: “Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God” (1 Cor 3:16).
The Sanskrit “Om” symbol appears on Christ. Om symbolizes the full range of harmonic resonance. It is a sound that passes through all vowels and octaves. This pictures unlimited capacity to communicate any thought, idea, or expression. Within the scope of all vowels and octaves is the full spectrum of creation, the purest form of potential for the great “I AM,” that Divine Logos, also known as the “Word” of God.
At the top the banner reads, “Of Myths and Miracles.” Something so amazing as Christ and the very Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of humans could only sound like a “myth.” But for those who have experienced the power of His resurrection, it is nothing short of a “miracle.” God has re-created believers a new spiritual species in the universe. We have been declared children of God, and this new life is something to be rejoiced in daily.
The right side of the artwork depicts an over-sized man wearing a dragon’s mask. He holds victims in his hands and he flails his arms. This pictures that enemy of Christ, Satan the deceiver. Satan currently has the whole world, all the nations deceived and under his dark spell (Rev 20:3). The text adjacent this figure says, “none of us really knew what was happening.” A sleeping Buddha nearby portrays the unconscious nature of being without Christ and under Satan’s spell. The question posed is, “Did you know?”
Monkeys extend from one of the dragon’s hands, slinking down onto a man’s back. The man is walking away from the world, depicted at the bottom right corner, across the pond. He slouches over, carrying a giant boulder upon his back. The mythical Lady of the Lake acts as a bridge on his journey toward Christ. The text upon the lake reads, “Living Waters,” which refers to the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). Christ invites the weary traveler to “Come unto me ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mat. 11:28-30).
But to come to Christ, to get that proverbial monkey off our backs, we must come out of the world. We must die to self and separate from our former ways: “Come out from among them and be ye separate” (2 Cor 6:17) is the call. We live in the world but we are not of the world. The text at the bottom right reads, “take the next step,” a reference to both the man who carries the boulder to Christ and the robot who, with one more step, would effectively kick the world away from him like a soccer ball.
The robot symbolizes that rational and logical part of man, the light of human reason that cannot discern spiritual matters any more than a computer can feel emotion. Thus, the Gospel makes no sense to the rational man. But atop the robot emerges a man coming out of a square head. The adjacent caption reads, “Think Out (of the box),” with the invitation at the bottom to, “take the next step” in separating from the world.
The left side of the collage presents Moses having come down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. The adjacent text reads, “Karma’s real.” Here, I sought to draw a link between the perfect justice of God, embodied in the Ten Commandments, and the universal law of receiving back what one gives. If a person practices Love and compassion, then blessing and prosperity follow. If someone practices sin and evil, on the other hand, then punishment and chastisement follow. The Biblical parallel to karma is found in the scripture: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7).
Two women appear at left, gazing up upon the Savior. Their translucent dimension renders the impression they are not flesh and blood. The adjacent captions read, “astral gateway” and “transcendental.” A showerhead hooks around the top of Moses and rains down an assortment of rainbow colors upon one of the women. The rainbow symbolizes God’s promise, a covenant with humankind. The woman showers in the promises of God, which pours from a showerhead that begins in the lake labeled “Living Waters.” This portrays the woman baptized in the Holy Spirit, completely immersed in the Love of Christ.
The left and right sides of the artwork respectively portray spirit and flesh. At right, Buddha sleeps on the shore, unconscious of the world around him. At left, the translucent soul-like woman also lays on the shore, but she is wide awake, transfixed upon Christ. At right, the robot thinks, representing the rational part of man. At left, the translucent spirit-like woman sits upon the “transcendental” text, showered by the Spirit.
We began with the sacred mystery of God’s purpose for humanity kept hidden throughout the ages, a secret so grand and glorious it was concealed until after the writing of the Epistles. This secret was that the Gentiles and Jews—all of humankind—would be joint-heirs to the promises of God; that there will be a universal brotherhood under the Messiah, each believer composing a portion of His body. If that was not enough, the secret also included that the resurrected Christ would abide within the heart of each believer on earth.
The Eastern references to Karma, the “Om” symbol, and the sleeping Buddha underscore the theme that God has opened the door for all races, ethnicities, and cultures to receive Christ by faith. The angel, birds, flowers, and seashells at top symbolize life and creation. They are both aesthetically pleasing and further reinforce the second part of the great secret—life, specifically, His life working in and through us.
Finally, one of Satan’s most effective tools in deceiving mankind is religion. But a personal relationship with Christ transcends beyond religion. The great secret is that “Christ is in you” if you believe, and that an era of universal brotherhood for all mankind shall one day come to pass. The mystical body of Christ continues to form and grow, and one day after the Messiah binds that deceiver of all nations, Satan (Rev 20:3), the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit shall be freely offered to all who thirst. In that day, there will no religion to divide mankind, and no deception to keep us from realizing the Truth.
Larry Word
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