ANCIENT
BY DR. ROBERT WEBBER
The Cosmic Christ: Worshiped Everywhere and in All Things
quence of his sin which was death for
us all. Not only was the decomposition
of the human body taken into the humanity of Jesus, but also the death that
hung over all the earth, all culture, all
cities and civilization. He came to enter
our suffering. He came to be damned
for us all, so that He may become elect
for us all. He was rejected, crucified for
our sake, so that His life might be in ours and
our life in His. Nailed to the cross of His own
creation, He took to His own body and into
His divine being the suffering and alienation
of all humanity—reconciling God to man
and man to God.
He who held heaven and earth in His
hands hung suspended between heaven
and earth. He stretched forth His hands
of love on the hard wood of the cross in
a saving embrace of all. His cry “My God,
My God, why have You forsaken Me?” was
the anguished cry of the God-man, as God
received into Himself the fracturing of
creature and creation. The violent rebellion of humanity against God’s purposes
for the world is taken up into God Himself.
It is the cry of the metaphysical anguish as
death strikes at the heart of God.
In that moment, the divine trinity experienced the human suffering of all people, of
all time, of all history. In that moment, the
Father turned His back toward the Son. In
that moment, the Son entered into the eternal separation of hell itself. In that moment,
death, which is the consequence for sin,
wrapped itself like a cloak around the Son of
God and made Him, who knew no sin, take
into His own physical body and spiritual being the consequence of sin—death itself. In
As we think of worship
around the world—
in the cultures and
languages of all people—it
is good to remember that
the One through which we
worship is the cosmic Christ,
by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
that moment, the eternal triune community
of Father, Son and Spirit was rendered in two.
In that moment, God Himself was wounded
to the core of His being. He experienced for
us our own rebellion, taking it and its consequence into Himself to defeat it by His love.
The Christ-Hymns
The great and wondrous Christ-hymns
of the New Testament always call attention to
the cosmic work of Christ.
In the majestic hymn of Colossians 1:13-
20 the early church sang, “By Him all things
were created … God was pleased … through
Him to reconcile to Himself all things.”
In the startling song of God’s incarnation, death, resurrection and exaltation found
in Philippians 2: 6-11, the Church sings, “
Every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
God’s work for the world is known
throughout the world—and now nearly every tongue in the world has the words of
God’s story in their own language, tune and
style, and that is because God was united to
His own creation in the incarnation to reverse the sin of Adam and restore the world
to Himself.
We Adore Thy Life-Giving
Cross, O God
There is a great ancient prayer that
summarizes God’s immeasurable work of
redemption. It begins with the words “We
adore the life-giving cross” and then cites the
reasons why we love that old rugged cross.
For: … it was there Christ renewed the nature of humanity, … it was there Christ restored the way to heaven, … it was there
Christ did away with the penalty of the tree
of disobedience, … it was there Christ broke
the bonds of death, … it was there Christ destroyed the gates of hell, … it was there Christ
annihilated the kingdom of death, … it was
there Christ freed the human race, Glory be
to Thee, O Lord!
Conclusion
He rose triumphant over sin and
death—so now we gather in every nation
and with every tongue to sing the praises of
Father, Son and Spirit.
The Only Hope for Humanity
The only hope for humanity is in God.
Only God can come to our rescue. Only God
can change the nature of the human person.
Only God can restore the garden.
The reversal of the human plight of separation between God and humanity already
began when Mary, called of God to bear the
Christ, responded to the angels’ announcement with, “Be it unto me.” In those words,
the reversal of sin began.
Dr. Robert Webber is the Director of the M.A. in
Worship and Spirituality at Northern Seminary and
the President of the Institute for Worship Studies,
Florida. He is the author of Ancient-Future Faith,
Younger Evangelicals, and most recently released
Ancient-Future Evangelism. Write him at:
rwebber@seminary.edu and check out his Web site:
www.ancientfutureworship.com.
The Only Way to God
In His humanity, He took into Himself
the rebellion of the first Adam and the conse-
Robert Webber has been a columnist with Worship Leader since our first
issue. Dr. Webber, our writer, teacher and friend was recently diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer. Please pray for him as he undergoes treatments in
the upcoming months. To receive updates on his progress, go to
www.ancientfutureworship.com.
