Putting on Christ

ARTHUR CROOKENDEN

To many has come Paul's commanding appeal, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." The words are quoted frequently throughout Christendom, and are often considered an especially suitable trumpet call to young people leaving the shelter of home and school, and going out into the world.

The phrase is inspired, solemn, and impressive. But in spite of this many a listener who has heard the words has wondered what they meant. The problem is to find out what definite message this command brings, and how it can be made a living, active, helpful reality in one's consciousness.

Mrs. Eddy speaks of Christ (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 331) as "the spiritual idea of sonship." A son accepts his human parentage as a fact which admits of no argument. He knows that, whatever happens, nothing can change the relationship. Through this human relationship may be caught a glimpse of the spiritual sonship with God which is the eternal status of man.

To put on Christ is, then, in the first place, to grasp the wonderful fact of man's unity with God, good; to let this truth rule the thoughts, feelings, and actions as whole-heartedly and as naturally as one accepts his relations with his human father. The second step is to know that the spiritual son of God reflects all the qualities of his Father-Mother, not in the nebulous way of mortal semblances, but wholly, completely, eternally. The fatherhood of God is a familiar idea, one to which few, of whatever creed, are strangers. But the fact that immortal man, made in God's image, reflects all of God's qualities is much less familiar. To understand this wonderful idea thoroughly it is necessary to study the interpretation of the Scriptures which Christian Science gives.

The human son's resemblance to the appearance and qualities of his human parent is, indeed, but the shadow of the spiritual truth. "Now are we the sons of God," says John. As God is Spirit, it follows that we, as sons, are spiritual and not material. With what certainty this great truth claims the consciousness, not by blind faith, not by rote or belief, not by dogma or force, but by proof! The great joy and wonder of Christian Science is its teaching that in the measure that we put on Christ — live the Christ-life — we find that we reflect the power and knowledge of the Father.

How much closer is such a divine relationship than anything in mortal experience or imagination! Thinking of man as an effect of the one divine cause reveals man as the expression of God. Without man, God would be unexpressed; without man, His image and likeness, God would be as a Mind without ideas.

Putting on the image of the heavenly, we put off the image of the earthy — the mortal mind, whose chief attribute is fear — and so rise to the point of demonstration. This demonstration is the proof of our spiritual understanding of the truth. What a glorious moment it is when patience, meekness, love, and good deeds, manifesting the law of Love, bring forth their fruit of sin conquered, evil habits forsaken, and disease healed! Man's oneness with God, the Father, is then seen calmly, clearly, certainly.

Each such experience is a milestone on the road towards the realization and demonstration of the perfect man, towards that spiritualization of thought which "lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth" (Science and Health, p. 95).

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