The Power of Christ

In the Bible book of Revelation (12:10) it says "I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, ..."

What is this Christ? A man? A spiritual being? God?

There are many books and religious teachings about Christ, but I'm not interested in human doctrine or theory. I want to find out for myself and experience what this "power of Christ" is and does. The books that I do consult in my search are The Bible (any translation) and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy - mostly her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The authors of these writings speak from their experience. I'm interested in what they have experienced and I want to experience the Christ myself.

My most vivid experience with the Christ occurred about 12 years ago. I was playing ice hockey when I fell and several players fell on top of me. My knee was forcefully bent in a way that knees aren't suppose to bend. I managed to get home, but soon my knee was so painful I couldn't move. For three days I lay on my bed and prayed. I wasn't really afraid because I had been healed through prayer many times in my life. I trusted God to take care of me. This time as I prayed, I thought a lot about the Christ. What is Christ and what did it have to do with healing?

An advantage of not being able to move for three days was that I could really focus my thought. I couldn't go to work, I couldn't sit up and watch TV, I wasn't comfortable holding a book - so I just lay there quietly and prayed and listened. By the third day I had forgotten all about what needed to be done at work or the chores at home, or the hundreds of other thoughts that pass through my consciousness during the day. I had this incredible mental stillness. It was in this condition of quiet, expectant listening that I became conscious of a presence - not a person, but a presence, a power. It was the Christ. I'm sure the Christ had always been there, but I was just now conscious of it. My mouth dropped open with amazement and at first all I could think of was "Oh my!".

For some time, I don't know how long, I just sat there feeling this awesome presence of the Christ. Then I realized that my knee felt different. It had been throbbing with pain and unmovable for the past three days, but now I didn't feel anything. Slowly, I moved my leg to the side of the bed, sat up, and then stood up! I still couldn't walk, but was I excited!

The next day I went to work with the aid of crutches and I came home at the end of the day carrying those crutches. A couple of friends who had injured their knees a year earlier told me that I should have therapy. I considered this, but decided that all the therapy that I needed was to cling to this sense of the Christ-presence - and I did. I started skating again in two weeks. In three weeks I was playing hockey again with my team. Later that year I went skiing and hiking. My knee is solid and strong and has not given me any further problems.

So what is the Christ? Its difficult to put in human terms, but after this experience I describe the Christ as "the power of God's presence and the presence of God's power."