Photo by Alessio Maffeis

By Wendy Choy-Chan

The lie was that they could become like God, knowing good and evil. Little did Adam and Eve know that what they became was a twisted version of a monadic, exclusive god, with power and authority, but without communion, no more communion with the one true God and no more communion with each other.

And the lie continued. Cain killed to become the exclusive giver acceptable to God; the brothers sold Joseph to get rid of the exclusive beloved of their father, Jacob; Saul hunted down David to be the exclusive anointed king of Israel. The lie twisted the whole reality. Instead of a power that spread goodness and an authority that benefitted others, it was now a power that accumulated goodness for self and an authority that benefitted self. Exclusivity is power and authority of the one, no place for mutual communion or relationship. Subversion in this twisted reality is then to flip the scale — from being excluded to becoming exclusive, from being under power and authority to acquiring power and authority, accumulating goodness for self, benefitting self.

The Gospel is a subversive message — Christ, not Caesar, is king. However, the way of this subversion is not to flip the scale, but to shift the paradigm. Instead of acquiring power and authority, Jesus gave up power and authority, entered into suffering and became the most excluded one on the cross. God then raised Jesus up, giving Him ultimate power and authority. (Phil 2:6-9)

The Gospel, the way of the cross, reconciles us to the one true God who is love; it exposes the lie, and restores reality. Instead of being exclusive and excluding others, God welcomes us into His communion. Instead of a power that accumulates goodness for self, God’s power spreads goodness to us. Instead of an authority that benefits self, His authority benefits us to lifts us up.

God’s power and authority is His glory — His gracious presence (Ex 40:34, 1 Kings 8:10-11), Emmanuel (Matt 1:23), God with us. And the path to God’s glory is the way of the cross, for Jesus (John 17:4-5), and for us (John 17:24). As such, when we live out this subversive message of the Gospel, may we do so, not by flipping the scale (as if we were still living in the lie, in the twisted reality), but by shifting the paradigm, following the way of Jesus, the way of the cross, the way of love.

Wendy Choy-Chan came to North America from Hong Kong when she was 15. After graduating with a MScE, she worked as a telecommunications engineer for a few years before becoming a full-time mom. She earned her MA in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016, and is now pursuing a D.Min in Affective Spirituality and Christian Formation at Multonmah Biblical Seminary. Wendy lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two daughters.