After the Crucifixion came the Resurrection. After the Resurrection the Ascension. Because Jesus wore a crown of thorns, He now wears a crown of glory. Because He came poor, He now sits enthroned. Because He made Himself of no reputation, He now has a name which is above every name. Because He was willing to become a slave, He is now Master of everything. Because He was obedient to death, He is Lord of Life and holds the keys of hell and death. Because He made Himself of no reputation, every knee will someday bow before Him. Every renunciation led to glory.
~Elisabeth Elliot, from The Path of Loneliness
Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. … Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
~ The Prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 40 of his writings
Oh beloved, it is true.
We, each of us, are free moral agents in this cosmos. We were created this way by a sovereign and Loving G_d. Do not get confused. Those predestined to join Him in His Kingdom are just as free. G_d is not limited to some timeline and prediction mechanism. Nor is He in competition with anything. He had no need to smash our choices – He is much too sovereign and powerful to require that kind of manipulation. Rather, His foreknowledge makes the reality of our choice, real in eternity. For, what He knows = truth.
The above is a mysterion for sure, but Love provides the answer. Love does not enforce its wishes. Love wills the good of others, simply because they are there. Love draws people together, and binds them to each other in eternal ways.
And this is where the battle begins.
In our sin and selfishness, we are blinded to the truest of Truths. We are at war against The One Who Loves us, and would rescue us. It is His Love that even allows us this position in the first place. But, in this ongoing battle, we constantly work to downgrade our perceived ‘enemy’ that we might bring Him under some sort of control.
For, that which we control, is no longer a threat to us. There is a problem though. In our war to get what we want, none of what we have ever attempted has really worked. Every foray into any sort of pleasure, wealth, power, or honor has left us in pain worse than when we started.
Said more simply, in our fallen state, we are at war with both G_d, and with ourselves. We are fighting against our failures (and losing). Plus, we are fighting against The One Who would rescue us. All of this is terrible, but it gets worse.
We think that G_d is like us. He is not.
Can we see it?
In our fallen state, we cannot even imagine a Creator who brings what He is (Love) to our situation. We think we understand, but we don’t. Not even close. We have been fighting against Him because we were afraid to submit. For, we thought to submit was to be crushed by the will of some deity. Further, we have been fighting against our flesh under the misconception that we can win the war against our own lusts, and fears, and sins.
Somehow, though (and maybe today is your day), we begin to realize something. We have asked for mercy from Mercy Himself. And this very real G_d has answered us with Love, acceptance, forgiveness, and real freedom. This is the opposite of what we thought He was like as we held Him at a distance!
And then? We also begin to see that we had also been wrong about the other fight. As Christ draws us near to Himself, it is His Grace (read: Power of Christ to do G_d’s will) that overcomes the dis-integrating, and scattering power of sin. We never could have done this on our own.
We have been fighting for so long, though, that it takes some time for us to put down our weapons. But, we must think beyond (repent) from the lies we believed. Somewhere, if we are willing to see it, we realize that the war is over. Both the distance we experienced from G_d, and the fight against our flesh – have already been won in Christ.
And, when we do, we are in a very different place. We have been drawn near Love Himself, and pulled as far as the East is from the West away from our sins. Can you feel the relief!?!?
So, do you feel worn out by your battle to keep G_d at a distance, and to overcome your sin on your own? It is time to think beyond this. Turn away from the burdensome lies you believed, and surrender to The Truth. You have been Loved from all eternity. You are free. Truly, and utterly free. Free from sin, and free to live in Love.
Tonight is your night. The war is over. Put down your weapons, and let the Rescuer move you to the safest place in eternity: In Christ.
I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us. It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.
~ CS Lewis, in The Weight of Glory
