"He will swallow up death in victory..." Isaiah 25:8a
Salvation means more than a mere free pass to heaven. It is being placed back into communion with God (John 17:3, 20-23), but even that has only been half fancied by modern Christians. There is much in our dogma that we only half fancy.
Something extraordinary happened on the cross. Christ passed through the grave and gate of death. This is quite a monumental thing: death is pure void, pure negation--it negates the body from the soul and the soul from God. It is dark emptiness. At the cross, this great void took into its womb the Source and Substance of all things, the Life and Light of all creation (see John 1:3, 4 & Colossians 1:16, 17). Many dead men had passed through death's gate, and their emptiness was swallowed into the Emptiness. Now, however, that Emptiness has been presenced by Life Himself, by that which fills all voids (see Colossians 2:9 & Ephesians 1:22, 23). To put it crudely, you could say that Christ, by tasting death, infected it with His life; and now all dead men can be infected with His life. Where once death consumed all like the open mouth of Chronos, now Christ consumed death, not like fire on deadwood, but like a fire that springs up in a void, and spreads to fill all its corners. There is no more void: Christ has consumed it with His life.
At that great day, when Christ returns and the veil is taken away and all is seen as it truly is, those with the life of Christ in them will have that life manifested, and all that is dead or dying will be consumed in the incorruption of Christ's life (I Corinthians 15:51-54).
"...and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces..." Isaiah 25:8b
Tears are produced by an overwhelming presence of emotion, whether it be joy and pleasure, or sorrow and sadness. Seeing how joy and pleasure are ever in God's presence (Psalm 16:11), we can safely assume that the tears that are wiped away are that of sorrow and sadness. That is a very amazing thing.
If the Old Testament (and Christianity in general) is merely the particular myth of a certain ancient people, than it is a peculiar myth. All the myths of the heathen are unified in one way: they are all sad, or have a sadness to them. Sadness is the underlying element of heathendom (according to Chesterton, and I am inclined to agree with him). All the myths teach us one thing: the fulfillment of man's desires will always escape him; true joy and pleasure and life will be just beyond his reach. Our lives will forever be marked by loss and sorrow, with momentary joys popping up here and there like a few flowers over a grave. So Pandora opens the box, so Odysseus finds death to be hopeless and inevitable, so Gilgamesh loses the flower that brings eternal life. Only a select few make it to Mt. Olympus, and even their lives are marked by betrayal and loss at the hands of family, friends, and even the gods themselves.
Only one myth (if it is merely myth) set a different tone, only one undercut the underlying sadness with rock solid hope; that because mankind could not reach what they truly desired, what they truly desired would come to them and wipe the tears of sorrow and loss from their eyes. The uniqueness of the Jews (and later the Christians) was their underlying element of hope: the strong, fundamental belief that you would do nothing to save yourself, and that God would do everything. Yes, there would be exile; but there would be Messiah. There would be sorrow and loss, but there would be a restoration. The sorrows would be put back in the box and cast into outer darkness. The flower of eternal life would be brought to man by the Divine itself. There would come One Who would walk amongst the dead shades and not despair at their fate, but proclaim victory over death, and lead them to life everlasting. Nowhere else has there been found a mythos whose hallmark is a sure and solid hope.
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes..." (Revelation 21:4a) That is the thunderous proclamation that Christendom shouts across all lands: God is with us, and it is the end of overwhelming sorrow. We are forever bound to the joy and hope of man's desiring. Amen.
"On Hades dreary banks I stand and
Cast a wishful eye
To Olympus' fair and happy land
Where my heart's cry doth lie.
"I am bound in the land of the dead.
I am bound in the land of the dead.
Oh, who will come and rescue me?
I am bound in the land of the dead.
"From Calvary's bloody banks I see the
Savior's lovely eye
Who on a tree did die for me
And answered my heart's cry.
"I am bound in the land of the dead.
I am bound in the land of the dead.
Oh, will He come and rescue me?
I am bound in the land of the dead.
"From Hades dreary banks I leave and
Have my tearful eyes
Wiped clean by nail-scarred hands that lead
Me to that land Divine.
"I am bound for land Divine.
I am bound for land Divine.
Oh, Christ has come and rescued me.
I am bound for land Divine."
("Achilles' Hymn," by Jon Vowell [adapted from "On Jordan's Stormy Banks"])
Salvation means more than a mere free pass to heaven. It is being placed back into communion with God (John 17:3, 20-23), but even that has only been half fancied by modern Christians. There is much in our dogma that we only half fancy.
Something extraordinary happened on the cross. Christ passed through the grave and gate of death. This is quite a monumental thing: death is pure void, pure negation--it negates the body from the soul and the soul from God. It is dark emptiness. At the cross, this great void took into its womb the Source and Substance of all things, the Life and Light of all creation (see John 1:3, 4 & Colossians 1:16, 17). Many dead men had passed through death's gate, and their emptiness was swallowed into the Emptiness. Now, however, that Emptiness has been presenced by Life Himself, by that which fills all voids (see Colossians 2:9 & Ephesians 1:22, 23). To put it crudely, you could say that Christ, by tasting death, infected it with His life; and now all dead men can be infected with His life. Where once death consumed all like the open mouth of Chronos, now Christ consumed death, not like fire on deadwood, but like a fire that springs up in a void, and spreads to fill all its corners. There is no more void: Christ has consumed it with His life.
At that great day, when Christ returns and the veil is taken away and all is seen as it truly is, those with the life of Christ in them will have that life manifested, and all that is dead or dying will be consumed in the incorruption of Christ's life (I Corinthians 15:51-54).
"...and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces..." Isaiah 25:8b
Tears are produced by an overwhelming presence of emotion, whether it be joy and pleasure, or sorrow and sadness. Seeing how joy and pleasure are ever in God's presence (Psalm 16:11), we can safely assume that the tears that are wiped away are that of sorrow and sadness. That is a very amazing thing.
If the Old Testament (and Christianity in general) is merely the particular myth of a certain ancient people, than it is a peculiar myth. All the myths of the heathen are unified in one way: they are all sad, or have a sadness to them. Sadness is the underlying element of heathendom (according to Chesterton, and I am inclined to agree with him). All the myths teach us one thing: the fulfillment of man's desires will always escape him; true joy and pleasure and life will be just beyond his reach. Our lives will forever be marked by loss and sorrow, with momentary joys popping up here and there like a few flowers over a grave. So Pandora opens the box, so Odysseus finds death to be hopeless and inevitable, so Gilgamesh loses the flower that brings eternal life. Only a select few make it to Mt. Olympus, and even their lives are marked by betrayal and loss at the hands of family, friends, and even the gods themselves.
Only one myth (if it is merely myth) set a different tone, only one undercut the underlying sadness with rock solid hope; that because mankind could not reach what they truly desired, what they truly desired would come to them and wipe the tears of sorrow and loss from their eyes. The uniqueness of the Jews (and later the Christians) was their underlying element of hope: the strong, fundamental belief that you would do nothing to save yourself, and that God would do everything. Yes, there would be exile; but there would be Messiah. There would be sorrow and loss, but there would be a restoration. The sorrows would be put back in the box and cast into outer darkness. The flower of eternal life would be brought to man by the Divine itself. There would come One Who would walk amongst the dead shades and not despair at their fate, but proclaim victory over death, and lead them to life everlasting. Nowhere else has there been found a mythos whose hallmark is a sure and solid hope.
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes..." (Revelation 21:4a) That is the thunderous proclamation that Christendom shouts across all lands: God is with us, and it is the end of overwhelming sorrow. We are forever bound to the joy and hope of man's desiring. Amen.
"On Hades dreary banks I stand and
Cast a wishful eye
To Olympus' fair and happy land
Where my heart's cry doth lie.
"I am bound in the land of the dead.
I am bound in the land of the dead.
Oh, who will come and rescue me?
I am bound in the land of the dead.
"From Calvary's bloody banks I see the
Savior's lovely eye
Who on a tree did die for me
And answered my heart's cry.
"I am bound in the land of the dead.
I am bound in the land of the dead.
Oh, will He come and rescue me?
I am bound in the land of the dead.
"From Hades dreary banks I leave and
Have my tearful eyes
Wiped clean by nail-scarred hands that lead
Me to that land Divine.
"I am bound for land Divine.
I am bound for land Divine.
Oh, Christ has come and rescued me.
I am bound for land Divine."
("Achilles' Hymn," by Jon Vowell [adapted from "On Jordan's Stormy Banks"])
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