"O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength...Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste." Isaiah 23:10, 14
First we saw that the consummation of God's will for Tyre stained its once glorious pride (vs. 8, 9): all that seemed glorious was revealed as ugly and defiled. Now God's will has laid waste to Tyre's strength: all that seemed impervious and strong is revealed as weak and empty. Such is what comes when God's Reality brings its own divine check to the world.
The consummation of God's will is much more than mere wrath and judgment; it is that, but it is much more. It is indeed a revelation: of His Son, of course, but also of everything else. Just as the veil will be lifted and we will see Him "as He is" (I John 3:2), so also we will see all things as they are. The presence of Truth incarnate will shed the clear light of reality across the dense smog of the devil and lay bare all the smoke and mirrors of sin. At the presence of Christ, all that we thought glorious and strong will be revealed as nothingness, and all that we though nothing will be revealed as containing the presence of God, with all His glory and strength shining through it.
There will be no mere mortals in that moment, either. As Lewis put it, at that day you will either meet people "that you will be strongly tempted to worship...or such corruptions as only found in your nightmares." There will be nothing that is "mere" anymore. Every man and woman, work and institution, will be exposed as either substanced by the presence of God or hollowed out by the void of sin. It will be the end of all masks and pretensions.
First we saw that the consummation of God's will for Tyre stained its once glorious pride (vs. 8, 9): all that seemed glorious was revealed as ugly and defiled. Now God's will has laid waste to Tyre's strength: all that seemed impervious and strong is revealed as weak and empty. Such is what comes when God's Reality brings its own divine check to the world.
The consummation of God's will is much more than mere wrath and judgment; it is that, but it is much more. It is indeed a revelation: of His Son, of course, but also of everything else. Just as the veil will be lifted and we will see Him "as He is" (I John 3:2), so also we will see all things as they are. The presence of Truth incarnate will shed the clear light of reality across the dense smog of the devil and lay bare all the smoke and mirrors of sin. At the presence of Christ, all that we thought glorious and strong will be revealed as nothingness, and all that we though nothing will be revealed as containing the presence of God, with all His glory and strength shining through it.
There will be no mere mortals in that moment, either. As Lewis put it, at that day you will either meet people "that you will be strongly tempted to worship...or such corruptions as only found in your nightmares." There will be nothing that is "mere" anymore. Every man and woman, work and institution, will be exposed as either substanced by the presence of God or hollowed out by the void of sin. It will be the end of all masks and pretensions.
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