Heaven and earth meeting in the 'judgement' of change,
to harbor the promise of renewal.
Therein lies the reality of our world.
Torn by pain and anguish scarred so deeply into each of our souls, we know the darkness, the evil so evidently displayed in humanity is scorchingly real, and yet, we find ourselves to be creatures who, in our deepest dreams, desires and longings, know there is a richness and a beauty behind the screech of the nightmare that we so long to meet, long to embrace, long to become our own.
We were made to be lovers, and when we catch the fragrance in the stars or upon the wind, that hunger rises from within.
The chains, of course hold us back. We cannot escape the prison of our broken natures.
The beauty, the enchantment of the world has been dragged down into the poison and cancer of our fallen humanity.
We now belong to a father who snubbed the wealth of a true romance from and within our maker and the creation for the lie and misery of self-determinism and naked shame - the pain of alienation.
It truly would have been our end, our annihilation amidst meaninglessness, were it not for the God who so knows and enjoys love, acting to make that love hold and heal us anew.
He came into death - the darkness and despair of our existence - and used death itself as the very means to resolve our slavery and corruption.
By His triumph in and through the horror of death and the grave, God has made His first promise to our enslaved race - of freedom from our pit - ours through simple trust in His saving love.
But the story does not end there.
All of the world is groaning, crying for release,
which will come,
in the day of final death... and resurrection.
The advent of Christmas tells us that the God who made us, keeps His promises to our failed race, and because of this, there is great hope, even in the storms of hardship and death.
There is a weave behind this brief moment we currently call life, and the season of Christmas invites us to come and be embraced by it's dance and rich delight.
Amidst all our pain and lostness, there is the one who comes to us from heaven to heal the life of earth, and He is here, waiting to turn the ashes to the foretaste of an everlasting joy.
"For our sake, God caused Him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Jesus Christ, we might become truly righteous....
we implore you, therefore, be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ".
In excelsis Deo!
1 comment:
Wonderful. rich, and encouraging words, Howard.
They do evoke a longing for what was, what could have been. But more than that the reality of what is, and what He has done about it, is doing about it, and will yet do about it.
Thank you, friend.
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