I just wrote the following reflection for Twitter, then cross-posted it to Facebook. I become overwhelmed by all of the evil and chaos in the world, quite frequently these days. It keeps me coming back to the living Hope we have in Jesus Christ. Out of necessity I must meditate on the reality of reality in Jesus Christ. If I don’t the darkness of this world would attempt to rob me of the great joy and light I have in our dear Lord.
Evil is a surd; sin is absurd. There is nothing rational about evil. You can’t reason with it. Jesus didn’t come to reason with it. He came to destroy it from the inside out. He assumed it in his flesh, and put it to death. He left it in the grave, with the last enemy: death. He’s coming again, and when He comes again He’ll take that old grave, where He left death, and the earth and rock that founds it, and irruptively re-create it; the heavens and the earth. In the re-creation there is no death, that last enemy; for it will have finally been put under His feet in the reprobate of outer darkness. Just as the seed falls into the ground, dies, and springs to new life, so too Christ, the image of God, rose and became the firstborn from the dead; the first fruits! At His coming this earth, being subjected to futility, will rise again where there is no longer any possibility for disease, sickness, anxiety, panic and death. The only reminder of that old world will be the scarred hands, feet, and side of the Lamb of God slain and resurrected before the foundation of the world. Jesus is King!
Indeedβ¦ βevil is a surd; sin is absurd.β Truth is also a surdβ¦ in that it is uttered with a breath, and not the voice. Yet as a surd Truth is uniquely uttered by the very breath (ruach) of God. Moreover, Godβs truth is also proclaimed by a voiceβ¦ the voice of God himselfβ¦ βlong ago in many portions and in many ways to the fathers by the prophets, [although] in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all, through whom also he made the world, who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all by the word of power. When he [God, the Father] had made purification for sins through him [the Son] he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on highβ¦ having inherited a more excellent nameβ¦β This name above all names is βYeshua,β for indeed only in God is found salvation and deliverance. And it is this One, Jesus of Nazareth, who is now spokenβ¦ proclaimed as the way, the truth and the lifeβ¦ whose own βsurdβ power confronts and delivers us from the absurdity and power of evil.
Amen!β¦ and emet. Hallelujah! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Thank you. I needed this reminder!
@Richard,
I might quibble with you a bit on ‘truth as a surd,’ but in principle I agree with what you’re saying. And amen.
@Satyabhakta,
Amen, glad this was encouraging for you!
Ah, yes, Bobby! Theologians are trained and recognized for precision in thought and word (wink). I should have said, “Truth is as a ‘surd’– particularly in this specific conditioned aspect of conveyance… in that it is uttered with a breath and not the voice.” (But it’s not as poetic)… And yet, isn’t it an amazingly wonderful reality–that Scripture utilizes the full range of Truth’s “vocalization” to convey its testimony, including poetic form.
Indeed, Richard. The beauty of the ‘hidden God’ as the ‘revealed God’ in the face of Jesus Christ!
Amen! Hallelujah!