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The power of the Resurrection

February 7, 2007 at 1:47 pm by mahud

I think we need to understand evil and sin as a state of imbalance. The word ‘sin’, in New Testament Greek, is Hamartano, which carries the meaning ‘to miss the mark’ (New Strong’s, 1996). Sin is the by-product of selfish desire, which springs into being when the self and its desires are not aligned with the Self and Desire of God. Imbalance left unchecked must result in destruction. The primeval imbalance, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, was the eating of the forbidden fruit in the eternal garden of God.

Apex of Good

The ultimate state of balance is total harmony/order.

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the
LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams
of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers… (Psalm 1:1-3 N.I.V)

Nadir of Evil

The ultimate state of imbalance is total dissolution.

…Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand
in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the
righteous. (Psalm 1:4-5 N.I.V)

“The unity of Christ’s will and God’s will was demonstrated to us through Christ’s self-less (or even better, God-self-centred) sacrifice.”

At-one-ment through Jesus

Many Christians believe that Jesus is the only one capable of maintaining this balance.
Because he was without sin (the dividing wall between God and ourselves) his desire and God’s desire were perfectly attuned. The unity of Christ’s will and God’s will was demonstrated to us through Christ’s self-less (or even better, God-self-centred) sacrifice. Although he gave himself willingly, he was also put to death by us, and so, Jesus, altogether innocent of all sin and therefore the only true victim, had both an active and passive role in his own death. And in death, Jesus took upon himself all sin and through the indestructible and transforming nature of his Spirit, he took what was dead and made it alive. In Christ our sins are ‘covered’ (Hebrew concept of atonement) and we receive AT-ONE-MENT with God.

Concerning Jesus’ self-sacrifice on the cross there can be only two viable alternatives:

1. Evil defeated Jesus (no resurrection power)
2. Jesus defeated Evil (resurrection power)

the remaining alternative would be (I think) a cosmic stalemate, or a dualism of Good and Evil. Such a dualistic state is contradicted by the death of Christ (worst evil) because it is transformed into the life of Christ (the great good) which is eternal life. In Christ eternal life is indestructible. The power of death cannot touch it. Evil is conquered. And so, the deadly bite of the serpent frustrates itself.

Evil will slay the wicked;
The foes of the righteous will be
Condemned.
The LORD redeems his servants;
no-one will be condemned who take refuge in him. (Psalm 34: 21-22 N.I.V)

The Alchemy Of God

God is not ambivalent to evil. It was counteracted in the eternal creation and cast out. Our true home is the eternal creation. That God can take the greatest evil and miraculously transform it into the greatest good, is proved by Jesus’ historic death and resurrection, an event in myth which is directly linked to the primordial transgression.

Concerning the tree of good and evil, the Rabbi Dr J.H Hertz informs us that ‘Good and Evil’ is “a Hebrew idiom for all things” (the Pentateuch and Haftorahs, 1960, p.10) . In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul of Tarsus writes;

In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8:37-39 N.I.V

Jesus has totally defeated evil, and those who choose to reside in him are safe from destruction. He has also given us his resurrection power, the Holy Spirit, so that we may be transformed into his image. Concerning the Spirit of God, St.Paul wrote;

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:16-24. N.I.V)

In Paul’s letter to the Church at Colosse, he writes;

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all his power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (1:9-14 N.I.V)

Again, in 2 Peter we are told;

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge; and to goodness knowledge; and to knowledge self control; and to self control perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is short sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
…if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:3-11 N.I.V

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