Hi there,
So I am not sure where this fits in theologically, but the thought occurred to me, that Death is itself, an answer. It is an answer, to the Devil, that we no longer want his interference. It is an answer, for our soul, that we have ceased to struggle and are no longer afraid of sin. It is an answer, that brings glory to Jesus and His Father, that having surrendered to the end of our sin, we no longer account or provoke God as being to blame for our sin - which if we did would destroy our eternal relationship with Him.
As Paul said "I press on", meaning, he did not think the answer Death gave, was something to be feared. It was not something to be avoided, that eventually "Death" would come to be that which unites us, in Christ Jesus - because He waited with Death to give it as an answer, to what was done with the fruits of our sin. Jesus literally wants to share the answer "Death" gives: with us! He does not want us to endure it alone.
So it stands to reason then, that our fervour is all the more for those in the world, that want a way out through Death - this puts Hell on the backburner, because we can be alive in Hell, without losing Hope. We are excited and the excitement has roots in the fact that we are not without answer to sin, in Death. Rather our excitement, grows steadily more consistent, more in strength, as we learn to ply into Death, to make the presence of the Lord felt, by those that do not believe (in principle).
It should be no surprise then, that the Devil - if tamed - is willing to give the same answer, though for him there is no fruit in it that is good, because he works against the faith, spiritually, so as to prove it (this being part of the plan of God, that resistance to the Devil be used to shape us). He is willing to give the same answer, because receiving it in part, makes his working against the faith, a little less punishing. The Lord overcame the Devil, but the Devil can still make lawful objection, that identifying with the Lord is identifying with sin, when His disciples are unchastened.
The power of this then, is that the answer Death gives, is able both to deliver us all and delivering as One, to unite us as One. This is the peace that Jesus gives! Not as the world gives by bringing us into one group, but in the sense that we know we have His Peace no matter what gathers through the world for, how ever long (in principle). Death is an answer!
I hope this edifies you, to take greater peace in Death initially, but also with confidence in what is beyond death - as hard as that is to grasp, while still in this world (indeed, Jesus did not apprehend the next life, until he reached the next, as He said in the gospels).
So I am not sure where this fits in theologically, but the thought occurred to me, that Death is itself, an answer. It is an answer, to the Devil, that we no longer want his interference. It is an answer, for our soul, that we have ceased to struggle and are no longer afraid of sin. It is an answer, that brings glory to Jesus and His Father, that having surrendered to the end of our sin, we no longer account or provoke God as being to blame for our sin - which if we did would destroy our eternal relationship with Him.
As Paul said "I press on", meaning, he did not think the answer Death gave, was something to be feared. It was not something to be avoided, that eventually "Death" would come to be that which unites us, in Christ Jesus - because He waited with Death to give it as an answer, to what was done with the fruits of our sin. Jesus literally wants to share the answer "Death" gives: with us! He does not want us to endure it alone.
So it stands to reason then, that our fervour is all the more for those in the world, that want a way out through Death - this puts Hell on the backburner, because we can be alive in Hell, without losing Hope. We are excited and the excitement has roots in the fact that we are not without answer to sin, in Death. Rather our excitement, grows steadily more consistent, more in strength, as we learn to ply into Death, to make the presence of the Lord felt, by those that do not believe (in principle).
It should be no surprise then, that the Devil - if tamed - is willing to give the same answer, though for him there is no fruit in it that is good, because he works against the faith, spiritually, so as to prove it (this being part of the plan of God, that resistance to the Devil be used to shape us). He is willing to give the same answer, because receiving it in part, makes his working against the faith, a little less punishing. The Lord overcame the Devil, but the Devil can still make lawful objection, that identifying with the Lord is identifying with sin, when His disciples are unchastened.
The power of this then, is that the answer Death gives, is able both to deliver us all and delivering as One, to unite us as One. This is the peace that Jesus gives! Not as the world gives by bringing us into one group, but in the sense that we know we have His Peace no matter what gathers through the world for, how ever long (in principle). Death is an answer!
I hope this edifies you, to take greater peace in Death initially, but also with confidence in what is beyond death - as hard as that is to grasp, while still in this world (indeed, Jesus did not apprehend the next life, until he reached the next, as He said in the gospels).
