On the Second Coming (1997) |
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creation bears the marks of its Creator; this mass of
clay retains the fingerprints of the Potter. The eternal
truths of the Christian faith, including the most
important mystery of all--Jesus Christ--are both rooted
in history and analagous to the patterns of life which
God has formed. Jesus of Nazareth, born of the virgin
Mary, was a historical figure and the Son of God who came
to seek and save the lost through his birth, life, death
and ressurection. In his birth he touched the world; in
his life he taught the world; in his death he attoned for
the world; and in his ressurection he established his
dominion in and over the world. Like
many, I have experienced the spiritual cycle of birth,
life, death and resurrection in my own life. As a child
growing up in the church, I was aware of the God who
created my little world and everything in it. What I was
not so aware of, however, was that God's son Jesus was in
the church, about his Father's business, teaching the
leaders. When I was twelve, I first began to read Matthew
on my own and I discovered Jesus the Man of whom I had
heard so much; like the Nazarenes, I was astounded--"Is
this the one that has been in my midst all this time?"
Amazed at the person I read about, I cast myself over the
cliff of self reliance and into the words of the Word. I
followed him about, feeding on every word that proceeded
from his mouth. I encountered his life. The euphoria of
walking the water with Jesus lasted until I looked about
and saw the wind and waves. In early college, I slipped
beneath the water, committing unoriginal sin, and in this
hour of darkness, I began to understand Christ's death.
Of course, I knew it from reading the New Testament, but
only at this time of personal decay did I realize the
full extent of Christ's sacrafice. It is the dirty that
most understand what it means to be clean; it is the
dying that most understand life. I spent days on the road
to Emmaus, thinking on all the events that had
transpired, and there I was met. In his great mercy, God
showed me why my spiritual birth, life and death was
allowed to happen--to teach true humility. And even
greater, He showed that the story was not over. The cross
was not the end of Christ's work. There was ressurection.
The sting of deadly sin was conquered one Sunday morning,
and the tomb in which I had made my home was not to be my
final dwelling; it was not the one that God promised. This story is both the meta-narrative of my life, and the petit-narrative; it describes the past twenty five years of my life, and yet it also describes the past week. Birth, life, death and ressurection happen everyday. My hope is in one thing--the truth on which doctrine, spirituality and experience converge--that as the seasons of life change, the Triune God by his grace sustains us in an orbit around His perfect self. |
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| © 2001 Aaron Tate | |