life and death

"I died today, and I have been born into a new life in Jesus Christ."

These were the words of my friend, TDW, minutes after she was baptized this morning. True, but really very shocking. Becoming a true follower of Christ means nothing short of dying to sin and being brought to life by the power of God.

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)

That's radical. It's life and death. Death to life.

At our Wednesday Bible study at work, we were asked the question, "How would you explain 'eternal life' to someone who's never heard of it before?"

My friend Kelli said something like this: "Here on earth, everything is moving toward death. In heaven, everything is moving toward life." That made sense to me. Things fall apart here. The law of entropy is at work because the prince of this world has been given some power for a time. But in Jesus, everything is moving toward life. He creates. And when the fullness of his Kingdom comes, glory will pile upon glory like diamonds in a hall of mirrors. All things will be made new. And then, as John Donne wrote in his poem, "Death, thou shalt die."

There is a lot of dying going on in this world - so much that is decaying and breaking and going terribly wrong. But, thanks be to God, this is not the end of the story.

"Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." (Isaiah 9:7)

Hallelujah! Endless increase of all that is in Jesus - of all that is life! Amen.

That increase starts when we accept the gift of life made possible by Jesus' death. It can begin in us here. It began in TDW today. And it began in my housemate, Mary, a few weeks ago. I praise God for my sisters in Christ, born into eternal life!

"And we who, with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18)