The opening piece is from “Union with Christ” – The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther.
The decisive insight is that a human does not make himself empty… It is God who effects this. Before God gives himself to a person, he performs his “nihilizing work” on human beings. God makes them “empty” and “nothing.” This…of course does not imply a total annihilation. It refers only to the destruction of the person’s constant effort to make himself god and to justify himself.
Again, it is out of this “nothing” that God make for life. We do not have to add up to something in order to be something in the Reign of God. In the Cross, all is nothing…all is nothing…and up from the grave or out of the tomb or out of the destruction of life as we would like to have it, comes the new creation. We are a part of the new creation through our baptism for through that dying and rising, we walk now with God in the flesh once crucified and now alive. Therefore, we can always count on the bottom line: God is with us as we are in union with Christ and no power can change that…add to it…make less of it. What a fellowship divine…!
Connection: We live within a day that shares in the wonderful reality that we are people who walk with Jesus up from the grave and into a new life. Yes, sometimes it is difficult to shake away some of the dirt left over from death’s domain, but today is always a new opportunity to go for it.
Lord of the Resurrection, before we act you act for us…before we try to claim the day, you have claimed it and hand it to us as a gift. Open up our hearts to the marvels of your power and life. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment