It was J. R. R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings author) who penned the seldom used term eucatastrophe. Most of us are familiar with the word "catastrophe", but not so much with eucatastrophe. Eucatastrophe has to do with "a sudden and favorable resolution of events in a story that leads to a happy ending".
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was an eucatastrophic event. It is not just because of the resurrection of Jesus, but it means Jesus suffered where we did not. I said recently in one of my teachings that the divine exchange of Jesus' death for me and my sins upon him so that I might gain His righteousness is mind-blowing.
We who are Adam's descendants all share the same problem - sin. Martin Luther reminds us that "the issue is not the quantity of my sin, but that at the core of my being - i.e., at the root - is this Sinful nature. Jesus became a man in order to take upon himself the Sins of Adam's race. We died with him.
Colossians 2:13
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
His death, our forgiveness.
His death, our alive with Him.
What this means is that we can give up on trying to think "at least I'm better than so and so." We also can give up on thinking, "why can't I do anything right?" We have died with Christ, Paul reminds the Galatians (2:20), and even though we live, we don't live on the basis of our badness or goodness - because we have Christ.
Martin Luther once wrote to a friend who was struggling with his guilt and failure:
"When the Devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought simply to say: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.' "
While death, an eternity without God is certain... the eucatastrophe occurs... Jesus died for me. The tomb that held Jesus' dead body could not hold him longer than the morning of the third day. "On the third day", wrote G. K. Chesterton:
"the friends of Christ coming at day-break to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of the new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening, but the dawn."
Sing with faith and favor Charles Wesley's Hymn:
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was an eucatastrophic event. It is not just because of the resurrection of Jesus, but it means Jesus suffered where we did not. I said recently in one of my teachings that the divine exchange of Jesus' death for me and my sins upon him so that I might gain His righteousness is mind-blowing.
We who are Adam's descendants all share the same problem - sin. Martin Luther reminds us that "the issue is not the quantity of my sin, but that at the core of my being - i.e., at the root - is this Sinful nature. Jesus became a man in order to take upon himself the Sins of Adam's race. We died with him.
Colossians 2:13
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
His death, our forgiveness.
His death, our alive with Him.
What this means is that we can give up on trying to think "at least I'm better than so and so." We also can give up on thinking, "why can't I do anything right?" We have died with Christ, Paul reminds the Galatians (2:20), and even though we live, we don't live on the basis of our badness or goodness - because we have Christ.
Martin Luther once wrote to a friend who was struggling with his guilt and failure:
"When the Devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought simply to say: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.' "
While death, an eternity without God is certain... the eucatastrophe occurs... Jesus died for me. The tomb that held Jesus' dead body could not hold him longer than the morning of the third day. "On the third day", wrote G. K. Chesterton:
"the friends of Christ coming at day-break to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of the new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening, but the dawn."
Sing with faith and favor Charles Wesley's Hymn:
"No Condemnation now I dread;
Jesus and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And Clothed in Righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own."
Eucatastrophe...His Death, My Life... My Sins, His Righteousness...My failures, His Perfect Obedience...My faithlessness, His Faithfulness...when I am weak, He is strong; and when I feel like nothing, he tells me I'm a child of God.
Can we see that ALL of our Sin was not a barrier to ALL of His grace, mercy and love?
Peace
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