At the very depths of every man's being, beneath a mulish heart, reason, and the enchantment of maturity, lays a forgotten child; a child that holds fast to humility, longs for innocence, and bows down to fear. It is evident across cultures and throughout the ages of time that every man, when faced with the necessity to peer at this small child, comes to realize that he desires a hero, for good to triumph evil, for a savior to save him from the peril of a fallen world. Stories have echoed this truth, while the multitudes have flocked to read their deepest desire being played out in fantasies. There is a peculiar rumor, however, that the desire is drawn to something more than fictional fantasies, and that fairy tales are mere alterations of a real story; a story with real people, a true hero, a fallen world, and a genuine hope. Mankind is a key part of this continuous story that began before their existence, and their hero has already come.
C.S. Lewis explained Christianity's offer as this, "That we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ." Why would any man want to share in the life of Christ? There are two natures being discussed. Man's nature is sinful, fallen, and in opposition to God's nature; he is utterly dead. It is not simply the acts that are committed, but his very nature that is evil. Everything he does is affected by this truth. For example, he loves conditionally. He first thinks, consciously or unconsciously, "Is this person worthy of my love? Will I gain recognition for my choosing to love this person? Will they love me back? What's in it for me?" A man is obligated to act according to his nature, i.e., he cannot escape the very essence of who he is. God is also compelled to act according to his nature, though it is entirely opposite of man's. His nature is good, holy, right, perfect, and just; he is life. God loves unconditionally. He does not ask the questions that man asks, but loves regardless of condition; Jesus would have still gone to the cross, even if no man had chosen to accept the hope he was and is offering.
Some are convinced and would argue that they have seen men act in the likes of God. Their sight has not misled them, but it is only one type of human being that is capable of doing this. Two events take place simultaneously as a person enters into God's plan through the Christ, and this is now getting at what Lewis was referring to. When a man humbly chooses to submit to God's will in Christ, his entire evil being is laid to rest; he has now shared in Christ's death and awaits a future resurrection at the fulfillment of all things. The Christ-man has died to his old self and contains a new hope, but he still does not find himself to be in the freedom found in only the resurrection, i.e., his perfection is not complete. However, when the man chose to die to Christ, something else took place: the Spirit of truth and life entered into him, a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. The man is still weak in his flesh, which is sinful, but now has God's spirit dwelling within him; it is the Spirit that distinguishes the Christ-man from the lost chap living next door. This entire process is a supernatural event, and it causes men to act in the likeness of God. When a witness sees a man committing extraordinary, heavenly acts, then there is only one explanation: it is God himself bearing his likeness through the man. The witness is seeing first hand the result of a transformation, a being that is on his way from fallen man to perfect man, from death to life.
This result comes only through a supernatural story, which has split history in two and has echoed through the entire cosmos. It is the story that draws all men and that only God himself could have written. Within every human being there dwells a fixation, a longing to be a part of this story; to have life, to be in perfect harmony with God, and to dwell in his glory is what men were created for. Therefore, Lewis states, "If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them...Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?" It is only in Christ that men find escape from their sinful nature, and it is only in Christ that men truly find what they were created for, i.e., they become what a man was intended to be. It is by the cross that mankind was forgiven, and by the resurrection that they were given a new hope in Christ. Paul writes, "[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions."
The question, why would anyone want to share in the life of Christ, is the wrong question. It should be asked, "How could anyone not want to share in the life of Christ?" That small child within every human being longs for something more, longs for hope, and longs for God's story; Jesus the Christ is the true hero that has saved the world from peril. The hope of Christianity is that one day fallen man will experience that resurrection, if they choose to share in his life. God wrote the perfect story: the world was fallen and hopeless, God sent a hero, good triumphed evil, and now mankind has hope. Christ demanded, "Follow me," but many will choose a different path. What keeps men from the cross is not intelligence or reason, but pride; to come to the cross requires humility. A man can choose a different path, believing that he will somehow save himself. That path, however, will lead only to death; the path to the cross is the only road that leads to the resurrection. It is in the pursuit of Christ that men find life, and more of themselves than they ever thought possible. "Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in." Lewis didn't understand a religion; he understood the story, and became a part of it. The question now stands, "Will you?"
JDG
***This post was written by myself, but was taken from The Things Above by Tyler Taber.
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