For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. (Deuteronomy 10:17)
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How far have the mighty fallen! How deeply marred these gods: these beings on whom is laid the image of the Great One! These who were unlike any others made: meant to carry the very reflection of their Creator. Not just a likeness: in some incomprehensible way, the very same nature in smaller part, designed to be a perfect transposition of the nature of the Mighty One. And they broke it.
Do you understand how tragic this is, my friend? I have pondered, these many millennia, and I only began to understand when the Awesome One revealed to us how He would accomplish his purposes as he did it. We were confused - you remember - as he took the first step. He explained enough for us to understand a fraction, and we rejoiced. We were honored to be heralds of the plan for those who would listen - and we were honored to be his heralds when he made that fearful descent.
I still cannot understand what happened in that moment. Eternity merging with temporality. Utter transcendence meeting the most immanent thing that is. I shake my head still in awe. It's been two thousand years of their time since that happened, an eon of warfare. But oh how that battle has changed! There is something, don't you think, in knowing the means of your enemy's defeat, of seeing as he cannot see just how sure his downfall?
I remember that night. Appearing in the sky to frightened shepherds who the Glorious One had chosen to fill the role that men would have deemed only the highest of kings worthy of. Shepherds! And he had good reason, too. The kings saw nothing but their own power at stake. They wanted nothing more than to keep him from unseating them. It did no good, of course, because ultimately every one of the kingdoms that fought him succumbed. He didn't come the way they expected. They expected him to show up with us at his back, destroying enemies. And in a way, they had it right... but they got the enemy wrong, and they got the timing wrong. That's still to come.
That first victory... oh, how I remember it! The demons didn't know what to do that night, and it took them half a decade to even recover from the shock. The Enemy was beside himself when he finally figured out what was going on, and he had no idea how to respond. Nothing he did accomplished anything. Armies? Joseph and Mary were already gone by the time they got there. I sigh as I remember, though, what that army accomplished. Sometimes I do not understand all that the King allows to happen, but I've seen him turn good out of evil enough times to trust it anyway.
And then as he grew up... the times that the Enemy would try things. It's almost funny, because he grew so frustrated. He couldn't touch the boy. And when he went into the desert for a head-on battle with temptation, the Enemy was ready for him. The only problem for the Enemy was that, as with every other step along the way, the Word was ready for him: filled with the word. I laugh to recall the quiet mockery that was heaped on the Enemy. He offered to give Christ what was already his! And quietly but so firmly, he simply quoted the truth that he had given to men. It was, like so many other moments, a delightful paradox. And the Enemy could do nothing.
That sort of futility is all that there is for the fallen ones - whether angel or man. It's the second greatest tragedy of their condition. The first, of course, is that they're apart from the Everlasting Light. But after that, is that all they do comes to naught.
And from that moment forward, the coming of the Kingdom! It caught a lot of men by surprise - all of them, I suspect, except a few who had been waiting for it, who had read and been given to understand the Scriptures. But those mighty ones who are fallen so far did not understand what - who - had come to them, and fear ruled them. The Enemy used that fear to twist them to his purposes. And in a moment that I know I shall never understand, all those plans were turned completely on their heads. The moment of the Enemy's greatest triumph was the moment when his defeat was accomplished. It is beyond me.
We are not like men, my friend. They are broken, and can be restored. Our fallen brethren are completely destroyed by their rebellion. And man, I thought originally, would be likewise. But no! Though even more greatly fallen than those who left our great host to follow the Enemy, these men still bear that imago dei. Yes, I use their Latin tongue; the words capture the idea rather well. These men, they have an ability to echo the Incomparable One in ways that still astound. Language, and creativity, and music! And they can be redeemed, and returned to how they were meant to be. The sad thing is, I suspect that even those who he gave new life to often don't recognize the magnitude of that change. It is no small thing for them to be so dead and then to live anew!
The cross... the turning point of all their history. For that matter, of ours. Before that, it was very different. The Sovereign was of course never out of control. But we did not understand, did not see, just how the final outcome would be accomplished. Many wondered what it was about these beings that was worth the ever-ongoing battle. Now we see, a little, I think. Though they are frail, and brief in their earth-bound days, they are incredible. They set up great kingdoms and topple them again; they destroy great works of art only to turn around and learn anew how to create. They love as only those with the image of the Trinity upon them could love when they truly love; and they hate as only the Enemy can hate when they hate.
And their love is growing. Certainly, many are growing dim and falling away, losing sight of what they have been given, abandoning their great God for little gods of things. But so it has ever been. And now at last, we see hope of the final battle. In a few generations, I suspect, at most, we will see them finally accomplish the great task they were given. And he promised that when they had done that - when that good news has been taken to every last corner of the earth - we will see this war ended, and we shall see evil banished once and for all.
So yes, they have fallen far. But they are going to be raised up again, be made mighty again, to the glory of their King. And I think, my friend, that we shall be learning as much from them as they will be from us. Do not look so puzzled. You've met John, have you not? The Holy Breath and he together wrote that when they see him they will be like him, simply because they will see him as he is. Quite the promise, yes? But given that and our many differences, the coming aeons will be a rather interesting adventure.
Finally we shall be about the business with them of making great the Lord of lords, the God of gods, the great, the mighty, and the awesome one.
---
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-3)
- Chris
---
How far have the mighty fallen! How deeply marred these gods: these beings on whom is laid the image of the Great One! These who were unlike any others made: meant to carry the very reflection of their Creator. Not just a likeness: in some incomprehensible way, the very same nature in smaller part, designed to be a perfect transposition of the nature of the Mighty One. And they broke it.
Do you understand how tragic this is, my friend? I have pondered, these many millennia, and I only began to understand when the Awesome One revealed to us how He would accomplish his purposes as he did it. We were confused - you remember - as he took the first step. He explained enough for us to understand a fraction, and we rejoiced. We were honored to be heralds of the plan for those who would listen - and we were honored to be his heralds when he made that fearful descent.
I still cannot understand what happened in that moment. Eternity merging with temporality. Utter transcendence meeting the most immanent thing that is. I shake my head still in awe. It's been two thousand years of their time since that happened, an eon of warfare. But oh how that battle has changed! There is something, don't you think, in knowing the means of your enemy's defeat, of seeing as he cannot see just how sure his downfall?
I remember that night. Appearing in the sky to frightened shepherds who the Glorious One had chosen to fill the role that men would have deemed only the highest of kings worthy of. Shepherds! And he had good reason, too. The kings saw nothing but their own power at stake. They wanted nothing more than to keep him from unseating them. It did no good, of course, because ultimately every one of the kingdoms that fought him succumbed. He didn't come the way they expected. They expected him to show up with us at his back, destroying enemies. And in a way, they had it right... but they got the enemy wrong, and they got the timing wrong. That's still to come.
That first victory... oh, how I remember it! The demons didn't know what to do that night, and it took them half a decade to even recover from the shock. The Enemy was beside himself when he finally figured out what was going on, and he had no idea how to respond. Nothing he did accomplished anything. Armies? Joseph and Mary were already gone by the time they got there. I sigh as I remember, though, what that army accomplished. Sometimes I do not understand all that the King allows to happen, but I've seen him turn good out of evil enough times to trust it anyway.
And then as he grew up... the times that the Enemy would try things. It's almost funny, because he grew so frustrated. He couldn't touch the boy. And when he went into the desert for a head-on battle with temptation, the Enemy was ready for him. The only problem for the Enemy was that, as with every other step along the way, the Word was ready for him: filled with the word. I laugh to recall the quiet mockery that was heaped on the Enemy. He offered to give Christ what was already his! And quietly but so firmly, he simply quoted the truth that he had given to men. It was, like so many other moments, a delightful paradox. And the Enemy could do nothing.
That sort of futility is all that there is for the fallen ones - whether angel or man. It's the second greatest tragedy of their condition. The first, of course, is that they're apart from the Everlasting Light. But after that, is that all they do comes to naught.
And from that moment forward, the coming of the Kingdom! It caught a lot of men by surprise - all of them, I suspect, except a few who had been waiting for it, who had read and been given to understand the Scriptures. But those mighty ones who are fallen so far did not understand what - who - had come to them, and fear ruled them. The Enemy used that fear to twist them to his purposes. And in a moment that I know I shall never understand, all those plans were turned completely on their heads. The moment of the Enemy's greatest triumph was the moment when his defeat was accomplished. It is beyond me.
We are not like men, my friend. They are broken, and can be restored. Our fallen brethren are completely destroyed by their rebellion. And man, I thought originally, would be likewise. But no! Though even more greatly fallen than those who left our great host to follow the Enemy, these men still bear that imago dei. Yes, I use their Latin tongue; the words capture the idea rather well. These men, they have an ability to echo the Incomparable One in ways that still astound. Language, and creativity, and music! And they can be redeemed, and returned to how they were meant to be. The sad thing is, I suspect that even those who he gave new life to often don't recognize the magnitude of that change. It is no small thing for them to be so dead and then to live anew!
The cross... the turning point of all their history. For that matter, of ours. Before that, it was very different. The Sovereign was of course never out of control. But we did not understand, did not see, just how the final outcome would be accomplished. Many wondered what it was about these beings that was worth the ever-ongoing battle. Now we see, a little, I think. Though they are frail, and brief in their earth-bound days, they are incredible. They set up great kingdoms and topple them again; they destroy great works of art only to turn around and learn anew how to create. They love as only those with the image of the Trinity upon them could love when they truly love; and they hate as only the Enemy can hate when they hate.
And their love is growing. Certainly, many are growing dim and falling away, losing sight of what they have been given, abandoning their great God for little gods of things. But so it has ever been. And now at last, we see hope of the final battle. In a few generations, I suspect, at most, we will see them finally accomplish the great task they were given. And he promised that when they had done that - when that good news has been taken to every last corner of the earth - we will see this war ended, and we shall see evil banished once and for all.
So yes, they have fallen far. But they are going to be raised up again, be made mighty again, to the glory of their King. And I think, my friend, that we shall be learning as much from them as they will be from us. Do not look so puzzled. You've met John, have you not? The Holy Breath and he together wrote that when they see him they will be like him, simply because they will see him as he is. Quite the promise, yes? But given that and our many differences, the coming aeons will be a rather interesting adventure.
Finally we shall be about the business with them of making great the Lord of lords, the God of gods, the great, the mighty, and the awesome one.
---
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-3)
- Chris
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