Sunday, November 19, 2017

is bringing us back to life hard for God?

St Aphrahat talks to us today in A Year with the Church Fathers. He tells us that if we have a hard time having faith that God will raise us from the dead, we should think about the creation of the world. God made everything from nothing. Ex nihilo. He created the first humans and then breathed life into them. If He could do that, of course bringing us back to life after we die is a simple thing. Right?

That's true, I think. But we also have to believe that God created the universe from nothing and formed the first people. Which, as Christians, we do. But it's not a given anymore. There are so many people who try to convince us that the world came into existence from nothing all by itself, and then we evolved from primordial ooze into people who can think of things like this. So we have to have faith that God did the FIRST thing (create the world), so that we can have faith that He'll do the other thing (raise us from the dead.)

However, most of us have experienced Him working in our lives, right? Most of us know that He's there, taking care of us. And we also know that He can do anything. That takes faith, yes, but for me (and I hope for you), it's easier for me to have faith that He really will raise me from the dead one day, because I see what He's done for me today. And yesterday. And last year. All of the ways that He's moved in my life and fixed things and made me less horrible than I used to be.

If He can change me like He already has, it makes it easier for me to believe that He'll raise me to be a new creation one day. In a way, He made me a new creation today.

God, thank You for helping us to grow in our faith by giving us little examples of Your greatness.

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