"Thou Mayest"

Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked up the meaning of the word "timshel." Here is what I found: http://timshel.org/timshel.php

Eye opening! Timshel = thou mayest. Thou mayest what? Thou mayest triumph over sin. Of course, as Christians, we know the only way to triumph over sin and its effects is through Jesus Christ. Through dying daily to that sin. In realizing that Christ has taken that sin upon himself.

I also think, though, that as Christians, we have been given the ability to not sin. To not give in to its grip on us. To not give in to our desire to rule over ourselves. When we give into that desire and let sin get a grip on us, death ensues. Death is always the result of self-rule.

Self-rule will lead us down many paths that we never could have even imagined. Lying, stealing, adultery, greed, dishonoring your family, cursing God's rule and turning your back on the image he made you in and the vocation he has called you to. Eventually, as the Bible shows us many many times, self-rule leads to murder, suicide, death.

How is this self-rule overcome? By taking God at his word. He told Adam and Eve what would happen when/if they decided on self-rule. He told Cain what would happen if he didn't take a hold of his sinful desires. He told Israel (the nation) exactly what would happen when they decided on self-rule. We could go on. The way out of self-rule is to listen to God, to take his word as truth, to know that he will follow through on his promises - be they good or bad.

What about those who claim to take God and his word seriously and yet choose self-rule? Are these two compatible? Can those who chose self-rule, which eventually leads to death, enjoy communion with God, whether on this side of life or the other? If self-rule ends in death, will life everlasting await the one who lives by it?

Timshel

A friend of mine told me the other day that death didn't bother him. To him, it was all a part of the show; part of the natural processes of life. I took issue with that when he first told me, and I take issue with it now. Here's why:

Death is part of the natural process of life, yes. But death was not a part of the original design of the universe. If it were, then the resurrection would be no reversing of anything, except for the moral culpability of humanity. Death is a by-product of sin. Sin is the desire of humanity to rule their own destiny.

The apostle Paul certainly took an issue with death. In 1 Corinthians he writes, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin...But thanks be go God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." For Paul, death and sin are closely related, much as they are in Genesis 2-3 (see also Romans 6). But because of Christ, sin is no longer a problem and the curse of death (through resurrection, both in our Christian life and future glorification) is left harmless.

Death is natural, but not original. This makes death our enemy. But death came because we more or less invited it. Its consequences have haunted us ever since. But Christ took that specter away. We no longer need to fear it. We no longer need to let it control us. Jesus gets the last word, not our sin nature, and certainly not our deaths. Or the deaths of others.

"Death is at your doorstep. It will still your innocence, but it will not still your substance."