Alive for ever

“Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One;
I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Revelation 1:17b-18 (NIV)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Alive for ever

Many of you will know – and love – CS Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It is most often thought of as a children’s book, but it is far more than that.  If you have not read it as an adult, I recommend that you do.  It is a great story and, typical of Lewis, contains profound theology told with deceptive simplicity.

Near the end of the story, the great lion Aslan is killed by the wicked White Witch.  His hair is cut off, and he is put to death on a Stone Table, while the girls Susan and Lucy watch from a distance.  The next morning, when the sun comes up, they see that the table has broken in two, with a great crack from one end to the other.  But of Aslan there is no sign.  And then,

There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
“Oh, Aslan!” cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad.
“Aren’t you dead then, dear Aslan?”  said Lucy
“Not now,” said Aslan.

It is a brilliant re-telling of the resurrection of Jesus, capturing the way Jesus was indeed dead, really dead, but he is dead no longer, and will never be dead again.  As the apostle John hears the risen and glorified Jesus say in the verses above, “I was dead.”  That was true once, but it is true no more, and will never be true again.  Because, “I am the Living One … I am alive for ever and ever.”  And the same will be true for every one of us who puts our faith in Jesus.  His life will be ours, and we will live like him and with him, and for ever.

The symbol of Christianity is a cross, an empty cross, because Christians are the followers of a crucified and risen Lord, who believe “that Christ died for our sins [and] that he was raised” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  He was dead, and now look, he is alive for ever and ever.  What happens when sins are paid for?  Un-death!  Life!  Resurrection life.  Eternal life.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

Lord, we thank you that you did die, and paid for our every sin, that you are now alive for ever and ever, and that we will share that life with you for ever and ever.  Amen.