27 July | Youth
«As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.» 2 Corinthians 6:9, 10
By world standards, Christians are strange beings, people who live in continuous paradox. They are, in a sense, walking corpses: dead to the world and alive to God. They walk on Earth, but their minds are in Heaven. Despite having a zip code and ID number, they discover through a new birth that this is not their home.
Christians swim against the current of the world. Selflessness, meekness and self-control are some of their essential qualities. They lose to win and go down to go up. The humbler they are, the higher they get. They are joyful in challenging times and take pleasure in suffering for Christ. They are strong when they are weak, and the more they give, the more they have.
In God’s kingdom it is like this: things work “upside down.” The last are first, death brings life and the mystery reveals itself; there is peace in the sword, freedom in slavery and joy in weeping. Christians consider others superior to themselves and live for the good of others. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) is their philosophy of life.
The paradoxical character of the believer reveals itself in everyday life. They believe they are saved now, although they hope for salvation tomorrow. They fear God, but they are not afraid of Him. They feel overwhelmed and lost in the presence of the Creator, but they do not want to be anywhere else. They know that they have been cleansed from sin, but they still consider themselves sinners.
The believer is wiser when they recognize that they know nothing and have much when they realize that they have little. Sometimes they do a lot when they accomplish nothing and advance by standing still. Although they are poor and miserable, they talk to the King of the universe and have the Owner of everything as their personal friend. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Talking to someone you have never seen! This is the “crazy beauty” of the gospel. At the base of all this is the greatest of paradoxes: the eternal God who became flesh and died to save those who never deserved it. Of course, “how foolish it sounds to those who are lost” (1 Cor 1:18, TLB).
Have you gotten used to the paradoxes of the Christian life? Would you be able to say, like the apostle Paul, that your living is Christ and you dying with Him is gain (Phil 1:21)?