He's The ONE

...Here one minute and gone the next. And I’m thinking to myself that no matter how great that individual may have been, no matter how smart or how many people they may have led, how many prizes and/or breakthrough philosophies they conjured up- they’ll come to the same fate as the man next door. They’ll face the same death. They will go some-where. Alone. Death slaps human mortality in our faces even in spite of our human attempts to reach divinity within our lifespan- eventually our efforts are void when we die like helpless, vulnerable animals. So, I am first and foremost attracted to the death and resurrection of Christ. Let me emphasize that I believe in the death and resurrection. There’s something fascinating to me about a man dying and both physically and spiritually rising to live again. Not as a ghost. Not just dying and disappearing into thin air. Neither symbolically or metaphorically. But, naturally and physically, defying all natural law, suffering and dying like natural man and rising again as supra-natural man. To be a believer of Christ to me goes beyond mere statement of faith because I, like many others, furthermore have the audacity to believe (as the scripture states) that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus we were baptized also into His death. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Yes(!) spiritually but physically as well. And while other apocalyptic theories give the promise of a new life and new home “come one day”, I’m not so sure how simple it would be for me in my own transience to be able to enter into something hallowed and supreme off of a statement of faith, or a joining to a physical institution or organization. I think there is a reason why there is and has been a natural, human inclination toward messianic dispositions of leadership. We want a leader of some sort. We need a leader of some sort! We were created to be dependent beings. I don’t believe in self-salvation. (Salvation independent of something or someone to bring about that salvation.) And because I am conscious of my fallen state, I don’t think it’s that simple to take one step from my fallen, sinful, mortal state to a supreme, righteous, immortal God. It’s like I need a mediator of some sort. I need a bridge. And while there are spokespersons and men and women of God that have served as messengers to bridge the gap, to me one has to be something that transcends our humanity to some extent. And I just can’t grasp the idea of a mortal human, being capable of that sort of power….without being divine as well. And to me, that divinity is not in word or even in miraculous deed, but also lies in that individuals ability to overcome humankind’s inevitable fate…the death sentence. And while I’m open to exposure and learning from my brothers and sisters of other faiths, I am not a pluralist. I not only follow, I not only believe, but I have given my life to the one Christ, the one mediator and conqueror of death, both God and Man in Jesus. Amen.