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| Icon of Holy Martyrs of Libya |
When a Christian or group of Christians dies because they trust that Christ is the faithful revelation of God and of a new humanity, their death is not like Obi-Wan Kenobi's last words to Darth Vader: "strike me down and I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Resurrection is not about returning to fight worldly means of power with the powers known by this world.
No...as the body of Christ our death is like the death of Jesus, a great humility accepted voluntarily for the life of the world—with all kinds of conflicting human emotions. "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends"...even friends that in the moment look a lot like enemies.
Our hope (and our vindication) is not in a resurrection that makes us more powerful than our temporal enemies but a resurrection to eternal life...a great victory for *all* persons over the enemies of all whom God has made in his image, all whom God cherishes...every last human person.
Those enemies are sin, famine, disease, pestilence, sword, decay, calamities, death, and the accuser. If we are in Christ, our enemies are no longer our human brothers and sisters.
If you strike us down, what we become by grace is partakers of the essential essence of God: everlasting lovingkindness; we become indestructible love.
