Reality is reliable. We can depend on the reality of his love for us. His love for us is the rock on which the wise build their lives. Whom shall we fear? Of whom shall we be afraid? Will our almighty lover ever let us down? Will he ever disappoint?
To neutralize the the serpent’s anti-God propaganda, Jesus commandeered a cross - the instrument of our woe - and repurposed it to offer us a contradiction.
Armageddon is here and now. We are not fighting for something in the hereafter. The battle is now. Now is the time to join Jesus in the scrum at the line of scrimmage in the Valley of Tears facing off against Evil toe to toe, cheek to jowl. Christianity is not a sport for spectators. Christians partake in the fray.
Invasion of the Valley of Tears
God launched an invasion into the Valley of Tears (Hail Holy Queen). "Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war" (Shakespeare). God, however, did not send a military general at the head of an army bristling with weapons into the Valley of Tears to wage war against the infidels (Matthew 26:53). He sent something more powerful than an army (Isaiah 55:8-9). Instead of an army, He sent a Love Note.
Jesus parachuted into the Valley of Tears to bring the war against evil to his enemies. He did not invade the Valley of Tears at the head of a powerful army (Revelation 12:7-12) armed to the teeth. He invaded the Valley of Tears alone, riding a Cross, with no weapon but love. He came to recruit an army of heroes from among the children of Adam and Eve to stand with him shoulder to shoulder, cheek to jowl, in the scrum at the line of scrimmage as comrade-in-arms fighting together in the war against evil as part of a glorious band of sisters and brothers. He invaded the Valley of Tears to bring us the technology that defeats evil (Luke 7:47). He demonstrated that the technology works by using it himself on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. He donned the jet pack and flew to show us that we, too, can fly. Love is the medicine that inoculates us against evil. Jesus took the medicine and exposed himself to the evil that we did to him to show us that the medicine works. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the medicine works. Inoculate yourself with it. Evil is a contagious disease. Don’t let evil infect you. The seeds of evil do not grow in the soil of love. Love is toxic to evil. Love smothers evil was water smothers fire.
