Reversing This World

Someone who calls himself “Jack” offered a very useful comment on the Great Reversal. That term is more common among liturgical churches and is rarely encountered among evangelicals. I note that Kiln of the Soul parish is composed mostly of refugees from the evangelical background, so I haven’t used that term on this blog.

However, now is a good time to bring it into our vocabulary.

The idea is that Christ reverses the value system of this world. Christ chooses His family from among the losers of this world. It’s easy to lose track of the Hebrew frame of reference here, and a great many churchians do. The key is not that God favors all the losers; He favors those who know they are losers. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Thus, Jesus’ comments about the “poor of this world” has more to do with humility than one’s economic condition. The Hebrew concept of “poor” is people who recognize their dependence and don’t exhibit arrogance. They don’t crow over the losses of others; they don’t dance on the corpses of their enemies. Those who do that are worldly “winners”. The majority of Jesus’ Twelve Disciples were men this world had already rejected. About half of them were His cousins and He had been rejected quite a bit already by the time He began His public ministry. That rejection only grew up through His crucifixion.

Consider how Apostle John referred to himself: the one whom Jesus loved. The emphasis in Hebrew phrasing is that Jesus chose him on His own whims. John would deny being anything special, same as Paul and the other apostles. What they were was Chosen, Elect of God. The whole frame of reference was the greatness of the One doing the choosing.

Thus, you realize that the term “Great Reversal” is rooted in eschatology, too. We can endure our own crosses because we know that the Day of Judgment will reveal a great many reversals. This world does not have a clue that matters and what is valuable. The world picks its own winners, but none of that will matter when the Lord returns to establish once and for all what is pleasing to Him. That’s the only question that matters. He defines the meaning of “good” and “true” and “beautiful”. His definition seldom resembles that of this world in any way.

The world has turned everything on its head. This world was delivered into Satan’s hands and there it remains until the day Christ returns. Peter and Paul both tell us that on that day, the very energy bonds of matter itself will all be broken and every molecule will dissolve in a fiery flash. Only what is eternal will remain. Nothing of this world will be around. Nothing men have accomplished by their hands will even be remembered. Those who regard themselves as independent and standing on their accomplishments will be humbled even more severely than was Paul on the Road to Damascus.

Instead, God will recognize only those who embraced feudal submission to Him. People who call themselves “Christian” will suffer the most severe examination, being judged first whenever God comes to visit His wrath on sin. Knowing this, His family typically beg for Him to come and start His inspection with them. “Clean us up, Lord! We are unable to do it ourselves; we have no power.”