The Poet's Pen

The Poet’s Pen

One of director Darren Aronofsky’s most controversial films is Mother! And to one with zero Bible knowledge this movie would seem incomprehensibly absurd, wildly disturbing, and intentionally confusing. It is essentially a (very, very loose) re-telling of the Bible story, from Creation to the end times, told from the perspective of the ‘earth’. But one aspect that I particularly loved was the characterization of God as a poet. In a poem every syllable is intentional. Every pause measured, every word selected with care. There is beauty in poetry and purpose. What’s more, it can take dried ink on dead trees, and breathe life and imagination back into them. And that is what we discussed this Tuesday. Because Ephesians 2 begins by telling you that you are dead.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) Paul describes our lives before Christ so that we may know the stakes. One cannot appreciate the Good News without knowing just how bad the “bad news” is first. And the bad news is as bleak as can be. On our own and left to our own devices, we achieve death. And that’s it. Here Paul doesn’t describe sin as an action, but a condition. We sin because we are sinners, not the other way around. Our lapses, misdeeds, and mistakes are not what label us as sinners, they are the outpouring of a corrupted core, a broken and misaligned heart that continually pursues evil. Verse 3 spells this out plainly, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of the flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” 

Not only dead but deserving of wrath as well. That could indicate that death is not a punishment enough. It also highlights that sin is best understood, not as an action, but a condition under which we all suffer. (Suffer by choice, no one is out there forcing people to sin.) And that is just the beginning. We are dead and deserving of wrath. There is no relief from this, there is no magic word to erase it, there is no way to bring ourselves out or away from this fate. “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4) Mercy is not giving us what we deserve, and grace is granting us that which we cannot earn. Paul deploys both here to describe God’s actions, and tells us this is animated by an overwhelming and incomparable love. Life itself is a gift from our Creator, this abundance of life in the midst of the death we’ve endeavored to earn is beyond even a gift. It is a light by which we may live even in the midst of the darkness of this world.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ecclesiastes 2:6) The past tense in this verse tells us this has already occurred. It is common to believe that once we pass away, then we will be ‘raised up and seated’ in heaven. If Christ came here to sacrifice Himself and we are saved because we are covered in the blood of our Savior, then we are counted alongside Him even now. We know that Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:33-34 & Hebrews 7:25) as does the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27). So we should understand that the power of Heaven is available to us as well, even now. It is not a ‘wait and see’ phenomena that is only given to us after we’ve passed on. It should be an active part of our daily life. The joy and the peace that come with the understanding that we are seated in God’s presence should permeate our lives. If you want your Christianity to stand out, to be readily noticeable, then behave with this mindset. If there is anything that can distinguish you from the relentless anxiety of our age, this would do the trick quite nicely. Not to mention it provides an evergreen fuel source for the works prepared in advance for us.

Many people are familiar (and rightfully so) with Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” Paul reiterates that Salvation is indeed a gift from God. It cannot be achieved by any individual or collective action. Mankind cannot take credit in any way shape or form for something that they are quite simply incapable of achieving. But keep in mind the verse that directly follows, (Ephesians 2:10) “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (emphasis mine) Our works cannot get us into heaven, but our faith should spur us into action. Our faith is in our heart which Scripture makes clear only God can see, but our works should be driven by that faith and be readily visible. Think just briefly of the lives of the apostles after Jesus ascended. They no longer wished to return to tax collecting and fishing or whatever it was that marked their days before. The Salvation they joyfully preached about was not contingent on the works they were doing, they were galvanized into action because of the joy of their salvation. We know that joy when it is missing, David pled with God for it to return. “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.” (Psalms 51:11-13) 

One last note on the notion of works. Ephesians 2:10 also refers to us as God’s handiwork. The Greek word here is poiema. A masterwork from God’s own hand. Your life is a poem written by the Creator, every syllable intentional, every pause measured, every moment selected with care. Poetry has design and purpose. It is crafted lovingly and shared eagerly. Poetry as an oral tradition is even older than written language. Before a written system was created, people shared history and story with verse. The last words of Christ recorded for us in Scripture are found in Revelation 22:16b, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Followed later by the promise, “Yes, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:20b) And before Iliad or Odyssey, there was “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) God is a poet, one who brought forth light from the darkness and tells us to look for the dawn of the Morning Star, whose light shall never dim. We are in the midst. His children, given the task of spreading that light to every end of the earth He created. You, you were dead, and He has raised you and He is not done with you. The Poet’s pen has already written your name in His book of life, let the beauty of that truth shine through you.

Jordan Williamson