Matthew 28:1-15
John 3:16-17
John 3:2-15
John 19:38-42
1 Peter 3:18-22
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS which is a compilation of 31 letters written by a SENIOR DEMON NAMED SCREWTAPE TO HIS NEPHEW, WORMWOOD, a Junior TEMPTER.
Screwtape reveals the Enemy’s intentions:
“Now it may surprise you to learn that in His (the Enemy’s) efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favorites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. The reason is this. To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense.
But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really DOES want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself – creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His.
We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become SONS. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; HE IS FULL AND FLOWS OVER. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself; THE ENEMY WANTS A WORLD FULL OF BEINGS UNITED TO HIM BUT STILL DISTINCT.” C.S. Lewis “The Screwtape Letters”
“One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth.”
Dr. Michael Heiser comments on this topic:
“First Peter 3:14-22 has Jesus descending to these “spirits in prison” to tell them they were still defeated, despite his crucifixion. God’s plan of salvation and kingdom rule had not been derailed – in fact, it was right on schedule. The crucifixion actually meant victory over every demonic force opposed to God. This victory declaration is why 1 Peter 3:14-22 ends with Jesus risen from the dead and set at the right hand of God – ABOVE ALL ANGELS, AUTHORITIES AND POWERS. The messaging is very deliberate and has a supernatural view of Genesis 6:1-4 at its core.”
Application
Perhaps you’ve been told a narrative counter to the New Testament testimony concerning the miraculous, bodily resurrection of Jesus. But the fake news pushed by the Jewish leaders then and by so many academics in the secular and religious leaders today, demand a closer analysis.
• The empty tomb is a fact of history.
• That the Jewish leaders alleged that the body was stolen is an implicit admission of the fact that was not there.
• The early, widespread, and numerous independent eyewitness accounts of encountering the resurrected Jesus are impossible to ignore.
Ultimately, however, accepting the truth of the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus IS AN ACT OF FAITH.