Hope beyond the Sea of Death

 

Hope beyond the Sea of Death

 

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

 

Genesis is the book of origin. By studying this book carefully, we can get right views of God, man, and the world. From this book, we can learn why and how we were created, how sin and death entered the world, and how God protected and guided the fallen human beings. Thus, every verse in this book is worthy of our full attention. This is also the case for today’s passage Genesis 3:15. This is the word God declared against the serpent after the serpent deceived the first man and woman into eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden them to eat. God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

 

This verse is often called the ‘first gospel (proto-evangelium)’ or ‘first good news.’ This is good news because it is talking about victory over Satan our enemy. God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of Satan. But, unfortunately, this is not the end of the message. God added, “You (namely, Satan) will strike his heel.” This shows that the victory is not without cost. The seed of the woman will crush Satan’s head, but in the battle he will also be hurt badly in his heel by Satan. It is believed that this first gospel was fulfilled by Jesus Christ when He was killed on a cross, and in three days He rose again from the dead. But this is not the end of the story. In Romans 16:20, St. Paul says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…..” My goodness! Satan didn’t die yet! This suggests that all Christian believers who follow Jesus also join the battle against Satan, and then will join the glorious victory and heavenly peace with the Lord. This is the hope that we have in Christ. Victory, freedom, and eternal peace, but only after a long battle against our enemy Satan! Can this be our hope when our arch-enemy is still alive, when we have to struggle with the invisible devil, and when we don’t know when the struggle ends?

 

I want to watch a video with you. This is the last scene of movie ‘Papillon,’ which is based on a true story about the French convict Henri Charrière. In this movie, Papillon and his fellow convict Louis Dega were imprisoned in a remote island called Devil’s Island. They had to spend their entire life in the island, but at least within the island they were free. But Papillon dreamed of freedom not in the island but on the other side of the sea. In his dream, he prepared two floats for himself and his friend Louis. Scared by the violent sea waves, however, Louis gave up and decided to remain in the island. And this scene shows the last conversation between Papillon and Louis:

 

 

 

Louis: I need to tell you something...

Papillon: Louis, you don’t have to say anything...

Louis: I meant to ... I’m sorry.

Papillon: I know.

Louis: You’ll be killed ... you know that!

Papillon: Maybe...

Louis: Please don’t do it.

 

For Louis, the sea was the sea of death. He was sure that if he jumped into the sea he would be killed immediately. As he was scared, he could not jump into the sea. So he was trapped in the island. Papillon had a somewhat different idea. When Louis said, “You’ll be killed!” he answered calmly, “Maybe…” Like Louis, looking down the roaring breakers, Papillon might also smell the smell of death. But he also smelled a much stronger smell of freedom coming from the other side of the sea. He could not deny his desire for freedom. Even the deadly waves could not extinguish his burning hope of freedom. Papillon opened his eyes and observed the seemingly violent waves very carefully. And he found that the wave was flowing out to the open sea. Then he thought that the waves would not kill him but rather carry him to the land he was dreaming of. With this belief, he jumped into the sea. When he believed and jumped, the sea was not sea of death any longer. It was sea of life and freedom. He made it through the sea and lived as a free man.

 

  

Papillon’s story may not reflect the gospel exactly, but it gives us a glimpse of the grand context of Christian history and life. We Christians are crossing the sea of death to the Heavenly Kingdom. It is like the Israelites entered the Land of Canaan through the Red Sea, through the Wilderness, and through the Jordan River. It is like Jesus became the King of Kings through experiencing the painful death on the cross. It is like the church subdued the Roman Empire after having suffered long severe persecution. Sometimes I wonder why God saved Satan so that the devil would threaten God’s people to death. Wouldn’t it be much easier without Satan and without the danger of death? Let me show an illustration in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. In this story, the main character’s name is Christian. He is the man in front of the lions. on his pilgrim journey, he wanted to get lodging in a house but he could not approach because of the lions in front of the house. He was afraid. He thought nothing but death was before him. Then, the person standing in front of the house said to Christian, “Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for Trial of Faith… Keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come upon you.”

 

Satan, or figuratively saying, the lions are chained, so it cannot hurt Christian. It is placed there alive only for trial of faith. Like the sea of death separates between Papillon and Louis, the lions or the threat of death separates between believers and unbelievers. Believers go through the narrow path, believing that God’s mighty hand would hold the lions back and shut their mouths. We don’t have to fear the lions even if they are moving and growling. Proverb 26:13 says, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’” This man was afraid of a lion in the street, so he could not go out. Out of fear, he was stuck at home, in his room, and on his bed. If someone said, “Hey man! Go out and do some work,” he replied, “Oh! No, there is a lion in the street. I will be killed!” Considering that this word was written ancient times around 3000 years ago, he might not be exaggerating. There could be a lion on the street. Still the proverb calls the man ‘a sluggard.’ Even if there was a lion roaming in the road, he should get out of his bed, go outside, and do some work.

 

We meet a lion every day. Wherever we go and whatever we do, we encounter a lion. We feel the danger of death. So, people try to build a safety area, keeping themselves from such a danger. It is like an island surrounded by the sea of death. They want to stay there as long as possible. But this is not the way of life God guides his people. A safe island trapped in the sea of death is not the hope that God gives to us. God wants us to show our faith by having our hope beyond the dangerous waves, jumping into the sea, and crossing the sea of death relying on God’s saving power. This seems very difficult and very dangerous. Actually it is not at all. If we see carefully, we can see that the lions are chained. If we see carefully, we can see that the deadly sea waves are flowing out and carrying us to the land of freedom. If we see carefully, we can see that Jesus’ cross is not the end of life and despair, but the beginning of true life and true hope.

 

This is the Christian paradox I believe. Death is the source of every problem, but in Christ, death is the source of every solution. When we are in fear of death, we are trapped with no way out. But when we believe God and confront the danger of death, we can see that we are safe and we find a way of life God has prepared through the narrow path. only when we overcome the fear of death, we can see the path through the sea of death, and envision the glorious hope beyond the sea of death. This is our daily spiritual practice, seeing the light of God in darkness, smelling the life of God in danger of death, and experiencing God’s guidance in the middle of nowhere. only then, we have true eternal hope that cannot be overshadowed by death. only then, we see that we are truly free and strong. May God give us this true hope beyond the sea of death!