Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Jesus Christ is the greater man.

Below is excerpt from John Milton's, Paradise Lost Book 1.  Notice how he highlights the "greater Man."  Out of the chaos of sin, just as out of the chaos of the darkness in Genesis 1:2 God created our beautiful word, so God recreates us through the holy gospel of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  God in Jesus became man; and he is the one greater Man who is like us but without sin who has the power to forgive sin and make us new by the power of his Holy Spirit. 

Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heav'nly Muse, that, on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos; or, if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first
Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dovelike sat'st brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark
Illumine; what is low, raise and support;
That, to the height of this great argument,
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men. 

1 comment:

Mark Nenadov said...

Greetings Pastor Bartsch!

I'm subscribed to a lot of blogs that I follow in my Google Reader account. But I'm always excited to see one of your new posts come up. It's great to see you posting once again. I just want you to know that your posts are really appreciated.

It's wonderful to see the rich poetry and hymnody the Christian church has in its hands. Ranging from the Biblical literature all the way up to Milton, and then down to our age. So much of it is fabulous. I just read a book recently published about the 18th century hymn writer Anne Steele and really enjoyed it!

I have a good friend who is a huge fan of John Milton (and so it turns, he happens to live in Milton, Ontario!)

I'm unfortunately less familiar with Milton's work than I ought to be. I have read Areopagitica, though.