There is not much written about the three days of Christ’s death.  Most of what I write is speculation, but I do think some of it was revealed to me.

See, from creation, we know that the Holy Spirit was brooding over the face of the deep.   I don’t think this is the only time of the Holy Spirit’s brooding.  I believe today, He continues to brood over the body of Christ.

When Jesus died, his divine-human soul left his divine-human body.  I say this because Jesus was truly God and truly man.  The Son of God became human.  He didn’t change from God.  He didn’t just wear a human suit.  He became the first fruits of what we can become through Him.

So the author of life entered into created life.  And because Jesus was God, there was no one who took His life.  This might seem strange, but understand that He was lead like a lamb to the slaughter.  It was not the trial which killed the Author of Life.  It was not the beatings that separate His soul from His body.  It was not the ubermensch way, after these beating that would have killed most men, that he walked from Jerusalem to Golgotha.  It was not the taunting of a cruel world which caused Him to give up.  It was not the nails that pierced His arms outstretched to receive the world, nor the nail through His feet that anchored Him to this world.

Jesus was crucified by this world, but Jesus gave His life upon His own terms.  Jesus first pardoned the world, then willingly surrendered to death itself.  In the same manner, He entered into life to change life, He entered into death to change death from within.  He tore not only the veil of separation in the temple but also the veil of life and death.

Death sought to consume this life offered to it.  However, death did not bargain for the Source of all Life.  There was no way that death could contain this Holy One.  All of Death died that day because the cost of consuming the Source of Life cost Death everything Death had.  Death was not strong enough to contain this source.  So Death was created anew, into a true path to life itself.  In order to save itself, Death now must serve Life.

Now that Death had been defeated, Jesus then moved on to the abode of the dead.  There is a great divide within this abode.  This abode was created for Abel first because of Abel’s soul crying out to God.  Because the issue of sin had not been resolved in those early times, the Holy Spirit, being God’s love created a place of God’s love for these souls which the Father loved.

The justice of God, however, could not allow those who rejected Himself from interfering with those who sought God out and repented.  So the Holy Spirit, in an act of love (both for those who rejected but also those who loved God), created a vast chasm between the two groups.  This chasm was created by Justice Himself and was Justice itself.  This chasm separated the fire of God’s love from the fire for God’s love.  The fire of God’s love we call Hell.  The fire for God’s love was known to the Jews as Abraham’s bosom.

Therefore, when the unjust acts of mankind led to the Author of Justice surrendering His life, Jesus was the only man who could stand upon Justice, offering Justice, Love, and Life to all those in the abode.  Jesus was able to heal the bridge between the Father’s children.

Because justice belongs to God alone, I will refrain from saying if any of those who were in Hell received the Author of Justice.  If I truly love my neighbor, I must love those who have lost their lives, and especially those who may have also lost their soul.  May they rest in peace.

It was at this time, that the Holy Spirit started brooding over the body of our Lord.  In tenderness, He whispered to Him the words of Love.  “You cannot be dead, because everything the Father told me has come true, except this.  And the Father, who loves You, asks me to remind you of His love.  Because I love you, you must not remain dead.  You have done everything the Father has asked except this one thing.  You must remain the Author of Life.  You must return to those you gave the Father, so that they may return to Him, to You and to me.  You must bring them all to the Father, and I will help you.  I will help them because You love them, and the Father loves them, and I love them.  It is Love calling to you to come alive.  It is love that raises you up and will make you whole.  I, Love, will do these things because I love you, just as I love the Father, I also love them.  The Father has honored your prayer, and through you, they may now join the Father.  I, Love will make this happen as the Father requests.  So arise sleeper to the newest day, for it is love that commands you.”

He tenderly whispered because when God speaks, that which is nothing now exists.

So Paul is talking to Timothy, and shares with him not only the Gospel he is preaching, but what it means to him.  Like a father sharing values to his son.

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David”

To a Jew, this is a mouthful and a good summary.  Jesus is the anointed one (the Christ) which means that he is all the fulfillment of the prophets.

Raised from the dead summarizes his pharisaical belief in life after death, but that he was raised from the dead by God gives Jesus a new status beyond the prophets and better than Moses.

A descendant of David, and therefore has royal rights to the throne of Isreal, the promise and ruling authority over God’s people.

“such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal.  But the word of God is not chained.”

We must remember it is proper to suffer.  Suffering is not something to be avoided, but to make our joys and suffering available to God, so that He can do his good and turn them into grace for others.  Paul was focused on others, and these others made sure that the word of God was not chained.  Paul realized that chains serve a larger purpose.  They may bind and restrict, but they also amplify a good message.

“Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.”

Remember before I stated that God will turn the suffering into grace for others?  This is the exact message that Paul is trying to communicate with this passage.  All of Pauls life was dedicated to those chosen.  But just because they are chosen, doesn’t mean they have it easy.

It is required of those chosen to obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.  “But wait,” you might say, ” I thought salvation was by grace through faith.”  So I answer that it is, but grace is not just forgiveness of sin, it is the power of God as a gift to those with faith.  It is the power to heal and overcome evil, both in our lives and the lives of others.  Just because we are chosen does not mean we don’t have a choice or a part to play in salvation, but without God’s grace, earned through the suffering of Jesus Christ, we cannot do it ourselves.

Once we obtain salvation, we then may obtain eternal life.  Note in the passage, “together with eternal glory.”  So the task that Paul was after was to join his sufferings to the Gospel message so that the chosen could obtain salvation and eternal glory.  And this is what Father Paul was passing on to his son Timothy.

Now we get to an early creed:

“This saying is trustworthy:

If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.”

This is a regression list, or as I like to think of it, and inverted progression:

1. We must have faith in Jesus because Jesus has faith in us.
2. If we have faith, we cannot deny Jesus access to our life.
3. If we continue to allow him access to our life, Jesus will reign through us
4. If Jesus reign’s through us, then our old worthless self will die.

Because salvation is about saving us from our wounded, worthless life.

“Remind people of these things and charge them before God to stop disputing about words.  This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen.”

One thing not well understood is “stop disputing about words.”  This does not mean stop all dispute.  Gnostics believed that it was necessary to find the right words to unlock the secret.  Gnostic discussions were about criticizing people who didn’t say the “magic phrase.”  There was an endless discussion in the gnostic circles about what was the right words of Jesus.  Father Paul is telling Timothy that these discussions about the words of Jesus were more about living them than debating them.

Which is why:

“Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation.”

To be acceptable to God is the goal, but to do that we need to be a workman, not just discussing things, but putting our salvation to work for others.  And when we live what we speak, the word of truth (another gnostic reference being borrowed) will be imparted.