119: Heth

Pronounced chet, Heth [ח] is the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, called by Jewish scholars the “letter of life”. They teach that a soul at one with God is enlivened by the “essential life” God himself possesses, which does not seem an unreasonable proposition. Where Christianity differs with Judaism, of course, is over the matter of how being “at one” with God comes about.

As the New Testament teaches, it is only in the person of Jesus Christ that the essential life of God may be communicated to his creatures.

A Shared Inheritance

In a previous post, “Representative Men”, we saw that we are either represented by Adam and what he did in Eden (sin) and what he in consequence became (a sinner), or by Christ and what he passed through in his death and resurrection. In the sequel, “Beyond Condemnation”, we saw how the gospel makes provision for us in him.

We should never consider ourselves apart from Christ.

Gaming It Out

Nothing makes one explore the implications of one’s own mortality like choosing a beneficiary.*

Don’t get me wrong: the open casket of a close friend or family member always provides a moment or two of bracing clarity, but far too many of us are accustomed to granting the dead their expected tearful due, then moving on as expeditiously as is decently possible.

Sure, we hear the occasional grateful acknowledgement that there but for the grace of God go the rest of us, but most of us are disinclined to let the full implications of that reality really permeate.