The film ‘Now You See Me’ looks at the world of magic and sleight of hand, and this can be a world of great entertainment. Magicians astound us with their tricks and amuse us with their dexterity. Ironically, however, Christians are often accused of living in a world of illusion and make-believe when nothing could be further from the truth. Christians live in God’s reality and must give up the illusion that with a little more effort, a better political system, a bigger budget or a more efficient administrative process, the world will soon be saved.
We must give up the illusion of self-help as our source of salvation if we are to enter into Christ’s salvation which is freely available to us. ‘We should not believe in people or in the good in people that ultimately must triumph,’ warned Dietrich Bonhoeffer, trusting instead solely in God, who creates life out of death and does impossible things. One word from Him, Chris Tomlin reminds us in the song ‘Impossible Things’ and the walls start falling, the blind will see and the sinner is forgiven. Our help is in the name of the Lord our Maker. (Ps 124:8)
Any other salvation is an illusion which quickly becomes a delusion and which inevitably leads to disillusionment (see Gal 1:6-9). Easter invites us to give up illusion and embrace the God-reality of salvation through sacrifice.