The Obstinate Toy Soldiers | C. S. Lewis

The sources describe two fundamentally different forms of existence: Bios, the temporary biological life, and Zoe, the timeless spiritual life. Bios, the natural life in each person, is characterized as something self-centred, vain, and exploitative, which seeks to take advantage of other lives and exploit the whole universe. This natural life wants to be left alone and fights fiercely to avoid anything higher than it, because it knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centredness and self-will are going to be killed. This opposition is likened to a tin soldier who thinks the process of being turned into real flesh is killing him, as he only sees the "tin is being spoilt".

The decisive difference Christ made was the accomplishment of salvation in principle for the whole human race. The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God, completing the "really tough work" humanity could not do itself: the transition from created Bios into begotten Zoe. Christ achieved this by enduring an earthly career that involved "the killing of His human desires at every turn," allowing His created life to be perfectly turned into the begotten life. The Man in Christ subsequently rose again, showing humanity a real man who had come fully and splendidly alive.

This accomplishment had a universal effect because God views humanity spread out across time not as separate things, but as "one single growing thing — rather like a very complicated tree". Consequently, Christ’s transformation affects the whole human mass, spreading through all mankind, including people who lived before or after Him, and even those who have never heard of Him. Since the spiritual life has already come down into the human race, individuals no longer need to try to climb up by their own efforts. They must appropriate this salvation by laying themselves open to Christ, who will do the transforming work in and for them, receiving the new life like a "good infection". This completed work can also be expressed by saying Christ died for our sins or that Christ has defeated death.

Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv...
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