at Ashland Seminary

I had a great time this week at Ashland Seminary, meeting Allan Bevere who graciously hosted me there. Was good getting acquainted with him in person. And getting to hear Scot McKnight on the gospel. Four great lectures on the gospel along with good, stimulating question and answer times afterwards.

What was reinforced for me is that the gospel is bigger than many of us have understood it to be. It is centered in Jesus and out from him comes the salvation that is meant for the entire world and all of creation. And it is meant for each person and each person in their totality. I gained new insights into this with reference to the gospels, the early witness in Acts, and Paul, and how we work that out in the present day.

Was great to have the privilege of chatting at a coffee place with Scot and Allan. Allan himself is a gifted scholar, pastor and professor. I wish I could have heard him teach or preach. And with Scot we had a most interesting conversation over theology and what is going on in their work and from others today.

I must add that Ashland Seminary is an interesting place, and it looks to me like a very good work is going on there. And beautiful days there as you can see from the pics.

Beyond the Gates of Splendor

Last evening Deb and I watched Beyond the Gates of Splendor. Named after Elisabeth Elliot's book, Through Gates of Splendor, wife of Jim Elliot, one of the missionaries who risked his life that others in Jesus might find true life.

In 1956, five American missionaries to Ecuador were brutally speared to death by a savage Stone Age tribe of Indians known as the Aucas. Two years later, the wife and sister of two of the murdered missionaries walked into the jungle to live with the same people who had murdered the men they loved. Today, the Aucas (now known as the Waodani) are a changed people. This is their story.

from the website of the movie

This is a wonderful film, largely a documentary talking to the actual people with shots of scenes of that time, including those from the camera which was discovered when the five bodies of the men were found. It is indeed a most powerful testimony of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to transform individuals, societies and systems of evil.

It is I think wisely rated "PG-13 for some violent content and thematic elements."

I remember one of the killers of the missionaries coming to RBC Ministries for a very special chapel with Steve Saint, son of one of those who perished, Nate Saint. What a wonderful chapel. The grandchildren of the fallen missionaries call him Grandpa; there is a bond of genuine love that shows clearly the power of the gospel of Christ to save sinners and bring true reconciliation to humans in their/our relationship to God and to each other.

Have you seen the film, or read the book?

quote for the week: N.T. Wright on Paul's summary of the gospel

Paul has various ways of summarizing his "gospel." In Romans itself, he does it in 1:3-5, where it is the proclamation that Jesus, the Messiah, is the risen Lord of the world, summoning the whole world to believing allegiance. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 he does it in terms of the Messiah dying for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and being raised again also in accordance with the Scriptures. But the important point to note is that "the gospel" is a message primarily about Jesus, and about what the one true God has done and is doing through him.

N.T. Wright, Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision, 181.

salvation's focus

Tom Wright in his latest book now coming to me in the mail points out how our theological thinking, even among the Reformed* who profess a God-centered theology, is man-centered, orbiting around man. As important as humanity is, and humanity is at the pinnacle of God's creation, God is at the center, and we along with all else, revolve around God.

That in itself is not the radical point Wright is trying to make in what little I've read of that book so far. Rather, when it's all about our/my justification, our/my salvation, our/my sanctification, our/my home someday in "heaven", then we've lost our way. Such a view is a misreading and often truncated view of Scripture, might be the thought here. God's salvation in Christ is much bigger, and our lives and sense of mission should reflect that.

God's salvation in Christ is for the entire creation in the new creation which begins now through God's saving of people and through those people to others and to God's world. Not to lose sight of our salvation because that's important and essential. But not to make that the end all, because through it God sets us in motion by the Spirit in his new creation work, both in sharing the gospel and in fulfilling his creation mandate for humanity.

This for me makes my tuning in to keep up on something of the news important. While never letting go of the primacy of the gospel, but also realizing its scope is bigger than we think. That it's not only about me and God, (or even us and God). To think it is, suggests Wright, is to hear the serpent's whisper, and not God's voice.**

What do you think on this? What thought would you like to share?

*To be fair, the Reformed do emphasize God's glory, but in their exegesis and telling of Scripture, it's all too often about how that relates to man's salvation, so that the glory given to God is in reference to that and then fails to see the bigger picture that Scripture itself presents, I believe.

**To be fair to Tom Wright, I think his reference to the serpent's whisper is the thinking that God's salvation is all about me, so that it's what I can get out of it, the serpent's pitch in the garden in its lie to Eve.

the gospel

"Gospel" simply means "good news." JR Woodward is currently having a great series on the good news, with a host of contributors.

I am weary of gospel presentations which fail to take into account that the good news is for all creation. Yes, humans made in God's image are at the pinnacle of creation. But as such, we are meant to be involved in both the fellowship and works of God.

Sin has to be taken care of, and that indeed is ongoing for us in Jesus in this life. But we must not stop there. Too often gospel understanding does; it's all about forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

To better understand this, we need to consider more carefully Jesus' message of the gospel/good news of the kingdom of God. And we need to read the Bible more as story, how God is at work in the world and what his work is heading toward in Jesus. A work that begins now, in this life.

I believe the point of Scripture, or goal of the good news, indeed an important aspect of it is to help us see God's work in Jesus in the world, that we might become a part of that work in the kingdom and new creation in Jesus. It's written primarily as story, or story is at the heart of its writing, seeing it as God's story in the world, meant to catch us up and carry us along in the same story.

We don't want to lose sight of "the simple gospel," but neither do we want to see the good news as less than what it is, a news that is for all the world, to bring humans into no less than God's kingdom working and trinitarian community, in Jesus.

Not an easy post, and a subject I'll always be working on in this life, both to better understand and better live out.

But what would you like to add to these words?

the problem of evil - a comment from yesterday's post

Yesterday, I touched on "the problem of evil." As one of my commenters, ESI pointed out, the heart of the solution is in Jesus. Here are his words, well spoken:

I think theodicy is about the "justification of God"...and the problem of evil is one of the great philosophical challenges. But here's what God has done in the realm of theodicy - He sent His own Son, the only Blameless One, crucified for the sins of those who rebelled against Him. The greatest "injustice" is the cross of Jesus Christ. God's answer to the problem of evil is self sacrificing love.

the problem of evil

One of the issues atheists like to hoist as evidence against God's existence is theodicy, or the problem of evil. If there is a god who is both great and good, than why is there genocide and starvation? Why are there earthquakes and tsunamis which can kill thousands upon thousands of people?

Of course theologians and philosophers have grappled over this, but no one can give a satisfactory answer which pleases all. Even though some good work has been done on it.

Scripture takes the problem of evil quite seriously. Humankind was created to be in fellowship with God. This is not coercive/forced, but free in that God wants love returned freely. Humans are meant to be in a fellowship of love with each other. Of course sin is a power in the world in this existence. And with that comes grave consequences.

In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) we see the story of Job. One gets glimpses of evil at work from those doing evil and from nature itself. Add to that an opposer to God and humankind, Satan, and you have a profound story of human suffering, which though having a happy ending, does not resolve the loss of Job's children.

Fastforward to the New Testament and we find the story of Jesus, God becoming flesh, one of us as a human. Jesus lives a life in our shoes, so that we can live a life in his shoes, so to speak. A life of love in giving one's self for the world. Of course Jesus is unique in this; he is the Savior. But in that salvation is opened up the new way in Jesus, for those in him to help humans in this world physically and spiritually. In Jesus a kingdom comes which is not about "navel gazing", but is meant to be lived out for others. Of course at the heart of this is "the Jesus Creed" of loving God and loving our neighbor.

Scripture does not promise followers of Jesus an easy life. Quite the contrary, starvation may even be a part of our existence, while living in and seeking to live out the love we have in Jesus. It's a love that will not pass the sufferer by in the name of religion. But recognizes that this is what true religion is all about.

Of course there's more to this. Jesus took on himself the full brunt of the world's evil and sin, so that the world could be given the gift of the kingdom of God in him. Christianity should major on mission and not on our own salvation and holiness. The latter is essential, but not complete. We must seek to follow Jesus by the Spirit in mission, starting in our own neighborhoods, or with some needs we see around us. Getting our hands dirty to do what we can, in the name of Jesus. And in that seeking to both live out and proclaim the good news of Jesus and God's kingdom come in him. A gospel that proclaims the forgivness of sins and eternal life, in Jesus.

In the end, God does intervene, righting all wrongs and making all things new. There is coming both judgment and grace. That is the hope we have in Jesus. We can rest assured in that, in God's promise to us through Jesus. But in the meantime we need to keep praying this prayer, and do our part in seeing it being answered here and now.

What would you like to add to these few thoughts?

violence

I hold to a Christian pacifist position, that is that followers of Jesus are to be people who follow in the steps of Jesus who taught us to love our enemies, and when hit on one cheek to turn the other.

Jim Elliot is often touted by Christians as a great example, but it is little known that he embraced a Christian pacifist stance, and was going to file as a "conscientious objector," if a draft was put in place.

I have been well reminded lately that the power we have as Christians is neither in the ballot box nor by the sword, but by the word of God. Not to say we don't vote, or that many Christians don't take up "the sword" as police officers, or in the military, though I don't accept the latter option. But to say that we are to be people who live out and speak the word of God, the revelation of God that is in Jesus.

This is a word that speaks against the ways of this world, the way of violence, and instead is about taking the way of the cross. As Christians, regardless of where we stand in what ways Christians can participate in society, and specifically in the state, we ought to be known as people who are followers of the Way, in the sense of being known as working for peace in terms of righteousness, which can only be realized through the message of Jesus- the gospel: Jesus' redemptive work for us, in his life, death and resurrection which we will soon remember and celebrate.

How this is lived out can be misunderstood. Some think it means we have to let ourselves be rugs for others to walk on. But that is a misreading of Scripture, and misunderstanding of what Jesus brought and continues to bring through the Spirit in the church. We must be bold, but with a boldness that is of God's Spirit, not of the flesh; not of this world, but of the kingdom of God come in Jesus.

Just a few thoughts on this. A subject I've blogged about before, but has been in my mind some lately. What would you like to add to this? What objections might you raise to what I'm saying here?

no condemnation

We are told that for us in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. This is because Jesus took our just condemnation on himself when he died on the cross for our sins. So that we can go away, free from guilt by the forgiveness of our sins, and free to live a new life in Jesus by the Spirit. It's interesting how this passage ties the new life we're to live out by the Spirit along with Christ's death for us. Yes, in Jesus we're no longer condemned, but we're to live out that life of no condemnation.

Over my life, even as a Christian, I've experienced many days in which I've felt condemnation. I've learned not to accept that so that those days have become less and less. I do have days in which the Lord is dealing with me in loving discipline. There is a big difference. We in Jesus must reject all condemnation, even if there is truth in the accusations to our hearts. Instead we must learn to rest in God, and seek the justification through Christ, which brings us peace no matter what.

I am glad God deals with me as one of God's children. So I don't accept the feeling of condemnation, even when I can't shake it. I simply seek to rest in God, and in the truth I find in God through faith in Jesus. The Spirit brings conviction to us, but not condemnation. A conviction over sin which helps us one step at a time deal with it in accepting God's forgiveness, making a clean break of it, while making appropriate restitution. Or, as in many times in my life, calling Satan's bluff, and standing on the truth that my sin is forgiven.

One other thing: Condemnation is on us and usually is hazy, whereas God's conviction on us is over our sin and is specific. And condemnation results in or would push us toward death, while conviction helps us find forgiveness and life in Jesus.

What thoughts on this would you like to add here?

repentance, continued

By request, Byard continued on repentance, and there was much discussion.

What stood out for me is how true repentance must have a God-ward focus. In other words one is not repenting because they're sorry about some loss they've received through their actions. But only because it offended God. That indicates, as Byard pointed out, a love for God.

Byard also noted how today in our society there is no agreed standard by which people can be held accoutable. Repentance among most any given group of people in our society therefore makes little or no sense. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes.

Part of the solution is for people to somehow get a vision of God. But that must begin with God's people. We can only understand God's law and the grace extended to us in Christ when we catch a glimpse of God, receiving a sense of God's holiness, sovereignty, goodness and love. We need to look to the "face" of Christ. In that face we see in contrast our sin, but we also see our salvation, God's love and forgiveness in Jesus.

That is why a true, healthy repentance- little by little (piece by piece, not dumped on one we've sinned against all at once) at the right times in God's timing does not shrink back from telling all: a frank, full confession. Only in that is there true and full salvation.

As I look at the handout we receive yesterday, I note that there may be more wisdom on this yet to come (the previous paragraph, one example). Our series on Ephesians continues to be interrupted, but considering repentance in depth anytime is a good thing, and is particularly fitting during Lent. 

Anyone have a thought to add, or wonder about anything here?

more on repentance

Byard taught and reminded us well, yesterday, concerning repentance as he and Shalini his wife, gave us some helpful teaching related to Lent. Byard mentioned that the elements of true repentance are contritition (sorrow over our sin), confession and remuneration- can't recall the word he used here (making it right where we can, as Zaccheus did).

What I especially liked was the simple teaching that repentance is essentially a 180 degree turn of going from one direction in sin, to the opposite direction toward God. And that through Jesus Christ. A true message of repentance always leaves one with good news, the gospel. And never with a sense of condemnation. The good news being that Jesus became one of us in the Incarnation- God became human, lived the life we are to live before God but cannot, and died for us to take our place for our sins. And that he rose, and that by faith we die and rise with him, to a new life, which begins now, and someday is completed at the resurrection.

I wonder what our experiences of hearing repentance preached have been like. Have they left us with a deep sense of guilt and condemnation, with no answers? I remember when I was ten years of age, I went down to the men's restroom at our "church" and cried out in a loud voice to God over my sins. I found out later that others could hear me, even though they were upstairs and behind closed doors.

But did that acknowledgment by me do any good? Not at all. Because there was no gospel, no good news in it. I needed to understand that my salvation was not in my confession or repentance, but in Christ. Through Jesus I could then truly repent and begin a new life. But that was not to come until some seven years later.

What about you? Would any of you like to share from your own lives on this, or any thoughts?

Christ the controversialist

It seems like many years ago, now, when I was a young man and bought an outstanding book on Jesus' life, and his dealing with his own people, entitled Christ the Controversialist. It was written by John R. W. Stott, perhaps the most influential evangelical leader of the twentieth century (according to Scot McKnight). He was a pastor in the Anglican church and a writer of a good number of books. And as one told me recently, he was balanced in a solid, Scriptural way, in a way that is attune to life in his writings. The book is an exposition of John's gospel in places where Jesus makes truth claims about himself. And the wall of opposition he faced.

We live in a world in which Satan is alive and well. Naturally, those whose eyes have been blinded by the god of this age will not readily assent to Jesus' truth claims concerning himself and the gospel, in other words, the uniqueness of Christ and his salvation any more readily than the people did in Jesus' day. We can go a long way in getting rid of unnecessary stumbling blocks and controversy surrounding us. Some of the controversy that surrounds Christians today is not inherent or a part of the true message of the good news of Christ. Indeed, too much so, I'm afraid.

At the same time, there is no way that in any part of life Christians who hold faithful to Jesus and to the message of the gospel are not going to have to meet opposition. We will. And indeed we should speak prophetically into our times and world. This is a message that points to Christ, and in doing so, is really pointing others away from what is not of Christ, all the various pursuits and gods people clamor after. One example: "the American dream." Indeed not all is bad in this "dream", but oftentimes in the way we pursue good things- e.g., Ecclesiastes- we settle for something less than God.

Our message does not cut off much of what the world is interested or involved in. It simply helps people find the true reality and fulfillment of these things in Christ. So that I don't have to retreat from science, or philosophy, or psychology, music, art or any good number of things. I can see them come to life and flourish because of my faith. I can appreciate the good work others do, while seeing what comes into that work at times that is part of the lie which began in the garden.

So we might as well face the fact that we're going to be controversial. I don't want it, but I don't shrink from it. But how I carry that is all important. Do I do so in the humility, meekness and love of Jesus, or do I do it out of my own pride and in impatience with others? We must be ready for controversy, yet seek to win people with our lives and words. That others might see Jesus in and among us, as God's people, and be led to him.

What would you like to add on this? What do you think about controversy?

our great salvation

Yesterday in listening to Lamentations from The Bible Experience, I was hit at just how great the suffering in Jerusalem was due to God's judgment. Well acted in spoken word, and I was caught in the grip of it. Yes, I could identify to an extent. Both personally, as God has had to put his hand on my life in some loving, firm, hard discipline for my good. And knowing that Scripture teaches God's sure judgment to come, and already present in some ways against those who resist the truth and do evil. So as the actor played her role well, I was surely weeping as I reflected on my own life and some of the difficulties we bear.

God does need to give us a sense of who we are, and who God is. We then come to realize that we are worthy of God's judgment. But the fact is that Jesus took on himself God's judgment against humankind at the cross. In other words God took the judgment on himself/God's self. We need to rest assured on that, certainly knowing by faith what this great salvation can do and has done for us. And living in that reality in Jesus as forgiven and reconciled to God and potentially to all humankind through Jesus and the cross.

Lamentations and our lives can help us catch a glimpse of the great salvation that is offered to all in Jesus, as we see how great is our need. In Jesus' death for us, and in his resurrection to bring us into this new life in him. May we have broken hearts over our own sin, and over the sins of others. And may we have this as we contemplate, seek to live in view of, and proclaim this great and wondrous salvation we have in Jesus our Lord.

Any thoughts you'd like to share here?

pressing further for a bigger gospel

Yesterday my post suggested that the gospel is bigger than only personal conversion. Of course we must not abandon that, and it's an important part of our mission, in fact it is fundamental to where the impact of the gospel begins. It begins for each of us in a new relationship with God through Christ and Christ's atoning work for us.

What Christ has done however, has bigger implications than only getting people saved, as important and vital as that is. Christ's atoning work is for the reconciliation of all of God's creation to fulfill the purposes of God. To the part of creation which rebels, there will be judgment. But reconciliation of all things to God through Christ, needs to be factored into what we see as our mission in Jesus today. It must always include the call to evangelize individual people, helping them see their need of Jesus as their Savior from sin. But it needs also to take into account God's work in bringing in the kingdom in Jesus to bear on all things in creation and in the culture and world of humankind.

Since the meaning of the gospel for many of us is only about people's personal relationship to God through Christ, as important as that is, oftentimes we evangelicals, or others are left with co-opting worldly measures in politics, etc. We need to work on bringing to bear the gospel on everything, even in this present life and existence. Not an easy task. While at the same time we don't lose sight of the call to evangelize so that people may put their trust in Christ as Savior and Lord.

Any thoughts here?

the gospel for crises

What is happening in Mumbai has captured our attention in the news. It is certainly troubling, and is an attack on the very foundations of civilization, or civilized society. Of course it reminds us of what happened on "9/11."

What does the gospel of Christ have to say to this, and how does it address it? This is challenging. The stock answer for many Christians is that it may affect such only indirectly, through the regeneration of people, in which lives are changed. And of course we know in one way or another that wars and violence are inevitable in this world until God in Christ puts a final end to it in the completion of the shalom of the kingdom.

I believe the gospel does have more to say in addressing these crises. The good news in Jesus also is about an alternative way to be human. And there is only one way to move toward being a human in the full sense of what God intended in God's creation of humans. But in this world, in Jesus, it's a way which is marked by suffering.

How do we defeat evil? The stock answer of the world is to fight fire with fire. And indeed there would seem to be justification for that when we read Romans 13. The state is there seen to be "servants of God" no less in bearing "the sword" against evil doers. But is this the way God prescribes through the gospel? I think all Christians would agree that it is not. Though we would disagree on what relationship Christians can have with the governing authorities, or "the state". Some of us would say we should not engage in "the sword" aspect of the state, while others of us would say we can, and perhaps even should.

But let's lay that last question aside, as we consider the gospel way in Jesus of fighting evil. We overcome evil with good. And specifically with the good that is rooted in Jesus and in his death, which is the epitome and ground of overcoming evil with good, and of righting all wrongs. We're to live out in Jesus his redemptive life and even death, doing so as God's resurrection people in Jesus in this world. I believe this is at the heart of what it means to live as the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Of course we must start locally in how we live before others among us. But back to Mumbai. What are we to think and do about that? We must pray for all involved, including the terrorists. We must pray for God's intervention and for God's justice and mercy. And we should be praying for Christians who in these places can live out the light of the gospel in Jesus by the Spirit, even in the most troubling and trying circumstances. And for the church to be active in such places and times, as well as in every place and time.

Too often we've settled for a gospel that doesn't address all the needs of this world. I suggest that while this world will always have trouble and great need, the good news in Jesus does address these needs on every level. That the gospel has something to say about everything, while not losing sight of the reality that it's the power of salvation for all who believe.

What would you like to add to this?

the gospel and relationships

The gospel is more about relationships than it is about law. In other words at the heart of the gospel is the restoration of broken relationships between God and humans, and between humans with each other, as well as with God's creation. Sin breaks relationships, and the gospel restores them.

God in Christ did this by becoming one of us in the Incarnation. God became flesh or human to restore us humans into a relationship with himself. The heart of the law is love to God and love to our neighbor. When we break God's law by our sin, we're violating relationships. So it's more than just disobeying a command, but it's breaking or diminishing a relationship.

We as Christians should be known for our love for God, our love for each other, our love for all people including even our enemies, and our love for God's creation. We should be known for that, that is what should mark us.

I'm again rereading Scot McKnight's fine book, Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us, and it's a good and (always) timely reminder of just how big the gospel is, and its aim. Its aim is nothing less than love, which of course is the heart of God in the gospel as we know in probably the most beloved Bible verse of all.

As we work on understanding and more importantly living out the gospel, we need to live out this love which Jesus carried out to the full, and by which God has reconciled the world to himself in Jesus, so that all sinners might find their true home and be at home with God and others and look forward to the completion of this beginning of the new creation in Jesus.

moving along

In Scripture God speaks to each person (e.g., Jeremiah) in their ways for their day. This continues for us today. Not only is it true that God's word would speak into John Wesley's day in a different way than today's, but it's likewise true it would speak differently into any number of different cultures today than our own.

The truth in Jesus remains the same. It's our task to see how it is to be lived out in every culture beginning with our own. This is part of the genius (not human genius) of Scripture: the truth as it is in Jesus will be the same truth but will be expressed according to each culture that receives it, both in terms of judging what is wrong and sinful and redeeming what is of the image of God in each culture. And this towards the goal of fulfilling the kingdom of God in the new creation in Jesus, which begins now (tried to link 2 Corinthians 5:17 to "now" but unable to this morning, either from the TNIV site or from Bible Gateway).

I'm guessing this is what can help us in reading challenging thinkers such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was trying to grapple with what it meant to live out the truth of Scripture which for him included the heart of the message of the Reformation, in his day in Nazi Germany. His was a stark message against nationalism, at least in warning that it can be an idol to Christians and the church, to lead them astray from truly following Christ, and therefore truly being Christians.

There is timeless truth in Scripture, but it must be shared in timely fashion. Of course how God's word is lived out in one generation or place differs from another generation or place. Not because God's word changes, but partly because God's word has within it a goal to which we must be moving along towards. We must seek to understand God's will in creation and in new creation in Jesus, and then find how we're to fulfill that in at least moving towards it in our own day and in whatever culture we're seeking to reach with the gospel of Jesus. This must be sensitive to each time and place.

Of course we all need to hear the same message of reconciliation through Jesus. That he is the Messiah fulfilling God's promises in the old covenant, and thus being a light to all nations, to the world. Beginning with each of us in bearing our sins in his body on the Tree, that we might die to sins and live to righteousness, that by his stripes we are healed (1 Peter 2:24).

God's word must speak in fresh ways and it's meant to. The gospel is about each of us in Jesus, being reconciled to God through his death. But it goes beyond that to include all of creation. Therefore it has application to all of life. This must be searched out and lived out in the church for the world. With hopefully an impact on the world in transforming culture. God's kingdom in Jesus is not from this world (John 18:36; NRSV). But it's in the world to change the world. This is meant from top to bottom beginning now, even in a fallen world, and to be completed when Jesus returns.

This is why for me both a constant intake of God's word, and a study of the culture we live in and what is taking place, are both important. Only then can God help us know how we should live in our time and place. Of course always subject to correction and continued change as we continue to move along with God in his unfolding Story and work in Jesus.

What thoughts do you have here?

witness and authenticity

In our witness for Jesus are our lives important? Of course they are, we would agree. If the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, it's salvation from what? Basically from sin and its results. Although the unfolding of that can take a lifetime, and is not really completed until the resurrection when the new creation in Jesus is complete in the new heaven and new earth. And this is not just for us as individuals but for all of creation.

It's interesting that those who spoke the word of God to God's people (in the Old Testament) were called men of God. They were supposed to live out their message, and sometimes with explicit directions, as in the cases of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

I get a sense of God's salvation working in my life nearly everyday. If I don't, I think I'm in trouble. Why? Because I need it everyday. Salvation in the New Testament is set in past, present and future tenses. But mostly present tense. Salvation is God's ongoing work for us in Jesus by the Spirit. It is communal in that God's people are in it together; it's not supposed to be just a "God and I" endeavor. And it's missional, meant to replicate itself in showing to the world the power of God for salvation in our own lives so that others can find this salvation themselves.

This does mean that people need to see that we are real, and that the Jesus we proclaim to them is real as well. And because salvation is present tense (as well as past and future) we can have a fresh sense of both our need and of God's saving work in our own lives daily, as we trust in God and in his word to us in Jesus.

What would you like to add to these thoughts?