God in Jesus brings in the new creation, and this new creation is a remaking of the old creation in its entirety. Of course humans are at the pinnacle of creation, made in God's image, and in the Incarnation, God becoming human in the unique person of Jesus.
We humans in Jesus are both recipients and agents of this new creation in the world. God uses us in living out and proclaiming Jesus and the kingdom, in the good news that is brought, that Jesus in his death and resurrection is declared to be Lord over all, to begin to impact all things now. All enemies will by and by be put under Jesus' feet, ending with the last enemy, death.
I often wonder how this is worked out, and certainly at the heart of it is the conversion of others to Jesus. But all the works we in Jesus do, are meant by the Spirit to have God's stamp on them, the stamp and act of new creation. A work of God, yet we are involved in that work.
Any thoughts here that might help us?
Showing posts with label new creation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new creation. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
culture
Last evening Deb and I enjoyed visiting Holland, Michigan which has the Tulip Time Festival on now. We enjoyed the Klompen Dancers again, and of course the tulips planted in the downtown area.
This area is rich in its culture, many Dutch people having settled here generations past. "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." I'm not aware of Deb or I having any Dutch ancestry, so I guess that applies to us!
Culture is simply expressions in various ways of what it means to be human. It is interwoven with both good and evil. Expressions of our humanity reflect God's good creation. But we're all impacted by the Fall, which means that what is sinful becomes a part of human culture, and what is good in human culture can become sinful, when we let it take the place of God in our lives.
I'm reminded of the book of Ecclesiastes. The perspectives there are from people who seem to want to live life to the full in content and in manner. The writer (or writers) wants to experience everything, and he wants to do so, so completely that these normally good things become ends in themselves, or the end and goal for himself. In other words they become idols in one's heart.
But in the end the book comes around to the abrupt conclusion: "Fear God and keep his commandments!" Knowing that God will bring every hidden thing into judgment, whether it is good or evil.
I don't think Ecclesiastes pushes culture aside. It simply warns us to see culture for what it is: in part God's good gift to humanity, but impacted by human folly and sin.
I saw nothing sinful about the Klompen dancing. The costumes are delightful, and the wooden shoes. And the dancing. We do well to embrace our humanity. Culture to a significant degree is a gift from God. Though we need discernment to see what might creep in that is not reflective of God's goodness and will.
At the same time we must not let culture or any part of it become our center. God in Christ and his kingdom must be our center. Then all God's gifts can be for us a blessing and not a curse. And an expression of the very image of God in us as humans in ways that reflect not only God's good creation, but his new creation in Jesus. Ultimately redeemed in Jesus.
Just a few thoughts. It was fun; we both enjoyed it. Was nice to be there and spend time together in that way.
What might you like to add here?
This area is rich in its culture, many Dutch people having settled here generations past. "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." I'm not aware of Deb or I having any Dutch ancestry, so I guess that applies to us!
Culture is simply expressions in various ways of what it means to be human. It is interwoven with both good and evil. Expressions of our humanity reflect God's good creation. But we're all impacted by the Fall, which means that what is sinful becomes a part of human culture, and what is good in human culture can become sinful, when we let it take the place of God in our lives.
I'm reminded of the book of Ecclesiastes. The perspectives there are from people who seem to want to live life to the full in content and in manner. The writer (or writers) wants to experience everything, and he wants to do so, so completely that these normally good things become ends in themselves, or the end and goal for himself. In other words they become idols in one's heart.
But in the end the book comes around to the abrupt conclusion: "Fear God and keep his commandments!" Knowing that God will bring every hidden thing into judgment, whether it is good or evil.
I don't think Ecclesiastes pushes culture aside. It simply warns us to see culture for what it is: in part God's good gift to humanity, but impacted by human folly and sin.
I saw nothing sinful about the Klompen dancing. The costumes are delightful, and the wooden shoes. And the dancing. We do well to embrace our humanity. Culture to a significant degree is a gift from God. Though we need discernment to see what might creep in that is not reflective of God's goodness and will.
At the same time we must not let culture or any part of it become our center. God in Christ and his kingdom must be our center. Then all God's gifts can be for us a blessing and not a curse. And an expression of the very image of God in us as humans in ways that reflect not only God's good creation, but his new creation in Jesus. Ultimately redeemed in Jesus.
Just a few thoughts. It was fun; we both enjoyed it. Was nice to be there and spend time together in that way.
What might you like to add here?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
God's judgment
Our culture does not readily receive or appreciate God's judgment as given to us in Scripture. In other places on earth where the wicked are running rampant, the message of judgment is welcomed, and rightfully so. Just finished the last book of the Bible, Revelation. It resounds with final judgments on the earth, before the consummation when in Jesus heaven and earth become one in the new creation.
There is no need to see God's coming judgment as threatening. It is meant to be not only destructive of evil, but constructive by grace in all places God's grace in Jesus are touching. So when Jesus returns we can welcome that, knowing that in our case the judgment will be constructive and for our good. This is the question for us all, "Are we living in the grace of God available to us in Jesus?"
What is your first response when you hear or see the words, "God's judgment"? What does it conjure up in your mind? Is it unsettling, settling, or maybe some of both? For me it's some of both. Though Jesus took my judgment by his death on the cross, so that I need not fear eternal condemnation for my sins, yet I still will be judged by a loving yet devastatingly piercing, God of light. The fear of the Lord doesn't just begin at salvation, but continues on throughout all of life. Along with a growing love of God, should be a growing awe and reverence and yes, even fear. A fear not in the sense of doubting God's love for us in Jesus. But a fear born of appreciation in beginning to understand who this God is, that God is holy, as well as love. God essentially is love, but it's a holy love, a love to be understood in terms of God's holiness.
Why does our culture have such a hard time with God's judgment? I think there are a number of factors involved in this. How can we as God's people hinder or help others in regard to this?
What would you like to share in reference to God's judgment?
Thursday, January 08, 2009
what is this world coming to?
I grew up in a Christian setting influenced by the belief that the world would become worse and worse, then the Antichrist would come, God would judge- with the belief that the church is gone in all of this through the rapture (now I believe the church is present through that time of tribulation)- and then Jesus would return to set up the Millennial Kingdom.
I now hold to a more complicated view. The light in Jesus becomes brighter through the church, and this shows sin all the more for what it is. The Spirit of God being at work through the church, and perhaps in some way, in other ways throughout the world in reaching out to people. But God being at work in the new creation already present in Jesus, but not yet completed.
In that I see potential for the world to be better at certain times and places, maybe even overall with exceptions to that rule, but the need for final judgment against those opposed to God and God's will, as some in their quest for power continue to wreak havoc on people and on God's creation. As well, the need for both the redemption of Jesus accomplished at the cross and it fruit or result in the resurrection, to be completed in the reconciliation of all things to God and in that, the renewing, or new creation in Jesus.
This has to be worked out more in my theological thinking, but this is kind of where I'm at now, in a few as well as hurried words.
I wonder if any of you out there has any thoughts on this in reference to how you may have it worked out. Or anything to add.
I now hold to a more complicated view. The light in Jesus becomes brighter through the church, and this shows sin all the more for what it is. The Spirit of God being at work through the church, and perhaps in some way, in other ways throughout the world in reaching out to people. But God being at work in the new creation already present in Jesus, but not yet completed.
In that I see potential for the world to be better at certain times and places, maybe even overall with exceptions to that rule, but the need for final judgment against those opposed to God and God's will, as some in their quest for power continue to wreak havoc on people and on God's creation. As well, the need for both the redemption of Jesus accomplished at the cross and it fruit or result in the resurrection, to be completed in the reconciliation of all things to God and in that, the renewing, or new creation in Jesus.
This has to be worked out more in my theological thinking, but this is kind of where I'm at now, in a few as well as hurried words.
I wonder if any of you out there has any thoughts on this in reference to how you may have it worked out. Or anything to add.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
being taken over
I like the thought that the new life in Christ is not something we must live out by doing this and not doing that, even though properly understood there's truth in that thought. But it's something which more and more in Jesus, takes us over. This means more of what the Spirit puts in us, and less of our old selves.
I can see this in myself more and more in a growing love for God and for others, as well as a renewed desire to be more thankful. We still live in our unredeemed bodies, and God's good work in us in Jesus is not yet complete. Therefore I still struggle at times with anxiety, and at times still respond to people who I think are wrong, or have wronged me, in something less than love, even if that response is bottled up in me. And my wife can tell you and knows first hand, I've been known to look at as well as dwell on the dark side of things. Though usually every day now I don't live there for long, and even a good number of days it seems like that's gone, with maybe just remnants hanging on at times.
But it's good to be taken over by the resurrection life of Jesus even in this world. The new creation in Jesus breaking into the old. And anticipating in hope as well as actually realizing (see last verse of passage in its context) in some sort of way in all kinds of works done in God, the day when God makes all things new and all creation shares in that newness in Jesus.
What thoughts might you like to share here?
I can see this in myself more and more in a growing love for God and for others, as well as a renewed desire to be more thankful. We still live in our unredeemed bodies, and God's good work in us in Jesus is not yet complete. Therefore I still struggle at times with anxiety, and at times still respond to people who I think are wrong, or have wronged me, in something less than love, even if that response is bottled up in me. And my wife can tell you and knows first hand, I've been known to look at as well as dwell on the dark side of things. Though usually every day now I don't live there for long, and even a good number of days it seems like that's gone, with maybe just remnants hanging on at times.
But it's good to be taken over by the resurrection life of Jesus even in this world. The new creation in Jesus breaking into the old. And anticipating in hope as well as actually realizing (see last verse of passage in its context) in some sort of way in all kinds of works done in God, the day when God makes all things new and all creation shares in that newness in Jesus.
What thoughts might you like to share here?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
the dead places
There are times most everyday in our lives, in Jesus, in which there seem to be dead places. That can be for a good number of reasons, some which are our responsibility, and others which are just part of this present life and existence. They are inevitable, and they will come.
What I find though, is that over and over again, life becomes evident in and perhaps from these "dead" places. And life in surprising ways. Yesterday was an example of this; something unexpected to me, but life-giving and of God, even though at the moment I can't even recall what it was. But it was good.
Today I will enter into more dead places. In which the Spirit of God will have to hover over all the emptiness and formlessness to make something beautiful. It's important that we realize this, and look to God to do his good work, making what is beautiful in his time.
More dead places? Yes, I have plenty. But just more places for God in Jesus to do his good work, impacting my life and taking me "up" as a participant somehow, in what he is doing.
What would you like to share from your own life on this, or any thoughts?
What I find though, is that over and over again, life becomes evident in and perhaps from these "dead" places. And life in surprising ways. Yesterday was an example of this; something unexpected to me, but life-giving and of God, even though at the moment I can't even recall what it was. But it was good.
Today I will enter into more dead places. In which the Spirit of God will have to hover over all the emptiness and formlessness to make something beautiful. It's important that we realize this, and look to God to do his good work, making what is beautiful in his time.
More dead places? Yes, I have plenty. But just more places for God in Jesus to do his good work, impacting my life and taking me "up" as a participant somehow, in what he is doing.
What would you like to share from your own life on this, or any thoughts?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
no cloning of Christians
No two Christians are precisely the same; no two people on the face of the earth or whom God has made are, for that matter, either. Even those identical twins with genetics the same are still different as well as having different experiences, and end up with different perspectives, even if quite similar.
I've been told I read too much by other Christians, some of them reading very little. Do I think reading is a good thing? And do I think more people should read, and that perhaps most everyone should read more than they do? Yes, to all of that.
But do I think everyone should read the same things, have the same interests, and want to read (I'm a "wannabe reader") as much as I want to. No, not at all. In fact the world would be a boring place if everyone was like me, and just like me on this. We need good variations to just begin to try to scratch the surface of all of God's works and of all that pertains to God's world.
When Paul suggested that people should be like him, he was suggesting that to be so in accordance with who they are. I'm never expected by God to be anyone other than who I am as he created me, and now is remaking me in the image of Jesus. Therefore I can enjoy immensely the good gifts of others without feeling in the least bit threatened. Why? Because God has given to each and everyone of us good gifts for the benefit of others. And ending up blessing us, as well.
So we need to relax, and just be who we are. And accept others as they are. With the one proviso that we continue to grow and become who we are meant to be, and who we are in Jesus. Together doing so, each a unique expression from God of Christ himself.
What might you like to add to this?
Derived in part from this book, Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another, by Rowan Williams.
I've been told I read too much by other Christians, some of them reading very little. Do I think reading is a good thing? And do I think more people should read, and that perhaps most everyone should read more than they do? Yes, to all of that.
But do I think everyone should read the same things, have the same interests, and want to read (I'm a "wannabe reader") as much as I want to. No, not at all. In fact the world would be a boring place if everyone was like me, and just like me on this. We need good variations to just begin to try to scratch the surface of all of God's works and of all that pertains to God's world.
When Paul suggested that people should be like him, he was suggesting that to be so in accordance with who they are. I'm never expected by God to be anyone other than who I am as he created me, and now is remaking me in the image of Jesus. Therefore I can enjoy immensely the good gifts of others without feeling in the least bit threatened. Why? Because God has given to each and everyone of us good gifts for the benefit of others. And ending up blessing us, as well.
So we need to relax, and just be who we are. And accept others as they are. With the one proviso that we continue to grow and become who we are meant to be, and who we are in Jesus. Together doing so, each a unique expression from God of Christ himself.
What might you like to add to this?
Derived in part from this book, Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another, by Rowan Williams.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
joy found in Jesus
It's natural for us to want to find joy in circumstances or in the good things God has created. Indeed, Scripture tells us that God fills people's hearts with joy over the blessings he pours on both the righteous and the unrighteous. And that God's goodness is meant to lead people to repentance.
But real, lasting joy, which is not dependent on circumstances- good in a fallen world- can only be found in God through Jesus Christ. Joy is found in the Lord Jesus.
Of course joy itself is not strictly speaking just being happy over circumstances. Though it includes happiness. But it's a joy that is happy because it participates in something more wonderful than anything this good, old creation has to offer. Not to denigrate or put down this old creation, because it is good, God made it, it is never to be despised, as it points us to God, and God gives us richly all things of his creation to enjoy. But we look forward to something even greater in Christ. We look forward to the redemption of the old creation into the new creation in Jesus.
This begins now, in this life, in this old creation, in Jesus. If anyone is in Christ, there is already a new creation. Here, the old creation has gone, and the new in Jesus has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). A joy which goes on, even when we are not happy and sorrowing, is found in Jesus. We need to approach life in this way, that we will find our deepest and lasting joy in the Lord. This spills over so that we more appreciate the good things of this life God has given. But it is never dependent on them, or even on good circumstances.
Yesterday at work, as I sought to slowly go over Scripture with formation and transformation as my goal, not information gathering, and as I sought by grace to live in accord with the Jesus Creed and the "Our Father" prayer, I experienced a joy which became more evident and I expressed it in song as well as in just being crazy me, while seeking to serve the Lord and others, in Jesus.
In the end in Jesus, we will be living in a glorious outpouring of love and joy, righteousness and peace. But this new life in Jesus begins now, in this old world, in the midst of our old existence with its problems, including our shortcomings and sins. Encouraging, and not dependent on how we feel or our circumstances. Easier for me to say than for many others, and only by God's grace can we experience this, but we must remember that nothing at all in this life can separate us from the love of God we find in Jesus our Lord.
What might you like to add to this?
But real, lasting joy, which is not dependent on circumstances- good in a fallen world- can only be found in God through Jesus Christ. Joy is found in the Lord Jesus.
Of course joy itself is not strictly speaking just being happy over circumstances. Though it includes happiness. But it's a joy that is happy because it participates in something more wonderful than anything this good, old creation has to offer. Not to denigrate or put down this old creation, because it is good, God made it, it is never to be despised, as it points us to God, and God gives us richly all things of his creation to enjoy. But we look forward to something even greater in Christ. We look forward to the redemption of the old creation into the new creation in Jesus.
This begins now, in this life, in this old creation, in Jesus. If anyone is in Christ, there is already a new creation. Here, the old creation has gone, and the new in Jesus has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). A joy which goes on, even when we are not happy and sorrowing, is found in Jesus. We need to approach life in this way, that we will find our deepest and lasting joy in the Lord. This spills over so that we more appreciate the good things of this life God has given. But it is never dependent on them, or even on good circumstances.
Yesterday at work, as I sought to slowly go over Scripture with formation and transformation as my goal, not information gathering, and as I sought by grace to live in accord with the Jesus Creed and the "Our Father" prayer, I experienced a joy which became more evident and I expressed it in song as well as in just being crazy me, while seeking to serve the Lord and others, in Jesus.
In the end in Jesus, we will be living in a glorious outpouring of love and joy, righteousness and peace. But this new life in Jesus begins now, in this old world, in the midst of our old existence with its problems, including our shortcomings and sins. Encouraging, and not dependent on how we feel or our circumstances. Easier for me to say than for many others, and only by God's grace can we experience this, but we must remember that nothing at all in this life can separate us from the love of God we find in Jesus our Lord.
What might you like to add to this?
Monday, June 09, 2008
God and ourselves known in Jesus
I dislike reading any book very long on God and his attributes unless it sooner than later mentions Jesus. For in Jesus is the revelation and glory of God, God's final word to us. We see God in Jesus. As Jesus said, "Whoever sees me, sees the Father." And all Scripture is fulfilled in Jesus. Do we want to know what God is like? Better yet, do we want to know God? Then we need to go to Jesus. Only then, will we know the true God.
This is the only reason I'm a Christian and would remain a Christian, as far as I can tell. And really it's true, period, for us all. For Christianity is Christ, Christ among us, and Christ in us by faith. And Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth and the life. We find our true identity, our true selves only in Jesus. He has become what we are to help us become what he is (also, here) and in that to find our true selves. For only in Jesus can we begin to recover all God created us to be, or better put, who God created us to be by this new creation in Jesus.
I get lost easily and quickly when I begin to lose sight of this. My real identity doesn't lie merely in myself, in simply finding myself. Why? Because I'm a lost sinner in a need of a savior. There is something wrong with me and left to myself that becomes evident in many ways. But in Jesus by God's grace I can begin to find my way to my true identity in him bringing me towards and into a right relationship with God, with myself, with others, and with God's good world and my place and role in it.
And we need to see all of Scripture and indeed, all of life more and more in Jesus. Because of Jesus and his redemptive work for us in his death and resurrection we have the Spirit to give us this resurrection life for the new humanity in Jesus. And we believe that Jesus is Lord by his ascension, even now, so that what we do now by faith can make an eternal difference in others' lives and somehow in creation, in Jesus. And we look forward to Jesus' return when all will finally come together in God's world in perfect harmony and God's will will totally be done on earth as it is in heaven, the two becoming one in Jesus.
So I find meaning for all I am and do in Jesus. Apart from that I am scraping at the bottom of an empty barrel, lost and knowing it. But in Jesus I know that all I am and do does matter, as insignificant as so much of it may seem at this time.
What would you like to share about what "in Jesus" means in your faith and life?
This is the only reason I'm a Christian and would remain a Christian, as far as I can tell. And really it's true, period, for us all. For Christianity is Christ, Christ among us, and Christ in us by faith. And Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth and the life. We find our true identity, our true selves only in Jesus. He has become what we are to help us become what he is (also, here) and in that to find our true selves. For only in Jesus can we begin to recover all God created us to be, or better put, who God created us to be by this new creation in Jesus.
I get lost easily and quickly when I begin to lose sight of this. My real identity doesn't lie merely in myself, in simply finding myself. Why? Because I'm a lost sinner in a need of a savior. There is something wrong with me and left to myself that becomes evident in many ways. But in Jesus by God's grace I can begin to find my way to my true identity in him bringing me towards and into a right relationship with God, with myself, with others, and with God's good world and my place and role in it.
And we need to see all of Scripture and indeed, all of life more and more in Jesus. Because of Jesus and his redemptive work for us in his death and resurrection we have the Spirit to give us this resurrection life for the new humanity in Jesus. And we believe that Jesus is Lord by his ascension, even now, so that what we do now by faith can make an eternal difference in others' lives and somehow in creation, in Jesus. And we look forward to Jesus' return when all will finally come together in God's world in perfect harmony and God's will will totally be done on earth as it is in heaven, the two becoming one in Jesus.
So I find meaning for all I am and do in Jesus. Apart from that I am scraping at the bottom of an empty barrel, lost and knowing it. But in Jesus I know that all I am and do does matter, as insignificant as so much of it may seem at this time.
What would you like to share about what "in Jesus" means in your faith and life?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
not only about me and God
Yes, the faith in Jesus is about us, each of us individually and our God in Jesus. God's love is intensely personal, beyond what is stamped in us as human beings made in God's image. So God cares about us to the most minute details of life.
But God's salvation in Jesus involves more than just "me and God." It involves the world. In Jesus, God has reconciled the world to himself, not counting people's sins against them (2 Corinthians 5) and has reconciled all things to himself in Jesus, in heaven and on earth (Colossians 1). In other words the great salvation in Jesus is cosmic in scope.
This is why I think it's so important that we care about what is going on in the world: among the inhabitants of the world as well as all of creation itself. Yes, including the spotted owl as we try to arrive to solutions in being good stewards of all of God's creation while helping people retain or have a livelihood- sufficient work (Genesis 1-3; Psalm 8).
We need more hymns and Christian songs that reflect this reality of the scope of God's great and good salvation in Jesus which begins even now, in this fallen world, destined someday to take over the world completely in shalom.
What thought might you like to share here?
Tomorrow: chapter 5: "Sword in the Stone: resistance" from L.L. Barkat's book, Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places.
But God's salvation in Jesus involves more than just "me and God." It involves the world. In Jesus, God has reconciled the world to himself, not counting people's sins against them (2 Corinthians 5) and has reconciled all things to himself in Jesus, in heaven and on earth (Colossians 1). In other words the great salvation in Jesus is cosmic in scope.
This is why I think it's so important that we care about what is going on in the world: among the inhabitants of the world as well as all of creation itself. Yes, including the spotted owl as we try to arrive to solutions in being good stewards of all of God's creation while helping people retain or have a livelihood- sufficient work (Genesis 1-3; Psalm 8).
We need more hymns and Christian songs that reflect this reality of the scope of God's great and good salvation in Jesus which begins even now, in this fallen world, destined someday to take over the world completely in shalom.
What thought might you like to share here?
Tomorrow: chapter 5: "Sword in the Stone: resistance" from L.L. Barkat's book, Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
the goal of the kingdom (men and women)
In understanding how we're to live now in Jesus we need to look to God's goal of the kingdom which is already here in Jesus and is destined to take over the world. As God's people in the world but not of the world we are on mission to see people come to Christ, and also to work at God's will being done now on earth as it is done in heaven. Yes, someday that will be perfected and made complete. But it begins even now, in Jesus.
This arguably goes across the board in regard to many institutions that are considered sacred. The slave/master institution used to be considered sacred. Masters were over the slaves, and actually slavery in Israel was ahead of its time, as it was for the benefit of those enslaved who needed help. With careful laws set in place in the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), slaves were to be elgible for complete release at a certain time, having received the help they needed. In Paul's time, while he taught Christian masters to treat their slaves well, and Christian slaves to serve their masters well, yet in 1 Corinthians 7 and particularly Philemon we find him arguably, and I think clearly on careful study of these passages, putting the nail in the coffin to end that institution altogether. Of course slavery has a different sound to it today, given our own relatively recent history as a nation, over slavery of the past. Though in reality, much of the slavery of the past had its share of vices and problems as well.
A key passage in my understanding of the goal of the kingdom being important in our thinking and actions today is Galatians 3:26-29 (note also Colossians 3:9-11):
Paul had to deal with the institutions of his day and the partriarchical society in which they lived. So as in other places in Scripture, God's truth accomodates to where people are living, but revelation is progressive, bringing God's people along towards the goal of the kingdom of God in Jesus.
As for men and women relationships I consider myself to be something of a complementary egalitarian (though "egalitarian" as a word is reduced because of its misuse in society today, to me simply meaning there is an equality while at the same time acknowledging the differences between male and female). I take passages as in Ephesians 5 to speak to us today directly, while at the same time accomodating the truth of God to the conventions of that time in that heavily patriarchical society. (1 Corinthians 11 must be compared with 1 Timothy 2, and other passages, in looking at this issue. A most helpful book and clearly written is by William Webb: Slaves, Women & Homosexuals. He sees the first two entities as parallel, and the last- the homosexual, as not, but forbidden in practice across the board in all of Scripture, and therefore not in God's goal of the kingdom.
Today we live in what we might call a soft patriarchical society among many and more of an egalitarian society among others. But among Christians, I doubt that the practical outworking between the two positions is different at all. Except for the place my side gives to women to serve as pastors. Most married couples make decisions together on either side, sometimes choosing to defer to one or the other as well as compromise (as we all know).
Just some food for thought in thinking through these issues in which we Christians are divided.
Any thoughts you'd like to share on this?
This arguably goes across the board in regard to many institutions that are considered sacred. The slave/master institution used to be considered sacred. Masters were over the slaves, and actually slavery in Israel was ahead of its time, as it was for the benefit of those enslaved who needed help. With careful laws set in place in the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), slaves were to be elgible for complete release at a certain time, having received the help they needed. In Paul's time, while he taught Christian masters to treat their slaves well, and Christian slaves to serve their masters well, yet in 1 Corinthians 7 and particularly Philemon we find him arguably, and I think clearly on careful study of these passages, putting the nail in the coffin to end that institution altogether. Of course slavery has a different sound to it today, given our own relatively recent history as a nation, over slavery of the past. Though in reality, much of the slavery of the past had its share of vices and problems as well.
A key passage in my understanding of the goal of the kingdom being important in our thinking and actions today is Galatians 3:26-29 (note also Colossians 3:9-11):
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.Paul is saying that these distinctions, in a sense, break down, in Jesus. So that in accordance with God's creation and his new creation in Jesus there are no longer people enslaved to other people. Women are no longer ruled over by men, a consequence I believe of the fall (Genesis 3, note verse 16). As we gather from Matthew Henry, woman was created from man's side, and from close to his heart to be a partner with him, side by side, not over or under him.
Paul had to deal with the institutions of his day and the partriarchical society in which they lived. So as in other places in Scripture, God's truth accomodates to where people are living, but revelation is progressive, bringing God's people along towards the goal of the kingdom of God in Jesus.
As for men and women relationships I consider myself to be something of a complementary egalitarian (though "egalitarian" as a word is reduced because of its misuse in society today, to me simply meaning there is an equality while at the same time acknowledging the differences between male and female). I take passages as in Ephesians 5 to speak to us today directly, while at the same time accomodating the truth of God to the conventions of that time in that heavily patriarchical society. (1 Corinthians 11 must be compared with 1 Timothy 2, and other passages, in looking at this issue. A most helpful book and clearly written is by William Webb: Slaves, Women & Homosexuals. He sees the first two entities as parallel, and the last- the homosexual, as not, but forbidden in practice across the board in all of Scripture, and therefore not in God's goal of the kingdom.
Today we live in what we might call a soft patriarchical society among many and more of an egalitarian society among others. But among Christians, I doubt that the practical outworking between the two positions is different at all. Except for the place my side gives to women to serve as pastors. Most married couples make decisions together on either side, sometimes choosing to defer to one or the other as well as compromise (as we all know).
Just some food for thought in thinking through these issues in which we Christians are divided.
Any thoughts you'd like to share on this?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
quote of the week
Ouketi hos does not mean "not only as" or "not merely as." Here it means "no longer as." The ouketi...alla ("no longer...but") contrast emphasizes that the former condition is to stop and that the latter condition exceeds and supersedes it. To suggest that receiving Onesimus "no longer as a slave" has no social implications and that Paul is merely saying what we hear in 1 Corinthians 7 (the Christian slave is actually the Lord's freedman) is to underestimate totally the force and content of Paul's rhetoric here. There was already a sentiment among the Stoics that all persons were created equal by God....Paul certainly believes that all persons in Christ are new creatures and of equal sacred worth. This clearly has implications for the way he treats Jews and Gentiles and men and women, and there is no reason to doubt it would have social implications for his views about relationships between Christian slaves and masters. Paul is perhaps here offering a statement of fact: when God sets people free, they are free indeed, no matter how people view them. Paul seeks, then, to persuade Philemon to view the matter from God's point of view. "The reality of the world as seen from within the world is replaced by the reality seen from within the church. For Paul there is only one reality."
(the quote at the end is from N. R. Petersen) (pages 79-80)
Ben Witherington III on Philemon 15, 16 from his book, The Letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Captivity Epistles
Saturday, April 19, 2008
meeting L.L. Barkat
It was so much fun for Deb and I to get to meet L.L. Barkat, in town for the festival of faith and writing at Calvin College. She graciously took the end of a busy day, and really, busy two days, to meet with us. The hour went fast as we sipped on some tea, and shared from our lives.
L.L., like on her blog, is warm and engaging, and creative in her thinking. And real. I realized that while meeting someone like this is good, and you get a better sense of who they are, it is still limited. This reminds me of first impressions and the like. But I think our visit with her reflected pretty well, even in that limited time, who we each are. None of us are people who want to put on airs.
We had a good laugh as I remembered how at first, for a time, I thought L.L. was a man, and she reminded me that I had commented how I had thought L.L. was letting his wife do some postings or be involved in the postings. Funny, and I was a little chagrined when I found out the truth!
L.L. shared with us what she is going through with the success she is now experiencing in writing, and how this in some ways is more challenging to her. She has some important decisions to make in the coming days, and would appreciate our prayers.
This makes me want to read her book (which I find quite good as I'm reading it now) and books to come, as well as her blog, all the more. And to remember that we're all in this in Jesus for each other, to the end of helping others in mission in Jesus to the world.
I will be blogging on L.L.'s book, Stone Crossings, very soon. I think it's a great book for all of us, for who doesn't need to find God's grace in the hard places of life?
Friday, April 18, 2008
from the future to the present
(We had a wonderful visit with L.L. Barkat last evening. I will post on it tomorrow. And I'm fighting a healthy cold, which I was able to mask pretty well with strong, drowsy medications for our visit. So my head is still a little in the clouds this morning.)
The theological idea that God acts from the future into the present is one that I think indeed has merit. Of course God acts from the past as well, specifically from the work of Jesus accomplished for us and for the world in his life (of which his ministry is an important, strategic part), his death and his resurrection. This work done in the present is through Jesus' ascension as Lord, having all authority in heaven and on earth. And by the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The future is God's will realized in Jesus. All God has done and continues to do has as its goal and working, moving us towards that future. This future is when God brings all things into conformity to his Son in his resurrection in which all creation is renewed in the new creation in Jesus.
It's good to know because I often live with the past haunting me, and the present often not encouraging me. But when I realize that God in Jesus is at work in my life to prepare me for the future, this is helpful. Actually it is not just helpful, but important, because we're to be ever changing toward God's goal for us in Jesus. And in that changing we're to do what God is doing, or better put, what God wants to do- and it's his work, through us! This is the work of bringing something of the new creation into this world even now. All we do in the Lord here and now, is not in vain! It may be an uphill battle, with many pitfalls and dangers along the way, but it's not just about us. God is working his future in us in the present, so that we can work this future by the Spirit into the present around us. In the lives of others by prayer, listening, love, acting and speaking. And with reference to all of creation, so that all we do as stewards of the earth and in fulfilment of God's will for us is, in Jesus new creation stuff (this includes potentially all we do, not just "spiritual" works), that somehow in God's mysterious and wonderful working, will have an impact now and in the life to come, when heaven and earth are joined as one, in Jesus.
(This comes from thinking in regard to N.T. Wright's latest book, Surprised by Hope, which no surprise, I'm not quite finished with yet!)
Just some thoughts to think about with reference to Scripture and life. What might you add to them?
The theological idea that God acts from the future into the present is one that I think indeed has merit. Of course God acts from the past as well, specifically from the work of Jesus accomplished for us and for the world in his life (of which his ministry is an important, strategic part), his death and his resurrection. This work done in the present is through Jesus' ascension as Lord, having all authority in heaven and on earth. And by the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The future is God's will realized in Jesus. All God has done and continues to do has as its goal and working, moving us towards that future. This future is when God brings all things into conformity to his Son in his resurrection in which all creation is renewed in the new creation in Jesus.
It's good to know because I often live with the past haunting me, and the present often not encouraging me. But when I realize that God in Jesus is at work in my life to prepare me for the future, this is helpful. Actually it is not just helpful, but important, because we're to be ever changing toward God's goal for us in Jesus. And in that changing we're to do what God is doing, or better put, what God wants to do- and it's his work, through us! This is the work of bringing something of the new creation into this world even now. All we do in the Lord here and now, is not in vain! It may be an uphill battle, with many pitfalls and dangers along the way, but it's not just about us. God is working his future in us in the present, so that we can work this future by the Spirit into the present around us. In the lives of others by prayer, listening, love, acting and speaking. And with reference to all of creation, so that all we do as stewards of the earth and in fulfilment of God's will for us is, in Jesus new creation stuff (this includes potentially all we do, not just "spiritual" works), that somehow in God's mysterious and wonderful working, will have an impact now and in the life to come, when heaven and earth are joined as one, in Jesus.
(This comes from thinking in regard to N.T. Wright's latest book, Surprised by Hope, which no surprise, I'm not quite finished with yet!)
Just some thoughts to think about with reference to Scripture and life. What might you add to them?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
God has something for you to do
In Jesus, God has something for each one of us to do, something very special. Indeed, we're told that there are works prepared for us in advance by God, that we should walk in those works, that is, that doing them should be a way of life for us.
This is true no matter how down and out you may seem to be. No matter what seems to be against you and me. Or even true, no matter how we may be sinning at the moment, or tempted to sin. Or having to work through a disappointment or ongoing difficulty in our lives. Yes, God is there in Christ, with a special work for each of us to do.
There are general works, and there are specific or special works. Passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 open up general categories of giftedness from the Spirit to each person in Jesus. I believe there are both constitutional gifts and situational gifts (as in 1 Corinthians 14). They may go together or be related, but not necessarily always the case.
For myself I have something in mind that I can begin to work on for the rest of my life, however long or short that may be. And if I'm right, it's something I rather shrink back from and am disinclined to specifically, though regarding the task generally, it is something I'm very much drawn to.
Be open to the gift and creativity and blessing you can be to others. Whatever it is on your heart that is good, pray and work on fulfilling it. We can be, in Jesus, a blessing to others. God has something special for each of us in Jesus to do today. Let's pray that we have the faith to see what it is, and of course, prayer itself should be one part of it, and sometimes it's the only work we can do for a time. And for some, it is a big part of what they do.
What about you? What works does God have for you to walk in, or do, today and beyond?
This is true no matter how down and out you may seem to be. No matter what seems to be against you and me. Or even true, no matter how we may be sinning at the moment, or tempted to sin. Or having to work through a disappointment or ongoing difficulty in our lives. Yes, God is there in Christ, with a special work for each of us to do.
There are general works, and there are specific or special works. Passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 open up general categories of giftedness from the Spirit to each person in Jesus. I believe there are both constitutional gifts and situational gifts (as in 1 Corinthians 14). They may go together or be related, but not necessarily always the case.
For myself I have something in mind that I can begin to work on for the rest of my life, however long or short that may be. And if I'm right, it's something I rather shrink back from and am disinclined to specifically, though regarding the task generally, it is something I'm very much drawn to.
Be open to the gift and creativity and blessing you can be to others. Whatever it is on your heart that is good, pray and work on fulfilling it. We can be, in Jesus, a blessing to others. God has something special for each of us in Jesus to do today. Let's pray that we have the faith to see what it is, and of course, prayer itself should be one part of it, and sometimes it's the only work we can do for a time. And for some, it is a big part of what they do.
What about you? What works does God have for you to walk in, or do, today and beyond?
Monday, February 25, 2008
against a privatized faith
Often what we hear as to what faith in Jesus amounts to in living in this world, is some kind of personal, privatized faith, kept to oneself without interfering into the personal, private lives of others. But this is not the faith of the Bible, or of Jesus.
When Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, the Greek translated better in this case in the NRSV means that his kingdom is not from this world. But in Jesus this kingdom has already entered into this present age. And it's a kingdom that has to do with the holy nation in Jesus, scattered throughout the earth. Not with any one recognized nation.
Jesus along with the apostles following, and the prophets in the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham there- the faith they held from God was not meant to stay with them, but to bless all nations, all peoples. And not only that, but to bless in terms of taking care of the land, being God's caretakers of it, and in the favor of God seeing their work overflow into blessings for all peoples, and even for the good earth and God's good creatures on it. This is something of what I see when it comes to the kind of faith we in Jesus actually have.
This gives meaning and value to all we do in helping others in any way. When done in the Lord there will somehow be meaning and value not only for this life, but also for the life to come in the resurrection of all things.
For too many people, Christianity is some kind of otherworldly religion that has nothing really to do with the down to earth, practical matters and existence here, except maybe to make people better so they can serve the status quo here and now. But in Jesus there is nothing less than a different dynamic, shaping different stories and outcomes than what would have been possible prior to Jesus' coming. This is why, while we see the Old Testament as foundational for what was to come, the fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament, brings a new, living dynamic into the world. Of course the complete fulfillment won't occur until Jesus returns, but it begins now in us- in the people of God in Jesus.
So let's beware of any individualized, privatized faith. Yes, our faith is personal, but it's meant to become public. And in so doing bring God's new creation in Jesus to bear, in all of creation here and now.
What do you think about this? What would you like to share here?
When Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, the Greek translated better in this case in the NRSV means that his kingdom is not from this world. But in Jesus this kingdom has already entered into this present age. And it's a kingdom that has to do with the holy nation in Jesus, scattered throughout the earth. Not with any one recognized nation.
Jesus along with the apostles following, and the prophets in the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham there- the faith they held from God was not meant to stay with them, but to bless all nations, all peoples. And not only that, but to bless in terms of taking care of the land, being God's caretakers of it, and in the favor of God seeing their work overflow into blessings for all peoples, and even for the good earth and God's good creatures on it. This is something of what I see when it comes to the kind of faith we in Jesus actually have.
This gives meaning and value to all we do in helping others in any way. When done in the Lord there will somehow be meaning and value not only for this life, but also for the life to come in the resurrection of all things.
For too many people, Christianity is some kind of otherworldly religion that has nothing really to do with the down to earth, practical matters and existence here, except maybe to make people better so they can serve the status quo here and now. But in Jesus there is nothing less than a different dynamic, shaping different stories and outcomes than what would have been possible prior to Jesus' coming. This is why, while we see the Old Testament as foundational for what was to come, the fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament, brings a new, living dynamic into the world. Of course the complete fulfillment won't occur until Jesus returns, but it begins now in us- in the people of God in Jesus.
So let's beware of any individualized, privatized faith. Yes, our faith is personal, but it's meant to become public. And in so doing bring God's new creation in Jesus to bear, in all of creation here and now.
What do you think about this? What would you like to share here?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
bearing God's image
Last night, as I was preparing for our interactive "devotions" time, on Psalm 8, I was reading most helpful insights on us humans bearing the image of God. Almost everything stood out to me, but among them is the fact that we exercise authority from God, as God's co-regents (or, co-rulers), for God. And we don't exercise dominion over, in the sense of simply doing as we please in ruling over the earth. We are responsible to God in this authority given to us and are to seek to carry out God's will and bidding.
This distinction is important, and there is disagreement among us Christians on this. Some hold to the idea that the earth is under our dominion for us to use as we wish. But I found Dean Ohlman's take in his excellent little booklet, Celebrating the Wonder of the Wilderness (from RBC Ministries) helpful: every species (example: "over 350,000 variants" of beetles) is created by God, and therefore important. So we should be concerned that each should be preserved. Scientists don't know why certain species exist, what helpful function those species might have, but God created them, and so they each have their place, and we as God's co-regents are to exercise God's loving care over them. I think this alone counters well the notion that we can do as we please, plundering the earth for ourselves. Surely, instead, we have to exercise prudent care and use of earth and its resources.
There is much more involved in being God's image bearers, and the book I was reading on Psalm 8 is a good place to start.
What thought might you have on this?
This distinction is important, and there is disagreement among us Christians on this. Some hold to the idea that the earth is under our dominion for us to use as we wish. But I found Dean Ohlman's take in his excellent little booklet, Celebrating the Wonder of the Wilderness (from RBC Ministries) helpful: every species (example: "over 350,000 variants" of beetles) is created by God, and therefore important. So we should be concerned that each should be preserved. Scientists don't know why certain species exist, what helpful function those species might have, but God created them, and so they each have their place, and we as God's co-regents are to exercise God's loving care over them. I think this alone counters well the notion that we can do as we please, plundering the earth for ourselves. Surely, instead, we have to exercise prudent care and use of earth and its resources.
There is much more involved in being God's image bearers, and the book I was reading on Psalm 8 is a good place to start.
What thought might you have on this?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
newness
Though I can't say I'm excited about a "new" year, I am rather taken with the newness we experience together in Jesus. And because of that alone, I can look forward to the new year.
Moltmann, who I want to read sooner than later has written something like: The hope we have in Jesus is a hope that is related to all we experience in this life now- not merely about the future. I don't have the exact words nor can I get to the source at the moment. But this seems to me to be related to the words in 1 Peter that we have a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It looks forward, but even more it lives in a forward mode, an already though not yet finished mode. It's a hope that gives us certainty, by faith, of what we look forward to. But it is alive in that we experience by the Spirit something of that future hope now.
Newness is not just about us, but it's about what God is doing in Jesus in the bringing in of the new creation for all the world, which by judgment and grace is beginning to touch the world now, and will make all things new. Our lives individually and together are a sign and indication to the world of this new creation in Jesus, and actually, along with the gospel, the primary means God uses in Jesus in beginning this now. So we should not be surprised to find this newness spring from areas that have been dead, and even under God's judgment, and this should encourage us in our lives and witness.
Scattered thoughts here, but I'm simply thankful to God for this ongoing newness to us in Jesus that despite the wearing on us of this life, gives us a sense of knowing this is the path of life, ongoing life, as opposed to the death of all else.
What thought might you like to share here?
Moltmann, who I want to read sooner than later has written something like: The hope we have in Jesus is a hope that is related to all we experience in this life now- not merely about the future. I don't have the exact words nor can I get to the source at the moment. But this seems to me to be related to the words in 1 Peter that we have a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It looks forward, but even more it lives in a forward mode, an already though not yet finished mode. It's a hope that gives us certainty, by faith, of what we look forward to. But it is alive in that we experience by the Spirit something of that future hope now.
Newness is not just about us, but it's about what God is doing in Jesus in the bringing in of the new creation for all the world, which by judgment and grace is beginning to touch the world now, and will make all things new. Our lives individually and together are a sign and indication to the world of this new creation in Jesus, and actually, along with the gospel, the primary means God uses in Jesus in beginning this now. So we should not be surprised to find this newness spring from areas that have been dead, and even under God's judgment, and this should encourage us in our lives and witness.
Scattered thoughts here, but I'm simply thankful to God for this ongoing newness to us in Jesus that despite the wearing on us of this life, gives us a sense of knowing this is the path of life, ongoing life, as opposed to the death of all else.
What thought might you like to share here?
Thursday, November 08, 2007
a great and good read
From Scot McKnight's new (and great) book, A Community Called Atonement: we are reminded of the centrality of the Cross. In Jesus' work for us in the Incarnation, he lives out his perfect life, dies on the cross, is resurrected, ascends to the right hand of God over all, pours out the Holy Spirit from the Father on the day of Pentecost, and is to return in judgment and grace for the consummation of making all things new.
Scot walks us through so many aspects of the atonement and what it means for us today. Initially, in my eagerness, I was flying through it, but before I finished, I decided to restart and read it slowly and thoughtfully. This is the kind of book that, while very accessible, deserves a most careful reading and rereading, and is among those books I will want to go back to.
Scot points out that God turns the horrible injustice in cosmological, political and spiritual terms into a glorious triumph through the Cross, in what ends up being an empty cross because of the resurrection. I can't wait to finish this book, but I gladly take it slow, like good wine.
It is a formative book, not bulky, well worth your time and effort, in fact you'll deeply appreciate it, if you like to work through a subject Biblically. And what more important subject for us than atonement in Jesus, and what that means for us in this world?
Get your hands on this book, and read.
Scot walks us through so many aspects of the atonement and what it means for us today. Initially, in my eagerness, I was flying through it, but before I finished, I decided to restart and read it slowly and thoughtfully. This is the kind of book that, while very accessible, deserves a most careful reading and rereading, and is among those books I will want to go back to.
Scot points out that God turns the horrible injustice in cosmological, political and spiritual terms into a glorious triumph through the Cross, in what ends up being an empty cross because of the resurrection. I can't wait to finish this book, but I gladly take it slow, like good wine.
It is a formative book, not bulky, well worth your time and effort, in fact you'll deeply appreciate it, if you like to work through a subject Biblically. And what more important subject for us than atonement in Jesus, and what that means for us in this world?
Get your hands on this book, and read.
Monday, October 29, 2007
to be truly human
To be truly human ends up being truly like Jesus, or for those who are redeemed in Jesus, it is being changed into the image of God in Jesus.
Sin renders us less and less human, truly human. Centered in ourselves, turned in on ourselves we end up losing our true selves. When we use other humans we lose what it means to be really human. Rob Bell in Sex God has a helpful chapter on this. This is a part of being turned in on ourselves. Everything is to serve us, even God, if we believe in him.
We are naturally bent on a self-destructing mode; we want our way instead of God's way. Instead we must take the way of Jesus. In doing so, because of Jesus' true humanity, and he taking our falseness so we could take his reality to become like him, we begin to become what we were created in our unique ways to be.
This is neither something we can invent or imagine, or even understand so as to experience just by reading about it. It takes a commitment of faith to an ongoing walk in Jesus together- no less. To be truly human means being in right relationship to God as well as to other human beings, including ourselves, and to the world God has made.
We must shun all false paths, everything the world has to offer, taking only the path found in God in Christ and found in the Story we read in Scripture. We begin then to find our true story as part of the real Story, being truly human because we're in right relationship to God and to others through Jesus.
Just a little sketch on this. What might you add related to this?
Sin renders us less and less human, truly human. Centered in ourselves, turned in on ourselves we end up losing our true selves. When we use other humans we lose what it means to be really human. Rob Bell in Sex God has a helpful chapter on this. This is a part of being turned in on ourselves. Everything is to serve us, even God, if we believe in him.
We are naturally bent on a self-destructing mode; we want our way instead of God's way. Instead we must take the way of Jesus. In doing so, because of Jesus' true humanity, and he taking our falseness so we could take his reality to become like him, we begin to become what we were created in our unique ways to be.
This is neither something we can invent or imagine, or even understand so as to experience just by reading about it. It takes a commitment of faith to an ongoing walk in Jesus together- no less. To be truly human means being in right relationship to God as well as to other human beings, including ourselves, and to the world God has made.
We must shun all false paths, everything the world has to offer, taking only the path found in God in Christ and found in the Story we read in Scripture. We begin then to find our true story as part of the real Story, being truly human because we're in right relationship to God and to others through Jesus.
Just a little sketch on this. What might you add related to this?
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