Renewed Theology

God became man, not because we are so darn special that the Father just wanted us back into the fold, but because we were the problem that was holding back the creation as a whole, persons and all other things, from peace so that everything could be restored to its original order. Christ was the means to solve the problem, out of God’s love for the creation that he wants restored.

I recall one time in a conversation I had with someone a while back arguing for the acceptability of homosexuality because it didn’t harm anyone. But this wasn’t a unique argument, as this is the type of justification I have heard for many behaviors that contradicting the traditional values of Christians. At the time, I rejected the notion being the strict conservative that I was (and still am when it come to ethical and moral values). However, while I disagree with the thing that the person was trying to support, I look back and realized that is one of the places in which the world does things better than the church today.

Often times, our notions of holiness and righteousness are placed in certain rules. And for all who have tried to harmonize it, it drives people crazy to reconcile the fact that our faith isn’t about following a bunch of rules but yet there are a lot of rules that we as Christians are to follow. We explain some rules as coming from the love of one another, but in the end we really couldn’t explain them all except to say we do it because God said so (and that falls into the love of God). All this seems a rather legalistic way in the end of explaining away the apparent legalism.

But this semester in one of my seminary classes, we talked about the Kingdom of God, the Church, and their relationship to the world. One of the things that strongly resonated with me was that God’s Kingdom was bringing in a peace, a shalom, where every man had everything that they needed and that they were not going to be encroached upon by anyone or anything. We as a Church are to play a role in that process, working until God takes the final step and restores everything to as it should be.

How does this explain our ethics? That as Christians, our role is to do the part God has given us to bring that shalom to this world, to be a means of grace to the world with the grace God has given us. Everything from patience, not seeking vengeance, to the sometimes seemingly strict moral code are all that allows us to do that in one of two ways: Either it changes the way the world operates or it changes that we that we live so that we can continue to be avenues of God’s restorative grace to the world.

One of the things I remembered in my psychology degree is that the actions we take affect the person that we are. We begin to develop certain habits and our beliefs can change based upon what we do.

So, the rules we follow are not merely there to spoil our desires, but rather they are there to in a sense, keep us disciplined. For instance, sex between a married man and woman has many things that would essentially serve to allow them to partake in a blessing from God, but also be restricted from being consumed by the idea of sex. This generation today can see the effects of the unrestricted sex drive. When one desires something like that more than anything else, working towards a shalom is not the purpose any further.

Now you may disagree with my argument about sex, but my point is that our values of rooted in the principle of seeking God’s Kingdom in bringing the world a little bit closer to shalom or continuing to allow oneself to be an avenue for that grace from God. So when it comes to the homosexuality debate, or anything else for that matter, we should openly discuss whether it harms anyone. Only we must look at it in terms of how it changes the person and what happens over the long term as a result of the changes.

God’s commands for us are in fact more pragmatic than conservative Christian has generally allowed, but due to the way people change and often for the worse and the length of the Christian vision it doesn’t accept the liberal values either.

I am finishing up my last week of classes and I working towards a transition in my pastoring. I am adding two more churches to my charge, so I will be pastoring and preaching at four churches starting in July (although only preaching at two a weekend still). But hopefully, soon enough, I will pick back up my blogging.

The Renewal of all things

When we read the the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we read knowing the final outcome, the good news that we associate with Jesus’s death; that he was raised from the dead. This Easter Sunday we celebrate this miracle, this gracious act of God. It gives us hope, and because of this we can be optimistic about life, even in the face of evil and death.

But it wasn’t so easy for Jesus’ disciples. They actually went through the stories that we read with anticipation of God’s work. What is the known past to us was the unknown future to them. When they saw Jesus up on the cross, they didn’t wait in anticipation for Jesus to be raised from the dead. Their hopes were crushed. They had believed Jesus was the Messiah, the one who was going to bring Israel to the place where God promised to take them. They felt that this would be accomplished by starting a rebellion against the Roman Empire.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on donkey, everyone expected him to take authority as King of the Jews. “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (Mark 11:10) they said. But as they placed him upon the cross, all of their hopes came crashing down. Crucifixion was a sign of Roman punishment. With Jesus’ death, Rome was victorious once again in the eyes of his disciples.

All their times spent with Jesus had come to a waste. All his teachings meant nothing. There were only two options left for them. They could either go find another person to proclaim as the Messiah or they could lose all hope of Messianic redemption of Israel. In other words, their hope would change somehow or they would lose all hope.

Then something happened that they didn’t expect. “On the first day of the week, at early dawn, [some women] came to the tomb… but when they entered, they did not find the body of Jesus” (Luke 24:1-3). What happened? Jesus had been brought back to life. What wasn’t supposed to happen till the end when everybody together was to be brought up from the dead, happened to one person. With the resurrection of Jesus, hope was resurrected.

But the hope that came back to life wasn’t the same as it was before. Beforehand, the disciples thought the Messiah was going to free Israel from Rome. But as time past after the resurrection, the disciples say Jesus as defeating even a greater enemy, death itself, and not only for the Jews but everybody who faced death. Hope was totally transformed.

And Jesus didn’t just come up with his old body or a totally new body. He had a renewed body, some aspects resembling the old, some resembling the new. He was recognized by his disciples, but he also had the capability of walking through closed doors (John 20:19). But this wasn’t a ghostly body, but it was a physical body as Thomas could feel his wounds (John 20:27).

His body wasn’t totally new in all aspects. Nor was the new hope the disciple had. They still had the hope for the salvation of Israel, but not on their own but as part of the bigger picture, the redemption of all creation and all the nations of the people in it. “Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things; whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Colossians 1:20). Or as Paul speaks later on, there is a “renewal” where “there is no longer Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is in all!” (Colossians 3:11).

God makes all things new through the new life given to Jesus, but the new isn’t totally different from the old. And we desperately need to led God transform our hopes today.

When we speak of eternal life, we envision more of a spiritual existence where there is no body. We say that because Jesus’ rose from the death, there is life after death in this spiritual existence. But death is still victor, our bodies are still lifeless. But His resurrection overcame death. He became a pioneer, going before us so that we would follow the same example, a bodily resurrection from the dead. Because Jesus rose from the dead, there is life AFTER life after death. Once we die, we will go to Paradise, as Jesus told the thief on the cross, but that is not our final destination. We will be physically brought back to life with a new body like Jesus’ new body.

If this is how God reconciles us humans, wouldn’t it follow He would reconcile the earth is the same way? We often times get the picture that this world will be totally destroyed. But when John writes in Revelation that “the first earth has passed away,” he also writes “that the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1) If this were a totally different world, then it would be pointless to mention the sea no longer existed. But it is implicit to John that this new earth is the same location, but that it is new in other aspects. What will happen is that “the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to decay” (Romans 8:21).

In other words, our body and this world isn’t going to be destroyed. Rather, it is going to be renewed. There will be eternal life and a new place to live in where there isn’t death, but it isn’t going to be totally different. Our hope is transformed.

So what does this mean? That we should see this world and every one and thing in it as something to be salvaged. We should be going out to change this world for the best. We care for the environment because this world is going to remain. We care for our bodies because it is not something that is going to be destroyed but it will remain. While we don’t know everything that will remain in our environment and body and what will be changed, we do know some things will stay. Jesus himself looked the same after his resurrection. So we are called to be responsible. We aren’t to be voracious consumers, but use only that which we need. The more we drive, the more we affect the environment. The more food we consume, the more we change our bodies.

Beyond all that though, we care for all people regardless of who they are, because they are a part of this world is going to be renewed. They are also people who face death. Jesus died, therefore he dies just like everyone else. And if Jesus rose from the dead, he was raised for everyone who shares in that suffering; white, tan, or black, American or foreign.

If we raise up a nation or race above another, we make the same mistake that the Jews did. They thought God was only going to save Israel and that the rest of the world was going to be judged. But after Jesus’ resurrection and with time passed, they gradually realized that Israel was going to be saved, but as part of the whole world. More than that, they were an instrument to bring salvation to all the Gentiles, including the despised Romans. Those Romans died just like Jesus died, so they will rise from the dead just like Jesus rose from the dead.

So no more should we say “THOSE people,” as if they are different from us. And no more should we say “God bless America!” without also saying “God bless North and South America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia!” or “God bless the Middle East!” If we can’t say “God bless the Middle East and Arabs”, then we can’t genuinely say “God Bless America.”

[Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-15] Jesus died for all, so that He could bring them to live and live for Him. “Therefore, from now on we recognize no one based upon the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 5:16). Why? Because “if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), just like Christ was raised with a new body. So every person no matter who they are can become a good and just person.

Not only can just any person can become new person, but we ourselves can. Every evil thing we struggle with we can be free from and live for Him in everything we do. Everything that we feel guilt for we can cease from.

Jesus was raised from the death. Since that happened, all things and people we see, including ourselves, will remain and can be turned good. And they can be turned good right now. God does not say in Revelation 20:5 that He will make all things new in the future but that He IS making all things new! Presently!

So are you helping bringing about a new world and new people, no matter what or who is it, that God is doing through having raised Jesus from the dead? Do you show love and provide a good example as light to all people? Do you serve the needs of all people? Do you only use what you yourself need and not overconsuming? Are you seeking to change the wrongs of this world into right, whether it is within our families and friends, the company we work for, the politics of our country, or the college we study at? Are you being changed into something new yourself, by becoming a more selflessly loving, graceful, pure, and content person? That is what Easter is all about: all things out of deadness becoming new like our Savior was raised from the dead with a new body.

If sin is inherent to being human, Jesus can not possibly be our Savior