Lately I’ve spent a lot of time meditating on one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 1 John 3:8b tells us that, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” This verse fascinates me because it keeps me in constant wonder as to what this undoing of Satan’s handiwork truly looks like. I’ve often envisioned a vast army of angels coming down to the earth and destroying the fallen world, but I’ve decided that this vision is either incomplete or more likely misguided on my part. I can easily envision the army of God any way I like, but I highly doubt that God’s military looks at all like ours.
I’ve often heard the analogy that Jesus came on a rescue mission. He was sent into an enemy country in order to save the prisoners of war, but I think this analogy too is flawed. Let us first examine this enemy territory of which we speak. Genesis 1:31 tells us “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” This fact speaks to me that the world, or nature, is not inherently evil as many people view it. We are told that Satan may be the prince of the earth, but this is neither a permanent nor absolute position. The world as we see it now is not a different entity than the earth that God created in the beginning, but rather comparing our current earth to the newly created earth would be like, as C.S. Lewis puts it, comparing bread mold to bread.
I would like to propose a revised version of our rescue story. I can imagine that when Jesus arrived on earth, he probably said or felt something close to Galadriel’s – from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – sentiments when she said, “The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost, for none now live who remember it.” But I do not imagine His desire was to do away with the place in its entirety, for after all He did take part in its creation. Jesus was indeed sent on a rescue mission, but his target was not necessarily only the comrade in arms lost in the foreign land.
C.S. Lewis touches on this topic in his work Miracles. He writes, “In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.” I think this is what John was referring to when he said that the Son of God came to “destroy the works of the devil; Satan’s work is not creation, it is the corruption of creation (i.e. bread mold to bread, rust to metal, the tumor to the body). Good seeks out not only the prisoner of war, but He seeks to bring the enemy land home.
While I think my refined version of the rescue metaphor is more accurate than its predecessor, it still must be kept in check to the ultimate source from which we make our comparisons, analogies and metaphors: the Word of God. Malachi 3:3 tells us that, “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” We must remember that there are casualties in the rescue mission, just as some of the precious metal is lost in the refining process. Psalm 17:3, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests hearts.”
I do not claim to have a full understanding of how God works. But I am confident that He is a rescuer and refiner of His creation. He is not, as in other religions, simply waiting for us to come to Him. If that was in His nature, the Son would never have sought us out on earth. Rather from the beginning God has been searching for man and He continues to call out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) God is in the business of relentless rescue and pursuit.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Community, Denominations, Reconnection, Relationships
“And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” – Matthew 27:51
I read that verse and quickly recognize that God is in the business of reconnection. However, there have been a few things I’ve noticed lately that weigh heavy on my mind. First, I’ve noticed that we as humans are social and communal beings. Second, I’ve noticed that though we love community, we are not particularly good at doing it. Look all around and you will see that everyone is trying to figure out how a healthy community should work, whether in family, business, government, or religion. As a Christian, I would think that the best place to seek and view a well-working community would be in the Christian church. But sadly, even there we find a broken relationship.
I want to start by saying that I look to the church, that is the general body of Christians, because I believe the Bible gives instruction as to what a community should look like. However, I would never be so closed minded as to reject input from the secular world because I am looking for anything that is going to help me. However, as I see it, the most important part of life is the spiritual side, so I will aim my remarks at the greater Christian church.
When one examines the institution of traditional Christianity, one does not exactly find a shining example of what a group of like-minded individuals should look like. In fact, the overall theme seems to be centered more on disunity among Christians rather than unity as many Christians identify themselves by their denominations – Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists and the like – rather than just being a mere Christian. While I agree it is important to stand up for what you believe, I’m not sure the Bible calls us to this level of separation. While some would argue that Christ came “not to bring peace, but a sword,” I might suggest that this fact is not relevant in our present discussion.
I think one of the clearest examples of community in the Bible is found in the second chapter of Acts. We find here a description of the very earliest “church.” They were not a bureaucratic counsel, but rather a lot of individuals who loved Jesus and gathered together. When they were together, they prayed, taught, and ate together. Most importantly, verse 46 tells us “They had a single purpose.” They may not have been the most intellectual, organized, or highly esteemed group, but they knew what life was really about, and subsequently they changed the whole world.
So how exactly did the church go from Acts 2 to become what it is today? I would guess that all it took was looking away from the “single purpose” (Jesus) for a mere moment. We (humanity) have a bad habit of making mountains out of molehills. We very easily lose sight of the task at hand and replace it with something trivial. It probably started as some small issue and snowballed from there.
Well now you’re probably wondering how we set out to fix this problem, but I don’t have a definitive answer. There is a lot of hope though because we have been given an extremely thorough guidebook as to how Christian community should work. I would recommend we all take a very careful look at Acts 2. This chapter does not give all the answers, but it gives hope and evidence that community can happen. I also think we need to read over our Bibles carefully and seek out community through it. As far as the church goes, I think the institution is vitally important, but it isn’t flawless. We need to be open to change, and ready to accept biblical truth even when it is inconvenient for us.
So this is my own call to the church. We need to get back to what is important, and I highly doubt it has anything to do with whether or not we allow dancing, or how often we partake in the Holy Eucharist. I’m not saying we need to abandon these as our own personal beliefs, but when they get in the way of the greater goal – which I would suggest is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) – we need to reexamine our doctrine. I think God is pleased that the church is continuing to do His work, but I don’t think His strategy is through cell warfare (pockets of believers operating independently). Rather I think God’s strategy would be a giant, unified, invading army (1 Corinthians 12:12).
I am of the understanding that relationships are what life is truly based upon. You are fully entitled to disagree with me, but if you are a Christian, you should reconsider your stance carefully. If you believe as most Christians do, then you have already accepted that at the very center of the universe is a relationship; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is amazingly reassuring to me that though we live in a world full of much brokenness, the God of the universe seeks to draw us into a right relationship with Him. Like I said before, God is in the business of reconnection, and as we draw closer to Him we reconnected with ourselves, and indeed each other as well.
Have you ever noticed how things in life work out? For instance, let me perform a little test on you. First, I would like you to think about the worst thing that ever happened to you. Now think of the second worst thing that ever happened you to. Now the third. Now the fourth. The fifth. The sixth. The seventh. The eighth. The ninth. The tenth. Are you still with me? Now I want you to think of the best thing that ever happened to you. Now the second. Now the third. Now the fourth. The fifth. The sixth. The seventh. Chances are you’re catching on to what I’m talking about. I would guess that you probably had trouble around number four on the bad list, but you had no trouble coming up with items for your good list. But why is this?
I always hear people talking, writing, and generally complaining about the troubles of life, but I think we all celebrate and enjoy our lives regardless of this fact. Think about every time you have taken a breath without pain. Think about every night you have gone to sleep with a roof over your head (and I’m not talking about the nights you were camping when you didn’t want a roof). Think about the friends you’ve had who made you laugh. Clearly, we have something to be happy about. However, this does not change the fact that there are things in life that are hard, painful, and just generally not good.
Many authors and thinkers have discussed the idea and problem of pain, suffering, and evil. Many people have written about why evil exists or even how evil is compatible with the existence of good God, but that is not what concerns me at this point. Rather, I want to discuss a specific aspect of the bad stuff, that I have seen play out in my own life.
Have you ever noticed how so much of the time good things occur out of seemingly bad situations? I keep seeing this idea play out repeatedly in my own life. So many times, I feel like everything in my life is falling apart, but somehow the pieces are put back together again. I could give you hundreds of examples from my own life for the purpose of proving to you that what I am saying is true, but I don’t think that is necessary. You can probably think of countless times in your own life where bad events lead to a great (but possibly more remote) good. I would suggest to you that we witness this phenomenon because it is a direct reflection of the nature of God.
Many times in the Bible, we see God take an apparently bad situation and use it for something amazing. For instance, in the book of Daniel we witness Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace as punishment for refusing to worship the Babylonian king’s idol. God however, uses this obviously negative situation to reveal His glory to King Nebuchadnezzar. In the book of John, Jesus passes by a blind man and his disciples ask Him whether it was the man’s sin or his parent’s sin that had caused him to be born blind. Jesus answers that the man’s blindness was not a result of someone’s sin, but rather he was born in such a state so that God’s glory would be revealed through him. In both these situation God transforms bad into good.
I would suggest that this is exactly what God has done at the cross. Arguably man’s worst crime would be to kill God when God came down to reveal His love for the world, but what does God do with this crime? At the cross God takes away the sin of the world that they might be put back into a right relationship with Him. This strategy is clearly not what we would call normal, and it is certainly not the strategy I would employ if I was God. Nonetheless, our God is the Great Ironist. He uses bad to make good, and out of darkness He brings forth His light. I don’t know how this works, but I know that it does.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: C.S. Lewis, Immutability of God, Incarnation, Miracles
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what we, as normal, everyday, scientific human beings would call miracles. I believe that most people would admit that events do occur for which science or reason can offer no logical explanation, but I believe for the most part people are not willing to believe in a god that involves himself in the everyday lives of us. For most people God is a very foreign and distant entity, who plays little or no part in what we would call reality. The philosopher Voltaire made the assertion that “a miracle is the violation of mathematical, divine, immutable, eternal laws,” and for this reason he concluded that miracles do not exist because they would contradict the very idea of the immutability of God.
While Voltaire’s argument does strike me as problematic, I think we must consider what the immutability of God is contingent upon. People would like to suggest that if God creates rules of nature, then it would go against His own rules to break those laws in the form of a miracle. But is that really true? Let us first suppose that God made the entire world around us and set everything – chemistry, physics, and biology – into motion. Let us then suppose that God made Himself known to us by creation, His words, His prophets, and finally by the incarnation of His Son on earth. In all of this making himself known, to my knowledge, God has never specifically revealed to us exactly how the universe works.
All that we know of as science is merely our grasping and groping for what tiny bit of knowledge and understanding we have. But we try to take our tiny bit of knowledge and apply it to an infinite God. When we look at the world and then we examine our understanding of God, any problems we may find are not the fault of the deity. We may try to take our finite knowledge and apply it to God, but this as a means to an end will always fall short. What we call theology is but mere approximation. The task at hand is not to take our ultimate truth and apply it God, but rather to find God’s ultimate truth and apply it what we see around us.
We cannot simply put God in the judgment seat and expect Him to conform to our rules. In An Experiment In Criticism, C.S. Lewis wrote, “In coming to understand anything we are rejecting the facts as they are for us in favor of the facts as they are.” I want to have growing understanding of God, but if this is to occur I must accept the fact that I may not always be right. I am very capable of bad thinking, but I am also capable of putting my errors aside in place of truth. God is immutable, and I want my mind to be conformed to His truth, not mine.
