Life Eternal - October 21

Almost every week, we recite the Apostle’s Creed.  The last words of that creed state that we believe “in the life everlasting.”  When you say those words, what comes to mind?  What does “life everlasting” mean to you?

This is both a tremendously important part of the gospel, and also a piece that we so often misunderstand or confuse.  Let’s focus on two key ideas around our Life Everlasting.

Part One – The Return of the King

J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings, is a trilogy that concludes with a book called “The Return of the King.”  The title is a reference to the return of Aragorn (aka Strider) to the human kingdom of Gondor.  His return is marked by a massive military victory against the evil armies of Mordor, the unification of disparate human countries into one fighting force, and, for the first time in ages, the invasion of the lands of the enemy – a reclamation of what was lost to evil.

There is a poem written by Biblo Baggins, years before these events, called “All that is Gold.”

“All that is gold does not glitter; not all who wander are lost.
Old that is strong does not wither; deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken; a light from the shadows shall spring.
Renewed shall be blade that was broken; the crownless again shall be king.”

The central hope for every Christian is that the true king will return.  Everything that we do is staked upon this one conviction; Jesus is coming back. 

Jesus’ return includes three key elements.  Those are:

A) Jesus' appearance in the clouds with power and glory
B) the resurrection of the dead, and
C) the final judgment.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Appearance:

We will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect”  (Matthew 24:30-31).  Jesus’ impending return is discussed relentlessly throughout Scripture.  In John 14:1-7, for example, which we often read at funerals, Jesus tells us that he is going to prepare a place for us, and that he will return and take us to where he is.  In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus includes a discussion of his return as part of his final teaching with the disciples, which includes the language of “coming on clouds with power and glory”.  Numerous parables discuss the topic of his return – parables of the ten virigins, and the talents in Matthew 25, for example.  Paul speaks about Jesus’ return and the Day of the Lord often, most memorably in 1 Thessalonians 4.  And of course the book of Revelation tells the story of Jesus as the conquering king, riding at the head of a great army.

Resurrection of the Dead

We believe that as God created us (body and soul), so we shall always be.  There is no “me” that exists entirely separate from my body.  While Christians debate about whether we go to heaven in some transitional sense when we die, or simply “fall asleep” as Paul describes here, we know with certainty that we do not fully reach life everlasting until the resurrection occurs.

Note how different this is from our modern American individualist culture.  I don’t get to heaven on my own – I’m waiting for Jesus, and I’m waiting for everyone else who is waiting for Jesus.  We go together, and Jesus comes back to take us there.  In Hebrews 11 we are told that Moses, and David, and the prophets, and all the heroes of Scripture, are waiting for us.  The author says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”  Imagine – Moses is waiting on you!

The metaphor Paul uses about sleep is very intentional as well – for those who die, the resurrection is instantaneous, just as waking from sleep is from you in the morning.  You might feel well rested, but even if you sleep for 12 hours, from your perspective waking happens immediately after falling asleep.  So too, the resurrection is immediate for us, in the sense that it is the first thing we experience after death.

Final Judgment

We also believe that after the resurrection, there is a final judgment, described in Matthew 25, where Jesus separates us into two categories; those destined for heaven and those destined for hell.

Part 2 – Heaven and Hell

Understanding Hell

Satre once wrote that “Hell is other people.”  Yet the opposite is true; it is the complete absence of relationships and others.  Hell is the fulfillment of our self-centered desires.  It is the place where we are so perfectly focused on ourselves that nothing and no-one could possibly ever matter to us.  Recall the description of God as Three Persons in perfect love with each other, completely selfless.  Hell is the absence of that love and selflessness.

Jesus speaks about hell more than any other person in Scripture.  He uses language that we assume is metaphorical (fire, burning sulfur, outer darkness) to describe this reality of total isolation. 

Hell exists because God loves us enough to allow it.  He loves us enough to allow us to choose to never love him or each other. C.S. Lewis famously wrote that the door to hell is locked from the inside.  In other words, there are no persons in hell who did not chose that destination.  But more importantly, there are no person in hell who would not PREFER to be in hell than be in heaven. 

We should note that, from a Christian perspective, Heaven is being with Jesus, who is totally self-less.  For anyone who refuses to be released from their self-centered desires and lives, one could imagine that being with Jesus might actually be miserable.  

There is no option for wholeness or joy without Jesus and all that he represents; therefore, anyone who does not want Jesus, must experience life without him.  That life is far more horrific than fire, burning sulfur, or outer darkness.  That life is being completely alone.

Understanding Heaven

We struggle to understand Heaven as well!  Too often our images of heaven are drawn from cartoons of fat angels in togas, floating on clouds and playing harps.  Or, we see heaven as a place of self-fulfillment, where we finally get everything we ever wanted and are with everyone we ever loved.

Scripture, however, describes heaven as both a great worship service (see Revelation 4-5) and also very much like normal life (see Isaiah 2:1-5).  Revelation also speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, and a city designed by God.  Part of the core takeaway is that heaven is not a static place where nothing changes.  Work continues in heaven, as work was a gift of God to mortals before sin entered the world (and indeed, Jesus says “My Father is always working.”).  Relationships continue in heaven, but are changed.  The love that we once appropriately reserved for select individuals, such as our spouses, is now love that we share for all of God’s family (this is why Jesus says we will not be married in heaven).  We are the same people we once were, including our bodies, but we no longer grow sick or old and no longer have any desire to sin.

Fundamentally, heaven is the place where we are fully ushered into God’s presence.  It is the privilege of being with God – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And because God is infinite, we will spend infinity growing closer to him. 

At the end of the Last Battle, C.S. Lewis’ conclusion to the Chronicles of Narnia, the heroes all finally enter the new Narnia – a beautiful and wondrous place that is similar to the old Narnia, but better in every way.  And as they begin to explore this new world, they begin to run and dance and play, and repeat this refrain: “Further up and further in!”  Further up and further in is the plan for our experience in heaven.  We will grow infinitely closer to an infinite God through our time with Him, each other, and his new world.

Expectations - October 14

Understanding purpose of salvation

Last week we discussed the idea of propitation – how Jesus’ death and resurrection cover over our sins, reconcile us to God, and free us from the powers of evil in this world.

But, we must make a cautionary comment today.  Jesus’ primary purpose was the establishment of the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus did not come to save your soul.  He came to draw you into the Kingdom.  Your salvation is not his end goal but the first step towards his kingdom coming.

The metaphor of a birth is helpful here.  In John 3, Jesus has a conversation with Nicodemus about being “born from above.”  In our second birth, our birth from above, we are just as passive as we were in our first birth.  I offered no help to my parents when they had me!  In the same way, I offered no help to Jesus when he ransomed me.

However, after my birth, as I grew up, I increasingly had a role to play, both individually, and as part of the family.

This is a helpful metaphor for us as Christians.  We have no role to play in our salvation; but, once we are saved, we do have an opportunity and responsibility to respond to Jesus.

Expectation #1 – World transformation

The first expectation is that we will live into, and expand, God’s kingdom on this earth.

So what is the Kingdom of Heaven?  First and foremost, it is a new way of life grounded in a new covenant community.  Read the below for some descriptions of what the kingdom should look like:

Acts 2:42-47

Matthew 5:1-12

Note that this is a social project, not merely an individual one.  Bringing the Kingdom is about more than just individual salvation.  It is about changing the way people relate to one another, to God, and to creation. 

For example, see Isaiah 2:1-5 and 11:6-9.

This kingdom building work means that there are few issues where Christians can ever abdicate responsibility – there are no “secular” issues.  It also means that we must recognize that the church, not the governments of the USA or other nations, has the ability to effect change in this world.

We must also recognize that the greatest errors of the church have always come when we have confused the Kingdom of Heaven with the kingdoms of this world.   So often, we have tried to turn our nations into God’s Kingdom.  This is the root of the Crusades, the Inquisitions, etc.

God’s final plan for everything is his Kingdom.  We must work to see it grow, but also acknowledge that we cannot complete it without the return of Jesus.

Read Matthew 13:24-30.

The Kingdom of God, the wheat, is growing, and we have the privilege of helping it grow.  So too, the weeds, the work of the enemy, is increasing.  The world isn’t getting worse and worse and worse; nor is it steadily progressing.  It is getting better, and worse, at the same time.  Our job is to help the wheat grow!

Expectation #2 – Our transformation

However, although that this is a social project, it is ALSO an individual one.  We are individually called to become more like Jesus.

Scripture has several challenges that say exactly this:  “Be imitators of God”  “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

We call this process of reshaping our lives into the image of Jesus “Sanctification” and it is the second Expectation; we are called to become people who fit in Christ’s kingdom because we look like the King.

Unlike with salvation (propitiation), in sanctification we co-operate with God.  Specifically, God the Holy Spirit.

Imagine for a moment that we are all drivers in cars with bad alignment.  We have several problems.  First, the bad alignment means that we couldn’t drive in a straight line if we wanted.  Second, we’ve accumulated a lifetime of habits of bad driving because of our alignment.  And third, we live in a society where everyone else is a terrible driver as well.

When we receive the Holy Spirit, after accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, it’s like having God-in-us fixed our alignment.  We now have the capacity, for the first time, to drive well.  BUT, we still have a lifetime of bad habits to change, and we still live in a society of terrible drivers.

The process of sanctification asking the Holy Spirit in us to help us change our habits, just as the process of expanding the kingdom of God is about creating a society of good drivers.

This is why Scripture says, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come!  The old has gone; the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We are literally something new, now that the Spirit lives within us.  The Holy Spirit within us makes us into Christians, a word that means “little Christs”.  We are no longer human – we are God-and-man.

Here’s the key - God gives us the capacity and the power to change; we must faithfully call upon Him for that power in our times of need. 

Much of this process comes down to habit replacement – exchanging our old patterns for new ones.  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Two last take aways

Two final points.  Sanctification failings are not salvation failings.  In other words, I’ve been adopted into God’s kingdom not based on my goodness, but his.  If I fail to live as he calls me to live, this no more invalidates my salvation than my children getting in time out means that I no longer love them.

Second, our work of building the kingdom, and becoming like Christ, is eternally significant.  We will pass through the fire on a foundation of Christ, but we may see our life’s work consumed (if it is not of Christ) or we may take it all with us as treasure in heaven.  See, for example, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

Payment - October 7

Understanding the effects of sin

There is a tension in the descriptions of God as he relates to our sin; he is portrayed as both merciful and wrathful.

Jesus says – God is like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, or woman looking for her lost coin, or a father looking for his lost son. (Luke 15)

Jesus says – God is like a harsh master who throws an unworthy servant into the outer darkness, like a bridegroom who leaves the bridesmaids locked outside the party, like a judge who sends some to eternal joy and others to eternal fire. (Matthew 25)

Here is the reveal – God is both the Father of Victims, and the Father of Criminals.  He hates sin because it hurts his children (see Romans 1:18), but he loves all his children, victim and criminal alike.

As the father, what would you do?  How do you make right what they have made wrong, without having to punish them as they deserve?  How would you rescue them from the evil that has captured them, without denying their own involvement in it?

This is precisely God’s situation with us.  Therefore, Scripture uses language of “saving” “ransoming” “buying back” and “reconciling” to describe God’s plan on our behalf.

Jesus said that he came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).  We know this is God’s plan; today we have to discuss the “how” of the plan.

God’s Solution, Part One – Paying Back (Substitution)          

God both desires justice as the Father of victims, and desires mercy as the Father of criminals.

This process of payment for our sins is accomplished partly through a radical idea espoused by God throughout Scripture.  That idea is what we call substitutionary atonement.

God’s wrath at our sin is appeased by the death of a worthy substitute, and his mercy is demonstrated by a willingness to accept the substitute in our stead.

Ultimately, this entire system points to Jesus, “The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.”  Jesus is the only appropriate and effective substitute for us, for the following reasons:

1.     Only a human deserved to pay for humanity's sin.

2.     Only God could pay for our sins.

3.     Only an innocent man could pay for our sin.

4.     Only a willing sacrifice could truly offer his life as a gift on our behalf.

God’s Solution Part Two - Paying Forward (Imputation)

Part of God's payment is the covering up of our sins.  But this word also includes the idea of our reception of Christ’s righteousness, as well as his reception of our sin.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

The last verse of this passage is overwhelmingly significant.  This reconciliation comes not only through the covering up of our sins by Jesus’ death, but also through the addition of his righteousness into our lives.  “He made him who knew no sin to become sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

He took our place so that we could take his.  Or as the early church fathers said, “God became man so that man might become God.”

More on this idea next week!

God’s Solution Part Three - Paying For (Christus Victor)

Remember that at the beginning of our conversation, we said that God both wanted to right the wrongs we have committed, and also rescue us from the evil that has captured us?  The idea of payment primarily addresses the above idea of substitution, but there is a second, incredibly important aspect of what Jesus does to save us.  This is the idea called “Christus Victor” by the early church.

Jesus’ resurrection, three days after his death, is a critical component of our salvation.

First, his resurrection is a vindication of his life and his message – the greatest proof possible that everything Jesus said was true.  Jesus repeatedly foretold his story to his disciples (for example, Luke 9:22); he would die and be raised from the dead after three days.

But equally importantly, his death, and especially his resurrection, is a victory over the powers of evil in this world. 

Colossians 1:15 states that God, “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  The words “powers and authorities” in the New Testament refers to the personal spiritual forces of evil.   In other words, Satan is the ISIS from whom Jesus came to ransom and rescue us.  And in the cross, and the resurrection, we see Jesus as victorious over his enemies.  We are not the enemy; we are the prize the hero came to reclaim.

Conclusion

Unlike every other religion, our propitiation comes not from our goodness, but the gift of Christ’s life for us.  He took the punishment we deserved; he gave us the righteousness he deserved; and with his death and resurrection he defeated the enemy of our souls.

Our task, then, is not to earn what he has already earned, but to accept his gift by joining with him in faith.

Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”