The Good News of Mankind’s Inclusion in God…

 

…the Father, Son and Spirit…is SPREADING!!! Check out this blogpost from Steve McVey of Grace Walk Ministries that was sent to me by a good friend. In this blogpost, Steve is RIGHT ON with the Good News of Humanity’s Adoption and Inclusion into the Life of the Triune God.

Those of us in the Worldwide Church of God should find this especially encouraging at this time in our fellowship where the Holy Spirit continues to educate and clarify for us Who Jesus is in His relationship with His Father, the Spirit, Humanity and Creation! We are ALL definitely INCLUDED!

We really are in a Golden Age, or Neo-Reformation, of some grand and radical type that will “thrill the socks off” of a people in the world that desperately need and want to know they are included – in and apart from anything they do – good or bad! I can imagine they would especially be more open to it when their economical worlds are falling apart, and there doesn’t appear to be much hope in anything or anyone else!

Here is a copy of Steve’s Post:

It may be that the greatest single misunderstanding about the nature of salvation is the teaching that its essence revolves around a person accepting Christ into his life. “Won’t you accept Christ into your life?” unbelievers are so often asked. The idea that Christ wants to come into our lives is almost universally taught in most evangelical and charismatic churches.

“What’s wrong with that?” you might wonder. “Doesn’t He want to come into a person’s life?” The startling answer if we really take biblical teaching seriously is “no.” Salvation isn’t about us accepting Him into our lives. Instead, the gospel is the proclamation that Jesus Christ accepts you into His life.” “You did not choose me, but I have chosen you,” Jesus told His disciples.

The flesh loves to cling to the notion that we cast our vote for Jesus at salvation and that He then moved in and has been thankful to us ever since. The essence of salvation isn’t that you accept God, but that God has accepted you. Think about it – this triune God who has enjoyed eternal intimacy within the Godhead has brought us into the inner circle! He has accepted us in the Beloved!

Apart from Him, we have no life in which He could possibly dwell. In our co-crucifixion with Jesus, our old self was crucified with Him in order that the source of sin might be destroyed. See Romans 6:6. You have been crucified with Christ and you no longer live. (See Galatians 2:20) Now Christ is your life and in Him you find your very existence. See Colossians 3:4 and Acts 17:28.

Christ in your life? Not a chance. We have entered into His life and now share in the koinonia of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we were God-hating, self-centered, blind-as-a-bat and dead-as-a-doornail sinners, Christ died for us. See Romans 5:8. By His grace and through His finished work on the cross, the eternal God has brought us into the eternal lovefest. We weren’t seeking God. Let’s not flatter ourselves. Nobody seeks Him, not one of us. (See Romans 3:11) But he clothed Himself in the garment of humanity and came here to bring us home, where we belong. He came to seek and to save us while we were lost. See Luke 19:10 .

He chose you. He came for you. He died to reconcile you to Himself. He raised you from a walking death. He made you alive and has seated you at the right hand of the Father, squarely situated in the middle of the eternal party that will never end. Only one response fits such a reality – Hallelujah!

Embrace Your Humanity!

 

That is the encouragement I gave to an audience at the recent Homegoing Celebration (funeral) of a member in my local congregation, Mrs. Eloise Harrison.

I gave this special encouragement because:

1.) Eloise lived a full life of 85 years embracing her humanity – with 56 of those in a marriage she and her spouse both enjoyed , and,

2.) She embraced Jesus’ personal Revelation to her, in the Spirit, that He, Jesus,  has embraced her and all of humanity in His own PERMANENT GOD/HUMANNESS!!

I was proud to be her pastor, and can confirm all this good news after many good conversations with her in our HUMAN relating, in Christ, together at New Creation Community Church!

This is a HUGELY important point! If we miss this, we miss the Good News of the Gospel! Because we are sinners, we often run so quickly to the subject of salvation that we get “stuck” there and miss the more subtly obvious!

If Jesus is God with Us and He came to US and to save US – who is the US? Who are we? Are we not – is God not (in Jesus!) – HUMAN!? To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe that “God is with Man, as Man!” Do you see the staggering beauty of this Revelation of God in Christ? The Father, Son and Spirit haven’t demanded that we get ourselves into him, or become like him! God isn’t more interested in his rules than he is interested in relating with us as we are!!

This is the great Epiphany = the manifestation of God as man in Jesus! Who would have “thunk” it?! As Baxter Kruger often says, “The difference between Christianity and every other religion is that in religious mythology you always have to “get to God”. In Christianity God has come to us, remains with us as we are, and has gotten us into himself by getting into us – our humanity, literally!” Ha-Ha! John 14:20! Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that gracious? Isn’t that truly Good News?!

What greater reason could we have for attending barbeques, fish fry’s, picnics, family reunions, taking cruises, line dancing, break-dancing, walking for Leukemia, assisting the Diasabled Veterans of America, attending sports games and activities, celebrating birthdays, engaging in meaningful work with our minds and hands, attending celebration services with the Church, giving of our time/talent/treasure to family, friends and neighbors, and respectign people at funerals - than to SEE JESUS FOR WHO HE REALLY IS – the Relational God, who has embraced our humanity forever?!!

It cannot be honestly and historically denied! The biblical record is that Jesus Christ spent most of his human life NOT preaching and teaching in a formal and Jewish Rabbinical sense, but living and embracing his (our!)  humanity in community and relationships! The Son of Man came “eating and drinking”! Matt 11:19!

This is why Eloise embraced her humanity, as tough as it was sometimes! This is why you and I want to embrace human life, as tough as life can be! This is why we FEAR and HATE death! We were meant for life in the flesh and our guts know it!!

Christianity is NOT about trying to escape the flesh and becoming an eternal and flourescent lightbulb! I am NOT saying we won’t glow with joy and the new effervescence of glorified humanity, but I am saying that however we will be, WE WILL BE HUMAN!!

If you plan on spending any amount of personal time with Jesus Christ in eternity, then you better get used to wearing skin and carrying around a few bones in a human body! If you don’t plan on being human, you sure are going to be mad, or sad, for a long time  - because human you will be!! 1 Cor 15:22! Ha-Ha!!

God doesn’t throw his creation away like last weeks trash! He redeems it! He renews it! He makes it new!! Where do you think we get the idea of recycling from?! lol!

Encouragingly, the new body won’t be weak and wear out like this sin-filled one! It will be raised a strong and imperishable body! 1 Cor 15! This speaks to the “not yet” part of our life in Christ! In Him, in his literal human body, our human nature has been redeemed and renewed ALREADY, and that is why we can have real hope and certainty for a better quality of human life that we know “not yet”! Our real human life is hidden in Jesus with God!

So, embrace your humanity, NOW, and don’t be too fearful of who or what can kill the body! Jesus is a living witness to us all that God has joined us in our humanity forever, raised it anew, and has accepted, validated and confirmed that being human is good and very good! At great cost and sacrifice to himself, the Son of God will forever mediate to us other human beings the vibrant  relationship he shares with his Father in the Spirit, in his human being! 1 Tim 2:15!

WOW!!! Again!

Is There REALLY an Unpardonable Sin?

 

Technically speaking – NO! (there is no scripture that actually says “unpardonable”).  And untechnically speaking – Yes! (there is a sin the bible says won’t be forgiven).

That probably doesn’t immediately help those who are fearful that they have committed this sin, but I begin this way so that we can learn to appreciate that the bible educates us as much through paradox as through other methods. In interpreting the scriptures we need to be able to hold two apparently contradictory thoughts together as one whole in order to get at a more accurate and proper understanding of God’s grace in the light of Jesus Christ!

I will try to simplify what can be discussed in a longer way, and if you want a longer answer simply Google “unpardonable sin”. There is lots of good stuff out there.

Here are the scriptures used to discuss this topic (and notice the special emphasis on dishonoring God the Holy Spirit – Who has been sent to educate us about the Truth – John 16!):

Mark 3:22-30 and Matt 12:31-32 . 

I promised to follow up with this post based on Boyd’s comments from my last post, so here are godly and biblical thoughts in the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

1.) Is Jesus Fully God and Fully Man in One Person without mixture or confusion? We in Christianity say “Yes!!” Our creeds emphasize this, especially the Chalcedon Creed. The significance of this is that it was agreed upon by the church at large (including the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and many Protestant Christian churches).

PLEASE NOTICE THAT TO GET AT ANY TRUTH WE MUST BEGIN WITH ANSWERING THE QUESTION: WHO IS JESUS?

2.) This means that, technically speaking, when the Son of God became Man He took on the fullness of our actual fallen human nature, forgiving, saving and healing everything that was wrong with that broken human nature. As the old church father’s would say, whatever Jesus did not assume, he did not forgive, or save or heal. In reverse, whatever he did assume, was completely and utterly forgiven, saved and healed.

So, if you don’t believe that Jesus was fully human, you cannot hold as true that you or anyone can ever be fully forgiven, healed or saved! That would be the end of any hope for anyone or anything – period! It would also be a massive failure on God’s part to have sent his Son to save us, only to realize that he only almost saved us! Yikes! We need a very different and REAL God thank you very much!!

On the other hand, to believe God the Son became forever fully human, while remaining fully God, means that all of humanity is fully forgiven, saved and healed in the Person of Jesus Christ. This means hope for the good future of everyone and everything! It also means massive success on God’s part – having sent his Son to save the lost and realizing that he actually did! Hallelujah! Now THAT is the Good News!

3.) Did you see that word “forgiveness” in those statements above? Forgiveness is NOT just an “I forgive you” from the mouth of God, or pouring out Jesus’ blood externally on Jerusalem sand to fix your real 21st century relational problems! Forgiveness is the act of God making things RIGHT, LITERALLY, in the very Person of His Son Jesus! Of making things right in our real and fallen human nature, so that there is ACTUAL reconciliation and ACTUAL redemption in our humanity, not pretend reconciliation and fake redemption!

To take all of this seriously is to KNOW that every sin imaginable, including your sins against God the Father, Son AND Spirit (Who is ONE!) are forgiven, LITERALLY, in Jesus!!! 

4.) So where does the unforgiven part come in? Good question!

If everyone and everything is completely forgiven and made right in Jesus Christ, this means that anything we have said or spoken, or thought in a wrong manner against God the Father, Son and Spirit, and other people and creatures is forgiven! That is what Jesus is trying to emphasize in his comments when he says that whatever we say against the Son of Man will be forgiven.

We do this in our lostness and our ignorance, and that is why Jesus forgave even that! Father please forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing! Luke 23:34!

HOWEVER, if God the Holy Spirit shares with you this truth of your complete and total forgiveness, salvation and healing in Jesus (and He does and forever will!), BUT you, in essence, keep calling Him a liar and refuse to embrace the truth – HE IS NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE THAT! In other, more clear words, for God the Holy Spirit not to forgive that sin means for Him not to AGREE WITH YOUR LIES ABOUT HIS TRUTH!!! How could He?! You, in your distinction can deny the truth, but He will NOT EVER DENY HIMSELF!! He IS the Truth!

It’s not that your sin and blashemy against the Holy Spirit has not been forgiven, it’s just that YOU keep thinking and acting like it has not been forgiven, even when He helps you clearly see in the Person of Jesus that it has been forgiven! You are not treating the Holy Spirit like God but are acting like God yourself and that can’t be forgiven = or BE RECEIVED AS FORGIVEN BY YOU as long as you keep calling that Truth a lie!!)

I am currently in a red jump suit as I write this. As long as I receive this jump suit for what it is, I am in a red jump suit. However, in an intentional moment of stupidity and rebellion I can refuse to see it as a red jump suit and call it a blue jump suit (even though I can plainly see it is a red one!) As long as I think it is blue, it is “not” red to me, as bright red as it may really be! No sane person embracing their sanity (instead of embracing my self-chosen insanity) could ever forgive me or agree with me that the suit is blue when it is plainly red unless they wanted to purposefully participate in ignorance!!

Do you get a sense of the intentional insanity that we can choose in our distinction – potentially forever?! Good Grief! That would be eternal Hell fire and brimstone for sure, ESPECIALLY in trying to relate with others!! What “burns” more than bad relationships in a life of relationships???! Nothing!!

So, in the Relational power of the Spirit Who is with you and all people - change your mind and believe the Good News! You are wholly adopted, included, forgiven, healed and saved in the Very Person and Humanity of Jesus Christ – even from your blasphemy against God!  I John 2:1-2!

Don’t trample this truth underfoot and steal your own joy by participating in your completely forgiven, healed and saved humanity as a willfully, sinful, and distinct foolish person! Heb 10:26!

Is Satan Reconciled and Redeemed in Jesus?, part 2

 

Well, hopefully you have had a chance to see my Christ-centered and biblical response to this question. If not, you can see that more in-depth response here.

You can probably guess, accurately, that my article had no lack of controversial comments and responses! Since I have elaborated on a basic Christian approach and answer to that question, I would like to add yet another way of arriving at the answer, biblically. I got this idea from a person who was highly encouraged by the answer I gave in my article, in the Light of Jesus, and who referred to a portion of this biblical passage.

Here is the passage, taken from Jesus’ most famous sermon, outlined in Matthew 5:43-48(NRSV):

43 ”You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The context of this passage is Jesus teaching his disciples, crowds, and even the Pharisees about how the Kingdom of God works in contrast to how the kingdoms of fallen creatures operate. By his words, hyperbole, rhetoric (and even humor!), Jesus is explaining that having good external behavior alone, such as the law emphasized, is not the Good News. Something even more fundamental, deep and good must happen from within our mind, souls and personal character that PRECEDES action/s.

But the bottom line, Jesus says, is that the Kingdom of God is about REAL RECONCILIATION, not just things that appear to be reconciliatory! In the verses above He is emphasizing that when this REAL RECONCILIATION is participated in, it leads to ACTUAL RECONCILIATION and RECONCILING BEHAVIOR that even involves loving our enemies in mind, word and in deed!

REAL LOVE, mind you! Not the kind of “love” that says, “Step on me again cause I really don’t matter and I am not really important!” Nor the kind of “love” that says,”Because I love you, I am going to do to you exactly what you have done to me. An eye for an eye!” BUT, the kind of love that says, “I do not approve of your love but am free to transcend it in action that doesn’t “fight or flight” but stands here and keeps loving – even on you my enemy!!!”

So, how does this relate to the question “Is Satan Reconciled and Redeemed in Jesus?” Well, if Jesus is telling us that ultimately His Kingdom acts in His real, loving and reconciling mind, words and deeds, AND, that we can share in this ONLY TRUE WAY OF GOD, then,

1.) Is it Christ-centered and reasonable to think that the Father is asking us to love our enemies while he hates his (Satan?)

2.) Is it Christ-centered and logical to think that Jesus is asking us to be reconciled with our enemies while he remains unreconciled with his (Satan?)

3.) Is it Christ-centered and rational to think that the Holy Spirit is asking us to share in HIS redemptive character, words and deeds,with our enemies, while He hypocritically does not?

I think you see the point, don’t you?

I conclude with a paragraph from a GREAT BOOK, “The Secret Message of Jesus” by Brian McLaren, where he puts the scriptures noted above in the context of our modern way of thinking and speaking, by writing on p.127:

“The Kingdom of God calls you to a higher way of living. It’s not just about loving friends and hating enemies. It’s about loving your enemies. This is what the King does, so this is the way of the Kingdom. God is good to all – including evil people. God’s perfection is a compassionate perfection. That’s the kind of love you need to have in God’s Kingdom – a compassionate perfection that transcends old divisions of us/them and neighbor enemy, that loves those that do not yet love you. We will never reach universal reconciliation in the Kingdom of God until we move beyond conventional religious morality and believe in and practice this radical, higher plan.”

As those who embrace Jesus Christ in his grace, we could hardly answer the main question of this blog post better ourselves, biblically, could we?!

Yes, The Father, Son and Spirit TRULY Loves and Likes all of the creatures in His Creation MORE than He Loves Himself as the One True God in Three Persons! Those who embrace this Truth will forever GASP and be MYSTIFIED by its incomprehensible heighth, depth and width!!!

Is Satan Reconciled and Redeemed in Jesus?

 

Is a COMMON question asked by those who are beginning to understand the implications of answering the question “Who is Jesus?” I am sure that many of you have asked, or are asking, the same question, now that you are beginning to grasp the significance of the Incarnation of the Son of God. I am also sure that many of you already have an answer, too! Perhaps a clarifying one! (feel free to make your comments on this blog, too! Perhaps you can add some insights on what you are learning about this!)

It seems that we have only had about two things to say about the Incarnation of God’s Son for the most part:

1.) It can get you into heaven, and

2.) it can get you out of hell, IF…!!!!

From a certain perspective, I definitely agree with those statements, but I agree even more with Saint Athanasius, staunch defender and main drafter of the Nicene Creed, when he wrote:

“In short, such and so many are the Savior’s achievements that follow from His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves. One cannot see all the waves with one’s eyes, for when one tries to do so those that are following on baffle one’s senses. Even so, when one wants to take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, one cannot do so, even by reckoning them up, for the things that transcend one’s thought are always more than those one thinks that one has grasped.”  http://www.theologywebsite.com/etext/athanasius/ch8.shtml 

Yes, the results of the Incarnation truly baffle our limited senses and minds! We also, have to remember to start all of our Gospel responses, no matter what they are, with a Who, rather than a “thing” mind-set! NOT “it” can get you into Heaven, or “it” can get you out of hell! Jesus can…!!! 

In that “door opening” phrase of Athanasius above, I think we must at least begin to grapple with the fact that the Incarnation of the Son of God has had a larger and more positive impact upon all people and things, including Satan, than we have first been led to believe! After all, Satan is a created being, too, utterly dependent upon God, in Christ, to Live, Move and have his Being, right!? Acts 17:28, Colossians 1.

So now, in answering the question “Is Satan Reconciled and Redeemed in Jesus?”, I believe some of you are more prepared for the Christ-centered, biblical and Gospel answer I plan to give…

….in the next issue of The Adopted Life! . You didn’t think I was going to set a world record for the world’s longest blog post did (I’ve already done that! Actually, I don’t have space to write it all out here! Ha-Ha!

That issue of the Adopted Life can be found here, and will be out on December 4th, 2008. It can even come conveniently to an e-mail box near you if you will simply inquire about it at: theadoptedlife@gmail.com . Don’t forget my friend Jonathan’s blog, too! Or Baxter’s! Or Pastor Paul’s! or Martin’s!

or Frank Ancona’s Website!! New and improved and good!!!

Peace, Love and Blessings to You in the Christ Who encourages us to Ask, Seek, and Knock if we want to know something, and Who has promised that it shall be given, found, and opened unto us (YOU!!)

Our Greatest Reason for Hope in Barack Obama’s Presidency…

 

…is Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, who shares all things with His Father in the fellowship of the Spirit with everyone and everything, including Barack Obama!! Colossians 1:27.

In fact, there is no God Who will be God without Barack Obama (or even John McCain!) Every single person who has ever lived, or who will ever live, is the son or daughter the Father, Son and Spirit have always desired to include in His relationship of over-flowing and self-giving love! That Truth in Jesus, apart from any other reason, is why there is a reason for hope behind any and every presidential candidate!

For those who embrace this one and only Jesus Christ, that Gospel (or Good News!) is the simple reason behind why so many people do have valid and proper hope regarding Barack Obama’s Presidency. It is also the reason some are disappointed in Barack’s election. And the reason why many would have been happy to see John McCain win the presidency. And the reason why others would have been sad to see John McCain as president!

First, let’s rehearse Christian fundamentals and share in Christ’s actual Faith, Hope and Love regarding our political future in the United States through a brief summary of the Gospel.

Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity made human forever. Colossians 1:19, 2:9, 1 Tim 2:5. This all happened, literally, 2000 years ago. For Jesus to be made TRULY human is to say that Jesus joined us where we actually were, in darkness. John 1:1-5, 10. This was demonstrated most prominently in his allowing us to crucify him in our darkness, and forgiving us for not knowing what we were doing. Luke 23:33-34. In his death, everyone died (including Barack and McCain!). 2 Cor 5:14. In His Resurrection everyone rose. 2 Cor 5:15, 1 Peter 1:3, Eph 2:4-6. Jesus now remains a Divine/Man, having united Himself to all of humanity in a real and mysterious way, sharing the Holy Spirit of He and His Father with all of mankind! Luke 24:36-43, 1 Tim 2:5, Acts 1:1-11, Acts 2:1-17, John 14:20.

Can’t you see the hope stemming from this Good News, even if you ain’t feelin’ it?  It is the responsibility of the Church to take this Truth of Jesus Christ, and WHO HE IS (Col 2:8), more seriously than anything else and to rehearse it BEFORE we get too caught up in the political rhetoric of the systems of this world which lead to misplaced faith, no hope, and little love.  

Rehearsing this fundamental truth gives us our greatest reason for hope and explains all of the dynamics behind people’s happiness or sadness regarding Barack and/or McCain as President. Let’s share in the Mind of Christ about it (1 Cor 2:9-16):

1.) If Jesus lives in all people, then that certainly gives us a reason for hope in Barack Obama’s presidency, doesn’t it?! Because Jesus lives in all, Jesus MUST live in Barack! That isn’t difficult to understand is it? I mean seriously, can we REALLY make too much of Jesus Christ and His ability to positively influence anyone in Whom he lives, including Barack? Can we make too much of Jesus’ ability to work in and through Barack for the good of others? Isn’t some of what is impossible with us, possible with Jesus – God?!

Our answers to those questions reveals whether or not we embrace the stunning Jesus of the scriptures (the Light of the Cosmos – John 8:12), or an idol (a Jesus who does not exist at all!!)

2.) Because Jesus lives in everyone and everything but is NOT everyone and everything, we can see why many would have a reason for disappointment in Barack’s appointment. Barack is not THE MAN (Jesus), but a man in whom THE MAN(Jesus) lives. That is why some are discouraged by the potential trouble of his presidency. Being a sinful human being obviously leaves room for many weaknesses and errors to show up in President Elect Obama’s policies and leadership (and in our judgment of his leadership and policies!! Ha-Ha! Yes, YOU are a sinner too!!)

Jesus doesn’t force who he is upon Barack and treat him like a thing! Jesus treats Barack just as he treats you – as a real and distinct brother or sister, who must sometimes even experience and learn the truth of his adoption into God’s relationship the hard way! But, as creative and loving as He is, God the Father, Son and Spirit is not put off by this sin and struggle, and is doing everything in his loving and relational power to help every human see and experience who they TRULY are in Him! Nothing will ever separate him from any part of his adopted creation! No bad policies. No bad decisons. Nothing! Romans 8:28-39.

The other two points are just as easy in the light of this Triune God in Jesus:

1.)  If Jesus lives in all people, then that certainly would have given us a reason for hope in John McCain’s presidency, wouldn’t it have?! Because Jesus lives in all, Jesus MUST live in John McCain, too! That isn’t difficult to understand either, is it? I mean seriously, can we REALLY make too much of Jesus Christ and His ability to positively influence anyone in Whom he lives, including John McCain? Can we make too much of Jesus’ ability to work in and through John McCain for the good of others? Isn’t some of what is impossible with us, possible with Jesus – God?!

2.) Because Jesus lives in everyone and everything but is NOT everyone and everything, we can see why many would have had a reason for disappointment in John McCain’s appointment to the presidency. John McCain is not THE MAN (Jesus), but a man in whom THE MAN(Jesus) lives. That is why some were discouraged by the potential trouble of his presidency. Being a sinful human being obviously left room for many weaknesses and errors to show up in John McCain’s policies and leadership (and in our judgment of his leadership and policies, too!! Ha-Ha! Yes, WE are all sinner’s in whom Christ graciously lives too!!)

Jesus doesn’t force who he is upon McCain and treat him like a thing, either! Jesus treats John McCain as he treats you – as a REAL and distinct brother or sister who also will learn about his adoption in positive and negative ways! But, as creative and loving as He is, God the Father, Son and Spirit is not put off by this sin, and is doing everything in his loving and relational power to help every human see who they ACTUALLY are in His Son! Nothing will ever separate him from any part of his adopted creation! No poor foreign policies. No poor domestic policies. Nothing! Romans 8:28-39.

Yes, the fundamental secret behind everything is the Father, Son and Spirit and the adoption of the entire human race into that relationship in Jesus Christ! Ephesians 1:3-10. The sooner we share knowingly in Jesus’ trust and embracing of this grand Truth, the sooner we will experience Jesus’ actual Life AS HE DOES. And life doesn’t get better than His!

It is all a matter of where your Trust REALLY is! For us Christians, our trust is ONLY in Jesus and in His trust on our behalf. Our trust is NEVER in ourselves, or in, whom we, individually, trust to be the best President of the U.S. at any given time in history. 1 Cor 2:4-5, Gal 2:20!

I thought all of you Christians would agree with me on that, and I am glad you do!! Thanks for the back-up!Ha-Ha!!   Keep Hope Alive – (FOR US – Jesus!!) Ha-Ha!!!

Simple Ways to Share and Express God’s Good News!

 

Are you looking for ways to express the Good News of the Father, Son and Spirit’s Love for us that are simple? Statements that are filled with Good News clarity without all of the valid, but heavy theological terms and language you could speak? Something short but to the point?

I thought I would try to assist you with that on this post. Three things have brought it to mind of late: 1.) Helping my local congregation to do it. 2.) Reading a great book called “The Crucifixion of Ministry” (one of my top ten books of all time).

In this book, writer Andrew Purves, rightly points out that our responsibility as pastors and ministers of the Gospel is to “…first approach people not with God’s judgment or even with God’s forgiveness. We cannot assume that a person knows who the God is who judges or forgives him or her. Instead we come announcing and bearing the love of God.” He continues, “Thus the first pastoral movement of the ministry of grace must be quite simply (although of immense significance) the announcement ‘Jesus Christ is Lord, and this Jesus is God who loves you.’ The statement stands over and against all other claims to divinity and all other definitions of divinity.”

Finally, under the section “Announce the Love of God” on p.130, Purves adds that the Gospel “…is the announcement of the human reality as St. Paul saw it; ‘for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3)…’the first pastoral act of our participation in the ministry of the grace of God is the announcement in word or act: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus who is God loves you.’”

That’s a simple expression of the Gospel and easy enough to speak, isn’t it? (by Jesus through your vocal cords! )

I think that any preacher or proclaimer of the Gospel should always start with making a similar statement to their audience before they “move on” to other stuff because, in REALITY, there is no other stuff! God the Father, Son and Spirit IS Love and has included all of humanity in His loving, shared, relationship in the person of Jesus! That is the most fundamental truth undergirding every human life!

3.) The third thing that got me thinking about this post was the very practical and simple expression of the Gospel made by one of my Pastor friends, Bill Winn, recently. He had received a similar letter of spam and unsolicited e-mail, as I did, by a person who had gotten a hold of our e-mail addresses. In most of these spam letters, we receive some religious take on a subject. The subject matter is usually not centered on the “Who” of Jesus but some distracting “what”, “where”, “why”, “when” or “how” topic. This e-mail spam was typical.

However what was not typical, was Bill’s great response! His response to the distracting topic was so simple but profound and to the “Christ Point”, I was inspired to write this blog post and share it with you! Here is Bill’s Gospel reply and MANY simple ways to share and express God’s Good News with others. It has been edited for anonymity but Bill’s EXACT words of the Gospel remain untouched.

“Dear [Anyone],

 

You belong to the Father, Son, and Spirit. You always have. You always will. The real concern for you is not [to be distracted by such and such a subject] but to answer the question; “Who is Jesus?”

 

The Father’s eternal purpose for humanity was to gather us together, in His Son, and to have us in relationship with Himself. He has accomplished that in the Incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, Who is fully God and fully man.

 

Christ Jesus is also the vicarious man. Jesus is you, for you, as you, with you, and in you in the presence of the Father.

 

Acts 17:28 is where Paul said that all mortals, “live, move, and have their being in Jesus.”

 

You died when He died. You were raised when He was raised. You ascended to the right hand of the Father with Him.

 

You are beloved of the Father. Jesus and the Father have been face to face in relationship from all eternity with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God too. The Holy Spirit is the One by which we call out “Abba Father” in the first instance.

 

[Anyone], my friend, you are utterly and completely adored by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Jesus is so are you in this world. He has shared every spiritual blessing with you already and has made good on the Father’s dream to have the fall of the first Adam undone and to have humanity adopted into His circle of fellowship. He is the Last Adam.

 

Learning to live Loved in the Father’s embrace,

Bill

 

PS you might like these books: Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, C. Baxter Kruger, The Great Dance, C. Baxter Kruger, The Mediation of Christ, T.F. Torrance, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius, The Shack, Wm. Paul Young.”

Isn’t that a GREAT but simple response spoken by the Holy Spirit through Bill? You Go Jesus in Bill!!! And, YES!, even though Bill doesn’t typically respond to these or get positive feedback, when he wrote this letter, he did get a response with positive feedback!! Hmmmmmm – I wonder why???!!!! You KNOW why!!!

I Really “Goofed” Up…

 

… preaching the Gospel before one particular group at a Gospel conference a few years ago!

Of course, I have learned that ONLY Jesus, God Himself, can proclaim the Gospel without goofing it up! However, Jesus has decided not to proclaim it without allowing us “clay jars” to participate (2 Cor 4:7), so on we go in the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor 1:21) by which people come to understand Who Jesus is and who humanity and creation are in Him in the power of the Spirit! What a miracle of Triune God’s Grace! I love it!!

I was reminded about the incident I want to relate to you because of two great blog posts recently offered up by my friend Jonathan Stepp. He has surely got me thinking and a lot of us talking! To me it is very inspiring and radical stuff (in a positive way) to think about in the Light of the Cosmic Christ! Colossians 1!

Now to the public “goof up” I made.

I was preaching and proclaiming the Gospel Truth about Who Jesus is and who we are in Him. I was saying something like “because Jesus created and sustains everything, whatever happened to him, happens to everything he sustains, which is nothing short of everything. Therefore, when Jesus died, all of humanity died (just like Paul said in 2 Cor 5:14), and when Jesus rose, everyone and everything rose in Him (as Paul and Peter both say -  Eph 2:4-7, 1 Peter 1:3).”

With my next few words I threw out what became a radical Gospel bomb (in following the above Christ-centered and Trinitarian logic), and said something like, “In one real sense, because everyone is REALLY united with and in Jesus, and Jesus is the head of the Church, His actual Body, then EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, is REALLY already in the Church!”

If you have gone to church for very long or are religious in any supposedly Christian way, then you can imagine how that went over for most of the crowd! Ha-Ha! Understatement! But, to be fair, there were quite a few people who did like it, received encouragement from it and let me know it in very enthusiastic ways! In fact as soon as I finished and went back to my seat, a young woman left her seat and approached me and my family, quickly, to encourage us and let us know how much she appreciated that exact statement!

I call my radical statement a “goof up” for a couple of reasons. It was a “goof” up, sort of, in that the Truth of the One God in the Three Persons of the Father, Son and Spirit, reveals to us in Jesus that there REALLY is distinction within the Godhead and creation. Distinction is important for there to be personal existence and real love. if there were no distinction, I would not be me, and you would not be you. We’d be a single, blobby mess!

If there were only One God Being without distinct persons, then there would be no one else to love or give to. There would only be a single self-centered existence, and that is NOT God because God IS LOVE! The Father must have someone to love for there to be love, and so must the Son and Spirit. God is love because there is Unity without loss of distinction among the Persons. The fancy theological word for this truth is “Perichoresis“. This is what my good friend Dr. Baxter Kruger is always blogging about here.

Therefore, there was something right in people’s negative reactions when I uttered that “goof-up” about everyone being in the church. Part of the stumbling over this is that, In the United States, particularly, we have been trained to think more about our independence than our interdependence. Even the church is a culprit behind people committing the Gospel “crime” of “over-exclusivity” as we constantly overemphasize personal decision, personal salvation and personal prayer time over and against our cosmic union with God and each other in Jesus Christ!

On the other hand…

…I call it a “goof up” in parentheses because, in one real sense of Being and Seeing, we all, REALLY, are who we are in Jesus Christ! Jesus is our Reality and the Truth about Who we REALLY are even if we are blind to it, and/or forever oppose and reject it! Our real life is HIDDEN IN HIM – Colossians 3:3! We ALL REALLY DO live, move and have our being in God- Acts 17:28!! If we can believe that in Adam we are all sinners (and in Adam we all are!), then how come it is so hard for us to believe that in the Father’s Son made human, Jesus, we have all been made righteous?! Romans 5:6-19!

How is it that Adam gets more respect and praise than Jesus? Adam did NOT create us, nor does he sustain us – Jesus does! If Jesus, the One Who created and sustains us, stepped into our shoes and undid the work of Adam, as a human being, how is it that we have not all been positively impacted by His Human Life and Goodness? The truth is, we all have been positively impacted and affected! Romans 5:6-19, again! We REALLY do need to change our minds (repent) and embrace the Good News!

I must admit, I felt “crazy” and a bit weird after saying such a statement myself (it was NOT in my notes!) After all, I have grown up in the church, too, and am a trained Christian pastor for goodness sake! I, however, went where the Christo-logic of the Gospel I was preaching took me, and it has actually been confirmed and stated by other Christian’s too. Check out this post on writings from the Great 20th century Christian theologian Karl Barth! This post describes the wrestling that we go through on the subject of our Inclusion in the Triune Life when confronted by the Gospel of God’s Grace Revealed in Jesus!

Recently I took a church history class and was pleasantly SURPRISED to see that I am not the first Christian to have said or embraced such a “goof up”! Justin Martyr, one of the first Historians and Apologists of the early Christian Church actually took a similar approach and Christo-logic when proclaiming the Gospel to the Greek philosophical culture of his day. In his book “The Story of Christianity”, pp.53-56, Justo L. Gonzalez, writes the following with regard to Justin Martyr:

“According to the Fourth Gospel, this Logos is “the true light that enlightens” everyone. This means that, even before the incarnation, he [Jesus] is the source of all true knowledge. Paul had already said (1 Cor. 10:1-4) that the ancient Hebrews’ faith rested on none other than Christ, who had been revealed to them before the incarnation. Now Justin added that there were also among the pagans those who knew the same Logos, however dimly. Whatever truth there is in the writings of Plato was granted to him by the Logos of God, the same Logos who was incarnate in Jesus. Therefore, in a way, Socrates, Plato, and other sages of iniquity “were Christians,” for their wisdom came from Christ. This is not to say, however, that the incarnation was not needed, for those philosophers of old knew the Logos “in part”, whereas those who have seen him in his incarnation know him “fully.”

What Justin thus did was to open the way for Christianity to claim whatever good it could find in classical culture, in spite of its having been pagan. Following his inspiration, there soon were other Christians who tried to build further bridges between their faith and ancient culture.”

Hmmmmm. “Goof up” or Bridge building? I am sure it’s probably BOTH seeing that the Triune God shares His Truth with the world through “clay jars” and is NOT prevented by any barrier from helping people to see who they are in Jesus, His Son!! Ha-Ha!! (You can find Jonathan Stepp’s blog posts right here and here!)

I Saw God

That’s the name of one of my favorite songs of all time, from one of my favorite Jazz Bassist’s – Victor Wooten! You can find him all over youtube if you search it! You might especially enjoy the Father’s amazing bass skills in Victor’s take on the song, Amazing Grace.

The song is soooooo full of the Good News of the Gospel of the Adoption of All of Humanity in Jesus Christ, that it needs no elaboration from me. I will simply let you be inspired by, and enjoy, the lyrics, and hopefully view and/or download the song for your Eclectic Gospel Music Arsenal!! Ha-Ha!

Here are the lyrics:

I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

Now I’m gonna tell you a story
And this one you can repeat
I saw God the other day
Just walking down the street
He said “I have something I want to tell you”
“Something I’ve been dying to say”
“You’ve been waiting for My return”
“The Truth, I never went away!”"

I don’t care if you believe me at all
I know Who I saw
And it was God!

I said “Hold on just a minute!”
“How do I know it’s really You?”
She gave me a simple answer
She said, “You don’t, unless you do!”
“Wait a minute! I don’t quite understand all this…”
“Tell me, what do You want with me?”
“You see, I’m not a religious type of person.”
He said “You don’t have to be!”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person to talk to…
You know a few of my puzzle pieces are missin’”
And She said, “I speak to everyone.”
“But not everyone chooses to listen!”
“Well then, tell me how to treat my enemies,
I mean the people I despise.”
He said, “The Answer will be clear,
When you see Me in their eyes!”

I don’t care if you believe me at all
I know Who I saw
And it was God
I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

Now I spoke to God that day
And you spoke to Him, too
And He told me that of all the miracles ever created
“The grandest one is you!”
Now that you’ve told me all of this
Can you tell me “What am I supposed to do?”
She said, “You may think it’s up to Me,
But it’s really up to you!”

Well now my eyes are open
And I can clearly see
That all the things I paid for in life
I could have gotten for free!
Now I’m going to share with you Her parting words that day
And you might wanna think this through
She said, “If I only have One Son,
Then tell me, Who are you????

I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

- Victor Wooten (Palmystery 2008)

By the way, you can view the video here, or listen to the song here!

You Don’t Have to Twist God’s Arm…

 

in order for Him to Love You, Like You, or Accept you as His Adopted Son or Daughter forever! He Loves You, Likes You, and has Adopted you purely because he wanted to share his life with you!

(Actually, the Father, Son and Spirit, in their pure Essence and Being as God, have no arms! The Son, however, in the fullness of His PRESENT humanity in Jesus Christ DOES NOW have real human arms, but there is no record of them ever having to be twisted in order to force him to love you, the World or anyone else!)

In fact, I want to suggest that trying to twist the arm of the Father, Son and Spirit is DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH, and you ought not even attempt it!!!

One reason for saying this is that God IS love and His character as Father, Son and Spirit cannot be changed or split in any way! Scripture says He is everywhere and in everything! The Father, Son and Spirit are One! God is the same yesterday, today and forever! His Word goes out and does not return empty, but fulfills all that He has set out to accomplish. The reason behind all of creation was the Plan of the Father to Include it and everyone in His Eternal Life and love, through Jesus Christ! When Jesus accomplished this Adoption and Inclusion of Creation into God’s Life, it brought God great pleasure! Ephesians 1!

With those foundational thoughts in mind about the Father, Son and Spirit, let’s use a physical illustration to demonstrate how dangerous it can be to try and twist God’s “arm” and get him to like and accept you!

The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, when it was completed in April 1931, broke every record in the book for tall buildings. At 1250 feet, it topped the Chrysler Building by 200 feet and the third tallest, the Manhattan Company Building at 40 Wall Street, by more than 300 feet. Gargantuan in SCALE, its five-story base covered two acres and its eighty-five floors of offices boasted more rentable space — 2.1 million square feet — than the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street combined.

During the short twenty months it took to design and complete, the foundations and grillages were dug and set, 57,000 tons of structural steel were fabricated and milled to precise specifications. Ten million common bricks were laid, 62,000 cubic yards of concrete were poured, 6400 windows were set, and 67 elevators were installed in 7 miles of shafts. Interiors were equipped with 6,700 radiators, 2,500 toilets and sinks, and 51 miles of plumbing pipe, and were finished with 10,000 tons of plaster and 328,000 square feet of marble.

Contrasting Fact: The average North American adult has a mass near 100 kg!

Now imagine a LOONY human being gripping a corner of the Empire State Building in order to lift it, move it,  turn it, or twist it! You know that I am telling the truth when I say that someone who STRAINS to do this is going to get HURT in all kinds of ways – and the Empire State Building is NOT the someone!!

The absurdity of trying to twist such an immense and immovable object as the Empire State Building with such a puny human force is laughable (for those of us who wouldn’t even dare to try such a dumb thing)!  For the one who does try, hernias, and all kinds of other troubling physiological, mental, psychological, spiritual and relational problems naturally await them (depending on how long they keep straining to do it!!)

Notice, also, that all the pain and suffering in trying to do such a foolish thing does not happen as a result of the Empire State Building punishing the puny and weak human being!! The suffering comes NATURALLY from trying to even attempt such an impossible deed against something so unmoveable in its basic character!

Another Contrasting Fact IN CHRIST: Jesus Christ Created and Sustains You, mysteriously, in His very Being, therefore, whatever happens to Him, happens to you. When he was baptized, you were baptized! When he died, you died! When he rose, you rose! When he ascended to His Father in the Spirit, you ascended to His Father in the Spirit with and in Him! You have been adopted and included in the life of God your entire life, because Jesus did all of the aforementioned stuff around 2,000 years ago! You can’t do anything to get out of it because Jesus lives eternal, and you live eternally in Him (1 Corinthians 15:22)!

One LOONY thing you can do, in your distinction, is to TRY and oppose and “twist” God’s arm! So, how are you trying to twist the Father’s “arm” so that he will accept and include you on your terms?:

Are you trying to “twist” God by paying your way into his favor through tithes and offerings, or a success program to build and amass wealth? Through “your” moral and ethical works, good health, or wearing a particular style of clothing? By pretending to be an Atheist so that he’ll PROVE Himself to you on your terms? With uncontrollable rage and anger, hurting everyone and everything around you till he responds as you see fit? By being lazy and forcing him to “make the first move”? With church attendance, bible study, prayer, fasting, baptism, etc.? With fake “upper lip” optimism and positivity even though you are hurting deeply inside? With a “Woe is me, I am worthless and only deserve the worst” mentality?….  and on and on the illusions go!!

Please STOP IT! Jesus lives in you and You are ONLY GOING TO HURT YOURSELF (and you weren’t created to hurt yourself and like it for very long!) ”Twisting” God’s arm will only be pleasurable for a season, and then you are still going to have to face the Truth:

The Father, Son and Spirit have embraced you in such a way in Jesus Christ, that they will never let you go! You are included, adopted and acceptable in Jesus! You always have been, and you always will be! Jesus IS the Required Work, Toil, Labor and Effort of God – Embrace it, and enjoy His unchanging Love! (John 6:28-29!)