Living the Resurrection: The Renewal of All Things
By michael | June 29, 2009
Living the Resurrection The Renewal of All Things
Our final discussion of the Resurrection (not to say that we have spoken definitively about such an exhaustive subject) will take us to perhaps an unlikely conclusion. It is unlikely because we do not hear it talked about much when discussing the “last things.” What is God going to do with the creation that is already here? Most Christians in America would probably believe that God is going to evaporate it and get rid of it completely but that would be a far shot from what the scriptures teach. Two things need to be said regarding creation before we continue. First, creation is not getting better under its own natural power. The universe if left to its self will collapse. Second, the transience of creation does not mean that it is evil and in need of scrapping or escaping. What the creation needs and is waiting for is its renewal. God will indeed do for creation what he has done for Jesus. He will rescue it from death and restore it.
To understand this as a fundamental belief of the apostles we must understand creation from a biblical perspective. Creation from the very beginning of scripture is “very good.” (Gen 1:31) It is good because God created it as an act of love. This causes creation to be something other than God and God allows it to exist as such. God and creation are not one and the same and neither is creation contained in God. To think other wise would be to give way to pantheism. Creation as an act of God’s love affirms its goodness much like having a child is meant to be one of the greatest expressions of love between two people. The child is good not on its own merit but because it is a product of and a recipient for the parent’s love.
That being said we must realize that since it is a product of God’s love then it is only good as “creation.” Its goodness is found in its being God’s creation thus it was never meant to exist independently or self-sufficiently away from God. Creation is good as creation not as nature. Saying creation is good is not the same as saying it is divine. When we separate creation from the creator then, (a) creation loses its goodness and becomes something we need to escape or (b) we ascribe divinity to it and begin to worship it. Both postures are extremes which our culture has fallen into and given us over to one of two bad choices – Gnosticism or Naturalism – neither of which is good.
But, undoubtedly, we would look around at creation and note that something is wrong. Winter seems to be good in its time and the Bible affirms it as so but what about “natural disasters” and disease and the like? What is wrong with creation for us to realize it has lost its goodness? The answer to that question may shock you. YOU ARE WHAT IS WRONG WITH CREATION! Man being the pinnacle of God’s creation has rebelled against our created purpose which is reflecting the image of God back to God through worship and to the creation through proper stewardship.
When you worship something other than the life giving God you unleash death. Surely this is the point Paul drives towards in Romans 1:18-32. Humanity’s sin has had a trickle down effect on the rest of creation causing its disorder. The plagues upon Egypt in Exodus are examples of what would happen to creation if man’s sin was allowed to go unchecked. What is remarkable is how we humans have managed to shift the blame of evil to creation instead of admitting our own sin.
So if God will rescue creation then what is the remedy? How do you fix creation? First of all you can not fix anything by scraping it and doing away with it all together. Because creation is a work of God’s love he will not destroy it and begin with something completely different. (Thank God he did not do that with us!) Rescuing creation is a work of restoration. When you restore something you begin with something old and bring out something new. This is why we can say we are made new in Christ but that newness has continuity. You are still you but better.
We know God’s plan is to restore creation based on Colossians 1:15-20, 23. Paul says that the gospel “has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.” The great reality is that the death and resurrection of Jesus is not just hope for us, but hope for all of creation as well. The question then becomes what will God restore creation to? The first thing God will restore to this new creation is his rule over it and us with Jesus as participants in that rule. The second thing he will restore is the working order of creation. It will function as it was intended to function. Both of these are reflections of Genesis 1 and 2.
So if this is the grand finale for creation then where did the ideas come from that God is going to destroy the earth altogether? Granted if you isolate some passages of scripture you could walk away with that understanding. It is not until we focus on the grand scheme that we see that understanding as something else. One of these passages is 2 Peter 3:3-13. In it we find Peter talking about what will happen at the second coming of Christ and the judgment that will happen there upon. In verse 6 he talks about the world destroyed by water referring to the flood of Noah. Here the Earth itself was not destroyed only judged and cleansed. This is how we must interpret the fire reserved for the present heaven and earth of verse 7. Peter shows us how God will cleanse the earth (and heaven for that matter) of all rebellion. This is the first step in restoring a new creation. Note the same way God deals with us he will deal with all creation. He will wipe out rebellion and then renew.
We should read these fiery passages of scripture in light of God’s judgment and cleansing and when he destroys the earth and heavens, etc he is not scrapping them and starting over but clearing rebellion. This will all happen upon the second coming of Christ. Christ will come then the resurrection to judgment and then the new creation. All of this will happen in a flash because it will happen by the word of God. It will take longer to say it then it will for it to actually play out. Where we find ourselves right now is in the birthing process. It is painful but it is coming.
What we should do then is begin to understand “Heaven” as in our ultimate destination in light of the new creation. When we understand God’s plan to redeem creation it should give us a richer and fuller understanding of our future hope. The first thing we need to understand is that in the scripture “heaven” doesn’t always refer to “heaven.” The Greek word “ouranos” is translated heaven in three ways – the atmosphere of Earth, the outer reaches of space and the celestial dwelling place of God. What is most important about heaven concerning the abode of God is not where it is but what happens there. Heaven is the place where the will of God is done perfectly and currently Jesus is bodily present there reigning over this world and awaiting his second coming. Heaven is a physical realm that interacts with this one, earth, and will one day be joined with Earth.
So then we must understand that ultimately we don’t go to “heaven.” In Revelation 21:1-3, 9-10 we see that heaven comes to us. To understand this more clearly look at the terms scripture uses to describe this – a marriage. In this new creation after all rebellion has been done away with the two realms of Heaven and Earth will merge and become one. What we should see is that even though Heaven and earth are radically different they are made for one another. Much like male and female are radically different when they come together they become one fully reflecting the image of God so is heaven and Earth. The two realms become one thus completing the other as a proper place for God to reside. (Interestingly, if you read Revelation 20 – 22 in contrast with Genesis 1-3 you see how God restores things in the order they were messed up.)
It is at this point where both realms of God’s creation have become one that creation finally becomes a worth vessel to contain the fullness of God. In 1 Corinthians 15:28, Paul says that God will finally become “all in all”. God intends to flood creation with his self. Like a cup the creation will remain other than God yet full of God. This union does not cancel each other out but God’s fullness brings completion to the vessel and although God is self-existent he has desired to manifest himself in this way. This new creation will be so full of God that Isaiah describes as like the “water covering the seas.” It is saturated with God’s presence. We will be able to detect God’s presence everywhere and in everything. Again creation will not be God and God will not be creation but his presence will be so evident that we will see God as the One that gives meaning and life to everything.
Finally, for our discussion, since everything will have more meaning in this new creation we need to reunderstand what it means to store up treasures in Heaven. In Matthew 19:27-30, after telling the parable of the camel and the eye of the needle, Jesus tells his disciple who have left everything to follow him that they will receive a hundred fold in the life to come. This happens at the “renewal of all things” and is a promise for every believer. Thus we need to understand there are certain things in this life that we can not take with us to the next and we need to know the difference.
The new creation then challenges us with at least two questions in this regard: What will last into eternity? and What can I do without now so I will not be lacking then? When you combine these thoughts in light of what Paul and Peter and others have written concerning the purification fires of judgment it should put things into perspective for us. What do we have here on Earth that will have greater meaning in Heaven when God floods the earth with his presence? What do we have on Earth that will not even make it past the fire? Where will we put our resources of time, talents and materials in light of these facts?
The resurrection of Jesus is the big theology of the New Testament. It challenges us in so many ways that when we take its implications seriously we can see what it actually means to be fully devoted followers of Christ. It gives us the hope we need and the faith necessary to see it come to pass. The resurrection gives us confidence to live the life necessary today based on the vindication coming to pass tomorrow. May we know truly and deeply that Jesus is Risen!
Topics: Afterlife, Living the Resurrection, New Life Christian Community, Training in Christianity | No Comments »
Living the Resurrection: Ascension & 2nd Coming
By michael | June 22, 2009
living-the-resurrection-ascension-second-coming mp3
Up to this point, we have established that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and is raised from the dead. Our future hope is found in him and that what God has done for Jesus, he will do for us. What we have yet to talk about in light of Christ’s resurrection is his ascension to the right hand of the Father. Currently, Jesus is present to us through his Spirit. He is not bodily present to us because of his ascension. Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension are indeed separate issues and although related they have separate functions. Since resurrection is the future hope for believers there must come a time when Christ and his follower are both bodily present together. This gives rise to the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Ascension and second coming are our discussion for today.
If Jesus is coming back then where did he go? The writer Luke in his two part scriptural work tells that Jesus “was taken up into Heaven.” (Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-51) Because Jesus’ ascended to heaven in his glorified body it must cause us to think differently about Heaven. There are (at least) two realms to God’s creation, Heaven and Earth. These two realms are intertwined although they maintain separate physical properties. The realm of Heaven is characterized by God’s spirit. This does not mean it is non-physical only that God permeates every part of it and everything that is in it.
The fact that Jesus exists bodily in Heaven tells us that Heaven is a physical reality and that we might even say is more real then what is on Earth. What is interesting about Heaven and the way it interacts with Earth is that it allows Jesus to be present with us here, everywhere, through his Spirit even though Jesus is absent from us in his body. Some have taken Jesus’ spiritual presence within us to mean that he is “one” with us. This is not the case. Jesus and the church are not the same. He is in us through Spirit, but he is other than us in body.
So if Jesus is in Heaven, then what is he doing there? In Acts 2:32-36, we see that he is pouring out his Spirit on those who believe in Him and he is reigning from Heaven as the already Lord of Heaven and Earth. Jesus currently rules, although in secret, all of creation. In fact the big joke of the early church was that they knew and affirmed Jesus as Lord of the Earth already. This is why they made such a stand against Rome without ever having to raise arms against them.
But he is also Lord of the church. (2 Cor 4:5-18) Paul says that Jesus is Lord, and not ourselves. Jesus stands over and against the church addressing it from Heaven as Lord. A proper understanding of Jesus’ ascension will give us a proper understanding of our role here on Earth. We are never servants of Christ the Lord. We serve him in this world now. No where are we to rule this Earth in his stead.
What is more is that he is preparing for his coming rule. Not only does he reign over the Earth now in secret but he will establish his public reign over the Earth in the future. His reign in the present is based on his resurrection and his reign in the future is based on his second coming. The reason for the interval period is for our time for repentance. If Christ established his reign immediately after his resurrection then there would be no one left for him to reign over. Again it is this coming, future, public reign that gives necessity for his second coming.
When you venture into the world of the second coming you enter into the vast land of eschatology. Eschatology properly understood is the study of the “last things”. The “end times” is how it has been popularized. Everybody wants to know about the end so it is a popular subject for books and movies. But to seriously understand it is to understand it from a Judeo-Christian perspective and that is that history is going somewhere. Time is stretching to a climax known as the “Day of the Lord.” This is the time when Heaven and Earth will be joined together. This event was inaugurated by Jesus at his resurrection and will be completed upon his second coming. According to the Christian calendar we are in this final age and although it may last thousands more years it is still the end times.
To have a discussion about eschatology one thing needs to be said up front and that is that Dogmatists need not apply. There are so many schools of thought on the subject so we must acknowledge the fact that we do not know everything there is to know about it. What is more is that these doctrines are not essential to our salvation although they are partly reason for it. If it were essential to salvation then none of us would be saved. As a warning to those who do think they know for sure everything about the 2nd Coming of Christ it would be good to be reminded that many thought they would know the messiah the first time he came, who he would be and what he would look like, they were wrong and the missed him – killed him. We should not be so quick to let history repeat itself.
That being said, how then did the early church understand the second coming, namely Paul? What should be of note to us is that this doctrine largely arose out of the confrontation between the early church and the political authorities based on the conviction that Jesus is Lord of the world and would one day manifest himself as so. Again, this is much to the chagrin of Rome and its Caesar’s.
Of all the things that could be said about Christ’s coming there is much ado about one little word that Paul uses to describe it. The word in Greek is “parousia” and it is translated as “coming” or “appearing” most famously in 1 Corinthians 15:23 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15. Either way it refers mostly to a presence and Paul uses it in two ways neither of which would be lost on his original audience but has caused great debate among contemporary readers.
The first usage by Paul is in the context of a mysterious “presence” of a God. A supernatural activity or event would have the parousia of a god there. Paul uses this word to communicate Christ as present, though secretly to non-believers, in Spirit and that one day he would be present in the body, publicly, and the whole world would know his power. The second usage is describing a king or royal envoy coming to a province or colony to assert his rule. The citizens of that town would meet the king outside the city to escort him. Paul uses this word to say that Jesus is the true Lord of the Earth and that he will appear and establish his rule. With these two contexts in mind we can look at three passages of scripture concerning the second coming of Christ.
The first is 1 Corinthians 15:23-27 and 51-54. The parousia of the messiah, Jesus is at the time of the resurrection from the dead. This secret power of Christ is demonstrated publicly by the raising of the dead. Paul says that death is the last enemy to defeat and that Christ will defeat it by raising the dead. He then goes on to say that his power will be manifested by the transforming of the living into glorified bodies. Christ will come back and instantly the dead will be raised and the living transformed. This is not a bad way to announce your presence.
The second passage is Philippians 3:20-21. Again the parousis is Christ’s arrival as Lord from the capital, heaven, to a far off province, Earth in order to establish his rule. How does he do it? The answer is by transforming our bodies to be like Him in order for us to reign with him. The entire letter to the Philippians can be seen in the context of Paul encouraging them to know that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not and upon Christ’s coming the citizens in Heaven will be freed from the tyranny of the empire of death.
Last passage for our purposes today is that of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. This is the passage that many would say refer to the rapture of the church before the tribulation. This would be a sort of secret coming back and removal of those who follow him. This doesn’t really fit Paul’s vision of the coming of Christ. Paul says that at the blast of trumpets and a loud command from Heaven with the voice of the archangel the dead will be raised and the living “caught up” into the air to meet with him. If there ever was a description of parousia this is it. The coming king can not come into the city unescorted. The resurrection of the dead and transformation of the living are the escort and there doesn’t seem to be anything secret about it.
Thus we see from scripture that the most orthodox view of the second coming of Christ is that Jesus will return and be bodily present, the dead will be raised and those living Christians will be transformed and then they will go onto judgment and the renewal of all things perhaps all instantaneously as well.
Obviously, this discussion is incomplete in light of what is recorded in the book of Revelation. How does the second coming reconcile with the Great Tribulation, the Millennial reign of Christ, and the final judgment, etc? These are good questions and should be considered. Throughout church history there has been much discussion about these matters. Just considering the second coming, however, I think we can say that scripture does not support a “rapture” of the church. Such a view is relatively young in church history and one that many scholars have moved away from.
What needs to be said most about the second coming is that it is coming. It is eminent. And that it requires us to be ready. For Christians that means doing the work Christ calls us to do as he reigns in secret. For those who are not followers it is for you to come to terms with the gospel and believe it. The invitation is there for you be part of God’s new Heaven and new Earth so don’t let yourself stand before him condemned.
Topics: Afterlife, Living the Resurrection, New Life Christian Community, Training in Christianity | No Comments »