Jesus and Gates- Mixed Metaphors?

"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.  The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.    (John 10:1-4 NRSV)

I mentioned Jesus as the gate in the last post. In John Chapter 10, Jesus has quite a bit to say about gates. If you feel so inclined you can read John 10v1-18. It is an intriguing passage, partly because Jesus seems to mix his metaphors regarding gates.

I have been reading R.T. Kendall's superb book, 'Totally Forgiving God'. If you can get past the possibly provocative title, this is a very insightful book. I have three of his books, one I found less than entirely helpful at the time, another one about Joseph, and this one, which is the best. We all have an angle of insight into the multi-faceted glory of God's nature, and R.T.'s angle is only an angle. But there is depth of insight and experience here.

One of the things he says is that Jesus often did not explain what he said too clearly! He did not seem at all anxious to avoid being misunderstood. He clearly still is misunderstood even by those who love him because we squabble so much about theology! He was confident that those truly and persistently seeking truth would find it, led and illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, back to John 10. Later in this passage, Jesus clearly states that he is both the gate and the shepherd of the sheep.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.    (John 10:7 NRSV)

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.    (John 10:11 NRSV)

A question arises though. Look carefully at verses 1-5 and especially verse 2.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

In verse 7 Jesus describes himself as the gate. So the gate he is. He is the way into the Kingdom. He alone is the way to know the Father who presides over the Kingdom. All this is straightforward. However, notice that the passage we are focussing on, John 10:1-18, is divided at verse 6.

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.    (John 10:6 NRSV)

In other words, verses 1-5 were a little tricky for the audience. It is fascinating to me that Jesus put something out to the people and then registered that they did not get it. So, at the start of verse 7, he starts again. Here is Jesus displaying the fullness of his humanity. He is working on communication with an audience in 'real time'. God likes people and has fun (as well as other emotions) communicating with us.

Unlike me (!), Jesus did not just plow on with his sermon on this occasion at least. I believe Jesus has subtly shifted his metaphor, his figure of speech, because they were giving him blank looks first time. After verse 6, the gate is clearly Jesus himself. But before verse 6? Look at verse 2 again.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

This time, the gate is the means by which the shepherd enters, not the shepherd himself. Read it carefully and it is hard to avoid the logic of my statement.

This of course begs a question; what does the gate mean in verse 2, if not the shepherd himself?  

I believe the metaphor which makes most sense here is the one of incarnation. Jesus of course entered the sheepfold through the gate of human birth, into Israel 2000 years ago.

We live in a world where many spiritual beings are masquerading as deliverers, helpers and healers. Satan himself may appear as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11v14. Many self-appointed spiritual authorities claim to have had foundational revelations from angels, including Mohamed and Joseph Smith, the originators of Islam and Mormonism respectively.  

Now the Bible contains an abundance of revelations given by angels, but the foundational revelation of God to man, and the foundational mediation between God and man, happened by means of incarnation. God himself became a human being. This had been planned within the Godhead from before the foundation of the world, see Revelation 13v8.

Initially God respected the precedence of Israel in his relations with men and Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, Judea. However, through the pouring out of his Spirit, indwelling his disciples, he reached the rest of the world as Jesus indicates here.

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.    (John 10:16 NRSV)

In my view then, in verse 10 follows on from the metaphor of verse 2. The gate of incarnation is contrasted with the illegitimate intrusion of Satan the thief. Satan is a disembodied spirit, along with the fallen angels. They seek to influence mankind without having actually been members of the human race.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they (the sheep) may have life, and have it abundantly.    (John 10:10 NRSV)

Only the Incarnate Son, the Son of man, Jesus the Christ, was able to bring legitimate influence with God and with man and initiate our transfer from the power of darkness and our entry into his Kingdom (Colossians 1v13).

To summarize we can say for certain that Jesus is the gate by which men may enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and also that the reason he is able and worthy to be this gate is because he humbled himself and became a man and suffered for our sins.

Jesus Christ is indeed fully God and yet fully man.

The truths of the incarnation are deep, complete and wonderful for us.

The Fall and the Image of God

We live in a paradox. We see wonderful things but marred things.

We are made in the image of God. We bear a measure of His faculties; His breadth of emotion, His sophistication of thought, His capacity for planning, decision-making, creativity.

Yet these very amazing capacities have been dulled, corrupted and diminished by the Fall. In fact, they were never activated into their full potential because in Adam we did not eat of the Tree of Life. Our humanity was to remain a shadow of God's intent for us until we had passed a test of obedience in Adam. But we did not pass the test. Instead we failed to trust God and keep His Word. Our primary sin was to fail to heed God. Secondarily, we opened a door to Satan. The sum total result we call the Fall, which is recorded in Genesis Chapter 3. However, almost immediately the Redeemer was promised. The Christ would come from the seed of now fallen woman! Regarding Satan in the form of the serpent, God says:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."    (Gen 3:15 NRSV)

This promise (a negative one for Satan, to whom it was addressed, of course) tells us that the Messiah, as offspring of the woman, will fatally strike the power of Satan.

The Incarnate Deity, Jesus Christ, is, was, and will remain both man and God. He is now in a 'resurrection model' body, but still a human body. He alone was and is the doorway or gate to our full potential as men and women. He is the gate to present spiritual regeneration, and to future bodily regeneration.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.    (1 Cor 15:20-22 KJV)

We will put on the full, physical, 'HD' version of our humanity at the resurrection. However the spiritual realities are ours now:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.    (2 Cor 5:17 KJV)

Jesus is the gate by which we enter the Kingdom, whether initially by spiritual regeneration, or finally and physically by bodily regeneration. The second will certainly follow for those who have received the first.

Promise and Seal 

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.    (Eph 1:14 NRSV)

Redemption of what?

......we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.    (Rom 8:23 NIV)

Again, our bodies. In other words, restoration of our bodies to God's original fully intended, heavenly design.

But for now...

Before the resurrection, and since the Fall, our condition is not so good...

........until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."    (Gen 3:19 NIV)

Notice that man, 'adam', was taken from the earth, meaning here 'the soil'. The Hebrew for 'soil', incidentally, in Genesis 1v25, is 'adamah'. In the beginning, man could have gone two ways; to decay, as he did, or to glorification, if he had cleaved to the Word God gave him, and had kept Satan 'firewalled' out of his God-given domain. The cosmic tragedy is told in Genesis 3v1-8.

We see that man was formed from the earth, but the curse that returned him to the earth was not pronounced until after the Fall.
 
Man's Spirtual Context through the Ages

The Fall marks the transition between two spiritual contexts for mankind. Man has been, or will be, subject to four spiritual contexts. The first two are outside of Christ. The second two are only available in Christ. Briefly:

Before the fall, man was innocent of sin but not invulnerable to it.

After the Fall, man was guilty of sin and unable not to sin.

In Christ in this age, we are declared innocent by faith but are still bodily vulnerable to sin.

In Christ at the Resurrection, we will be innocent of sin again, and in fact, unable to sin. This will be because our bodily nature and environment will fully reflect the nature of God. God is not even tempted by sin. It does not occur to Him to sin.

No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.    (James 1:13 NRSV) 

Shouting Across a Chasm

God has put us in a world where things run very differently form the way they run in heaven. We are called to live by faith that the precepts of heaven will work in a world where the governing principles and beliefs appear very different. We have a phrase for someone who can make things work using the precepts of this world; 'wordly wise'. However God is looking for something else. As the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and 6 makes clear, Jesus wants us to function in a way that is alien to this world.

Our hearts have been born of the Spirit of God if we have been born again. Our hearts belong to heaven. We are not wholly comfortable with this world. This is to be expected. Paul calls us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Col 3v2). We are asked to pray 'Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven'.

We are told to ask, seek, knock. We are calling across a chasm. God can hear though. We are asking for heaven to be exhibited on earth. We are looking for two worlds increasingly growing apart to be reconciled. We are calling for heaven to be manifest on earth. We may do so mostly selfishly, looking for the provision and security of heaven to be shown in our own lives. We may do so less selfishly, asking that poverty and oppression end for others; for the justice of heaven to be manifest on the earth. Either way is faith, but I am confident that those who rule and reign over most in the age to come will be those who used their faith most selflessly in the present age. They are the ones I would want to have high positions in heaven.

Why does God leave us in a world with frequently hostile ideologies and principles? Partly to show us they do not really work. Peace and fulfillment elude humanity. Dreams prove evasive, hollow and deceptive. Partly to develop a longing for heavenly precepts and peace which will cement our citizenship in heaven when they are fulfilled. He wants to strongly align our hearts with heaven even in the presence of strongly opposing practices and philosophies. It is our faith in the God of heaven which enables us to live a life not conformed to this world. That faith is more precious than pure gold in his sight. 1 Peter 1v7 Romans 12v2

Wickedness or Weakness

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.    (Mat 5:6 NRSV)

Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."    (Mark 14:38 NRSV)

Those whose inner desire is for righteousness, will be fulfilled. They will inherit the Kingdom. We are talking here about true righteousness. God's standards, achieved by God's means.

God knows that we are weak and fearful a lot of the time. However, he does not confuse our weakness with wickedness of the heart.

There are many who, when intimidated, will act against their best conscience. They do not want to, and if the external pressure was removed, they would act righteously. This was true of Abraham in the matter of Sarah his wife when he feared that Pharoah would desire her. He anticipated trouble and told Sarah to tell a lie to keep them out of trouble. He repeated the same tactic again with Abimelech king of Gerar. My mother grew up in Nazi Germany and tells of times when she was told to be quiet about dissenting opinions held within her household for her own good. She obeyed the advice.

God knows those whose hearts are essentially given over to his righteousness, longing for his appearing. They may display moral weakness and compromise, but God sees that they are essentially 'men after his own heart' like David.

Do not allow the Devil and your own thoughts to condemn you concerning failures which do not fully reflect your heart.

For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.    (Psa 35:7 NRSV)


They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn.    (Psa 35:12 NRSV)

There are those who delight in wickedness and cruelty for it's own sake, even when there is no evil being done or being threatened. These people cannot be trusted with heaven because they will misbehave even when there is no reason to. They are originators of evil, rather than complicit with evil. They are wicked.

Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered; and who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you cease plundering, you will be plundered; When you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will will deal treacherously with you.    (Isa 33:1 KJV)

David exhibited behaviour which was wicked when he committed adultery and arranged murder. However God chooses to forgive him. He expresses hot displeasure at what David did, and says that discord will be sown in David's family. However God does not take his Spirit, his salvation or his promises away. David had a heart after him. Since the fall man has had a body, 'the flesh', which is inclined to sin. I do not believe it has to sin, because Jesus walked in a body of flesh and was tempted. He suffered human weaknesses but did not succumb to them (Hebrews 4v15). The New Birth happens when we want God and do not want to sin anymore; at least not in our heart of hearts. Progress in the Christian life happens when we resist sin in the flesh. If we sin after the new birth, there is forgiveness when we confess our sin (1 John 1v9).

An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.    (Prov 17:11 KJV)


An evil man seeks only rebellion. He is motivated by rebellion against God in the deepest place of his heart. He is, like Satan, an originator of evil rather than one who is oppressed or tempted by another and responds with compromise and therefore sin. Such a one will reap an eternal environment of evil people. No rest.

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.    (Isa 19:4 KJV)

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.    (Isa 45:7 KJV)
  
This last verse is intriguing. Ultimately God takes responsibility for the existence of evil because he set in motion a universe in which it was and is possible for evil to develop. However he is never the originator of evil.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:    (James 1:13 KJV)

He permits evil to overtake evildoers as a discipline and as a warning against the pursuit of evil. He allows evil to infringe on the lives of the righteous to draw them closer to him and to show forth his glory in us to a lost world, assuming we handle it correctly.

God does not hold us responsible, in terms of our eternal destiny, simply for evil deeds committed. He has taken the punishment for these himself. However, he does hold us responsible if we refuse to take his remedy for evil within us. The remedy, of course, is faith in the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

Ultimately therefore evil is rooted in rebellion against God. This focuses down for us now, after the fall, on our acceptance or otherwise of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

What looks like extreme wickedness, such as the case of David in 2 Samuel 11, does not result in David being judged a wicked man. Ultimately, because he has a heart after God, seen in his subsequent contrition and repentance, God sees David as weak rather than wicked. Conversely, there are those whose sin looks less severe, but who have a heart to boundless sin if they thought they could get away with it. They look to have a minor weakness but God can see they are actually wicked.

Someone once said that there are those who wrestle with God hoping to lose, and those who wrestle with God hoping to win. In other words, there are those who see sinful rebellion in themselves and don't want it, and there are those who actually love it and are unrepentant. 

Wonder- Revelation 4 and 5

When I was a child in the UK I used to get a weekly thin magazine called 'World of Wonder'. Within its covers were articles on diverse noteworthy subjects. Everything from architecture through science to outstanding personalities from history. It did instill in me a sense of wonder and curiosity. As time goes on though, this world can get more wearisome as we get familiar with its ways. Things can lose their shine and freshness. It is exciting to watch young children approach life with this innocence and amazement. Two days' ago, I made a flying model plane from polystyrene and cardboard. Esther, our youngest daughter was so excited. When it flew, she shouted 'you are the best daddy ever!' We then made 6 more in kit form and took them into the squatter camp; the kids there loved them too.

For us all, an encounter with God can give our hearts hints of heaven and give us fresh eyes to appreciate the good things about this mortal life. It can moderate and mollify the frustrations of this life by putting this life in perspective.

If you, like me, are prone to being a world-weary cynic, we can approach Bible passages about heaven with jaundiced or tainted eyes. I have only recently been really impacted by Revelation chapters 4 and 5, helped along by some of the material available from Mike Bickle on this subject.

Formerly I read them from a viewpoint a bit like the inhabitants of Duloc in the movie 'Shrek'. The ruler, Lord Farquart, had servants hold up signs telling them how to respond at public events. The signs said things like, 'laughter', 'gasp', 'awe', etc. Similarly, the courtiers of an earthly ruler might brief visitors on correct protocol in the presence of the ruler.   

However now I see that the living creatures, elders and others around the throne of God do not need to be told how to react and respond. They are simply, and continually, lost in the wonder of who God is. That childhood wonder has returned, only probably better than ever. Wonder, as well as love, has surrounded and engulfed their consciousness.

There are facets to God and our future heavenly existence which are, it seems, not fully describable from within our current experience. Our experience here is limited by our mortal bodies and their earthly environment.

At the resurrection, there will be aspects and dimensions of sense, emotion and intellect which God has ordained to await those who look forward to His coming. Not only that, He will be awaiting us, waiting to serve us at table! All regret, pain, frustration and dashed hope relating to this mortal life will dissolve due to the new perspective of eternity.

Let's read this passage asking God to breathe into us the life of heaven as we go. Revelation Chapters 4 and 5

Also    1 Cor 12v4,      1 Cor 2v9,        Luke 12v37

Polishing to a Point

Imagine our knowledge of God as a sharply polished point, a point worked on by tools onto a rod of, say, steel. A scribe, an engraving tool. The tool serves to write on peoples' hearts. Indeed the knowledge of God has power to change our hearts for the better.

Imagine we are working on that point from three different angles. If you are mathematically inclined that means you turn your steel rod through 120 degrees and work at polishing it again.

The sharper the point, the more effective the scribing tool will be.

Remember the scribing tool represents our knowledge of God.

So what are the three directions from which we sharpen the point? What are the three areas which we need to reconcile in order to relate to God successfully? I would suggest these three:

The Righteousness of God; his idea of right behaviour, which we must accept, because he is not going to change it. His righteousness represents the ultimate and eternal demands of God on us, because without holiness we will not see the Lord. God's righteousness is not relative and it is not cultural, His demands are absolute, He is a holy God.

Sacrifice, the path by which our failings and failure to live right are covered until we learn to live right.

Empowerment, the ability and energy to live right.

These themes run right through scripture.

The person of Jesus and his life have completely answered these three issues. The Gospel means everything is resolved; the point is sharp.

Jesus taught the righteousness of God in a very exacting way. The physical act of sin in transgressing the Ten Commandments was outlawed under Moses; Jesus makes it clear that God is after more. He is purity of heart, and that is what he is looking for in us. Reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and 6 makes this difference between action and intent clear.

Likewise, the Book of Hebrews makes it clear that the Old Covenant of Sinai gives an inadequate, temporary sacrificial system which leaves an abiding consciousness of sin. Jesus, however, is a completely effective sacrifice for all sin.

Romans 8v9 and 1 Corinthians 15v45 makes it clear that Jesus, when he ascended, was One with the Life -Giving Spirt. The very nature, power and ability of God Himself is available to us to fulfill His requirements, His righteousness. 

The Law, on the other hand, only takes us part of the way down each of these three roads, righteousness, sacrifice and empowerment.The point is blunt. The scribe cannot write effectively on the human heart.

As explained above, the Law tends to deal with the externals of righteousness. It cannot get to the deep underlying problems of the heart. Jesus highlighted underlying conditions in his teaching; the things that make a heart worthy or unworthy of eternal life in heaven.

Likewise, Jesus offered up, as both High Priest and Sacrifice, a completely effective atonement for all sin for all time, past, present and future. The Law was only a temporary covering, not a remission, for sins for those who kept the rigid and costly levitical sacrificial system.

In terms of empowerment, the Law is weakest. It does not actually help you to live right. it is here that the New Covenant is the most wonderful, because it empowers us with God Himself, as the Holy Spirit.

We need to be aware of and thankful regarding these differences, and how fortunate we are that we are under the New Covenant of Grace! Righteousness, sacrifice and power are effective and abundantly and freely available.

 

Contact or Contract?

That extra 'R' stands for religion. I mean the extra 'R' in the word 'contract' that is not in the word 'contact'.

If you read my last post, you will know that it is not my belief that God was wholeheartedly in the Law. The Law is religion. Yes, the best religion, because there is some glory in it and it tells us a lot about God. However Paul tells us in Galatians and Hebrews and many other places in the New Testament about the limitations of the Law.

Surely God wanted to save me and you passionately and wholeheartedly. Surely he wanted to save us completely?

If I think he is half-hearted then I will be too, I guarantee. 

But God is not like that. His throne is surrounded by beings who are in constant awe and amazement. They are enthralled, in love. If you have any sense, you will not feel that for too long towards someone who is half-hearted towards you. That is human nature. It is also sensible.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.    (Heb 12:2 KJV)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;    (1 John 1:1 KJV)

Jesus endured the cross for the joy (read 'enjoyment') of knowing us! God thinks human beings are a supremely good idea, worth going to extreme lengths over to recover our friendship.

For our part, we can have contact with God. John had physical contact with God the Man. We can have spiritual contact with him, which is probably even better. One day we will have physical contact too. One day he will wait on us and serve us, who have been looking forward to his appearance.

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.    (Luke 12:37 KJV)

If we contact God, we are connected with his resources. Emotional, financial, physical, spirtual, mental, everything.

Add the 'r' and we get contract. The Law was contract.

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:   (Deu 28:1 KJV)

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.    (Deu 28:2 KJV)

........there follows a list of blessings covering just about all areas of life 

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:    (Deu 28:15 KJV)

........there follows a list of curses covering just about all areas of life 

Paul calls Deuteronomy 28:15 'the Curse of the Law'.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:    (Gal 3:13 KJV)

We have been rescued from this tit-for-tat contractual relationship with God where failure to keep the rules rigorously results in harsh and broad-based punishment.

Instead, we encounter God as Father. This is possible because of what Jesus did to remove the valid legal basis for our punishment. We will then be able to experience the tender fatherhood of God, rather than seeing him as an angry slave-master, constantly saddened by our shortcomings and misdemeanors. We need to be fully conscious of the total effectiveness of the blood of Christ. Remember that this was a radical concept, even for Jews, when Jesus started preaching it. God as Father! Well, a good father treats his children as individuals, he is sensitive to their state of mind and mood. He does not exasperate them by expecting more than they can give. (Perhaps he might to teach them a lesson if they re being mean and demanding to others!)  He will discipline them but not out of temper, to release his own frustrations, and not to get even. He will discipline them so they learn for their own good. He will be harsh only if harsh is the only way forward. Law has no such sensitivity, even good law. It is proceedural, contractual, impersonal.

God had much more in mind when he made us.

The Law- Administered by Angels

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.    (Gal 3:19 NRSV)

Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.    (Gal 3:20 NRSV)

I have been talking about exegesis. What about these verses? What do I think?

To understand the Old Testament, we really need the new. We will get really muddled otherwise. The Old Testament seen correctly shows us just how wonderful and powerful the New is.

Galatians, like Hebrews, is a powerful exposition of the supremacy of the New Covenant. Galatians Ch3 is a fabulous overview of the sweep of Biblical revelation. Paul starts in v1-5 by reminding the Galatians that they received the Holy Spirit because Christ was crucified and they believed. They did not receive Him because they observed the Law. No-one observes the Law. Christ fulfilled the spirit of the Law perfectly, but even he did not observe the letter of the Law, see Matthew Ch12 for example.

Galatians 3v7 quotes Hosea 6v6. God desires mercy, not sacrifice. We can see here that the Old Testament itself tells us that God's heart is not really in the Law as a governing system! Psalm 51 v16 tells us the same thing, with David typically expressing things in terms of God's emotions. David says

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.    (Psa 51:16 NIV)

The same David who inspires us to be close to God's heart, and who clearly found delight in God's presence, here gives us insight into what God does not find pleasure and delight in. Oddly enough, it is aspects of the Law; sacrifice and burnt offering! Now God is in harmony with himself. If he finds no delight in something, it is because it is not his best. The law does not reflect the best heart intent of God!

The Law hinges on man's performance. Mercy hinges on God's performance. God, understandably, prefers his performance in us to our performance without him.

Galatians Ch3 goes onward from verse 6 by explaining that there is a continuity between the situation that existed between God and Abraham and the situation with us under the New Covenant. The Law is portrayed clearly and firmly as a departure from this flow, see v10-13.

The Gospel is concerned with promise. Abraham believed in a God who makes promises. He believed God, and he also believed the promises. The Gospel is primarily about believing in promises. We are exhorted to live in the good of the promises, but we are commanded to believe the promises themselves. The promises are about the total sufficiency of God in our lives, starting with forgiveness of sin and new life symbolized by baptism. Blessing comes to those who believe that God has answered everything.

Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.    (Gal 3:7 NIV)
 
So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.    (Gal 3:9 NIV)

There is a resonance, a thread, a continuity between Abraham and the New Covenant believer, so much so that the passage says that the Gospel was preached to Abraham, v8. It does not just mean that Abraham was told that all nations would be blessed through him. Abraham was aware that the basic nature of Gospel relationship with God entails faith, and believing. It means walking relationally with God.

Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."    (Gal 3:6 NIV)

In this passage, the Law is portrayed as a departure from Gospel faith. The Law demands righteousness. The Gospel credits righteousness to us because we have believed.

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."    (Gal 3:10-11 NIV)

The Law was given through Moses. It was given to those for whom Moses personally pleaded, the Israelites, the physical seed of Abraham. An analysis of Exodus shows that these people did not have the faith of Abraham. They did not deeply put their hope in the faithfulness of God. They believed they could establish their own righteousness when they were told the rules.

The people all answered as one: "Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.    (Exo 19:8 NRSV)

Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.    (Rom 10:3 NIV)

The Israelites at the time of Moses wanted contract. God wanted intimacy. From intimacy comes adoration, and from adoration comes surrender. From our surrender comes a place for the life of God in us. That life shows forth in beautiful, natural righteousness.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.    (1 John 4:10 KJV)

This is the empowering dynamic behind the New Covenant, the force field which allows righteousness to spring forth. God is the one who alone is able....

....to satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth..    (Job 38:27 KJV)

The tender shoot of beautiful and righteous fruit in our lives comes forth because we have been close to him.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.    (Isa 61:11 KJV)

I love the KJV for the evocative poetry!

So why the Law? It was a package to meet the Israelites as they were, in their unbelief. Moses pleaded their case to God because they would not listen and believe. So God gave the Law as a supervisor to hold them together as a people and to discipline them until they can see their need for the Gospel.

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them (the Israelites under Moses); but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.    (Heb 4:2 KJV)

It is interesting that the writer does not see God as excusing the unbelief because Jesus was not yet incarnate. God can read all the attitudes of our hearts. 

Wherefore the law was our (the Israelites') schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.    (Gal 3:24 KJV)

The best the Law can offer in terms of righteousness is to set forth God's behavioural requirements. In this respect, the Ten Commandments still stand. The best the Law can offer in terms of ritual is to make us aware of heavenly realities, of our eternal advocate and his sufficient sacrifice.

So it is my belief that the Law did not flow directly from God's heart. It was a response to the pleading of a mediator, Moses. And because God will not perform directly that which is not fully upon his heart, the Law was administered (Greek diatasso; arranged thoroughly, set in order, often translated 'ordained') by angels.

To quote Witness Lee, 'The Law is God's secondary economy'. (RV footnote)

   

Exegesis-How do we proceed?

Exegesis then is the drawing out of meaning, wisdom, concepts, advice, conclusions, from the Bible as the Word of God.

Both a tenacious clinging to orthodoxy and an excessive need for novelty have their dangers.

The doctrine of God as Trinity is a reasonable conclusion adopted from the Bible, as is the Rapture of the Saints. Neither word is present in the text, but both are reliable inferences. To get these concepts from the Bible we have to read the New Testament thoroughly and think a little. Creeds like the Nicene and the Westminster Catechisms are further examples of distillations of Biblical concepts. Both are widely respected and useful. 

Now there is a danger of making unreliable inferences from the information we have. But if we don't try, we won't discover anything new. In the case of Biblical exegesis, the information we have is...the Bible....of course....plus our experiences, direct, here-say, or reading we have done.

In the secular field I would say that the theory of evolution is a 'discovery' based on existing evidence. I believe it to be incorrect for explaining our origins.(see my blog www.creationandlogic.blogspot) Returning to Scripture, it is clear that some historic statements by church leaders are based on unbalanced inference from the Biblical text. Pope Gregory VII supposedly used scripture to justify 'articles of faith' such as the following;

'It may be permitted (to the Pope) to depose emperors'

'(The Pope) himself may be judged by no-one'

'The (Roman) Church has never erred, nor will it, to all eternity....'

There is also a danger in sticking too doggedly to existing orthodoxy. For one thing, the sort of stuff above, once seen as new Biblically-based thought, can become unchallenged orthodoxy.

Another example about orthodoxy from the secular field. I hear that the recent financial crash was at least partially due to bankers slavishly using a formula called the Black-Scholes equation to evaluate the value of financial products called derivatives. This was orthodoxy. The inventors of the formula got a Nobel prize. It was accurate enough when used within certain constraints, but became highly inaccurate in extreme conditions of trading. Traders could defend themselves by saying the used the accepted formula. This was an appeal to orthodoxy.

Now in the last post I said there is room for orthodoxy. There are certain things that are so clear in Scripture that they must be accepted. It is clearly perverse and evasive to try and deny them, yet there are those who do, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. But there are a lot of other areas where opinions are subjective. We need to be selective about what we take on board. There are some conclusions I have come to where I am keen to state that what I am saying is my opinion for you to consider, and no more than that.

In any case, we will never reduce God to a formula that fits in our head. If we could, we would not need to consult and submit to a living Being. We would not have to learn by engaging with others. We would know what God wanted from our clever formula.

Questions arise in our minds and we like to search Scripture, and read existing opinions, in order to get an answer. If you are like me and do this a lot, I think it can be helpful. God is not against us asking questions if we really want the answers.

People who like to see something new in the Scriptures are good for the Body provided we do not take their opinions as automatically authoritative, like the Pope wanted his followers to in the examples above. Preachers and teachers are likely to make mistakes at times. God can use them to bring new revelation and understanding. But we must test what is said and hold to the good.

Teaching on healing, prosperity and positive confession has blessed the Body. However, often it has been presented in a simplistic, formulaic way. But don't throw it out altogether because of that.

Martin Luther was a man who challenged orthodoxy. Most of his conclusions were valid. His starting point was Scripture. He questioned orthodoxy of the day and went to the source material.

A Point or two about Bible Interpretation (Exegesis)

I will step out on a limb a bit in an attempt to answer a theological point arising in my mind. Before I discuss the point, in the next post or two, I want to make another point about exegesis. Exegesis is the discipline of analysis of the Biblical text. The Greek word means 'to lead out', i.e. to bring out meaning form the text. The term is increasingly used when texts other than the Bible are being analyzed, but it is the Bible I am concerned with here.

A brief Google search of any well known Christian teacher past or present will bring up numerous 'heresy hunter' websites. Most of these sites seem a tad acrimonious and blinkered to me. I have met one leader written off as a bad job by one of these sites that I had read just days before. I feel it would be very helpful for some of these heresy hunters to talk to their 'victims' before writing. That is not to say they sometimes don't have a point.

Now the meaning of the word 'exegesis' was, as I said, 'to lead out' or 'to draw out'. We are looking for underlying meaning; what is not necessarily spelled out verbatim in the text or set of texts. There is going to be an element of speculation at times. There is going to be an element of opinion. 

To interpret scripture, to form a worldview based on it, we are going to have to experiment with our thinking, meditating on various verses and ideas. If we don't do this, there is no need for preaching. Just reading the Bible out will do. There is certainly a place for that. But most areas of knowledge rely on this type of 'thought experiment' in order for them to develop.

That said, there is a balance between orthodoxy and controversy. We can stay in the safe orthodoxy, or try to. We can look for what everyone agrees on in Christian belief. That is a good thing to do at times, so we can decide on what is unshakable common ground. Things like the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ. Something like the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Second Coming. Also the full and sufficient sacrifice for sins made on his cross. Things like this should distinguish the true church. However, we should let fundamentals be fundamentals, and details, details, and be aware and wise concerning the shades of gray in between too.

The Body of Christ includes people from all sorts of diverse denominations who truly believe; some very ancient and traditional. I recently read about a Russian Orthodox couple who showed great faith and compassion in the way they took in orphans. However, we cannot include people from groups like Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons who deny the deity of Christ, or plainly distort or add to the Scriptures. We cannot include, obviously, faiths which rest primarily on personalities other than Christ, such as Islam or Rastafarianism. We can see these people best as potential members of God's family, rather than enemies.

In my next post I want to get back to exegesis within the Body of Christ and make a point about how revelation from Scripture develops.




  

The Purpose of the Law

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.    (John 1:17 KJV)

John saw a fundamental difference between the Law of Moses and the coming of Jesus Christ. You cannot get round that fact. Try any Bible version that is not forcing a prejudiced interpretation on you. I have just read a set of rhetorical questions in a Christian periodical about 'Biblical Worldview'. For some, it seems, Christianity is largely concerned with conforming the laws and behaviours of the land (in this case South Africa) to the Ten Commandments. Now I am not against people living in line with the Ten Commandments. If we really did, any country would be a safer and more prosperous place. In a place like South Africa, morality and integrity in government and business need all the help they can get, for sure.

However this is not really the prime thrust of Jesus. He did not come to transform a society and it's institutions of Government by forcing them to follow a written code, albeit a supremely excellent one.. Instead he called individuals to turn to God for the remission of their sins.

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.    (Acts 2:38 KJV)

What does this mean? It means turn from living life out of fellowship with God. Receive new life from God. Be baptised as a sign that a new life has begun in you, a new life which will cause your sins to remit, i.e. die out.

You will look in vain in an accurate translation for the common evangelical concept of turning from your sins, or repenting of your sins, as a precondition or preliminary to coming to Christ. if by this we mean, 'are you willing to let go of your sins', fine. If we mean, 'are you by your own efforts putting away your sins', that is not fine. We cannot. The important thing is coming to Christ. Sure, tell people he will deal with your sins more and more as time goes on, and if you are not prepared for that, don't come. But you cannot deal with sin without him. We are here to help people love Jesus passionately from the heart, to partake of and abide in his righteous life, not to make them solid legalists trying to reform themselves. i believe this is not detail. it is vitally important that we realize our only sufficiency (adequacy, competence) is in Christ.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;    (2 Cor 3:5 KJV)

Look at the Acts verse about repentance in the New Living Translation. This version has been rendered according to a common strand of evangelical 'culture'. the text is a distorted interpretation of the original.

Peter replied, 'Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' (Acts 2v38 NLT)

This sounds like evangelical orthodoxy, but it does not represent the original text.  

The same article mentioned above implied that the death penalty be enforced. I am sure many prosperous South Africans would like this as a deterrent to high rates of often violent crime. However, David effectively committed pre-meditated murder. Unless you are seriously saying he should be let off the hook because he didn't actually do the deed, merely arranged it, then he should have been executed because his violation of the sixth commandment.

We are not to burden people by telling them they must scoop the darkness out of their lives. We are here to show them that Christ wants to fill them with life. Sure, when we have done that, we can exhort them to live according to what they have received.

Paul spends the bulk of Colossians chapters 1 and 2 explaining what Christ has done for believers. Look at it yourself. But he interjects with the odd comment telling us how we should live.

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;    (Col 1:10 KJV)

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:    (Col 2:6 KJV)


So yes we are to walk right. But we walk right having been made aware the impartations of glorious loving acceptance God has made to us. To live under the Law is death. We are living a life of onerous duty and constant 'no's. To live with Christ is fulness of life. Emotional riches. Pleasures at His right hand. The fullness of Christ in us. David loved God passionately. He yearned for more of His presence above all. He understood the emotional life of God. He sinned seriously, and repented. And a few verses from the end of the Bible, Jesus is bold to call himself the root and offspring of David. David and not Moses. Interesting!


  

Ruth, Ezra and Law

I have been listening to teaching on the Book of Ruth (Thanks Malcolm). This is a nice story about faith and redemption. It is not a story about perfect people. Ruth was a Moabite and Moabites were considered second rate people under the Law, see Deuteronomy 23v3. Moabites were not to be included in the assemblies of Israel. They were descended from Abraham's nephew Lot by incest. Despite this shame, they were therefore however, close blood relatives to the Israelites. Unlike Canaanites, Moabites were not beyond the pail for intermarriage, Deuteronomy 7. Yet Ruth, marriageable for an Israelite but not to be accepted as a full Israelite under the Law, was included in the natural bloodline of David and therefore of Christ.

Ruth was the great grandmother of David. In the book, we see that Ruth married Boaz. Now Boaz's mother was Rahab, see Matthew 1v5. Rahab is spoken of in the Book of Joshua. Assuming it is the same Rahab in both cases (which is widely assumed; see for example the Spirit Filled Life Bible or the Wikipedia article on Rahab), this again shows that David had a dodgy family line in terms of legalistic purity according to the Law of Moses. Rahab was a prostitute, and also presumably a Canaanite, and therefore, according to the letter of the Law, unlike a Moabitess, not to be married, see Deuteronomy chapter 7.

Naomi the Israelite seized the opportunity when her daughter-in-law was shown unusual kindness by Boaz when they first met. The advice given by Naomi could also be seen as less than morally ideal. Ruth was told maximize her attractiveness and make her romantic intentions known to Boaz in a way which could be seen as seductive.

And so there were dodgy goings-on in the ancestry of David and therefore in the natural line of ancestry of Jesus himself.

It is notable that David himself had serious problems with sexual morality, which is not good ( 2 Sam 11,12). He did not get away with it. It is also notable that David did not adhere to the letter of the Law (1 Sam  21) and he did get away with it. Why? I believe that anyone who looks for the heart of God, the underlying kindness and mercy, finds that He does not hold them to the letter of the Law. That does not mean He overlooks all misdemeanors as David also found. We see these truths even in the time when the Law was deemed to reign over Israel. It also does not detract from the Law as being a broad indication of God's standards, even today. It just means, under grace, that we are not held to it in a pedantic way. God prefers growing intimacy to rigorous adherence to procedure. It means grace was available even during the dispensation of the Old Covenant for those who truly sought God as a friend and not just for a contract.

We see that Jesus had no definitive moral advantage in his human ancestry; what we would now probably call his 'DNA' or 'breeding'.

Ruth as we have pointed out, also did not have the right stuff when it came to ancestry. However, when confronted with people who knew of the God of Israel, she displayed a humble and contrite heart. She left her people for those who worshiped YAHWEH. She was willing to take a lowly role and a lowly future with those who were the people of God at that time. David too seemed to realize at at least one point in his life that God was not after rigorous Law-keepers, see Psalm 51v17-18. He was looking for those who were looking desperately, loyally, to Him, and those who walked with Him, or at least tried to, and acknowledged His Name.   

Contrast this grace seen in the life of Ruth and Rahab with the rigorous and ruthless (interesting word) enforcement of legalistic righteousness seen in Ezra 10. Pagan wives are summarily put away without mercy. It is not clear whether any of these wives had, as Rahab did, a heart after God. If so, the Israelites were displaying an unnecessary, 'legalistic' cruelty to these, technically pagan, wives and their children. 

The Law of Moses is a shadow of realities found in Christ. It is inadequate and insufficient. God is really looking for faith working through love (Galatians 5v6), not legalistic adherence to Law.*

Strict ritual (exemplified by the Law) absolves the heart of responsibility to forgive and love. Righteousness is reduced to ritual, procedure and checklist. This provokes us to self-justification and judgment of others. Faith alone however steers us into the arms of God, into adoration and surrender. The new life which comes forth from intimacy will start to keep the righteous requirements of the Law quite naturally, see Romans 8v1-4.

Attempting to keep the letter of the Law will very often make us miss God's heart. God was happy for His Son to be descended, humanly speaking, from people who, under the Law, would be rejected from the assembly of God.

And so Jesus was descended from an imperfect human line; imperfect in faith, imperfect legally speaking. However, His spiritual descent was perfect, the Holy Spirit was His Father, and this factor over-rode the natural factors completely. 

The same is true for us; the Holy Spirit within us can over-ride the natural disadvantages and setbacks in our lives.

*However, it is possible to exhibit a degree of faith even in one's pursuit of God through the Law. I believe Ezra was doing just this. Primary theme; Ezra and the Israelites were looking to revive their worship of God after exile. Secondary theme; they did so by resurrecting the Law. But since this was all they understood, God accepted their efforts.

Flowing in Mercy

... judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!    (James 2:13 NIV)

We were discussing the need for us to abide in God, to walk in the Spirit. They are essentially the same thing. What are the attitudes which remove us from this flow? Rolland Baker from Iris Ministries said that God will discipline us regarding anything which moves us out of Love, Joy and Peace. I agree. I also think failure to exhibit mercy will have the same effect. This verse from James makes that clear. It will move us out from under the mercy of God.

Until we put on the resurrection body, we are living in a body disposed toward sin, under the power of temptation. Our every encounter with God, infact our ongoing fellowship, needs to be tempered by His mercy. He has provided for that need for mercy in Jesus, our High Priest and Mediator.

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.    (Heb 2:17 NIV)
 

He is constantly overlooking a multitude of sins in us all, even as believers. He calls us to do the same;

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.    (1 Pet 4:8 NIV)

Our basic attitude in coming to God needs to be like the tax collector:

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'  "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."    (Luke 18:13-14 NIV)

We can come to God confidently when we have learned and accepted the lesson that we need mercy, that He is merciful, and He is overlooking our sins for the most part in the interests of our confidence, happiness and fellowship. I say for the most part, because He will progressively deal with specifics from time to time. However He does not intend for us to be under a generalized, vague sense of accusation and condemnation. That comes from, and belongs to, the devil.

Now we can block this flow of mercy by failing to exhibit it to others. 

 ...because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!    (James 2:13 NIV)

Judgment and mercy are opposite and exclusive. I mean judgment in the sense of writing a person off as a bad job and therefore unworthy of mercy. Anyone, the verse says, who does not show mercy will be shown judgment. So mercy is absolutely key in God's scheme of things. If we start to look for excuses not to show it, we will come under judgment. 

Mercy and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin. If we fail to show them as an ongoing and deepening attitude, we will get into spiritual difficulties, as Jesus makes clear in Matthew 18v21-end.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.    (Mat 5:7 NIV)

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.    (Micah 6:8 NIV)

God is angry with those who consistently refuse to show mercy. They become vindictive, spiteful, and show hate.

Forgive even your parents and ancestors if they have sown problems in you.

"In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'    (Jer 31:29 NIV)

Your parents and relatives may have neglected you, abused you, abandoned you, led you in a bad way, or put you under a curse by making an ungodly vow. Forgive them and set yourself free. It is only unforgiveness that ties you to curses, generational or otherwise.

Let us follow Jesus. On the cross, Jesus showed mercy even to those who were showing him no mercy at all!

True Freedom

When we were trying to think of a name for our ministry, I was reminded of a prophetic dream in which I (being single then) appeared in the form of an aircraft! (I spent some time working in aviation-related industries and have been interested in aircraft for as long as I can remember). The aircraft was a US military plane nicknamed 'Freedom Fighter' during the stand against communism (the Northrop F5). The aircraft in my dream was dropping benign weapons (if there is such a thing) on various establishments including schools. I had this dream in 1992 so it has been a while in realization. Later, at the time when we were seeking to name the ministry, we were attending a church called 'River of Life'. So we decided (Julia's suggestion) to call ourselves 'Flow of Freedom' Ministries. A couple of people said it was too political in the South African context, so I called our website 'Live in the Liberty'. This is a similar ethos, but then it seems to also be a slogan for some gay rights group! Anyway, hopefully you know what we are getting at with the names.

All this is preamble to the fact that I want to understand, and for others to understand, how we live in the freedom Christ paid for on our behalf. More of that later.

A question. What does freedom really look like?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.    (Gal 5:1 NIV)

Now freedom really means freedom, especially if it is God's idea of freedom. When we are truly, fully, in the Spirit, we are free.

Free to do what we want? Yes!!! 

Hang on a minute, you say. Please bear with me.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.    (Gal 5:16 KJV)


The lust of the flesh is the stuff we sometimes want to do but know we should not. However, if we walk fully in the Spirit, we won't do that stuff. The more we walk in the Spirit, the less we will do that stuff.

Think of someone you know who really seems full of Jesus. Do they seem free? Are they doing what they want to do or are they laboring hard to do the right thing? The two people I am thinking of are generally free and doing what they want to do. They seem harmonious and happy. I can think of some seemingly very worthy and earnest, disciplined people in ministry. I may admire them but I do not really want to be like them. I want to be free! We are new creations in Christ. I do not believe we are called to live in a turmoil of inner confusion, fighting our desires all the time. We are called to a willing, loving overflow, surely!

If we are sons and daughters of the King, we share His nature. It is natural for us to show forth the fruits of His life.

The fruits of His life in us are the same as the fruits of the Spirit. God is One; Father, Son and Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5v22-24 for what the fruit of the Spirit looks like).

This harmony between will and action is where we are headed. The Kingdom of God will be a place of complete harmony, inward and outward. However we cannot continue to love things like conflict and oppression and expect to enter the Kingdom of God in that state.*

I am not saying that there will be no temptations while we are on earth. I am not saying that there will not be times when we will have to yield to the guidance of God against our inclinations (again only while we are living in this fallen world order, and even then He will help us). Recently I had zero inclination to return from a nice break, but I knew God wanted me to return. In the end He let us stay on a little longer, during which time He graced me to return.now I am happy to be back.

What I am saying is that the more we learn to abide in His life, His love, the more we will find we are doing what we really want to do. A servant does what he does not want to do in order to be able to finish work and do what he wants for a while. A true son or daughter does what they want. What they want is good. What they want is for the family of God to be Happy. does this smack of 'Happy Clappy' Christianity? Well provided it is inward 'happy' and not just outward 'happy', then yes, why not? (The clapping is optional). We are new creations; our new creation self is in inward harmony.

Why do we not always experience this? Maybe we only experience it rarely; a tantalizing taste. Well, I think there are attitudes which keep us out, or bump us out, of this peaceful, fulfilled place of abiding in the Spirit. I want to look at one in my next post.

*All this has an effect on whether we can believe the Theory of Evolution for the Origin of Species: see my Logic and Creation blog if this interests you!

Child then Disciple

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.    (Isa 49:15 KJV)

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."    (Isa 66:13 NIV)


Well I've been getting to one of those places of burnout and lack of motivation! I have been getting ratty, irritable and unpleasant to put it mildly. Ask my wife. Actually, don't on second thoughts. I have come to see that this is because life makes demands I feel unable to meet, or I make demands on life and others they cannot meet. I therefore need to go to God in a deeper way for grace and love.

Anyway, I bought 2 books at Faith Camp held in Peterborough in the UK recently just before we returned to South Africa and both have helped.

Both are recommendable and have been helpful for very different reasons. The first is called 'Sarah' by Sarah Shaw. I will discuss the other later. 'Sarah' chronicles recovery from ongoing childhood sexual abuse which occurred between the ages of 3 and 18. The recovery followed emotional breakdown as an adult. It is moving for it's honesty and insight.

One lesson from the book is that God accepts us before he seeks change in us. I have been saying that for a while from a theological perspective but this book seems to confirm it. To attempt to make demands from someone like Sarah before she was ready would have been cruel. She was abused from age 3 by her father and rejected by her mother who blamed her for the abuse. Abuse, especially sexual, and rejection are extremely destructive, the more so the earlier it happens. She needed ongoing, committed tender love and acceptance. It needed demonstrating and not just saying. Thankfully, Sarah was led to an organization which specialized in this.

Sarah had learned, it seems to me, to abandon parts of herself. She learned to see parts of herself as unacceptable. Now it is true that we are unacceptable to God in our natural state. However, because of Christ, we are made acceptable. We are clothed in his righteousness until we learn to live in that righteousness. In other words, God can still love a mess, provided the mess (you and me) is willing to acknowledge his or her need of him.  

God is the supreme Father and actually the supreme Mother, as the Isaiah verses make clear. The verses quoted above tells us that the mothering compassion, comfort and commitment of God exceed that of a human mother. Although Sarah initially needed a human channel to display this, God was the source of the love and acceptance shown to her.

Sarah makes clear that her greatest need and desire was for maternal comfort following abuse. That was not forthcoming at the time from her human mother who merely treated her as a serious problem. However as she was willing to forgive and look to God instead, healing was received.

The point of contact with God is relational, through the God-Man Jesus Christ, and through contact with his people. Once we know him by the Spirit we can receive much of this restorative and nurturing motherly love directly by prayer and faith.

Lest us men are overtaken by need denial, machismo and bravado, we should remember Peter and John. The first appears to be Mr Macho, the second much more tender. However it seems John was the one keenest to stay near Jesus the longest when things got nasty. (John 18, if the 'other disciple' is indeed John as is often assumed). I also remember hearing that dying soldiers will commonly call for their mothers.

I feel as if sometimes we are trying to make people disciples before they have become children and friends. In so doing we demonstrate slavery and not sonship. Some of our harsher attitudes as Christians can be inappropriate, and some of these attitudes can produce a lot of damage and condemnation if the recipient is not ready for the discipling we are offering. Paul was caustic at times but he could also be warm and gentle. May we learn which is required and when, and may we honour ministries which specialize in different approaches, seeing the place of our own contribution in the bigger picture of the Body of Christ.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.    (Gal 4:7 NIV)

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.    (John 8:35 NIV)


 

Summary: Grace for the Humble, Stiff Task for the Self Righteous

Reading back my 9 posts on Covenant, it is pretty hard work to read them, and I wrote them. There are a lot of points in there.

I will now try to summarise my basic underlying beliefs about the Bible, regarding the Sinai Covenant and the New Covenant.

For a long time I called out to God for understanding about what was fundamental about His Character as revealed in the Bible. Yes, God is love, and we cannot in any way minimise that. But I wanted a little more detail and filling out.

In particular I wanted to understand more fully the picture behind these two main covenants between God and man.

I believe God has started to answer me. I am indebted of course to others I have read and considered, without agreeing on everything they have said. I have particularly benfited from Terry Virgo and Joseph Prince. Going back further my theology has been shaped by Watchman Nee, Rick Joyner ('There were Two Trees in the Garden') and Colin Urquart.

I believe there are two basic approaches for man when he believes in God. They might be summarised as 'negotiation' or 'surrender'. Also by 'self-righteousness' or 'contrition'. By 'proceedure' or 'relationship'. By 'demands' or 'empowerment'. 'Struggling or yielding'. 'Worrying or resting'.

Continuing using Scriptural ideas, these two ways of relating to God involve 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil' or 'The Tree of Life'. Also 'Hagar or Sarah', 'Ishmael or Issac', 'Law or Grace', 'Faith or Works'. 'Slave or Friend'. Also 'Judgement or Mercy'.

Actually many of these pairs of ideas are not either/or but a matter of emphasis.

They are not about God himself. God is the same throughout the Bible. He remains Holy, All Powerful, All Knowing, All Loving, Unchangeable, without beginning or end.

The two perspectives are about how we see God and about how we attempt to relate to Him.

The first of each either/or pair above is where the emphasis is for the Sinai (Old) Covenant. The second is about where the emphasis is for the New Covenant.

Is this important? Yes, extremely. Galatians is all about shifting ones perspectives from the Old to the New and keeping it there.

The old Covenant is about how the deluded and self-righteous imagine they could relate to God sucessfully. The New Covenant is about how God knows how sinful man may sucessfully relate to Him. The contrast is there to keep you from banging your head against a spiritual brick wall. It comes from God's heart of love after all. The message is; reject ways of trying to relate to God which belong to the Old Covenant, and embrace the ways that belong to the New.

Covenants Part 9- The Jews and Christ

God's present attitude to the Jews 


The Jews are the descendants of the biblical Israelites, who are the children of Abraham through Isaac. Paul commonly refers to them as 'Israel'.


1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:1-4 (KJV)  


I finished the last post by stating that God still desires Israel to be saved. He will still fulfill His promises to them. However He will do so through the Gospel and not through the Law of Moses. The sufficient sacrifice of Christ is the only finally effective one offered by God for all humanity.


As far as the gospel is concerned, (the Jews) are enemies on your (Gentile believers) account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.    (Rom 11:28-29 NIV) The Jews, now as then, are in a ‘holding pattern’. The Law is a holding pattern. A holding pattern is an aviation term. A plane is awaiting permission to land. It flies this pattern in the meantime. The plane is not at rest until it lands. The Jews are being held in a partial revelation of the nature of God.

The Law represents as much grace and intimacy as the Jews were willing to receive at that time. The Israelites where not willing at that time to loose their independent lives, let go of their own 'righteousness', and become one in spirit with God.

If the Jews ‘land’, it will be by coming to Christ. They will then enter into the rest God promised for them. They will rest from attempting and failing to establish their own righteousness. The Jews have the promises of God held out to them because they are physically descended from Abraham. However they are currently, temporarily, enemies of the Gospel. They have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

To submit to the righteousness of God, you must believe that God offers it to you, and, you must believe you need it. This requires a humble and contrite heart. Sacrifice and burnt offering are not required; they are brought by people who still imagine they have something they can do to appease 

God.

Now there are Jews, such as David, who got revelation about this, even though they were under the dispensation of the Law. For the people who, like David, saw beyond the veil of the Law, God allowed them to glimpse and enjoy some of the benefits of the New Covenant.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

Psalms 51:16-17 (of David, KJV)

On the whole the Jews still do not believe, and therefore they do not receive the full realization of what is theirs. However, as the age comes to an end, the Jews who are true will believe in and receive their Messiah Jesus Christ. 

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:12-13 (KJV)

The Jews are in a holding pattern because the unconditional promises God made to Abraham still stand. He is faithful even when men are not. However they are still in it because so far they refuse to believe in the Gospel, just as they did in the days of Moses. God becomes angry with those who persist in self justification and resist the Gospel, even if they are natural sons of Abraham. He may withdraw His hand of protection and hands them over to those driven by Satan, as history confirms.

Refusing intimacy and mercy from God will put a person under the anger and wrath of God.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalms 2:12 (KJV)

God does not lose His temper with us as New Covenant believers in Jesus. We know we are not good enough, deep inside anyway. He will not reject us, or anyone who comes near to Him with his or her heart. There is, and always has been, grace for the humble and contrite heart. Remember why David was so beloved of the Lord? He had a humble and contrite heart (Psalm 51v17. See also Isaiah 66v2 which is not referring to David in particular). He was also a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13v14).  I think such a man is prepared in his heart attitude for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

Covenants Part 8- Reasons For the Old Covenant based on Law

In Part 7 I looked at a sudden change in the approach God takes with the Israelites at Sinai under the leadership of Moses. I want to now discuss reasons why the Law was given. I believe we can draw out 6 points:

Regarding the nature of God and how He sees humanity

God wanted to spell out what righteousness looks like in day to day life. This remains true today under the New Testament, where 9 of the 10 commandments are endorsed. But remember we cannot keep them outside of the transforming truths and power available under the New Covenant. The New Birth, and life under the Covenant sealed in the Blood of Jesus, give us the inner motivation and ability to live in true love with God and each other. In this condition we will keep the commandments.

We can see from the Ten Commandments that God is certainly not someone who accepts any and every form of behaviour. He is a Holy God. He has precise ideas about how we should conduct our lives. This is an eternal truth, which did not change when Jesus came. This is obvious from a complete examination of the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 make it clear that those who violate the ten commandments, as a matter of unrepentant habit, are not those who will inherit the Kingdom of God.

God wanted to foreshadow the sacrificial system of highest heaven. The Tabernacle, the Ark, and the Ceremonies of the Law all serve to prepare us for a full revelation of the ministry of Christ, who now constantly intercedes for us before the Father. Remember that in Christ we now have a completed and totally effective sacrifice so we need not be continually conscious of our sins. Our yoke to guilt, shame and condemnation has been supernaturally broken through faith in him alone!

God wants us to see the severity of sin and the high price which must be paid to deal with it. The Law shows us, again only in an illustrative way, the severity of sin and the non-trivial price for dealing with it. The many passages telling of the details of what was sinful, and of the demanding, exacting and elaborate sacrifices required to cover it, serve to show us that sin and atoning for it were very major issues in God's sight. 

Regarding the attitude of the Israelites at that time

Moses was a human mediator, and therefore the approach God took with the Israelites was in part a response to his mediation. Now mediation is not surrender to one party. God accommodated Moses to a degree. Within this mediation, God had an inflexible agenda. He was seeking as always to show them Christ! 
                                                                                                                                                             The Israelites did not seem to recognize, appreciate and rest in the grace being shown to them prior to Sinai. They did not see that the grace of God was and would always be enough. Basically, they displayed unbelief in the essence of the Gospel!


 God had begun by making the Israelites aware of the nature of the Gospel. He did this by delivering them, in response to the signs of the Passover and the blood of sprinkling, before the Exodus. He then showed by miraculous signs like the Red Sea crossing and the Manna that He could be relied upon even where no other help was available or even possible. The Promised Land would be theirs for the taking. We tend to receive from God's grace, getting a supernatural provision or deliverance, and then assume this was a special case and now it is up to us; either to earn God's favor to get another miracle or to sort things out ourselves. This is how people often treat one another. We show goodwill but soon expect something back. But God is an infinite, eternal God. He has endless resources. He will always be there for us. Earthly parents will feel the need to hand off all responsibilities to their kids for their own lives, knowing they will not always be there. But the sort of dependency we have on God will be eternal, an eternal joining. (I think that if you do not accept and want this, you cannot enter the Kingdom.)

The Israelites did not trust God dependability and mercy enough to continue to believe that He would always be all they needed. They did not believe in His resourcefulness; that He would always find a way to provide for or deliver them when they needed it.


These issues boil down to trusting or not trusting in His love, mercy and power. Or else we want to preserve our independence.


If we are aware of the existence of God and we do not want to surrender fully to Him, we will attempt to barter with Him. All human religion smacks of this. Only a full dose of God's love will fix it. But we must be willing to die. Otherwise we have an attitude of doing certain things for God and in return He hopefully does certain things for us. The Israelites, I believe, wanted a negotiated settlement with God. They certainly believed in His existence. But they were saying, in effect, 'What are the rules?' They wanted a negotiated settlement. In a sense, the Gospel is a negotiated settlement, since it was agreed within the Godhead. But in a more profound sense, the Gospel is a merger of God and man. It is God who brings wholeness and sufficiency into that situation. We are to become one with God in Christ, just as God and Christ are One. We must surrender to God, not negotiate, if we are to enter into His rest fully.

The Israelites did not seem to want to extend their blessed status to others but to become special and elite. Why do I say this? Look at Exodus Ch19v5. This verse may be a response to an unstated aspiration of the Israelites. But we know from 1 Timothy 2v4 and elsewhere in the New Testament that God wants all men to be saved. God had said to their forefather Abraham that all men would be blessed through him and presumably Abraham approved of that. It seems the Israelites at this time did not. (It is true that at this point in history there were evil races who presumably God knew to be beyond repentance and therefore He wanted them to be destroyed. Indeed He commissioned the Israelites to do this. However God’s heart has always been to include whoever will come to Him in faith with a humble heart).


The Israelites were trying to establish their own righteousness.



2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them*, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 
Heb 4:2-3 (KJV)

*the Israelites led out of Egypt by Moses, see Heb 3:16

They assumed that they had been chosen for their own virtues and righteousness. They displayed an arrogant and unrealistic moral self- belief. The Israelites failed to realize that the only acceptable and appropriate heart response to the presence of God is contrition and grateful surrender to His mercy. This is not some phony display you conjure up but an inward posture of humility. Instead of this  they were full of self-righteousness (Romans 10v3, Deuteronomy 9v4-6). God had to show them that they were not the morally superior people they thought they were and they needed a savior (Galatians 3v24-25).

God is in reality acting consistently throughout. He has no arbitrary favourites. He always opposes the self-righteous, those with pride and self-belief in who they are without Him. Even in the case of Adam and Eve, He was opposed to who they thought they could become without Him. That is why they were not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. it would take them into independence. He is always looking for humility before Him and faith in Him. He is not looking for inherent virtue within us. He knows there isn’t any which meets His requirements. Jesus taught as such:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.   The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.   I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.   And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.    I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.    (Luke 18:10-14 KJV)

To summarize: It seems God responded to the persistent self-righteousness and unbelief of the Israelites, moderating it with the mediation and intercession of Moses. This resulted in the Old Covenant; a system designed to steer them to Christ. It was a harsh system designed to make them desire a 'divorce' from it and to yearn for a merciful and compassionate savior instead. 


Positively, the Law as a whole contained illustrative shadowings of the full realities of sin and righteousness, and of heavenly priesthood and sufficient sacrifice. However the focused fulfillment of these things is revealed in Christ. This is the main theme of the New Testament book of Hebrews.

God still desires Israel to be saved and will still fulfill His promises to them. However He will do so through the Gospel and not through the Law of Moses. The sufficient sacrifice of Christ is the only one offered by God for all humanity.