What is being 'Christian' all about?

"Now that's a very good question," I thought to myself as I struggled to find a reasonable answer and, reasonable or not, I gave one anyway - and this is how it goes:

"In my book Christians are people who, recognising the distance between them and God, are rather grateful that Jesus popped in and did the 'cross thing' because that (the 'cross thing') plays an important part in removing the distance and reconciling us to God.

Not only that but Jesus (whose job title in this role is 'The Christ*') having died pops over to hell (which because we use the term 'descends' must, I guess, be located in a downwards direction) and kindly points out to the bloke what runs the place (hereinafter refereed to satan (not Stan as my spellchecker sometimes suggests) that the only real power he has is death because this is the penalty for his (satan's) only product 'sin' and, having died and come back as alive, means that He (Jesus) has broken the only power he (satan) had.

Then, having come back from the dead he (Jesus) points out that when he broke death He did it for everyone - not en masse but in a one-for-one, real-time, act - so all you need to do is recognise who He is and What He did and (thanking Him) take a 'get out of sin free' card from Him (Jesus) and satan is stymied."

In a shorter form it goes like this:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

John 3.16

So it's all very simple:

God and us were meant mates but became separated from each other because of sin

Jesus death on the cross breaks the power of sin (death) and restores the relationship between us and God

Accepting that Jesus, the Christ, has done all this and deciding to take the ticket from Him and live in the reality of forgiveness, eternal life and . . .

. . . Relationship with God through, for and with Him (Jesus)

That's what it's all about.

Can it get any simpler?

* Christ not being Jesus' name but a description of the role He occupies in that He, as the Son, comes to this world of ours as a man (that's a reference to His sex and to the fact that He is also human) as the 'anointed one of God' - He is God's solution to all the ills of the world basically.

PSA - An introduction to Christus Victor

As I am reading I am also looking for little snippets to add to the knowledgebase of those whom I seek to pastor (and those I seek to stimulate into study - who should be one and the same).

Here's a short animation that gets the ball rolling and adds just a little more with a little less than Tom Wright's excellent opening shot on this subject. (pity about the animated voice though in this animation - think I'll 'fix' that at some stage).

Enjoy:

Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) - the beginning of a journey

My understanding of the cross and Jesus' place on it comes down to something like this:

• Jesus, the Christ, died on the cross in the place of sinners – as a substitute for them.

• On the cross Jesus took upon Himself our sins and endured the separation and punishment (the penal bit) that was ours.

• And the shedding of Jesus’ blood and His death pays the price of our sin – and cancels its debt.

• Thus man and God are reconciled and the relationship is restored (atonement making amend, restoring relationship) in this one atoning act.

Now this is great, news and pretty simple to understand, or so you might think, but in fact this is a most contentious topic!

In and around there are so many areas of disagreement and much debate (so any peace Jesus brought can immediately be tossed in the bin!). I’m going to try to see what safe passage through the rocks, sirens and storms might be found. I will undoubtedly (as some will tell me) get it wrong, but hey ho, wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t would it? I have been told by some that I adopt a classic PSA stance whilst others tell me that I need to adopt exactly that whilst more still tell me I'm  *!*!**  (well, shouldn’t swear, should we? So we’ll merely pass that one by)!

My understanding is that sin causes separation because, to quote that great theologian and engineer, Montgomery Scott (Star Trek), ‘You can’t mix matter and anti-matter!’ Indeed, as even the Gnostics realised, God is all good and man is corrupt and flawed and because of this the two had to have a degree of separation or else – kaboom!  So this is where we found ourselves separated and without any hope until Jesus decides to get down there and sort stuff out.

Now this is an important issue for I believe Jesus came as man because He saw the need and decided to do what was needed rather than found Himself merely following orders from the Father (with whom He [and the Holy Spirit] are equal) because if He didn’t then those who beat their breasts and scream about ‘cosmic child abuse’ might just have a point. So this is something we need to visit on our journey (Sent/Went).

Within this issue we come to the sticky issues of ‘satisfaction’ and ‘wrath’ because some would have it that in Jesus death on the cross ‘satisfied God’s wrath’ – now this is an area that causes some real angst because regarding ‘wrath’ and ‘God’ I have to say that I don't see God's wrath being aimed at, or poured out, on Jesus and with regard to sin have also to point you to Scotty once mor. But this does indeed highlight another issues for investigation (God/Wrath).

Some will point us to a quote from Hebrews 9.22 which tells us that:
‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.’

So Jesus is sacrificed for us to atone (pay) for our sins – handy that because this fits well with the Passover and stuff we derive from there. (Pascal Lamb/Shedding of Blood).

God wants to forgive but, as some would have it, He isn’t big enough to do so without the debt caused by sin and the rift being mended – So He holds His breath until it’s sorted (and He can you know). If we are not careful we can make God just a little petty here and yet it also makes Him pretty consistent too (and I like consistent) – but it’s a consideration we need to have had and resolved I reckons (petty/legalistic/loving).

All in all as I struggle with this (and believe me, I will struggle) there is the tension between the accountant and lawyer God and the loving and compassionate God to be dealt with. Cold and calculating versus warm inclusive – Not going to be easy is it?

It will not be a quick journey because I’m going to have to read and think (aaargh) and pray (phew!) and get into all that sort of stuff that makes my head hurt before we reach a conclusion that some/may/all* will disagree with. But it will be an honest journey and if on the way it causes you pain, frustration or something else – I apologise for being unapologetic.

Pax

ps. here's a little something to start the journey:

* delete as applicable

Christ the King

When the soldiers came to the place called “The Skull,” they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive these people! They don’t know what they’re doing.”

While the crowd stood there watching Jesus, the soldiers gambled for his clothes. The leaders insulted him by saying, “He saved others. Now he should save himself, if he really is God’s chosen Messiah!”

The soldiers made fun of Jesus and brought him some wine. They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”

Above him was a sign that said, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging there also insulted Jesus by saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and save us!”

But the other criminal told the first one off, “Don’t you fear God? Aren’t you getting the same punishment as this man? We got what was coming to us, but he didn’t do anything wrong.” 
Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into power!”

Jesus replied, “I promise that today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23.33-43

Eternal Father,

whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven that he might rule over all things as Lord and King:

keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace,

and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet;

who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

May you today meet with Jesus, The Christ,
May you be touched by the fact that you are loved
Loved enough that someone would die in your place
That you might be reconciled to God
And be brought into the joy that the knowledge
of eternal life is yours.

Just reach out and touch the hem of His garment

Universalism in a nutshell

Everybody wants to go to heaven and they come up with some amazing theology to ensure that they can rest easy

Well it seems that for some there's no 'but' involved because they are 'Universalists'. One of those whom I know (and love) holds the view that Jesus, having died for everyone, guarantees that all are now destined for heaven. They contend that it whether you have a faith or not, regardless of how you have lived, you are 'in' - Faith in Jesus is not a requirement for us to be 'saved'.

When I point to John 3.16: 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,' I am told that I believe this because I have too high a Christology!

The same criticism (too high a Christology) is thrown at me when I come to John 14.5,6: 'Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'.

I feel that the two passages conspire together to make for a message that says that whilst Jesus did indeed die for everyone, there is an element of recognition and reception required. The ticket to the game is yours but unless you take it and journey towards it, you will never get to see it - the same is true of eternity (as I understand it) for jesus is the turnstile by which we enter.

__________

The second group I encounter tell me that regardless of what we do in this life, we have a second chance - a post-mortem salvation opportunity - once we have left it. It's like Jesus wakes us up, tells us that we've died and asks if we'd like to reconsider our rejection of God and come into heaven. Now, if I was dead and was 'woken' with an offer like that I'd be a bit of a mug to pass it by, wouldn't I?

My struggle here is that the words of Hebrews 9.26-28:
'But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.'

I am of the understanding, thanks to this passage, that we live - die (once)  - and are then judged and to be honest, the wake you up from the dead / second chance bit appears to be a conveniently created accommodation to me. Mind you, like the first option, I can understand it as after all, who wants to think of loved ones not making it? Then again both mean that one of the benchmarks many use when challenging me about faith, grace and forgiveness, namely Hitler, makes it into heaven using them I reckons - so it wouldn't sit well with many inside or outside the Church!

An interesting aside to this is the belief some have that hell is but a temporary condition and that whilst serving our time there the opportunity for parole and release into heaven will be made ours at some time - so all may sin and continue to fall short - but in the end it doesn't matter!

__________

Some tell me that what matters is the moment of death - as long as you call on god with you're last breath then this bringing of god into your life, regardless of how short or even what god is called - the general concept of there being a god is enough or so one of my clergy colleagues tells me! I think that there has to be a little more than this but then again they base their view on the the passage that says (Joel 2.32): 'And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

But in doing so are speaking of calling upon god rather than God and when you consider that the word LORD (for the upper case) means 'YAWEH' - it is a specific name not a general name 'elohim' - then we can see that the idea of calling on god as the entry into the afterlife is merely a wistful, fingers crossed, bit of being hopeful!

__________

So at the moment I have to say that that leaves me thinking that that's three strikes and those who pin their hopes on something more for having lived as something less than God calls us to be will now have to sit down.

I think I regard this issue as residing in a place where I have a clue about some people from their professions and attempts to live as the Bible requires but even then I won't be sure until the end - and then I might only know because I'm outside and know who's out there with me and assuming those who aren't have made the cut.

Thankfully we don't have the right, or ability, to say who is in or not and I actually reckon that's the best way - I'm not concerned with judging people but helping them to be the best they can be and to keep God's laws and commandments and live in love and peace with all.

At the end of the day, as I understand it,  it all comes down to being:

i. Reconciled to God by the atoning death of Jesus, the Christ,

ii. Living a life that keeps the commandments and lives in peace with all, and

iii. Recognising that we are all fallen and sinful and not regarding ourselves as better than those around us but as brothers and sisters with them.

There are some who seem to take joy in those whom they consider to be 'out' whilst of course they are (or so they think) 'in' and this is wrong on so many levels. And for those who want to see God as a Father Christmas figure who have presents for everyone, even when they've actively kept away from His presence - good luck with that. As much as I would like to agree I'm afraid that my theology doesn't fit in with that - sorry, I think you're wrong too!

So here we are - a very simplistic explanation of some of the thinking around eternity - hopefully it will provide a basis for some deeper dialogue and thinking.

Pax