Adam, Israel, Jesus and Humanity

Here's something I just threw together. What do you think?

Adam → Israel

Adam was God’s creation whom he made to live in fellowship with him and rule over his creation. He was to bear the image of God and glorify God in all that he did. When Adam failed God made Israel to be his ‘renewed’ humanity. They would be a light in a dark world through their obedience to the law. They were God’s special people. But, like Adam, Israel failed and became part of the problem. They fell into the sin of idolatry and were judged by God.

Israel → Jesus

When God acted to redeem humanity he called a people to himself. They were to be the bearers of the solution but they were sinful and were themselves in need of redemption. They were to be sons of God but gave into evil. Jesus was declared by God the Father to be his true son. Jesus would do what Israel could not do. He would remain faithful to God. Where Israel failed Jesus was victorious. He did not succumb to temptation and fall into sin but remained faithful to the will of the father. He bore the judgment for sinful Israel.

Adam → Israel → Humanity

Israel went into exile for their great sin against God (i.e. just like Adam). God promised that he would redeem them through the promised messiah. When Jesus came on the scene he was welcoming tax collectors and sinners. In response to the grumbling of the Pharisees he told the parable of the prodigal son. The story was one of exile and return but instead of Israel being the lost and returning is was those who were following Jesus. Thus, the story of Israel stands parallel to the story of every person. Humanity is in exile and through Jesus they can come home to God.

Jesus → Humanity

As Israel is sinful and in need of redemption so is all of humanity. Jesus is the true Israelite who remained faithful to God. He died on behalf of his sinful people bearing the wrath that they deserved. But what God did for Israel he did for all humanity. All those who will return from exile Jesus will welcome. All people, Jew or Gentile, can be in Christ so that what is true of him is true of them. He is their representative. Jesus has been declared righteous so that all those in him can be declared righteous. Jesus is the true son of God and all those in him are sons of God by virtue of their union with him.

UPDATE:

I forgot to add the parallel between Adam and Jesus.

In the letters of paul we frequently find that there are two representatives for humans. 1) Adam - the old man and 2) Jesus - the new man. Adam was the representative head for the entire human race and , thus, all humans are under sin and it's condemnation. But for those in Christ they are the 'new humanity' being remade in God's image.

Delighting in God's Justice

When the most of us think of the phrase “the justice of God” it tends to carry negative connotations. Perhaps some of us think of fire and brimstone preachers whose favorite thing in the world to talk about seems to be hell and almost get some sort of twisted pleasure in thinking that some people are going there and they are not. Others may be so aware of their sin that “the justice of God” strikes a note of fear within.

Of course it is not a bad thing to have a healthy fear of God; it is, after all, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But I don’t think the idea of God’s justice is simply ‘the negative side’ of God’s grace. There is something that is beautiful about God’s justice, something that should bring joy to all those who are called children of God.

One Wednesday I was at my church’s evening prayer meeting. Before the actual prayer begins we usually mingle, sing some songs, read some scripture, and then ask the children what they want us adults to pray for. Our elder read from proverbs and then asked the children, “What does the Bible mean when it speaks of God’s justice?” A couple children gave some really good answers but one in particular suggested something that really stirred my heart. He answered, “The justice of God means that God always does what is right.”

Wherever we look, whether it is our own personal lives or the evening news, injustice is rampant. People are taken advantage of, bullied, murdered and the worst part of all is that people are getting away with it. We instinctively know, “that’s not right.” We often know what is right but no one seems to do it, not even ourselves. But God is the one being who always does what is right. R.C. Sproul says, “Righteousness means doing what is right. Therefore, God’s justice has to do with His internal righteousness, His character, which defines everything he does. God never acts according to injustice. He never violates any of the standards or canons of righteousness. A simple definition of God’s justice is ‘His eternal, immutable commitment always to do what is right.’” (Sproul, R.C. The Truth of the Cross, Reformation Trust, 19).

This begs the question, “What happens to me if God always does what is right?” When I am what’s wrong with the world how will God deal with me. When I sin against God daily how can I stand? The fact of the matter is that we are evil. Even when God made a special people in response to sin (i.e. the nation of Israel) they sinned against God and were sent into exile. Like Israel being cast into exile we have all been exiled to sin and death. We are all guilty.

If God always does what is right then we are in deep trouble. But the glory of Christ’s atonement is that Christ went into exile for us. He set his face toward Jerusalem, the place where he would be hung on a cruel Roman cross, to bear God’s wrath so we wouldn’t have to. Now we can set our face toward the promised land, not Jerusalem, where God’ justice would be fully revealed and all things will be put right.

Michael Bird on Justification

One thing I love about Michael Bird is his balance of perspectives, old and new. I am currently reading (and loving) his book "A Bird's Eye View of Paul" published by IVP. It is a very concise book; yet I think it is one of my favorite books! Here is a quote on justification:

"First, justification is forensic: it refers to a status one has before God. A person who is justified is declared right or acquitted of wrong…God graciously justifies sinners, the wicked and the ungodly through the provision of setting forth Christ…Second, justification is also covenantal…Justification by faith implies fellowship by faith, as those who believe in Jesus are legitimated in their identity as members of the new-covenant community…Third, justification is eschatological, as the verdict anticipated on the Day of Judgment in Jewish thinking has been declared in the present…Fourth, justification is effective in that God’s transforming power to free believers from the power of sin is the logical result of the declaration of acquittal…In sum, justification is the act whereby God creates a new people, with a new status, in a new covenant, as a foretaste of the new age" (Boldface added).

Faith and Love Based on Hope

There are many ideas floating around as to what the church’s greatest need is today. Some camps insist that we need doctrinal purity; others press the need for social justice and other ministries of compassion. Perhaps it is a bit of a dead end to suggest ‘this is the greatest need of the church’. Christ’s church consists of ‘many’ local churches and all of them have their particular needs. With that said, there are some things that every church needs. Some have them and others don’t but all churches need them. I’m thinking particularly of faith and love that is based on hope.

The apostle Paul was a thankful guy. Whenever he prayed he gave thanks for what God was doing in His church. Perhaps we can learn from him in this regard. Many of us get our ‘kicks’ in complaining at what is wrong with the church. But Paul was ‘always’ thanking God for the churches that were planted and growing by the grace of God. Here’s what Paul says:

We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel that has come to you. (Col. 1.3-6a emphasis added).

The central thing for the apostle Paul was the gospel; the announcement that Jesus Christ died and rose again, is reigning at the right hand of God, and has accomplished forgiveness of sins for those who would believe. This is a gospel full of hope. It is the gospel of a good king who will one day put the world to rights. It is the gospel of a merciful lord who bore God’s wrath in our stead. The Christian has great hope because ‘in Christ’ he is buried, risen and will appear with him in glory. Just as Christ was declared to be in the right at his resurrection so will the Christian.

The results of this hope are continual faith in Jesus and love for all the saints. Christians who are gospel-centered will not sway in their beliefs about Jesus (i.e. that he is the crucified and risen lord of the world) but will discern between truth and error. Gospel-centered Christian’s will also love one another indiscriminately. Tom Wright says, “The solid facts about the future hope of Christians are a powerful motivation for constant faith and costly love in the present” (TNTC, Colossians and Philemon, 52).

So what is the greatest need of the church? I’m not sure. But what does the Church need? The answer is a focus on the gospel and the hope that it gives. This will give way to “constant faith” and “costly love”.

Taking a Week Off

I’m really looking forward to this week. I’ll be celebrating Christmas twice this year. And if I am so blessed perhaps by wife will join me in a little adventure to Niagara Falls. So I will not be blogging this week! Merry Christmas.

10 Things Part 7: The Scriptures part 2

Story:

We need story. Story explains what life means and how we are to get on in our world. Christians claims that the Bible contains the true story of humanity and it’s relation to God. It tells the story of God the creator. He made all things good and created human beings to be in special relationship with him and his created order. But Adam was deceived by the devil and sinned against God, pulling judgment down on himself and the entire human race. The fascinating thing is that although man descends deeper and deeper into rebellion God acts with mercy. He will put the world to rights. God will deal with the problem of sin and the evil where it originated.

God works within his creation by creating a covenant family through Abraham; this family will be a blessing to all nations and is promised the inheritance of a land. He shows his covenant love to his family by recuing them from slavery to evil and he gives them a law so that they can be a light to the nations. He gives them the temple as a meeting place with humanity and God and provides the sacrificial system so that a sinful people may approach a holy God.

Eventually, however, Israel is unfaithful to God. Instead of living in unique relationship with him they become just like everyone else and worship idols. The bearers of the solution became a part of the problem. This sin invokes the wrath of God and his people are sent into exile and God’s meeting place is destroyed. The people of God suffer under foreign rulers and they long for the day when they would be freed from evil, when evildoers would be judged, Israel would be given a King who would shepherd his people, they would receive God’s spirit, creation and humanity would be renewed, they would be able to meet with God again and their sins would be forgiven (and many more promises). Things ‘would’ happen. The prophets proclaimed that God had not utterly forsaken his people but that God would fulfill his promises to his people and to the whole world.

When John the Baptist came on the scene preaching that the Kingdom of God has drawn near God’s people, at least some, would have realized that God was finally fulfilling his promises. The true return from exile was happening. God was doing what he said he would do at last. Jesus came and exercised authority of all sorts of evil including demons, sickness and even ‘natural disasters’. Jesus was taking care of evil at its root. He was also forgiving sins apart from the temple and pronounced judgment on it, showing that he was himself the eschatological meeting place for God and his people. Sinner’s and outcasts were welcomed to be apart of the celebration showing that God was building his renewed people. Jesus was exiling people out of this evil age into the kingdom of God. He was at last becoming King.

Jesus didn’t meet the expectations of some, however. Many people were hostile towards Jesus because his kingdom agenda looked a lot different than what they expected. They expected fireworks but Jesus brought a mustard seed. Jesus knew that he would be killed because of his kingdom work. He was claiming that his kingdom way was the right way and that all other kingdom ways were wrong and would be judged by God. But his death was no accident. The very judgment that would fall on Israel, and the whole world, would be focused on Jesus himself on the cross. Jesus became a substitution for his people. Jesus would create a kingdom people.

Jesus did not stay dead. On the third day he rose again. Jesus is the leader of the church. He is the one who was raised ahead of the rest, thus, inaugurating God’s new creation. He ascended to the right hand of the Father and is exercising his messianic reign. This is good news because Jesus is the good King who brings justice, mercy, forgiveness and love. He will come again and complete the work of new creation fully establishing his kingdom on the new earth.

How did Satan make evil commit suicide at the cross?

John Piper explains how satan committed suicide at the cross of Jesus. I think that this is probably one of the best things I have ever heard in relation to the 'Christus Victor' metaphor of the atonement. It shows that 'Penal Substitution' and 'Christus Victor' arer not opposites but they are intertwined.