10 Things Part 2: Jesus, the Messiah, Came to Die for the Sins of His Renewed People

Jesus’ death did not take him by surprise. There is something that gets my heart beating about the statement, “His face was set toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:53). Jesus was determined to die for his people. In his ministry the Jewish longing of the exodus was becoming a reality; he was gathering a renewed people around himself. And the Messiah would die for the sins of his people, for his sheep. Jesus warned that if people didn’t repent, especially Israel, they would face imminent judgment and would perish. But Jesus would bear the judgment of his followers on himself. He would become to true sacrifice bearing the wrath of his Father. N.T. Wright says:

"Jesus, then, went to Jerusalem not just to preach, but to die…Jesus believed that the messianic woes were about to burst upon Israel, and that he had to take them upon himself, solo. In the Temple and the upper room, Jesus deliberately enacted two symbols, which encapsulated his whole work and agenda. The first symbol said: The present system is corrupt and recalcitrant. It is ripe for judgment. But Jesus is the Messiah, the one through whom YHWH, the God of all the world, will save Israel and thereby the world. And the second symbol said: this is how the true exodus will come about. This is how evil will be defeated. This is how sins will be forgiven." (Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, 91).

I love Christianity. Through Christ I can be apart of God’s renewed people, the returned-from-exile ones, and have my sins forgiven by the penal substitutionary death of Christ. Christ is the new temple where humanity can meet with God.

10 Things Part 1: God is Faithful to His Covenant

Jesus came with the mission of the Kingdom on his mind. He was a man that worked with a purpose (and, thus, not a unique man with an unfortunate ending). We glimpse the background for this purpose in the history of the world and the people of God, namely Israel.

Early in the Old Testament narrative a significant tragedy occurs; an event that would change the course of history forever. I am referring, of course, to the fall. God had created humanity to live in harmony with him and the created order but it was all spoiled by human rebellion, by sin. Humans and the created order were then placed under a curse by God himself.

But God in his rich grace did not respond by destroying his entire creation (as he justly could have) but would set out a plan for rescue and renewal within the created order. Specifically, he called a man by the name of Abraham; through this man he would create a nation who would be the means of fixing the problem of sin. However, all does not go well. The people who are called to be a light to the nations, who are called to be the ‘set-apart ones’, themselves fall into sin (the great sin of idolatry). They were sent into exile and it seemed as if all hope was lost.

But God is righteous (as he so often proved to be to the nation Israel). He would be faithful the covenant he made with Abraham and with his people. He would deal with the problem of sin.

The Messiah came, born of a virgin. He would be the means by which God would be faithful to his covenant. Finally God would deal with the problem of sin and death. Christ lived his life, bringing the kingdom to bear on the present, living as the faithful Israelite, and as the faithful man. He was crucified, rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God. He is the true King of all creation. In and through all of these things God has dealt with Sin (we will see how this relates to individual humans in a later post) and has inaugurated his good Kingdom where justice and peace are truly seen. This gives true hope. Sin and evil have been defeated in Christ. There is no where else to look. I love Christianity. Or should I say, I love Christ.

10 Things I Love About Christianity

Sometimes I can be a negative person. I can so easily fall into the bitter trap of only focusing on what I think is wrong with Christianity today. So it might be beneficial if I spent some time thinking about what I loved about the faith. I just want to think about Christianity in general (i.e. the work of Christ, the gift of the church, etc) not necessarily on what is good about the state of the Christian faith in our time. It is truly a blessing to be a Christian and we need to be thankful for all that is ours in Christ. So I am going to make a list of 10 things that I love about Christianity or 10 things I love about being a Christian. O' Where shall I start?

The Gospel in a Nutshell

N.T. Wright: “When Paul talks about “the gospel,” he means “the good news that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and therefore the Lord of the world.” Now, that’s about as brief as you can do it” (Interview with Trevin Wax).

Martin Luther: “The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was raised and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell” (Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings).

The Gospel According to Acts 3

The Resurrection and Salvation in Christ (4.1-12)

- The apostles were preaching the resurrection of the dead in Jesus and were placed in custody for their message (vv.1-4).
- The apostles were questioned as to what power or name they had healed the lame man (vv.5-7).
- Peter explains that the man was healed through the power of the crucified and risen Messiah (vv.8-10).
- Although Jesus was rejected by his people he has become the ‘cornerstone’ and there is salvation in no other name (vv.11-12)

The early church consistently preached the resurrection of Jesus. This particularly annoyed the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees. In his devotional commentary on Acts, N.T. Wright translates v.2, “They were thoroughly annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming that ‘the resurrection of the dead’ had begun to happen through Jesus.” Of course, if you were a person in authority this could mean trouble and would leave you feeling threatened. The resurrection of this one man in the middle of history means that he is the world’s true authority, the world’s rightful Lord. Because Jesus is the one who heals it is evident that he is the one who saves, bringing people into the Kingdom of God to experience the blessings of his messianic rule. Although he was rejected God has vindicated him. Jesus is the only saviour and no one can be delivered from this evil age except through him. The gospel is a message ‘about Jesus’ that is ‘for us’.

Crowded House Statement of Faith

Trevin Wax posted a link to Crowded House's statement of faith. You can go to their website here; but I thought I would just post it here because I think it's pretty sweet!:

We are a people longing eagerly for the future

We are waiting for the arrival of a new heaven and earth, which God will bring about through his transforming power. A day is coming when Christ will come again to establish his reign of justice and freedom. He will create the home of righteousness which his people crave, banishing forever sin, Satan and death.

In renewed bodies in a renewed creation, we will live as God’s people in unbroken relationship with God and each other. At the centre of everything will be the one God, eternally self-existent as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the creator and sustainer of all that is. His character is constant and his purposes unchanging. He will be all our glory. This will be life as it was meant to be lived – life in all its glorious and satisfying fulness.

We are a people formed decisively in the past

From before the creation of the world, God the Father chose us and blessed us in his Son, Jesus. We depend entirely upon the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, our King and Rescuer. Jesus is God-in-the-flesh, who shares our humanity, having been born of Mary. She conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit while she was still a virgin.

As the Son of God, Jesus came to make God known. As the Servant of God, Jesus came to undo the corruption of humanity and the divine curse on creation caused by the first man, Adam. He came to liberate us from our devastating self-love and to rescue us from the consequences of our ongoing wilful refusal to love God and others. Jesus fulfilled the promises made by God to Israel and realized all that Israel was called, but failed, to be. He gave us a glimpse of the world to come, calling the people of God to follow him and to demonstrate the goodness of his rule by their shared lives.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus lived the life Adam and the rest of humanity could not live. And through the Holy Spirit, Jesus died the death that Adam and the rest of humanity deserve to die. On the cross he endured and exhausted God’s righteous anger against our rebellion, paying its penalty in full. Jesus rose physically from the dead, proving the effectiveness of his death. The resurrection is the promise and beginning of God’s new world.
Jesus then returned to his Father in heaven, from where he now rules over all creation. He sent his Spirit to apply all that he achieved on the cross. The Spirit equips us as God’s people to live for Christ and speak of him so that others might submit to his gracious reign. In this way Jesus sovereignly gathers his church as he rescues those the Father has given him.

We are a people living joyfully in the present

God has given his Spirit and word to his people to equip us to serve him in the world and to bring us to his future.

God the Holy Spirit is the giver of life, the one who convicts of sin and the creator of saving faith. He is the one who opens our eyes to see the beauty of Christ so that through the Spirit we succumb willingly to irresistible grace. He is the one who gives us new hearts to turn to Christ and trust him. The Spirit sets us apart for Christ and makes us more like him through the word of God.

The Holy Spirit is the author and interpreter of the Bible, which is God’s word to his world concerning his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible reflects the characters and circumstances of the people who wrote it, but the Holy Spirit guided the entire process. So in the Bible God reliably reveals his character and plans as he tells the story of his grace in rescuing sinners for his glory. Because it is the word of God, the Bible is the final authority in matters of conduct, questions of life and issues of truth.

We live together in union with Christ as his church. God is littering the world with local expressions of this church. We celebrate our cultural diversity while enjoying unity in Christ. These churches are a means of grace to a needy and dying world. God has given us the task of making the good news of Jesus known to those without God and without hope. Our community life points ahead to what God has in store for his world. So, by word and life, we model and offer reconciliation to those alienated from God by their wilful rejection of him. We call people to turn from despising God and urge them to trust in Christ. Without Christ, people face only the judgment of being forever cut off from God and all that is good. It is by grace that we live in the present as forgiven sinners. We never earn the right to be called children of God. The gift of faith hears the ‘not guilty’ verdict that God will proclaim for his people on the coming day of judgment and enables us to live in the light of it now.

As those welcomed, forgiven and accepted, we become a community of those who welcome, forgive and accept. We respond to the gospel in baptism, expressing that we have become part of the people of God. The Lord’s Supper is the meal we regularly share together to celebrate the work of Christ and express that we continue to be part of the people of God together. Our shared life proclaims the Lord’s death until he returns to make good the invitation to his eternal banquet.

copyright © 2008 the crowded house

Fighting Awkwardness for Christ’s Sake

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well” (Matt. 9.20-22).

There seems to be nothing worse than an awkward situation. We hate feeling that way. We fill up our conversations with meaningless ‘chit-chat’ so that there are no moments of silence for us to feel uncomfortable. On a trip to the local mall one day I reached for the door handle and touched hands with another dude. Boy that was awkward!

In an effort to stay comfortable we stick with the friends we have and avoid interacting with others. But Jesus wasn’t like that. Jesus was willing to put himself in situations that we would deem ‘awkward’ for the sake of the gospel of the kingdom. In his day the woman who came to touch Jesus would be considered unclean. This would make her somewhat of a social outcast since those who she came in contact with would also be seen as unclean. People avoided these kinds of women.

As Christians we are called to act as the body of Christ. Jesus’ followers are to show the world what it looks like when Jesus becomes king, tell them that Jesus is Lord and how they might come under his rule (i.e. repenting of their sins and turning to the Lord of the world in faith alone). This means that we should be willing to put ourselves in awkward situations; even if it means that we might be seen as being ‘unclean’. Jesus is our new temple where we can go for ‘cermonial washing’ so we don’t have to fear being made dirty. Worship Christ not hand sanitizer.