Helping People Develop Roots & Wings
Who is God? What is He like? What has He done?
I’ve started doing a podcast with two great people, Art Stump and Lacie Shingleton. In this week’s episode, we talk about Reformation Day and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In this podcast, we discuss what justification by faith alone means, how Luther re-discovered it, why it is so important, and how this fits with Christians doing good works. Listen to it by clicking here.
The New Testament is a book written in the context of the world of Greeks and Romans. For the Greeks and Romans, there were two types of “people” (or rational beings) in the universe. There were the mortals and the immortals.
The immortals were those who could not die and possessed great power and abilities. Mortals were human beings on earth. The line dividing mortals and immortals was porous. Those who did great deeds or possessed exceptional beauty or skills on earth could become immortal. For example, the Roman Senate usually “deified” the Emperors, which meant that they were recognized as now having a life with the immortal gods.
In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” I have no doubt that the Corinthians would have thought of the distinction between mortals and immortals when the leaders of the church read this letter to them.
So, when the Apostle Paul said, “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50), this would have made complete sense to the Corinthian Gentiles. It did not mean that the physical body was bad. It meant that the kingdom of God was a place for those who were changed into immortals.
In the movie Thor, Oden casts Thor out of Asgaard, and Thor becomes a mortal in a flash, in a twinkling of the eye. The Apostle Paul envisions something like this but in reverse when he contemplates our destiny: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (51b-52a). This would have made sense to the Corinthians as well.
In spite of the similarities between the conceptions of Greek culture and Paul’s description of the end time event, there were significant differences as well.
First, in the Greek view, humans became immortal at death. In Paul’s view, immortality begins with Jesus. Jesus was not declared immortal or a god upon His death. He rose from the dead. He obtained immortality by conquering death (note, by the way, that the word Paul uses for conquering death is the word, “victory” [Greek: nikos (or in the feminine, nike!]).
Second, people become immortal at the end of the time. Jesus raises those who are dead or changes those who are living to be like Him in His glorious immorality. It occurs at what Paul calls “the last trumpet.”
Third, it is not only the great leaders or kings who become immortal, it is all people who believe in Jesus. “For as in Adam all die, so all in Christ shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). It is not our great deeds that bring about our immortality but the great deeds of Jesus Christ.
At the same time, like the Greek heroes, the Christian’s immortality follows upon labor. This should encourage us that no matter how difficult things may be or how little results we may see, the result of the Christian life is eternal glory. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). The glory of immortality awaits!
“We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew, and we don’t run with boys who do.” If people think of holiness, they may think of something like that old caricature of holiness.
But people don’t usually think about holiness. Holiness is one of those concepts the Bible uses that we don’t run into very often in our daily lives. It’s a concept that is at the periphery of our civilization.
For the writers of the Bible, however, it was very important. When they pictured the throne room of God, they described the angels around God’s throne saying, “Holy, holy, holy!”
God is absolutely holy. This means He is absolutely perfect and pure, set apart from everything else. Now note: He not only has this perfection, He is devoted to it and delights in it. This may seem strange until we remember that God is Triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That means the Father is devoted to the glory of the Son and the Holy Spirit as each member of the Trinity is to the other.
This gives us some idea of what it means when God says, “Be holy as I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2).
In the Bible, God is not the only one who is holy. Places are holy like the temple. Things are holy like the ark. People are holy like the priests.
This means that they are set apart from service to other things. In this sense, the caricature of holiness (“We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew . . .”) has something right in it. We separate ourselves from evil things and even from the misuse of good things.
Take the Sabbath, for example. The Sabbath involves setting aside things we do on the other six days. So, many people think of it merely in terms of not working.
But being set apart is about being set apart for something. It is about being set apart unto the Lord Himself. It means seeing His glory and delighting and finding joy in it. That is holiness.
There is an instructive scene on this point in the book of Nehemiah. When the Israelites returned to the land, they celebrated the Feast of Booths. During this Feast, the priests would read the law of God. When the people realized it, they were filled with a sense of their own disobedience, and this rightly grieved them. However, Nehemiah told them: “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (8:10). Let go of other things and rejoice in the Lord. That is holiness.
In one of my Doctor of Ministry classes, Dr. Steve Childers gave me this definition of holiness that I’ve relished ever since. He said, “Holiness is loving God and others well while maintaining our joy.”
This gives holiness quite a different flavor than what we are used to. The more I think about it, though, the more I believe that Dr. Childers had captured the positive side of holiness. Holiness sets us apart from certain things that will harm us or lead us in a wrong direction to send us in the right direction: finding our delight in service to and love of God. Holiness is about joy. Any talk about holiness that fails to mentions this should be proscribed. We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is holiness.
Even though we don’t use the word holiness much in our society, we are all looking for something bigger that can give our lives meaning, purpose, and joy. The trouble is we seek it in things that can’t really provide it. Thus, the call to holiness–finding that meaning, purpose, and joy in God alone. This is a purpose and joy that will not disappoint, and this is holiness.
It’s easy to think that life will go on and on like it has forever, but we know that’s not true. You came into this world. You will leave it. Nations rise. Nations fall. Circumstances change.
Our faith teaches us that the biggest change in world history occurred when Jesus came into the world. It also teaches us that He will come again. This world where people eat, drink, marry, sleep, work, and rest will radically change. There will be a renewed heavens and new earth.
This change is so huge that it is hard to wrap our minds around it. How can we do it?
First, all the joy we desire will be fulfilled. Whatever brings you joy in this world is a pale reflection of the joy that will occur in the new heavens and new earth. The new earth will be a place of unspeakable joy.
Second, all that is lost will be restored. This is a world full of tragedy. Children die. Parents die and leave their children behind. As I was thinking about this article, I recalled the Gatlinburg fires a few years ago where countless people experienced trauma, lost houses, and lost pets. Sixteen people lost their loves. This is a world of tragedy, but the new heavens and new earth restores what is lost.
Third, all that has wounded us will be healed. Many people are experiencing deep wounds from circumstances, the people around them, and their own actions. Even when are not, we all have wounds from the past. For a while, we do well, but then something happens and all the pain comes rushing back. We wonder, when am I ever going to get past this? While we can have healing in this life, perfect healing exists in the new heavens and new earth.
That is the glorious hope of the Christian. If we can think in these ways about the new heavens and new earth, it will help us anticipate them with much greater hope. We can define ourselves in the words of the Nicene Creed as those who “look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”
When I was young, I read and heard C.S. Lewis’ wonderful classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (hereafter LW&W). As a young boy, I was moved by the story of Peter.
Peter’s story is the classic story of a young and inexperienced on a quest. This person has to grow up in order to take leadership in meeting a great challenge. It’s a story of growth, and it’s a story that we all love, whether its form is Annie, Star Wars, or James and the Giant Peach.
A few years ago, I read LW&W out loud to my children, and I made an astonishing discovery. This book is not really about Peter at all. It’s all about Aslan. The title is not Peter, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.. It is The Lion, W&W.
Throughout LW&W, the focus is on what Aslan is going to do or is doing. Aslan wins the victory. Yes, some of the Narnians and Peter fight, but their role is relatively minor. It’s Aslan who defeats the witch and wins the fight.
I think that some of the Bible stories are like that. In the case of Zachaeus, we, as wee little children, were fascinated by the wee little man Zacchaeus who climbed a tree, which was something we also loved to do.
However, the “Zacchaeus” story is not really about Zacchaeus. It is about Jesus. Zacchaeus is there, but it is Jesus who is pursuing Zacchaeus and making things happen.
Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Roman Empire, and he was no doubt a hated man. Sometimes we try to think about who Zacchaeus represents in our modern world. I think he represents me . . . and you . . . and every other human being on earth.
The God who created the universe comes down in human form to connect with us. He goes right up to us in the midst of a crowd and says, “Wes” or “David” or “Zacchaeus, I’m coming to your house today. I want to have a relationship with you.”
The conclusion of the story tells us this: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
It is God pursuing man.
Jewish Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel explains that this is what the Bible is all about. He writes, “Most theories of religion start out with defining the religious situation as man’s search for God . . . [but, a]ll of human history as described in the Bible may be summarized in one phrase: God is in search of man (emphasis his, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, p. 136).
The Christian faith concurs with this perspective and adds that God’s search is so intense that He became a human being. In Jesus, as the Zacchaeus story reveals, God is pursuing man. The God who made heaven and earth and governs it all in perfect wisdom is pursuing you.