Making Old Things New

A long, long time ago, there was a Great King who established a magnificent kingdom. Out of his great wisdom and love, this Great King provided everything that was necessary for the citizens in his kingdom to flourish. There was plenty of good food to eat, lots of important work to do, and many meaningful relationships to enjoy. The kingdom itself was remarkably beautiful, a veritable paradise of lakes and rivers, mountains and valleys, plains and forests, with sun, moon, and stars above, and every imaginable kind of plant, tree, beast, fish and bird below. Best of all, the King Himself was there, and He and his people enjoyed knowing each other well. Together, they lived in peace and joy in this magnificent kingdom.

But then one horrible, no good, very bad day, an enemy attacked this magnificent kingdom and it fell. How easily and how quickly the citizens of this magnificent kingdom betrayed their rightful King, and began to serve the Enemy, right there in their old King’s own realm! This enemy appeared to be good, and promised the people great freedom and knowledge. But all they ended up with was slavery, falsehood, and eventually death. They exchanged the benevolent rule and blessings of their true king for the harsh tyranny and cursings of their new evil master. How foolish, how utterly foolish they were!

The Great King, however, greatly loved His people and His kingdom, and He determined to get them back. Even though they did not deserve His mercy, He would work out a plan over time by which He would defeat the enemy and restore His entire realm! At just the right time, the King sent His Mighty Warrior into His kingdom where he proclaimed the truth and conquered the enemy, even at great personal cost to Himself.

Many of the people realized the error of their ways and committed themselves again to their true King. Together, they purposed to serve Him faithfully, regularly offering thanks and remembering His gracious sacrifice on their behalf. At the end of time, the enemy and his evil influence were completely eradicated. The king and his people celebrated this victory with a great feast, and the king blessed his subjects in ways beyond which they could even ask or think forevermore.

This story is designed to illustrate the biblical themes of creation, fall and redemption in terms of the Kingdom of God. After all, God is the Great King who established His magnificent kingdom in the beginning at creation (Genesis 1-2). Satan the enemy attacked God’s kingdom and it fell into sin and death (Genesis 3). From Genesis 3 all the way to the end, Scripture tells us how God exerted His rule in Christ—His great warrior—in order to defeat His enemies and get His creation back.

Through the coming of the Kingdom of God into the world in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God redeems the whole creation from evil, and restores it to Himself. If we are to understand the good news about redemption, the very gospel itself, then, we must understand this concept of the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God, however, is a sadly neglected doctrine and is widely misunderstood. Many think that the Kingdom of God is simply heaven above. Others equate it with the church. Some think it is the future millennium. Still others identify it with personal piety or with social concern. All these definitions, unfortunately, fall short.

Instead, the Bible teaches that the kingdom is best defined dynamically as the rule or reign of God. It is His absolute dominion and authority that He exerts powerfully over all aspects of reality and over every sphere of human existence. The Kingdom of God is the sovereignty of God in action, especially as He exercises it redemptively against the evil in the world.

As 1 Chronicles 29:11 states, "Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all,” and as Psalm 103:19 notes, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all.”

Since it is better to show rather than to explain, let me tell you two biblical stories that put the kingdom of God on display and show how God’s sovereignty exercised against evil brings redemption to His people and makes all things new.

There is no OT story that better illustrates the Kingdom of God in action than the story of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage and captivity.

Israel's population during their 400 year enslavement in Egypt grew exponentially and their sheer size and power threatened the Egyptian authorities who sought to control them with hard labor. The nation found itself in a desperate situation and cried out to God for help. In due course, God raised up Moses who entreated Pharaoh to let his people go, that they might worship God and fulfill their calling as His people.

When the hard-hearted Egyptian King adamantly refused, God began to act with authority in the form of ten plagues. Upon the death of the firstborn, from which the Israelites were spared by the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, the stubborn monarch finally dismissed Israel from Egypt and they escaped. 

But Pharaoh had a change of heart, as he was prone to do, and went after the Israelites in hot pursuit.  With Israel’s backs against the Red Sea  and the Egyptian army closing in fast, God parted the waters, delivered His people with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and drowned the Egyptians in the waves that crashed in upon them.

Israel’s Exodus is the work of the Kingdom of God! It manifests God’s rule over the Egyptian gods and Pharaoh, His dominion over waters of the sea, and His powerful sovereignty exercised against oppression and evil, resulting in Israel’s redemption. By kingdom power, God saved His people from miserable servitude. He delivered them from the unjust tyranny of Pharaoh. He brought them under His own reign and blessing. He showed them the way out!

And not only this, but Moses taught that Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was so important that God expected the Israelites to remember it and celebrate it annually in a special Passover meal, so that all future generations would know that God had delivered Israel by His mighty power and kingdom.

Now fast forward if you will to the NT where we see another example of the Kingdom of God in action. Only in the NT, God delivers a New Israel, the Church, from a different kind of captivity, a captivity to sin, death, and Satan, by a new Moses, Jesus Christ, who places believers under a new covenant which is to be celebrated by a new meal, the Lord’s Supper or communion.

According to the NT, like Israel of old, people are still in bondage and captivity, but it is a captivity and bondage of a different kind. It’s not political bondage, or the captivity of one nation to another. Rather, it is the spiritual enslavement of the human race and the whole creation to sin, to Satan, and to death.

• To sin—for all people from birth and by nature are sinners who sin and who are in bondage to their ignorance, disordered loves, and errant actions. Romans 6.
  
• To Satan—the strong man, the thief who has stolen, killed, destroyed, blinded and bound the human race in his dominion of darkness (as John 10 tells us).
  
• To death—that mighty and dreadful foe, the wage of sin and last enemy which keeps people who through fear of death are subject to slavery all their lives (as Hebrews 2:15 tells us).

These wicked powers have wreaked havoc in our lives and on the earth. At a personal level, we are consumed with pride, overtaken by envy and anger, debilitated by laziness, and inordinately consumed with greed, food, and sex. We suffer from emotional disturbances, mental illnesses, and bodily diseases. Our lives are often miserable and difficult. We need a way out.

In society, corruption reigns. Marriage is undermined by divorce, serial monogamy, and the prospect of same sex unions. Families are wracked by internal discord, rampant materialism, and self-serving careerism. Political systems are tyrannical and corrupt. Politicians are deceptive and power hungry. The courts prostitute justice. Businesses are greedy and dishonest. The environment is polluted. The arts are degrading. Nations are at enmity and go to war. Religions express their hostility against others through terror. We need a way out.

Even the creation itself has not escaped the consequences of evil. Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires, some diseases, and even animal pain and suffering demonstrate that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of child birth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22). We need a way out.

The world is abnormal. Society is corrupt. People are in bondage. Every person, every area of life, indeed, the whole creation, cry out for redemption and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

This coming kingdom is exactly what God promises in the OT. In the Scripture Montage we heard a few moments ago, we learned of prophecies like Isaiah 9:6 that speak of the coming government of God into the world which will redeem all things. 

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Or as we sang of the coming Redeemer in the great advent hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” He is “ Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art, dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.”

So at the right time, the NT announced the fulfillment of the great OT promises in the arrival of Emmanuel and the Kingdom of God. “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand,” said Jesus in Mark 1:15, “repent and believe in the gospel.”

God’s rule and reign, His authority and dominion, His sovereignty in action was present in and through the life and ministry, the words and deeds of Jesus as He entered into conflict with and triumphed in victory over our enemies of sin, Satan, and death. So . . .

• Every time Jesus taught and preached the truth,—as in the Sermon on the Mount—that was the kingdom of  God in action, crushing falsehood.
  
• Every time Jesus performed a mighty miracle—as in healing the sick—that was the kingdom of  God in action, vanquishing disease.
  
• Every time Jesus performed an exorcism—as in the Gerasene demoniac—that was the kingdom of  God in action, defeating Satan.
  
• Every time Jesus raised someone from the dead—as in the case of Lazarus—that was the kingdom of  God in action, destroying death.
  
• Every time Jesus forgave sins—as in the woman caught in adultery—that was the kingdom of  Godin action, absolving guilt.

The purpose of the ministry of Jesus Christ, therefore, was the establishment of the kingdom-rule of God in the world, crushing falsehood, vanquishing disease, defeating Satan, destroying death, and absolving guilt, and so delivering all things from spiritual bondage, redeeming us and the creation, making all things new. This is the good news, this is the gospel, the gospel of the kingdom of  God!

Now you may be a bit perplexed and wondering: Isn’t the gospel all about the death of Jesus on the cross, not about the kingdom? That’s a good question. But please understand this: The kingdom of  Godas His rule, dominion and sovereignty was manifested supremely in a most unlikely way, through the weakness and humiliation of the cross of Jesus Christ. There on Calvary, Jesus appears to be anything but kingly, anything but royal, anything but sovereign. But He was.

The kingdom of  Godis found in the cross of Christ and the cross of Christ is in fact the kingdom of  God. There in conjunction with His resurrection, He atoned for sin, judged the devil, and defeated death. As the suffering servant and the lamb of God, He ruled from the tree and achieved the victory.

He is Christus Victor! Since the kingdom is the cross, Jesus called it a mystery, comparing it to an inauspicious mustard seed or a tiny pinch of leaven, stating nonetheless that it was the most valuable of all possessions, like a treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of great price, worth sacrificing everything in order to own it.

Though the Jews expected the Messiah to be a political deliverer—like Moses of old who saved Israel from Egypt—Jesus knew that the enemies He must conquer were not the Romans, but the far more insidious spiritual enemies of creation and the human race. His kingdom defied the popular expectations, and instead came in the unexpected and hidden way of his humble life and ministry, and at last in the way of the cross.

This triumph of the kingdom of  God is worth remembering and celebrating. This is exactly what Jesus required. “For in the night in which He was betrayed He took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

So, just as Israel of old celebrated their deliverance from Egypt through God’s kingdom with a Passover feast, so the Church as the new Israel is to celebrate the victory of God’s rule over sin, death and Satan in a similar way. And not just on an annual basis, but weekly, for it was “on the first day of the week,” that the NT church according to the book of Acts, “gathered together to break bread.” For you see, our God is a God of food and festivity, beginning with the creation banquet in Genesis and concluding with the marriage supper of the lamb in Revelation, and punctuated by the celebrations of Passover and the Lord’s Supper in between.

So the kingdom of God has come. While its complete and final form has not yet arrived, still it is already here now, present in the world, doing its work.

Just as spring break is a taste of summer time in the midst of the semester, so also the kingdom of God is present in the midst of history, as we taste of its blessings now, and look forward to the summer time of God’s kingdom when Christ returns, the Holy City the New Jerusalem descends, and the whole creation is restored in new heavens and the new earth. Amen, come Lord Jesus.

Meanwhile, the kingdom has tremendous implications on our lives now, students and colleagues, beloved in the Lord, it has tremendous implications on our lives spiritually, vocationally and relationally.

According to the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, the spiritual implications of the presence of the kingdom is that we as believers have been blessed with every possible spiritual blessing that comes to us from heaven — chosen to be holy and blameless, predestined to adoption as God’s children, redeemed through Christ’s blood, forgiven for our sins, knowing the mysteries of His cosmic purposes, obtaining an eternal inheritance, and sealed with the Spirit to the day of redemption!

Now all these blessings we receive are not only for our good, but ultimately are to the praise of the glory of God and His grace! Attention, therefore, Christians: possess these your spiritual blessings in Christ your king!

Now if Christ our king has called us into His kingdom, He has also called us to service in His kingdom. The kingdom has tremendous vocational implications. But we must be very careful here not to limit or restrict kingdom service to service in the church. We must reject the sacred-secular dualism or any form of compartmentalized Christianity and recognize the comprehensive nature of God’s kingdom rule over all creation and every aspect of life.

As Jesus Himself said to His disciples in the great commission, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Or as the Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper put it, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign overall, does not cry: Mine!” Or as the apologist and evangelist Francis Schaeffer said, “The Lordship of Christ applies to all of life and to all of life equally.” Or as we read in the words to the Christmas carol “Joy to the World,” He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.” And that curse and those healing blessings are coextensive with creation itself and all aspects of life.

So we all have vocations in service to God’s kingdom that includes but also goes well beyond the walls of the church. So, whether you are a butcher, baker or candle stick maker, then God has called you serve Him with distinction through the exercise of your gifts in every aspect of your work for the common good, to the extension of God’s kingdom through the remarkably significant, life, church and world changing ministry of Christian higher education.

If you are a student, then make no mistake that God has called you to be, not just a student who is also a Christian, but to be a distinctively Christian student. God has called you to glorify Him in your studies, and doing this on the basis of Scripture by applying yourself gladly and diligently to the pursuit of truth, to the discovery of knowledge, to the development of various skills and disciplines, and to the cultivation of godly virtues.

For the real goal of your education is not so much to prepare yourself for a career, but to so shape your mind, character, and conduct that you are prepared to fulfill all your callings in life both private and public, by being rigorously renewed in your humanity as God’s image and likeness, reflecting Him and blessing others in every thing you are and do. This, my friends, will change you and not only you, but also the world.

Finally, the presence of the kingdom of  God in the world today has tremendous implications relationally, especially as a man or a woman, as male and female, in relationships with the opposite sex, in marriage and family life, as husbands and wives, as fathers and mothers, sons and daughters.

Can’t you just imagine the kind of renewing impact kingdom spirituality and kingdom education can have on us as kingdom people who have the opportunity to experience and model the kind of love and unity that ought to characterize kingdom relationships in our churches, our marriages, our homes, our communities, and our schools. What a testimony, what an apologetic this “communion of saints” as the Apostles’ Creed calls it, would be to the watching world. For as Jesus Himself said, “by this all … will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

So the kingdom of  God has come and its transforming implications are astounding across the whole spectrum of life for us, for the church, and for the whole world. It is good news, a joy to the world, and it should make us leap, dance and sing for joy!

For our God is the great King who created a magnificent kingdom in the beginning, and though it has been attacked by an enemy, ransacked by sin and death and has fallen, God in grace and mercy has exercised his royal authority, and redeemed his whole creation through His Son and by His Spirit, and is restoring it and us to Himself as citizens and agents of His kingdom reign in the earth. This is why our Lord taught us to pray in this way, saying:

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.

Now just imagine what it would have been like to experience the exodus, if you had been a young Jewish man or woman, say about 20 years old at the time! Your parents, brothers and sisters would likely be slaves, forced to serve ruthless Egyptian taskmasters 12-14 hours a day in the hot, scorching Egyptian sun, perhaps helping to build the pyramids. You would be laboring there right along side them. Quite likely some of your family members and close friends would have even died under such harsh and unjust conditions. Your life would be hard and bitter.

But then comes Moses with a word of hope that God was about to act and act He did and you saw it all: the 10 plagues, the Passover, and God’s great miracle of parting the Red Sea . You realized God had remembered His covenant. You witnessed how He defeated your enemies and set your people free. You had hope for the future, for the very first time, for the redeeming action of God’s kingdom was making all things new!

David Naugle is professor of Philosophy at Dallas Baptist University where he has served for 14 years. In addition to teaching and working with students, he maintains an active schedule of writing and speaking.

The Power of the Gospel

Well, summer is a vacation time, and it seems that’s what the Worldview Church E-Report has been on! But we are back with another issue of our electronic newsletter that’s designed to help church leaders across the denominations preach, teach and apply the essentials of a biblical world and life view.

In this edition of our E-Report, we have several things to share with you. First, you will find a continuation of my regular study of a biblical worldview as we take a look at Genesis 4-11 by way of an overview. These important chapters document the spread and escalation of sin after the original fall and show how desperate the human condition really is, and how great a need we have for a savior! Only against this portrait of darkness will we learn to appreciate the significance of the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, the birth of the nation of Israel, and its central role in providing a cosmic Redeemer for all creation!

Also, we wrap up a three part sermon series that was preached at Dallas Baptist University this past spring. This sermon series was a part of a special worship formation program on our campus, and we focused on the three themes of creation, fall, and redemption that are at the heart of a biblical view of life. I wrote and presented this third sermon which emphasizes the redemptive significance of the kingdom of God. I hope you find it and the above study on Genesis 4-11 helpful.

Also, T. M. Moore continues his focus on the theme of wisdom in a new edition of his Isaachareans column that challenges us all to excel still more in our walk of faith, and he offers a helpful review of Naming the Elephant that is sure to stimulate your thinking.

I hope that you are having a rich and profitable summer season and may God bless you in your walk with Him and in all you do on behalf of the kingdom of God. See you next time!

In Him,
David Naugle

The Wise Shepherd, Part 4

“Where shall wisdom be found?” Out of the depths of despair Job cried out, seeking wisdom from God to help him understand and cope with his trials (Job 28:12). Job was certain that God alone knows the way to wisdom (v.23). Wisdom, Job added, begins in the fear of the Lord, which the sufferer clearly possessed. Yet he sought more of God’s wisdom, that he might regain his peace and remain faithful.

In spite of his impatience and presumptuousness, Job’s longing to know the wisdom of God provides an excellent example for pastors today. For want of wisdom, of everyday skill in living, the American Church has lost her distinctiveness. Our witness has been compromised and our influence in the great social, moral, and cultural issues of the day is all but nullified. We lack the distinctive attribute of wisdom, setting us apart as a holy people to the Lord and making our presence compelling and our views highly regarded. That wisdom will only begin to flourish among us once again as God’s shepherds make the acquisition of it their highest priority.

It is significant both that Job believed the wisdom of God was somehow to be discerned from close observation of His works (vv.23-27), and that, when God finally deigned to answer the sufferer’s complaint, it was by means (literally) of a whirlwind tour of His power in creation and providence (ch.38-41). Evidently there is wisdom to be found in such contemplations.

WISDOM IN HIS WORKS
“O LORD, how manifold are your works!  In wisdom have you made them all” (Psalm 104:24). We have previously seen that pastors desiring to grow in wisdom can do so by seeking the face of Jesus throughout the Scriptures, and by practicing disciplines of comprehensive and reflective Scripture reading and study. These, together with prayer, are essential to gaining the wisdom of God.

The Scriptures teach that the works of God in creation – including the works of culture (Psalm 68:18) – reveal His glory, and can, when studied with the eye of faith, yield true knowledge of God and of His ways (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:18-21). Solomon, who made the study of creation and culture part of his own active quest for wisdom (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:1-13), was able to draw many valuable conclusions for everyday living from his observations. The Lord Jesus exhorted his followers to discern the wisdom of God in created things – like sparrows, mustard plants, and lilies – as well as in the ways of people and their culture. When we read the words of Solomon or study those of Christ as they reflect on the wisdom to be discerned in God’s works, we experience an “aha!” of sudden insight and understanding. This, taken to heart and faithfully applied in the larger light of Scripture, can lead to true wisdom.

Here is a great mine of wisdom waiting to be explored.  Pastors who take the time to study the works of God in creation and culture will find, as Solomon and Job did, a valuable source of divine wisdom.

THE DISCIPLINES OF CREATIONAL THEOLOGY
The study of God’s works with a view to discerning His wisdom is called creational theology. Like all areas of theological study, creational theology comes with its own raft of disciplines. By learning to use these disciplines we may expect to consistently mine the mysteries of divine wisdom which are hidden in the works of His hands. While it is God’s pleasure and glory to conceal His wisdom there, it is the privilege and duty of His servants to bring that wisdom to light (Proverbs 25:1). Taking up the disciplines of creational theology can help us to do so.

Five disciplines make up the theological area of creational theology.

Observation. The first is observation. Creational theology is very much a “hands-on” field of study. One has to be out among the works of creation, or actively engaged with aspects of culture, in order to make the close observations that can lead to wisdom. This takes learning to look at – or listen to – the works of creation and culture. While it may entail learning, at least to some extent, the terms and techniques of such diverse areas of study the practice of observing creation is available even to the one whose only credentials are a delight in God’s works (Psalm 111:2). One does not need a university degree in order to begin observing with understanding and delight the wonders of many other fields of study. Simple curiosity is an excellent starting-point. And there is no shortage of helpful field guides, introductions, and how-to manuals for the amateur in any field.

The real challenge will be finding the time for observation. Whether our observations take us hiking into the woods, browsing an art gallery, contemplating a symphony, or reflecting on a book of poems, it all takes time. We will have to carve that time out of schedules already crowded with more to do than we can say grace over. But surely, since growth in divine wisdom is the promised reward, we can find a way to re-arrange our priorities in order to make time for close observation of God’s creation and the culture of His image-bearers.

Association. The disciplines of creational theology are not practiced seriatim. Rather, we employ them almost simultaneously, although we may talk about them as though they always proceeded in the same order. In association we try to relate aspects of our observations to things we already know or have previously experienced, in particular, Biblical insights, teachings, stories, and truth. What we have been observing with great care will lead us to reflect on something we have already learned or experienced from our study of God’s Word. We will try to make as many associations as possible between our observations and these settled truths, comparing and contrasting as we assemble our new insights around the bank of understandings already in place.

Integration. Next we turn to the work of integration, by which we incorporate our observations into our existing knowledge or experience. We want to meld the two together, to fuse them into one new and more expansive encounter with God’s truth. We want to fully illuminating pre-existent understandings with the insights gained from observation, at the same time allowing previous knowledge to cast divine light on the things we are observing.

In the process of integration, both previous knowledge and present observation are enriched. The aura of that fusion is where we encounter the glory of God afresh, and this prepares us for the next discipline.

Celebration. The fourth discipline is celebration, and takes the form of wondering aloud, giving thanks and praise to God, or otherwise expressing the joy of discovering His glory in some new way. Without this act of celebration we run the risk of allowing our experience, and the sense of wonder or delight associated with it, to rest at the level of created things. This is dangerously close to idolatry, but can be avoided by an act of celebration (Romans 1:18-21).

Proclamation. Finally, in proclamation we declare our experience to others. Such proclamation can take a wide range of forms, from a friendly conversation to a sermon illustration, a watercolor or poem, or even a book. Thus, by proclamation, we bring some fulfillment to God’s work of revealing His glory in the things He has made, and our calling to bring those hidden things to light for others to consider.

HOW EXCELLENT IS YOUR NAME!
Psalm 8 provides an excellent example of how observing the created order can reinforce previous understandings and lead to wisdom. Here we may glimpse all the disciplines of creational theology at work.

David seems to have been caught up in a reverie upon gazing at the majesty of the heavens. They immediately put him in mind of the greatness and excellence of God, whose glory tells throughout His creation. David’s thoughts then turned toward himself, the opposite of the vast heavens, as he reflected on the smallness and apparent insignificance of human beings. What can possibly be so important about people that the God of all creation attends so faithfully, and personally to them?

Only this: that God has made us in His image and likeness. Yet, at the same time, human beings are superior to the angels in that the entire creation has been assigned to their stewardship. These associations would have come to him not from his observations of the heavens, but from his previous understanding of revealed truth. Psalm 8 was David’s means both of celebrating the wonder and excellence of God, of his responsibility for bringing out the goodness, beauty, and truth of God in all his work.

Practicing the disciplines of creational theology can be an important resource for pastors seeking to grow in wisdom. Together with prayer, disciplined reading and study of Scripture, and seeking the face of Jesus in all things, attending to the works of God in creation and culture can help us to regain the wisdom we need for renewal.

T. M. Moore is a Fellow of the Wilberforce Forum. He serves as Pastor of Teaching Ministries and Director of the Center for Christian Studies at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tenn. He is the editor of the series, Jonathan Edwards for Today’s Reader (P & R), the latest volume of which is Praying Together for True Revival. His book, Consider the Lilies: A Plea for Creational Theology, will be released in May, 2005, by P & R. Audio messages and lectures by T. M. can be secured from WordMp.3.com. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in Concord, Tenn.  He can be reached at nacurragh@aol.com.

Jesus and Paul on Sin

In our last study, we examined the fall of humanity into sin in Genesis 3. But what does the New Testament have to say about our fallen human condition and the impact of sin on the world? The answer to this question is found below in this discussion of sin from the perspective of Jesus and Paul.

WHAT DID JESUS THINK?
Jesus was the smartest man that ever lived! Remember? In our efforts to develop the mind of Christ, we need to know something about what He taught about sin and its effects on people. Now we must realize that Jesus was not a systematic theologian. He did not offer any formal, abstract discussion about hamartiology, or the doctrine of humanity in sin. Rather, He was primarily interested in real people at a personal level. He interacted with them in the ordinary experiences of everyday life. In these informal settings, His ideas about the human condition emerge.

Jesus clearly indicated throughout His ministry that people are immensely significant to God. That’s why they occupied such a central place in His ministry as the special objects of His concern. At the same time, His perspective was perfectly balanced. He was neither overly optimistic nor excessively pessimistic about human nature. He properly emphasized our strengths and our weaknesses, our greatness and our guilt. He knew what was in man and woman, both the good and bad. He believed everyone could and should be spiritually renewed, and that He was the key to bringing that about. As He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus was quite clear, therefore, about what sin had done to us (that’s why we are worn out, overburdened, and in need of relief). According to our Lord, our hearts are the key to life (Matthew 6:21) and that is exactly where sin has its seat. Jesus knew that it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and what is on the inside is not good. "For from within, out of the heart of men,” says Jesus, “proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23; cf. Matthew 15:18).

Our hearts are thoroughly corrupt, even though we try to disguise that corruption outwardly. The “cup” may be clean without, but filthy within (Matthew 23:25). The “sepulcher” may be externally beautiful, but internally foul (Matthew 23:27). People can act religiously, but be hypocrites and lawbreakers (Matthew 23:28 ). Though we might try to hide our true condition from others, and even ourselves, Jesus knows exactly where we stand. He traces sin to the very core of every person, to the inner man or inner woman. The heart of our sin problem is the problem of our sinful hearts. Its water is poisonous; its soil produces bad fruit.

In this framework, Jesus uses a number of concrete images to depict our fallen condition. We are sick and in need of a physician (Mark 2:17). We are lost and need to be found (Luke 15). We are guilty and in need forgiveness (Luke 7:36-50). We are distressed and downcast and need a shepherd (Matthew 9:35-38). We are blind and need sight (John 9). We are in darkness and need light (John 8:12). We are dead and need life (John 11:25-26). We are spiritually hungry and thirsty and need bread and water (John 6:35; 7:37-38). We are in bondage and need freedom (John 8:34-36). We are possessed and need deliverance (Matthew 12:28-29). We are lame and need to walk (Mark 2:1-12). We are confused and need to know the way (John 14:6). We are troubled and need peace (John 14:1; 16:33). We are idolatrous and need to know God (John 4:23-24; 17:3). We have been born only once and need to be born again (John 3:1-16). In short, we are evil (Matthew 7:11), and need to be redeemed.

This is what Jesus thought about sin and human beings. He did not mince words in describing the woes that have befallen us. For Him, however, these were not the final facts about us. Our condition was never hopeless in His sight. Why? Because He always viewed people from the vantage point of God’s redemptive purposes. He came to seek and to save that which was lost! (Luke 19:10).

WHAT DID PAUL THINK?
The Apostle Paul, who was a rather brilliant fellow himself, also thought deeply about sin and its gnarling effects. In his epistle to the Romans, which has been called “the cathedral of the Christian faith,” Paul spells out his hamartiology quite methodically in the opening three chapters of this book. First, he portrays depraved Gentile society in its idolatry, immorality and evil behavior (1. 18-32). Second, he addresses critical moralizers (Gentiles or Jews) who profess high ethical standards and apply them to everybody except themselves (2:1-16). Third, he turns to self-confident Jews who boast of their knowledge of the Law, but do not obey it (2:17-3:8). Fourth and finally, he encompasses the whole human race in sin and concludes that all are guilty and without excuse before God (3:9-20). We would like to take a closer look and the first and fourth of these main points to ascertain the content of Paul’s mind on this matter of sin.

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul presents an in-depth discussion about the sinful condition of the non-Christian world at large. God has made Himself known universally. But unbelieving people have rejected this knowledge, and justly incurred His wrath and judgment. As St. Augustine said, “sin is the punishment for sin,” and that is certainly what we see on display here. God has abandoned the non-Christian world because of its idolatry, and given it over to degrading sexual passions and to a reprobate or depraved mind. The final outcome is not only the religious and moral dissolution of insubordinate individuals, but also the breakdown of defiant societies as a whole.

Romans 1:18-32 makes especially good sense against the background Genesis 1-3. Like Adam in Eden who failed to acknowledge God as His Creator and submit to Him wholeheartedly, so here non-Christian men and women reject their intuitive awareness of God the Creator and throw off their creaturely status before Him. Foolishly, they seek to become autonomous, independent, and self-legislating. This rebellion, however, does not lead to genuine freedom or to a higher kind of life. In fact, exactly the opposite occurs: devolution, not evolution, decent rather than ascent. Human beings in revolt have fallen as idolaters to the level of the beasts, to unnatural sexual practices, and to general reprobate nastiness. They have sacrificed the true beauty of their humanity as the image and likeness of God for a gross and distorted caricature.

According to Romans 1:18, God is mad. His wrath falls down upon idolatrous and immoral people like a rain shower because they have pushed aside His truth in their rebellion against Him. [By the way, parents sometimes feel the same toward their children when they ignore their presence and wishes.] God has made Himself well known to all people in their consciousness and through creation (v.19). The truth about God is naturally available inside of us in the heart and outside of us in the world. Everyone, everywhere senses God within (Divinitatis Sensum). The seed of religion (semen religionis) is planted in every soul. Everyone, everywhere can see God in creation. It is the theatre of His glory (theatrum Dei).

Paul makes this last point very clear in verse 20. There he states that God’s invisible attributes of power and divinity are actually visible in and through creation. Nonetheless, human beings in their spiritual indifference turn a cold shoulder to this largess of divine truth. It makes God mad. Who can blame Him? As a result, they have no excuse before Him.

This rejection of the one true God, however, does not mean that people become irreligious. Instead, they become idolaters. Nature abhors a vacuum and so does the human heart. It cannot function without a god to worship. But the heart is darkened (v.21) and the mind is deceived (v.22). These two verses describe the “noetic” effects of sin, that is, the effects of sin on the human mind (from nous, the Greek word for “mind”). As a result of this profound spiritual ignorance, a stupid exchange takes place. Instead of worshipping God in His incorruptible glory, people now worship other people and even animals in their corruption and abasement (v.23). Just how low can we go?

Unfortunately, we can go even lower. As we mentioned above, the punishment for sin is more sin, and here our idolatry translates directly into sexual immorality (vv.24-27) and moral reprobation (vv.28-32). Apart from the fear of God, people are not afraid to believe anything or to do anything. So God’s lets them “do their own thing” in their impiety. Nothing worse could befall them, however, than to be dismissed by God in His wrath and be turned over to themselves. Three times the text says: “God gave them over,” and He did, respectively to heterosexual impurity (v.24), to degrading homosexual passions (vv.26-27), and to a reprobate mind or heart shorn clean of any moral sensitivity whatsoever (vv.28-32). The reasons given for these judgments of abandonment are because they have rejected God’s truth, embraced a lie, and become worshippers of idols (vv.25,28). How dangerous it is, therefore, to fiddle around with God and His truth.

So Paul is quite clear in his assessment of the human condition. Men and women with hardened hearts have spurned God’s gracious revelation. As inherently religious creatures, people must still worship something whatever it may be. Idolatry, however, invites generous doses of divine displeasure. Not only is it spiritually unsatisfying, but it also results in severe moral and mental degeneration. This is the sad but true condition of many people and many cultures. It may even be the condition of some friends of ours, and perhaps our own nation.

In our next issue we will finish up what Paul has to say about sin.

The Trend of Declining Atheism

A review of Alister McGrath’s, The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World (New York: Doubleday, 2004).

It is quite possible, with all the distractions of the current political season, the increasing drone of postmodernism, evangelicalism’s crisis of identity, and finding a workable subject for this week’s sermon, today’s busy pastor may have missed two significant emerging worldwide trends. These trends will undoubtedly shape the face of pastoral ministry and the work of the church in the immediate future.

The first trend is what may be the first rays of a worldwide awakening of faith in Jesus Christ. For years we have been hearing reports, mainly from within the evangelical camp, about large numbers of people coming to Christ in Africa and China, among other “non-Western” places. Because we are all familiar with the tendency of spokespersons from our camp to “speak evangelistically” concerning their projects, we may have taken these reports lightly. But what shall we say when a leading secular journal, and one not generally friendly to the evangelical cause, urges its readers to consider what it calls the “Great Awakening” in Africa and China? In two issues, less than a month apart, The New Republic offered its readers an opportunity to glimpse the immense scale of the progress of Christian faith in sub-Saharan Africa and mainland China (Andrew Rice, “Enemy’s Enemy,” August 9, 2004; Joshua Kurlantzick, “Move Over, Confucius,” September 6, 2004). Clearly God is at work in contexts where, lacking the distractions of material abundance, people are coming to faith in Christ, in numbers that stagger the imagination. Such faith exists prominently in the face of inconvenience, hardship, and outright persecution.

The second trend is the decline of atheism as a viable worldview. This is the trend reported by Alister McGrath in his new book, The Twilight of Atheism (really, in McGrath’s case, a man who writes books like you and I get out of bed in the morning, I should say one of his new books). The ostentatious atheism of the French Enlightenment never quite got off the ground before Napoleon silenced its advocates. And the great nineteenth-century wellsprings of atheistic thought seem weary, if not exhausted, in the face of failed secular visions and growing interest in spirituality of all kinds. Darwinism is on the ropes; Freudianism is passé; and the only serious Marxists left in the world seem to have gravitated to the English and history departments of American universities. Indeed many colleges have become a kind of old folks home for recalcitrant Reds, where they can rant and rave all they want, but where no one really takes them seriously any more.

McGrath’s report is one of the most encouraging books I’ve read in years. It is largely an historical overview of the last 250 years of Western intellectual history; tucked away in the middle, however, is the thrilling story of McGrath’s own journey from atheism to faith. He also provides historical coverage of the rapid growth of Christian movements during the past century, in particular, Pentecostalism. His story is both philosophical and biographical as he charts the rise and fall of vaunted atheistic worldviews, and tells the stories of celebrity atheists such as (who else) Madalyn Murray O’Hair. His conclusion, all things considered: Atheism is on the run. And what is true worldwide is doubtless true in our own communities. People, no longer merely dismissive of the idea of God, are once again looking seriously at the arguments for spiritual reality and the life of faith. 

The emergence of these two trends represents a golden opportunity for evangelical pastors and their churches. If we can begin to rekindle evangelistic fervor, coupled with loving service, in our congregations, we might find these same trends suddenly unfolding in our own back yards. We might find our churches on center stage, directing the action as agents of the Spirit of God.  Who knows? It may please the Lord, if we show ourselves serious about advancing the Kingdom and proclaiming the Good News of Christ, once again to ignite the spark of revival and awakening here in the wastelands of our own nation.

T. M. Moore is a Fellow of the Wilberforce Forum. He serves as Pastor of Teaching Ministries and Director of the Center for Christian Studies at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tenn. He is the editor of the series, Jonathan Edwards for Today’s Reader (P & R), the latest volume of which is Praying Together for True Revival. His book, Consider the Lilies: A Plea for Creational Theology, will be released in May, 2005, by P & R.  Audio messages and lectures by T. M. can be secured from WordMp.3.com. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in Concord, Tenn. He can be reached at nacurragh@aol.com.

Helping Local Congregations Develop a Biblical Worldview

In the October 1993 edition of the journal First Things, the noted Lutheran theologian Robert W. Jenson wrote an article with the provocative title: “How the World Lost Its Story.” In this article, he documented how the secularizing forces of modernism undermined the world’s defining narrative of the creating and redeeming God rooted in the Jewish-Christian Scriptures. It was replaced, of course, with a new Enlightenment vision of life based on human reason and scientific progress as the hope of the world. This story became the world’s new story, but it was a story without a “universal story-teller.” As Jenson rightly points out, however, “If there is no universal story-teller, then the universe can have no story line . . . If God does not invent the world’s story, then it has none, then the world has no narrative that is its own.” For these reasons and others, the modern story failed, as the horrors of the twentieth century have demonstrated clearly. Now we are left only with the postmodern critique of this failure, as we grope about for viable alternatives for the human future.

Certainly the biblical Church ought to provide a viable narrative alternative for the human future, but sadly, she has lost her story as well. Or if the Church has not lost her story entirely, then at least she has lost a substantial part of it, and the part she now has and tells is unfortunately limited and certainly less powerful. As a matter of fact, the Church’s missing or partial story is perhaps the best explanation why the world lost its story. To the extent that the Church is called by God to be the custodian of the world’s story as the storehouse of divine revelation—the pillar and support of the truth, as St. Paul states in 1 Timothy 3:15—the Church’s faithfulness or failure in explaining that revealed story in its fullness will determine not only her own, but also the world’s narrative fortune. So much is at stake when it comes to the Church’s responsibility as the minister and herald of the total biblical story.

Now the Church’s story is also her worldview, her overall view of life and the world that is based upon Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, from creation to new creation. But if the Church has lost her story or her worldview as a whole or in part, what must she do to get it back? What should be done to rectify this situation? Certainly there are many needs and challenges facing the Church today. I am convinced that one of the most important, if not THE most important, is the foundational issue of helping local congregations recover a holistic, comprehensive biblical worldview. As a larger theological context, Christian worldview has the potential to revolutionize Christian experience, deepen and enrich ministry, and empower the kingdom role of churches in cultural renewal. Just think what could and would happen if the Church retrieved the amazing wealth of her narrative resources and began to fulfill her divine vocation as the people of God within the framework of an all-encompassing vision of life  grounded in the whole counsel of God!

The question, of course, is how are we doing on this front? What kind of progress is being made in terms of worldview implementation in an evangelical context? Honestly, in this situation, the reviews are mixed. It is like the doctor who said to his patient: “I have some good news and I have some bad news.” The patient said, “Ok, what’s the good news? The doctor said, “The good news is that the tests you took showed that you have twenty-four hours to live.” The patient said, “Well, if that is the good news, then what on earth is the bad news?” “The bad news is,” said the doctor, “is that I have been trying to get in touch with you since yesterday!”

Similarly, when it comes to this matter of the promotion of a Christian worldview in the Christian community at large, I have some good news and bad news. Some realms of the evangelical church deserve the grade of an A in terms of their understanding, embodiment, and promotion of a Christian worldview and its cultural significance. Other domains in the same born again, Bible-believing domain are at the lower end of the grading scale. To borrow Charles Dickens opening line of A Tale of Two Cities, “It is the best of times, it is the worst of times . . .”

But let me be a bit more specific. What I detect is that the progress and influence of a Christian worldview in evangelical culture is primarily due to the efforts of various para-church organizations.

In evangelical churches at large, however, the worldview diagnosis is not nearly as cheery. Recent polling by the Barna Research Group among born-again, Bible-believing Christians paints a pretty dismal worldview picture in the churches. According to Barna’s criteria, only nine percent of adults and two percent of teenagers have a Christian worldview. In a separate study, Barna found that only 51 percent of Protestant pastors possessed the same. The elementary nature of Barna’s worldview criteria makes his conclusions even more distressing. I think my dog “Kuyper” could successfully answer most of the questions he asked on his survey (yes, his name is “Kuyper,” named after Abraham Kuyper!). One can only imagine what the results would be if the criteria used to measure worldview comprehension in the evangelical churches were raised to an intermediate, much less an advanced level. Thus, the crucial need today is for the promotion, development, and implementation of this same worldview vision in the preaching, teaching, and ministries of evangelical churches. In this way, evangelical ecclesiology, I humbly submit, needs to be born again. I am  bringing to our attention what J. I. Packer has called the “stunted ecclesiology” of contemporary evangelicalism, and its loss of genuine “churchliness.” There has to be more to Christianity, the church, and the believing life than what we so often see and experience today. If with G. K. Chesterton, we believe that “Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags,” just think about what it could and would be and do if it were mixed to full strength and filled to the brim?

Consequently, for the past year or so, I have been working on a project of bringing Christian worldview into the church context, and I would like to present it to you in a nuts and bolts outline form. I call my proposal, with all due respect to Rick Warren, “the worldview-driven church!”

But first of all, from my own experience and observation, I detect at least three debilitating problems in churches today, each of which could be remedied substantially by the knowledge and application of a canonically complete, holistic biblical worldview. The first is the bits and pieces syndrome. This is when the faith is taught and experienced in imbalanced fragments—a teaching here, doctrine there, an outreach event here, church activity there—rather than as unity of coherent parts appropriately fitting in the larger context of a biblical whole. For example, in regard to three doctrines of creation, fall, and redemption, Russian Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann writes, “our real question is: how can we ‘hold together’—in faith, in life, in action—these seemingly contradictory affirmations of the Church, how can we overcome the temptation to opt for and to ‘absolutize’ one of them, falling thus into the wrong choices or ‘heresies’ that have so often plagued Christianity in the past?” Indeed, that is the question. Sometimes it seems that the manner in which Christianity is communicated in the churches, despite a regnant Biblicism, is like a dictionary: it contains lots of information, but doesn’t have much of a plot. It resembles the unassembled pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The second problem is a disconnection between the Old and New Testaments. This results in the failure to understand New Testament Christianity in the context of the total biblical canon and its unified theological message. Many people in evangelical churches are what a pastor friend of mine calls “New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs believers.” Their own devotions and the sermons they hear are from the New Testament primarily, with only an occasional excursion into an Old Testament poetic or wisdom book. But they have few clues about how Jesus Christ, redemption, and the Church connect integrally to the  Adam and Abraham, creation, and the nation of Israel. The results are a kind of quasi-Marcionism, and a partial, soteriological understanding of the Church’s faith divorced from its larger cosmological context rooted in a created but fallen world. After all, Christianity is not only a religion of salvation, but of creation, indeed of the salvation of creation!

The third problem is dualism. This egregious heresy and doctrine of demons, with Platonic, Gnostic, Manichean, and Enlightenment roots, slices metaphysical and anthropological reality into the distinct categories of the spiritual, sacred, and eternal vis-á-vis the physical, secular, and temporal. Christianity is sequestered in the former domain while in the latter domain is found ordinary life. The compartmentalization of Christianity has distorted the faith, disfigured believers, devastated creation and culture, damaged the Church, diminished its influence, and deprived God of glory. For these reasons, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has called this bifurcated outlook, in which “the cause of Christ becomes a partial and provincial matter within the limits of reality,” the most “colossal obstacle” to genuine faith.

This mega-problem of dualism, along with the bits and pieces syndrome and the disconnection between the Old and New Testaments are chief causes for the reduced versions of Christianity that are commonplace in far too many evangelical churches today. My worldview driven church proposal, therefore, is an attempt to respond to these three problems through an articulation of the big picture of the Christian faith, and I offer it as the guiding framework for the faith and practice of local congregations who love God, His Word, His world and His people.

More on this next issue!

David Naugle is professor of Philosophy at Dallas Baptist University where he has served for 14 years. In addition to teaching and working with students, he maintains an active schedule of writing and speaking.