Be Careful How You Pray

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto thee. (Matthew 6:33)

In my last post, I drew from this well-known verse from the Sermon on the Mount saying that we must seek God above all else. My devotional reading by A. W. Tozer this morning has this cautionary note: “Whoever seeks other objects and not God is on his own; he may obtain those objects if he is able, but he will never have God…. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with every power of our entire being. Where love like that exists, there can be no place for a second object.” (A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Evenings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings,Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015, 335.)

I might have titled this piece “Be Careful How You Preach.” There is a strain of evangelical Christianity sometimes called the prosperity gospel. These people preach that if you have enough faith or the right kind of faith you can receive all the things you pray for. I see a couple things wrong with this. First, it puts too much emphasis on material things. The kingdom of heaven is not about getting material possessions; it is about getting God (Luke 12:15). Second, this attitude focusses so much on faith that it becomes a matter of having faith in “faith.” Biblical faith always has an object: God Himself not what He can provide.

I have always thought this attitude is a bit presumptuous, treating God like a celestial vending machine. As Tozer says, “[God] will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help men to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection.” The message of Matthew 6:33 is that the material things we might pray for, at least the necessities, are the promised result of seeking God first. The true prosperity as taught in the gospel is that we are freed from our sins (like materialism) and adopted by God.

I titled this peace as I did because it occurred to me when I read Tozer that the error of the prosperity gospel can slip into my prayers if I am not careful. Many years ago, Jesus’ statement in Mark 11:24 was brought to my attention. In the King James it says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them..” At the time, this was presented to me in the context of the prosperity gospel. It sounds pretty simple: pray for something and you will receive it as long as you believe. I struggled with that for years, especially when my prayers did not yield the desired result.

At some point in my study, I discovered that the KJV doesn’t properly translate the verb “receive.” A more accurate reading is, “Whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be done for you.” In the Greek text, the verb “receive” is in the aorist tense which should be translated as an action completed in the past. In other words, you must be so confident in your request that it is a done deal in your mind. I am reminded of Jesus telling His disciples that, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” A more accurate translation is, “Whatever you have bound (aorist tense) on earth will have been bound (perfect passive tense) in heaven.” This means the action of the disciple has already been accomplished in heaven. The disciple is simply bringing God’s will in heaven to earth. That sounds familiar: “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

That attitude implies an intimate knowledge of God’s will. I can always pray with confidence when I know I am asking God to accomplish His will on earth. I am reminded of what Graham Cooke said in Crafted Prayer; we often pray right out of the gate for something without first seeking to know God’s will in the situation. My wife, Karen, and I had a harsh lesson on this recently. She was struck suddenly with intense pain from sciatica. Naturally, we began to pray for relief; it didn’t come until the Spirit reminded me of this verse in Hebrews: “Now all discipline seems for the moment not to be joyful but painful, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it.”

I asked Karen what righteous fruit God might be wanting to grow in us. After prayerful consideration she realized that she was not fully trusting God to handle our present situation. She confessed her failure, leaned completely on God, and the pain relented. We also learned about a treatment for sciatica from our daughter, and Karen had her doctor prescribe it for her. We are thanking God for both the natural and supernatural healing He has brought. I wonder if we had thought about the principle from Hebrews earlier if Karen would not have had to suffer for twenty-one days.

I believe the key to effective prayer is very subtle. It is no surprise that our perfect example is found in Jesus’ prayer in the garden the night before He was to face incredible pain and disgrace: “Not my will but yours be done,” He said to His Father. He had prayed previously that the Father might find an alternative to His suffering, but He ultimately left the situation in God’s hands. We also have Job’s response to the test he endured: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” It is not wrong to pray for things; Jesus gives us license to pray for anything “in [His] name.” That is the same as saying “in the Father’s will.” The key is whether our prayer is for the thing or the Father’s will regarding the thing.

Prayers of solicitation and intercession are a wonderful privilege we have as followers of Jesus. While I believe God hears all our prayers, He is not obligated to answer any that fall outside of His sovereign will. If we are uncertain about God’s will in a situation, we have the blessed promise Paul records in Romans: “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” I believe this is part of what it means to “pray in the Spirit.” We may come to a point where all we can say echoes Ezekiel: “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” This is not an abandonment of our privilege to pray; it is the surrender of our will to God’s will in prayer. Truthfully, there is no more careful, effective way to pray.

 Related Posts: The Problem of Unanswered Prayer; In Jesus’ Name; A Prayer Primer

Kingdom Cravings

The longest recorded teaching of Jesus we have, the sermon on the mount, is all about the kingdom of God. Almost every line in that sermon describes the behavior of a person who belongs there. Matthew begins with Jesus’ depiction of the character traits of kingdom citizens, the nine beatitudes. They are called beatitudes because each of them starts with the word μακάριος (makarios), which is most often translated blessed. The Latin word for blessed is beatitudo, hence the beatitudes. What Jesus is saying, then, is that people who display these tendencies will find favor with God.

The core of Jesus’ teaching about kingdom people is found in Matthew 6:33. “But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The blessedness here is that the physical necessities of life which Jesus had previously been discussing are promised to those who follow the command. It would seem to be a valuable bit of information to understand the commandment and learn how to obey it.

“Seek first” is the main verb; that is the behavior which identifies a kingdom person. Because Jesus had just been talking about physical necessities, it stands to reason that by “first” He meant before considering one’s physical needs. This idea is supported in the following verse when Jesus says, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow.” If we pray according to Jesus’ prescription, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and if we trust the promise of His provision given to seekers, we should be without anxious thoughts regarding physical needs. A few verses earlier, Jesus had touched the same idea reminding His listeners that if God cared enough to provide for the birds of the sky, He would surely care for His believing children.

The Greek word Matthew uses for seek is ζητέω (zeteo). The original language carries a stronger connotation than the English word seek; it means to strive after or to crave. The object we are commanded to seek is not just to be first; it must be that which inspires a consuming desire to find. It may sound circular to say, but a kingdom person is one who zealously seeks God’s kingdom. It is not a back burner issue; it is a priority.

Now we have arrived at the meat of the command: what is the thing that consumes the kingdom person? Of course, it is the kingdom. What does that mean? Although the Greek word for kingdom (βασιλεία) can refer to a geographical setting, throughout the New Testament, it carries a more basic meaning. A kingdom is essentially the people over whom the king rules. So, the command to seek first the kingdom of God means to be consumed with a desire to be ruled by God. If a kingdom person prays a personalized version of Jesus’ model prayer it sounds like this: Heavenly Father, I want your will to be done in my life as it is in Heaven. Echoing Jesus: not my will but Thine be done.

There is a second part to what the true kingdom person seeks diligently: [the Father’s] righteousness. Righteousness is simply that which is right. To fully understand what that is, one must know the standard of right and wrong being applied. I like the way the Strong’s Concordance puts it: righteousness is, “the way in which man may attain a state approved of God.” To seek righteousness is to strive continually to do only those things which please the Heavenly Father.

It all comes down to this: a person who is seeking God’s kingdom desires earnestly to be ruled by Him and to behave in ways that are in accord with His will. Around this central core, Jesus built numerous examples of what that would look like. A kingdom person will think differently about anger, lust, marriage, swearing, retaliation, giving, praying, fasting, and those things which are truly valued. In short, those who enter the kingdom will look different from those who don’t. It is their actions that prove their position in or out of the kingdom.

I must immediately add that it is not perfection in these things that qualifies one for the kingdom. It is diligently seeking, craving these things that gains entry into the kingdom. Perfection in this life is not within our reach according to the teachings of the New Testament. Even the Apostle Paul, whom many would consider a model saint, admitted that he had not achieved perfection near the end of his life. What he said was that he would, “Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” It is striving, yearning, aching for the end of each believer’s predestined goal, conformity to Christ’s image, that marks the true kingdom citizen.

Chuck Swindoll was right when he said the Christian life is not difficult; it is impossible – impossible without the Spirit’s help that is. Apart from the Spirit, no one can please God. Jesus gives another clue; He said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.” Childlike trust is one key. The Psalmist gives another: “See if there is in me the [way of an idol] and lead me in the way everlasting.” Idolatry has always been our greatest temptation. By this I mean the tendency to put something else first before God in our hearts. Seeking first the Father’s kingdom and righteousness corrects that misstep.

There is a catch. One cannot be ruled by or follow the wishes of someone unknown. There is only one way to know God and His will: read His Word. According to the polls, the majority of people calling themselves Christians get into their Bible two or three times a month when they go to church. That does not sound like a craving for God. We should not imagine that wanting to do something (seek God) is the same as craving it. It is obvious that idolatry has crept silently into the church just as it did with the children of Israel. What is the idol – that central thing in the heart – that keeps these people from truly seeking, craving God’s kingdom? What do you crave?

Related Posts: Bringing the Kingdom; Childlike not Childish; Happy Birthday to Me

Shameless Promotion Part Two

This is a reprint and update of a blog I published in 2011. My audience has grown dramatically since then, and I have added to my published books.

“I am going to take this opportunity to do something entirely selfish with this blog. If people take my suggestion, they and their friends may spend an enjoyable hour or two, but honestly, my motive is self-promoting. Please forgive me if I am violating the non-commercial nature of the blogosphere, but if we are not free to do something harmlessly personal, we are not truly free, are we.

“Many of you know I published a novel several years ago but had no success finding a major house to market it for me. It is now available on Amazon.com. Everyone who has reported reading it has told me they enjoyed it. They may have been trying to be nice to me, but I don't think so because so many of my friends have been perfectly willing to tell me what a jerk I can be, so I suspect my novel may actually be a good read.

“My novel defies exact description. It is an action, romance, fantasy, historical story about a Biblical character who has always fascinated me. (Actually, many Bible characters fascinate me.) Imagine how busy the host of heaven must have been when God chose a simple man to build an escape vehicle for the salvation of the human race. Wings of Mentridar follows the human and the angelic stories as they intertwine in this cosmic struggle. The search for and protection of wives for the chosen one’s sons provide drama and adventure, while the race to get the ark done and all aboard before the rain begins brings a compelling sense of urgency.

“I have tried not to imagine anything which the Bible narrative would exclude as impossible, but naturally, to tell a novel length story about Noah, I had to do considerable inventing. Then there is the part about the angels. I often wonder what they do all day long as our helpers in another dimension. This is where the real fantasy comes in. If you know me at all, you know I have a pretty wild imagination; I put it to good use dreaming up activities and weapons and such for the angelic host to occupy themselves. If you know Frank Peretti's Darkness series, it is something like that, only not as scary.

“So here is my shamelessly personal "friend request." Buy a copy of Wings of Mentridar and read it. Then tell me what you think. Better yet, post a comment on Amazon.com. If it is any good, encourage your friends to buy it too. It is available from Amazon.com or CBD in their discounted marketplace. I am not being entirely mercenary, honestly. People have found Wings to be an uplifting and encouraging read. My goal in writing it was to introduce people to the fact that God is working in our lives every day in ways we cannot imagine -- except I tried to imagine in Noah's case. There is a "message" to be found in the story. I have been frustrated that the message is not getting shared. I am shamelessly asking for your help. End of line.”

That was written in 2011. Since then, I have published four more books. These are non-fiction, written to help Christians in some aspect of their lives. Lead a Horse to Water: Making sense of the Great Commission in the twenty-first century offers suggestions for getting a gospel conversation started with your “neighbors.” In the book, I expand the concept of neighbors into several categories and provide possible discussion starters for each.

Just What the Doctor Ordered: Examining Mormons Today is an effort to help Christians outside of Utah understand the Mormon faith. This book is the result of two years of study, including several months living in Salt Lake City and experiencing the Mormon culture firsthand. I was able to interview a number of former Mormons and interact with some of them who are involved in missionary outreach to their unconverted brothers and sisters. I had a long conversation with a retired Mormon district leader. I visited countless Mormon web sites, both friendly and not so. I read books written by Mormon leaders and teachers as well as books by Mormons who became disillusioned with Mormonism and left the faith.

A Life of Prayer is a small booklet created from a Sunday School lesson I wrote several years ago. This booklet is not designed to convince you that you need to be more intentional in your prayer life.  The assumption behind this workbook is that you have already felt the need to do something more than you have been doing.  The fact that you are considering a method to organize your prayer life is a good sign; it means you want to be more effective in this important aspect of Christian discipline.  The ideas in this booklet are not unique or original, nor are they experimental.  They represent a composite of tested techniques which, if applied conscientiously, will add power and consistency to your prayer life.

If Two Agree is basically my transcription of the story told by two phenomenal men, Bill and Nate Johnson. It is almost bizarre how closely the trajectory of Nate’s life followed his father’s. They were products of somewhat dysfunctional homes, so some similarity is to be expected. But the parallels are striking. Both became involved with drugs when they were young, although Nate never became addicted. Each fathered a child while still a teenager. They followed nearly identical paths through the justice system landing in a maximum-security detention facility in their home state having been charged with basically the same felonies. It was in prison where each man came to the end of himself and surrendered to God.

If Two Agree paints a marvelous picture of God’s reckless love and unbounded grace: both Nate and Bill are involved in ministry to ex-offenders and recovering addicts. They are tackling the problem of recidivism from the outside and inside. As of this writing, both are going back to prison – this time through the auspices of Prison Fellowship – to teach and encourage currently incarcerated men what they have learned about the need for a biblical faith and a human support system when they are eventually released.

The advertisement is over. I now return you to your regularly published program.

Making Room for Mystery

In the third chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that he was made a steward of a mystery that no one before had been able to understand. The mystery as he states it in verse six is that “the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow sharers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Beginning with the call of Abraham, God’s plan of redemption was carried out through Abraham’s descendants who eventually became the nation of Israel. It is important to notice that the continuation of God’s plan as revealed to Abraham was that ultimately “all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

It seems probable that God had intended Israel to share their lessons about Yahweh’s sovereign rule and His covenant love for His people, but instead of spreading Yahweh’s fame, they abandoned Him and followed other gods. Time after time the prophets admonished wayward Israel for their idolatry, and for a while they would repent and return to the Lord. Ultimately, because of their serial disobedience, God had the northern tribes captured and relocated by Assyria and later the southern tribes were taken captive to Babylon. God told them in advance that they would spend seventy years in exile in Babylon before God would release them to return home.

Just prior to, during, and after the Babylonian exile, the prophets of Yahweh began to tell of a post-exile period when the temple at Jerusalem would be rebuilt, and God would once again be worshipped there. It is in this context that the mystery begins to unfold. Many of the prophets spoke of a servant who would come from the line of David and rule from Jerusalem. That part wasn’t hard for the Jews to imagine as they were fastidious about keeping up with their genealogies, and David was promised a king to sit on the throne forever.

The thing that began to mystify them was the scope of the coming king’s rule. While the coming king would rule “from Jerusalem,” the extent of his reign appears to cover all the nations of the world according to many of the prophecies. This should have made sense given the promise to Abraham that his descendants would eventually bring blessings to all nations. To further confound them, even before they could complete the temple, the people around them began to resist their efforts. They eventually completed the temple, but before long, they were once again trampled by more powerful nations. In the period between Malachi and Matthew, some 400 years, Israel was under some nation’s thumb almost continually.

I have been reading the minor prophets in my through-the-Bible reading program, and I am reminded of the many references to the “Day of the Lord.” The phrase has two distinctly different meanings. On one hand, it refers to that glorious day when God’s Servant rules in righteousness from Jerusalem. Other times, it ominously refers to God coming in judgment either to Israel or the other nations. We know that many of the nations called out for judgment were dealt with in the lifetime of the prophets who declared their doom: Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Edom, Moab, etc. The one judgment that didn’t fall was God’s prediction against post-exile Israel. Babylon exacted God’s judgment of Israel the first time, but the later prophecies foretold another catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

The final cataclysmic end of the nation of Israel and its temple was postponed until “the last days” according to the prophets. It is popular, especially in America, to think of the last days as the time before an expected rapture of the church and a seven-year tribulation which ushers in the millennial kingdom. While that may be a possible future scenario, I find the Scripture clearly proclaiming the last days had come at the culmination of the Messiah’s ministry. In the first gospel sermon, the Apostle Peter asserted that Joel’s prophecy of the last days had come to pass on that day. He was referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the initiation of the Church of Christ.

Zechariah, often quoted as an end times prophet, is clearly speaking about physical Israel in most of the book. The prediction details neatly fit what did happen when the Jewish religious leaders rejected their Messiah and had Jesus crucified. The mystery continues to unfold as Zechariah slips into apparently apocalyptic language in the later chapters. Jesus quoted 12:7 when predicting His disciples’ abandonment: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.” John uses Zechariah twice in reference to Jesus being pierced at His crucifixion, once in his gospel and again in Revelation. It is worth noting that the passage in Revelation is referring to Jesus coming in judgment.

This aspect of Messiah’s coming in judgment is also present in Malachi. They were anticipating Messiah’s coming as their deliverance, but Yahweh asks, “Who can endure the day of his coming…. For he is like a refiner’s fire.” The prophet Joel and Isaiah both told wayward Israel to wail, for the day of Yahweh is near. It will come like destruction from Shaddai! As already noted, Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, and no one doubts the messianic allusions of Isaiah. Finally, Malachi ends his prophecy promising that before the “great and awesome Day of the Lord, I will send you Elijah the prophet.” Jesus said that John the Baptist was the promised Elijah.

Another curiosity in Zechariah is Yahweh’s statement that the area of Jerusalem would be “lifted up.” It is at this point that people from many nations will come to “Jerusalem” where “living water” flows forth, and Yahweh will be king of all the earth. That all sounds very much like what John saw in his apocalyptic vision of the heavenly Jerusalem reported in Revelation. Couple this with the statements by Paul and the Hebrew writer that believers in their day “have come” (present perfect tense) to the New Jerusalem. In their minds, the New Jerusalem was present in their day. Knowing this, it is not hard to imagine that Zechariah’s prophecies have already come to pass.

This is the mystery that was not understood until Jesus revealed it to Paul and the other Apostles – and now to us. It has two mysterious aspects. The first is that even Gentiles (all nations) would be coming to the New Jerusalem. The Jews had resisted this idea throughout their history. The second mysterious aspect is the spiritual nature of the New Jerusalem and the Messiah’s reign. Like many people today, the Jews were stuck in temporal, earthly thinking about God’s kingdom. They didn’t understand that God intended to move from a physical Jerusalem and the physical descendants of Abraham to a heavenly Jerusalem and a spiritual people chosen from all nations, tribes, and tongues.

Although I am fairly confident in the truth of my position, I remain open to the possibility that I may be wrong. My confidence is based primarily on my own study of the Scriptures and the fact that it is in harmony with the doctrine of the church throughout history. Only recently (since the nineteenth century) has the idea of Israel’s special place in the end times become popular. That popularity is primarily an American occurrence, whereas most of the present-day church would agree that “Israel” in the New Testament is all faithful through the ages, not just the physical descendants of Abraham.

I like A.W. Tozer’s suggestion that we “make room for mystery.” There will always be some things about God that remain a mystery. When Jesus came preaching that the kingdom of God had come, there were many who were mystified. Jesus explained His use of parables to His disciples saying, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those people it has not been granted.” A few verses later He continued: “The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, ‘You will listen carefully and will never understand, and you will look closely and will never perceive.’ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it.” Here is the message for us: don’t be like the unbelieving Israelites; make room for mystery but always seek to understand.

Related Posts: Who are the Other Gods? Heaven Can Wait; Isaiah as a Cautionary Tale

Post Script: The mystery that remains for me is whether God will once again deal with physical Israel in a unique way. I don’t think so, but I must admit that the situation in the Mideast today is curiously similar to the time of Israel’s prophets. Christian Zionists and those who teach a premillennial/dispensational eschatology believe God has a separate plan for Israel in the end times. These people believe the “last days” prophecies refer to a time yet to come. They believe Israel will once again be the focal point of God’s judgment on all nations.

They also believe Paul’s analogy of the olive tree teaches that broken branches (meaning unbelieving Israel) get grafted back into God’s tree. However, Paul makes it abundantly clear in Romans that God’s favor was not granted on the basis of genealogy but because of faith. The true root of God’s olive tree is not physical Abraham but faith like Abraham’s. Israel’s faithlessness (rejecting Messiah) caused them to be broken off the tree; if they (Abraham’s descendants) repent and believe in Jesus as their Messiah, they can be grafted back into the tree of faith.

What Happened in The Fall

The first three chapters of Genesis lay the foundation for the rest of the Bible. A proper understanding of the relationship between the Creator and His creation is essential for a proper understanding of all Scripture. That relationship is revealed in Genesis 1-3. The first two chapters describe God’s original intent: humans were to be His agents, His vice-regents on the earth. The world God made was perfectly suited for the people He made. It was also a place where Creator and created could have fellowship with few barriers. Chapter three tells what happened when Adam and Eve disregarded God’s authority and tried to become independent. God granted them their independence, and that destroyed the perfect fellowship they had with Him and the rest of creation as well.

The penalty for human rebellion was immediate expulsion from the Garden of Eden and eventual physical death, but that was not all. They soon learned that the perfection God had created in Eden had been removed from their existence. They quickly discovered that not only had they lost their fellowship with God, their relationship with each other and the rest of creation was also damaged. The loss of Eden literally went deep into their inner selves: the prophet Jeremiah would later say that the human heart became deceitful and disastrous and beyond their own understanding. This wide-ranging brokenness explains most of what is recorded from Genesis four all the way to the book of Revelation.

The Bible would have been a very sad tale if not for one thing: God did not give up on His creation. God so loved the world, John 3:16 tells us, that He made a way for His broken people to regain the lost relationship they had forfeited. The way God chose to bring about the reconciliation can be a bit baffling if you don’t understand God’s character. Our human heart asks why God couldn’t just forgive the transgression and restore fellowship if He truly loved the world. That could not happen because even though God is love personified, He is also holy and just. His holiness excludes anything unholy from His presence; His justice demands payment for indiscretion.

God could have simply wiped humans from the face of the earth and started over; He came close in Noah’s time, allowing only eight people to be saved. But the Bible teaches that God had a plan for His creation – a plan He formulated even before He made the earth. This is part of the mystery of the ages Paul refers to in Ephesians. It appears that God’s intention when He created the earth was to demonstrate His love, not just to humans but to all His created beings on earth and in heaven. To satisfy His justice and prove His love, He sacrificed the dearest thing any human can imagine: His Son.

About two thirds of the Bible, what we call the Old Testament, lays the groundwork for God’s plan to redeem His chosen ones. The children of Adam and later, more specifically, the children of Israel were taught how to relate to a holy God – a God who could not tolerate unholiness of any kind. The law given through Moses, and the sacrificial system it included were meant to demonstrate in a visceral way that departure from God’s rules brought costly penalties. All the bloody sacrifices required under the law of Moses prefigured a once-for-all sacrifice that would finally redeem God’s fallen world.

Just as the Mosaic sacrifices had to be perfectly formed, without spot or blemish, God’s ultimate sacrifice would also have to be perfect. The only way that could be accomplished was to bring a perfect human into being who could pay the redemption price on behalf of His peers. Anyone born of Adam inherently had the stain of Adam’s transgression and was therefore not qualified to serve as a perfect sacrifice. For that reason, God used a virgin, Mary, to miraculously bring a human to earth who was not a child of Adam but a child of God Himself. This enabled the Son to do what no other human could do: live a life completely without sin – spotless, without blemish – a perfect human.

On the cross of Calvary, Jesus, the Messiah promised by the prophets, bore all the sin of all the sons of Adam past, present, and future. When He died, Jesus paid the price of redemption for all those sins. Paul calls Jesus the second Adam because whereas Adam failed to be obedient and lost Eden, Jesus was perfectly obedient and regained the lost Paradise. Paul refers to everyone born in Adam as dead men walking because the death penalty given to Adam was passed on to his descendants. The death he is referring to is more than physical death; it is more importantly that broken, dead, fellowship with God and the rest of creation. To escape from that death, a person must resign their position in Adam and realign with a position in Christ.

That is what the Bible asks for when it requires belief in Christ for salvation. The Greek word for belief can also be translated trust. When we trust Jesus, we are putting our trust in Him to deliver us from the death we inherited from Adam. The “everlasting life” promised to believers is the life Adam forfeited when he rebelled against God. When the last of God’s chosen people come to faith in Christ, God will finish His redemptive work, and the perfect world Adam left behind will be recreated as the “new earth” promised in Revelation. After the final judgment of all people, the faithful from all ages will enjoy the restored fellowship Adam lost in the Fall. Earth will once again be God’s Garden, and believers will spend eternity in His presence there.

When you look at salvation this way, it becomes clear why it is not one’s behavior that determines their destiny; it is all about belief/trust in Christ. There are many “good” people who will not find favor with God because they have rejected the only One who can deliver them from death, regardless of whatever good they might do. The Scripture plainly asserts that no one can be good enough to merit God’s favor. This is why salvation is called a gift of God’s unmerited favor or grace. Having said that, I must add that true belief in Christ will spark a desire to please Him which will lead to obedience to His commands. This is why James could say that a believer’s works show their faith, and faith without works is dead.

 Millions of people, many of them calling themselves Christians, believe that their good deeds will earn God’s favor. That is not what the Bible teaches. The entirety of Scripture, cover to cover details God’s plan to bring His chosen people back into fellowship with Him – the fellowship He desired in the Garden of Eden. This is why true Christianity is not about religion: rites, rituals, and rules. True Christianity is about relationship – relationship with the Sovereign Creator God. The worst result of the Fall is the loss of that relationship. The good news (aka the gospel) is that restoration of that relationship is available through Jesus Christ. And the result of the relationship with Christ is the opportunity to spend eternity in God’s presence like He intended in the Garden.

Related Posts: The Knowledge of Good and Evil; Second Exodus; Necessary Obedience

Selling Heaven on Earth

At the risk of beating a dead horse and losing my readers, I am going to take one more stab at explaining what I believe the Bible says about Heaven. Several years ago, I shared my surprise with my readers that Heaven is nowhere clearly portrayed as the place believers go when they die. (See Why Heaven Matters) The idea was introduced to me by N.T. Wright, a respected Bible scholar, in his book, Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. His premise is based on a broad view of God’s entire plan for His people from Genesis to Revelation. Wright proposes that God never intended to bring His people to Heaven when they die; rather, His plan is to redeem all creation and repopulate it with all those who choose to trust Him during their life on earth. God wants to restore Eden.

Wright supports this idea by suggesting that our present concept of Heaven as a place to go when we die arose during medieval times. This picture has endured, and the real meaning of the word heaven has been lost to most Christians. Jesus and His disciples understood the kingdom of heaven He proclaimed to be an aspect of rulership or dominion, not a specific place. This might be most clearly revealed in Jesus’ statement, “The kingdom of God is within you.” (KJV). He used “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” interchangeably. God rules heaven (and earth), so heaven is where God rules.

We don’t get much help from the Old Testament defining heaven. The ancients imagined a three-tiered existence. The first “heaven” was what we might call the atmosphere. The second was outer space. The third heaven was the dwelling place of God; it surrounded and encapsulated all creation. Most often, the OT saints spoke of Sheol as the place of the dead. It sometimes appears as the grave itself and other times as the abode of the spirits of those who had passed on. Occasionally, people spoke of being raised from Sheol at some point, but their final destination was not thought of as heaven.

About three hundred years before Christ, the Jews began to mix ideas from their ancestor’s time in Babylon and the Greek philosophers’ teachings about the afterlife. Putting Zoroaster and Aristotle together, they began to imagine an afterlife in an otherworldly place ruled by Yahweh God. By the time Jesus came to earth, the majority party of the Pharisees were convinced that the righteous would be welcomed by God into His dwelling place after their resurrection from the dead. (The Sadducees didn’t believe in a resurrection after death.)

Jesus played into this thinking with many of His parables and teachings. He often spoke of a king coming from a far country to reward His servants. People were praised for setting aside wealth for a future kingdom. He talked about the bosom of Abraham as an afterlife abode. These were familiar concepts He used to make His point. When He told His disciples He was leaving, He couched His explanation in terms they would understand: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places; but if not, I would have told you, because I am going away to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”

Although Jesus indicated that He would be going elsewhere, He did not specifically say heaven. The Greek in verse two could be translated (loosely), “There is plenty of room for everyone where my Father is.” In verse four He added, “And you know the way.” They did know the way; they just hadn’t figured out what it meant that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life as He said in His answer to Thomas’ next question in verse six. He meant that the way to have eternal life is to be found in Jesus. It’s not about looking for an escape from Earth and its troubles: it’s about being in Christ. Wherever Jesus Christ is, it is “heaven.”

In the “Lord’s Prayer,” Jesus recommended praying that the Heavenly Father’s will be done, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Once God’s will is perfectly done on earth, it will be “heaven.” I believe as N.T. Wright suggested that it is God’s will that His original plan in Eden be reinstated. The prophetic promise of a “new earth” found in Revelation uses a word for “new” that is specific. It means an earth of a new kind, not new as in later in time. The “newness” of the new earth is that it is a place where righteousness dwells. Because only those who are in Christ can dwell there, it will be a place of righteousness. That would be “heavenly.”

It is hard for me to stop thinking of “heaven” as a place of future hope. But I am convinced it is not a “place” with golden streets and pearly gates. Those are metaphors God used to speak into the mindset of the people at that time. Golden streets and pearly gates just sound weird to me. However, a recreated Earth where everything works as God intended sounds wonderful to me. I plan to keep thinking of a “heavenly place” as my eternal dwelling, but when I say heavenly, I mean Earth perfected with all the graces of Heaven. God’s graces. Heaven on Earth!

If you are still reading, I will now explain why I am pounding this issue. I think that there is an opportunity for evangelism in refining our explanation of what happens after you die. I have heard many Christians say they are unsure how they feel about “heaven” if it means floating on a cloud playing a harp for eternity. How do you make that attractive to an unbeliever? The same goes for streets of gold and pearly gates. Can you honestly sell streets paved in transparent gold (?) and city gates made of one gigantic pearl? (Imagine the size of the oyster !?!) However, if in fact, “heaven” is a recreated Earth where everything works like it was intended in the beginning (Genesis 1-2), the afterlife becomes very attractive.

God created humans to live on His Earth, not in His Heaven. (Read Genesis 1-2) I believe that after the resurrection and judgement, Heaven and Earth will be reunited. That is what God intended in the first place. Adam screwed that up; Jesus fixed it. That is our message. Life on earth kinda sucks now, but if you get on Jesus’ side, you get help for the present and hope for the future. That is a message we can sell.

Related Posts: Why Heaven Matters; Is Heaven a Wonderful Place? Heaven is NOT my Eternal Home

Powerful Meekness

I recognize that my title might be seen as an oxymoron, placing two terms that appear contradictory in conjunction with one another. However, like many other apparent paradoxes of the Christian faith, I think powerful meekness perfectly describes the goal of Christian character. This is because the phrase aptly describes the character of the One to whom we are supposed to become conformed: Jesus Christ.

Paul told the Philippians that we should imitate Jesus’ attitude when He came to earth. He said that Jesus “emptied Himself.” We should not take that to mean He was an empty vessel, however. Paul could also write that in Him all the fullness of the godhead was present. He emptied Himself of omnipresence when He became located in a human body. He emptied Himself of some degree of His omniscience, telling His disciples that only the Father knew certain things. He emptied Himself of some of the omnipotence He might have used. These immutable attributes could not be contained in a human vessel.

Still, in His not nearly empty state, He displayed the type of human character God would have all His children imitate. It might be called meekness. Although the incarnate Jesus had divested Himself of much of His eternal power and glory, the Scriptures attest that He was still fully God. I believe this is because He was full of the Holy Spirit – just as we are supposed to be. Jesus could accomplish this fulness “naturally” because His human nature was not from Adam as ours is. He achieved this one-of-a-kind state by being born of a virgin. From Mary He received a physical body like all Adam’s children, but His inner being was from God, and it could then be perfectly filled with the Spirit.

I don’t think any other human can ever be perfectly filled as Jesus was, but that doesn’t mean we should not be trying. After telling the Philippians to imitate Christ, he went on to describe what that would look like in the next chapter. Relating his own experience, he said he discounted all his natural, fleshly efforts and pointed to his desire to know Christ, to gain Christ, to be found in Him, and to know the power of His resurrection. This is important; he told the Romans that resurrection power is available to all who are found in Christ. Yet even as vessels filled with that power, we are to remain humble, realizing that it is all from God. That is powerful meekness.

Charlie Kirk demonstrated how that would look in a Christian today. He stood at the gates of Hell (aka college campuses) and proclaimed his faith in Christ. His meekness is shown in his refusal to answer his critics with “I this… or I that.” His answer was always, “The Bible says….” Because he was so powerful and successful in influencing others, the enemy rose up and slew him.  The Hebrew writer says the Word of God is powerful; when we humbly proclaim the Word in the face of the enemy, we are assured a victory, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences. Quite the contrary, the devil may redouble his efforts to silence us.

We must pray that no more good, godly men like Charlie Kirk will be physically assaulted. We must pray for Erika Kirk and the thousands of others who will stand up to fill Charlie’s vacancy. But we must not imagine that the enemy will leave us alone. Even as you fight your private battles when the enemy tries to invade your home in the dark hours, you must pray that God will fill you with His Spirit and remind you of His Word. Remember Jesus’ defense against Satan in the wilderness: “God’s Word says…” Remember that He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Remember that if you resist the devil, he must flee from you.

Not by your might nor by your power, but by your humble submission to God’s design will you discover powerful meekness. We hope and pray that no one else will be murdered, but we also know that anyone who stands against the enemy will be attacked. Jesus promised that just as the world hated Him, His followers would be hated as well. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked permission to test him. Notice the enemy used Peter’s weakness as the ground of his attack. Peter failed the test at first because he let the enemy use his human nature against him. It wasn’t until Peter looked into his Savior’s eyes that he understood his failure.

In the midst of our battles, we must look to Jesus. He promised never to leave us nor forsake us; that means He is always there. We can’t know whether He will deliver us from harm, or if He will stand with us through the challenge knowing that trials perfect us. Remember that when Paul prayed to have his “thorn in the flesh” removed, God told him that His grace was sufficient for him. Paul recognized that the thorn was given to keep him humble. Paul endured the thorn, and glorified God in spite of it. That too is powerful meekness.

Even though Charlie Kirk may have fallen to an enemy’s bullet on the physical battlefield, in the more important cosmic battle he was fighting, he has scored a great victory. Millions of people world-wide are saying, “Enough!” The true haters are being revealed in their hypocrisy. Millions of people, not necessarily all believers (yet), are coming to see that the real battlefield was not a college campus in Utah, but rather a cosmic, spiritual battle that we are all engaged in whether we realize it or not.

If you are a believer, you are in that battle on the Lord’s side. You don’t need to have a national platform or TV coverage to be an effective combatant. All you need is to be robed in the power that is promised us by the blood of Christ and confidently wield the weapon we have each been issued: the Sword of the Lord, God’s Word. “Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will exalt you,” James promised. “The battle belongs to the Lord,” David proclaimed facing Goliath; your battle is also the Lord’s, even if the battle front is in your private prayer closet. The Bible teaches that our true character comes from deep within – from our spirit. If you are winning the battle there, if your heart and mind are secure in the Lord, your powerful meekness will be obvious to everyone when you face the world.

Related Post: Judge Me by my Size, Do You?; You’re Killing Me