Even the Wicked

My friend, John, and I are studying Revelation again. This time we are reading through the commentary called Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright. We chose this because the last book we read together, Surprised by Hope, also by Wright, teased us with his dismissal of the dispensational/millennial view of end times. According to Wright, the American evangelical movement is almost alone among the world’s Christians in its fixation on dispensational eschatology of John Nelson Darby and C.I. Schofield. We were curious to know how Wright (and apparently most of Christendom) interprets the most complicated and confusing book in the Bible.

What we discovered is a well-reasoned scholarly approach that is presented in a conversational format which is not at all difficult to understand. That is not to say that Wright answers all the questions that John’s apocalyptic message raises, but he does provide a framework to understand the book that is unlike what most American Bible expositors offer. As you can imagine, he refutes the popular idea that the church from John’s day until now is waiting for their rapture and a seven-year tribulation period to be followed by 1,000 years of Jesus’ reign on earth. Taking an amillennial position that sees 1,000 years symbolically, Wright proposes that the church age – from it’s beginning in Acts until now – is the reign of Christ over the enemy He defeated on the cross of Calvary. The “tribulation” John predicts was evident in his time and continues until now.

This view raises an important question that begs to be answered. If the enemy is defeated, why are we still engaged in a battle? Wright’s answer is compelling. First, in the framework I mentioned, Wright grounds his answer in the totality of God’s plan for all creation. He goes back to Genesis (don’t we always?) to show that God originally created humans to be His representatives tasked with expanding Eden over the whole earth. They failed, but God’s plan was not abandoned. God took it upon Himself to bring about the restoration of His rule first through Israel and ultimately through His Son. That Son won his victory over the enemy by becoming the Suffering Servant envisioned by Isaiah, eventually shedding His own blood on behalf of the entire creation.

In other words, the restoration of creation was accomplished through suffering. The nation of Israel’s suffering was a foreshadowing of the ultimate suffering and sacrifice of God’s own Son. Wright would have us understand that the way to redemption – redemption of all creation – is through suffering. The agent of that suffering is often, if not always accomplished by wicked forces. When Peter preached the first gospel sermon, he told his audience that Christ was put to death, “through the hand of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23) As we well know, God raised His Son back to life to validate His Messiahship and to prepare the way for the restoration of all things.

In other words, the crucifixion was not a horrible mistake; God planned it. As one proverb puts it: “All Yahweh has made is for his purpose, and even the wicked for the day of trouble. (Prov. 16:4) Paul said something similar when referring to God’s sovereign use of Pharoah to deliver the Israelites from slavery. He asked the Romans, “And what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” I wrote in “The Goodness of Wrath” that “God emptied His wrath on Calvary’s Savior so that I could enjoy eternity basking in His merciful love.” Wright points out that Jesus asked those who would follow Him to “take up [their] cross.” Taking up a cross is not an invitation to a party.

Now we are back to the message of John in Revelation according to N.T. Wright. John told his contemporaries that the way of redemption is the way of suffering – even martyrdom. They were about to face some of the worst things wicked men could devise against them. The sand of Rome’s Colosseum was bloodied by hundreds if not thousands of Christian martyrs. Roman officials reveled in mocking Jesus’ crucifixion by hanging His followers on crosses. Nero is said to have burned hundreds as living torches along the Roman roadside. John encouraged his fellow-believers by affirming that their suffering has a greater purpose.

This helps to explain a curious verse found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. He says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ, on behalf of his body which is the church.” Christ was afflicted (suffered), and Paul says he fills up, completes what Christ began by suffering on their behalf.  It also explains Peter’s words: “But to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice and be glad.” We partner with Christ in His suffering so that we may also partner with Him in His resurrection.

This is the message of Revelation plain and simple. Suffering is inevitable, but it is also good and proper when it is undertaken with the right attitude. When we are asked to suffer for our faith, we rejoice because it is the work of God to redeem His creation. As in Acts when the people were told the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice and 3,000 came to faith, our faithful suffering can be God’s way of bringing another lost one back to Him. God uses everything for His good purpose – even the wicked.

 

Related posts: Hell? Yes!; Two Pressing Questions; Defending the Wrath of God; Through the Bible in Seven Minutes