During the past few weeks, I have been working to revamp this blog to fit my emerging theological and political preferences. The title was originally “Hope & Theology” as of a week ago until this week I decided there needed to be a change because my expanded interests that now includes Patristic & Matristic theology, libertarian politics, empire studies, racial reconciliation, and issues pertaining to sexual ethics. All of this really started when I started to re-evaluate my beliefs, (I have made it a habit to do that), as well as re-discover the God whose drama is recorded in Christian scripture. I keep asking the same question as Saint Anselm once asked, “Why Did God Become Human?,” and now I am barely scratching the surface of the political and ethical implications of the doctrine of the Incarnation and what it means. Ultimately, this is a specifically Christian, and therefore Trinitarian question. So, thus, from this day forward, this blog’s name will be surnamed, “Black Trinitarian Theology.”
I almost made this blog’s title “Black Libertarian Theology” as sort of a spin-off of Black Liberation Theology, of which I am well read. However, after reminding myself of my Anabaptist religious sensibilities against the dangers of marrying any political ideology to a religious system, I quickly decided against it. I will soon blog about my journey towards libertarianism after confronting many “evangelists” bent on converting me to libertarianism during my undergraduate years. I will say about this most recent change in my policy views is not due to some political pundit’s ridiculous rants or an encounter with Ayn Rand herself; rather by examining my favorite book in the Bible, Judges, along with contemplating on the Incarnation of God’s Word and trying to flesh out the full political implications of Yahweh, King of all creation descending onto earth to become an ordinary citizen.
Join me as we journey together to live out and continue God’s dramatic, saving action in history to rescue us from the empires of the world to become citizens in the empire of heaven (Revelation 11:15).
Showing posts with label Incarnation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incarnation. Show all posts
Feb 27, 2009
Feb 5, 2009
Limited Government, part 2: Some further reflections on the Trinity
(From a submitted paper 2 years ago)
*start*
Generally, our view of authority is always interrelated with our view of a Higher Power. We experience the Triune God’s omnipotence when we encounter God’s grace; God’s almighty power revealed in the vulnerability that The Messiah felt at Golgotha. Through the use of godly notions of power, the Black church can undermine modern sinful realities of racism, classism, and sexism. The oppressive relationships reinforced by sinful social and political systems in America can be disrupted by imitating the liberating relationships Christians should have with God, each other, and the community. Ideal power relationships are best conceived by imitating the Trinity: the relationships between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas notes, “[The] Trinitarian doctrine avows a God who is internally and externally relational. God, in Godself, the Godhead, is in a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity as creator, redeemer, and sustainer.”(Kelly Brown Douglas. Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2003), 119) A Trinitarian vision of power relationships would be grounded in reciprocity, equality, and self-transcendence as well as undermine worldly and oppressive social structures dependent upon inequality and imposed unjust relationships.
Jesus The Messiah the titles of King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace (Revelation 19:16, Isaiah 9:6). These political images demonstrate the Christian desire to recognize the sovereignty and graciousness of the Triune God. At the crucifixion, Jesus is crowned with thorns and labeled “The King of the Jews” by the Roman authorities because he was viewed as both a religious and political threat to the dominant cultural and political system of that time, the Roman Empire. Jesus’ declaration of the coming of the Kingdom of God served as a condemnation of the prevailing religious and political principalities of his day. He began his earthly ministry declaring, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15). Jesus prophesied Good News to people who suffered from human wickedness and social oppression. His declaration was a reversal of the world order; he advocated God’s reign over and against the rule of sinful humanity. Jesus rebuked the pagan definition of honor, the means of greatness and power in the 2nd century when he answered who had the right to sit at his right and left in his kingdom:
“You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28.)
The Messiah’s view of power is the power to serve, to freely give oneself for the sake of others. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the prophets, judges, kings and priests recognized the Spirit of God as the source of their strength. The prophet Micah declared, “But as for me, I am filled with power, the Spirit of the Lord [.]” (Micah 3:8) True power, in godly terms, begins with the Triune God sharing Godself with humanity. Throughout Scripture, God is referred to as the Almighty because God has all power. God is omnipotent because God possesses all logically possible powers which it is logically possible for a being with the attributes of God to possess (John Bowden and Alan Richardson. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983, 414). Therefore, God can never contradict God in se, including acting contrary to His goodness. In other words, unlike fallen human beings, God does not abuse power; God shares it.
The power of God is not an object that should be fought over, but a person to be shared, namely His Son, Jesus The Messiah. The apostle Paul confessed, “[We] preach The Messiah Crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, The Messiah the power and wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1st Corinthians 1: 23-25). The Christian concept of power is when one allows Jesus’ power to be made perfect in one’s weakness as s/he depends upon God’s grace. Holy Ghost power means embodying both God’s power and presence as one is conformed to the image of the Crucified Immanuel, God with us. Divine omnipotence and human empowerment are inextricably linked because it is the Spirit of The Messiah, the Holy Spirit, who is responsible for changing us into the image of our Risen Lord (2nd Corinthians 12:9).
*end*
Although this piece was submitted for an essay competition a couple of years ago, and despite the many ideological changes that have taken place within myself, I still hold the Trinitarian doctrine of Divine omnipotence suggested by this work. However, I would like to reflect on the political implications for a Trinitarian doctrine of Divine omnipotence. I uphold God God in se (as defined in the Christian tradition) as the standard for all human relationships, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and communal. God’s freedom to rule the world as God chooses is a key tenet for those that believe in the sovereignty of God; for Christians in particular, God intervenes in human history to redeem the world (in traditional Christianity). The Christian God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exists as three different persons, yet one divine essence. God the Father, according to the apostle Paul, delivers up the Son to die for our salvation, The Triune God does reveal Himself for his own glory; He shares himself in order to save humankind. In the same manner, human governments conformed in the image of the Imago Trinitas, should be limited in that no one single faction’s interests should not be held over other factions. This may call for shared power, which sounds INSANE in a country where corporations, the military industrial complex, and the prison industrial complex take priority when GOP holds the majority in the federal government, much like when unions and other special interest groups “win” when the Democrats are in power. Many would argue that America could not be changed constitutionally, say for instance, to a more participatory structure because of our long history as a 2 party system. I would contend, however, that maybe it is time to go back to the first days of the Republic. There was a tradition that the person (at that time, a white male who owned property), who lost the presidential election would become vice president. It was not until almost a half century later that political parties formally nominated a presidential and vice presidential candidate for the general election. We may need to consider returning to this tradition to liberate ourselves from the winner-take-all partisan politics that we continue to see in Washington, D.C. President Ronald Wilson Reagan, in his farewell address said , “But as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. And something else we learned: Once you begin a great movement, there's no telling where it will end. We meant to change a nation, and instead, we changed a world.” Reagan's farewell
Let us remember the traditions of the first days of the Republic and strive to be the most free, just, and peaceful nation that we can be.
*start*
Generally, our view of authority is always interrelated with our view of a Higher Power. We experience the Triune God’s omnipotence when we encounter God’s grace; God’s almighty power revealed in the vulnerability that The Messiah felt at Golgotha. Through the use of godly notions of power, the Black church can undermine modern sinful realities of racism, classism, and sexism. The oppressive relationships reinforced by sinful social and political systems in America can be disrupted by imitating the liberating relationships Christians should have with God, each other, and the community. Ideal power relationships are best conceived by imitating the Trinity: the relationships between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas notes, “[The] Trinitarian doctrine avows a God who is internally and externally relational. God, in Godself, the Godhead, is in a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity as creator, redeemer, and sustainer.”(Kelly Brown Douglas. Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2003), 119) A Trinitarian vision of power relationships would be grounded in reciprocity, equality, and self-transcendence as well as undermine worldly and oppressive social structures dependent upon inequality and imposed unjust relationships.
Jesus The Messiah the titles of King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace (Revelation 19:16, Isaiah 9:6). These political images demonstrate the Christian desire to recognize the sovereignty and graciousness of the Triune God. At the crucifixion, Jesus is crowned with thorns and labeled “The King of the Jews” by the Roman authorities because he was viewed as both a religious and political threat to the dominant cultural and political system of that time, the Roman Empire. Jesus’ declaration of the coming of the Kingdom of God served as a condemnation of the prevailing religious and political principalities of his day. He began his earthly ministry declaring, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15). Jesus prophesied Good News to people who suffered from human wickedness and social oppression. His declaration was a reversal of the world order; he advocated God’s reign over and against the rule of sinful humanity. Jesus rebuked the pagan definition of honor, the means of greatness and power in the 2nd century when he answered who had the right to sit at his right and left in his kingdom:
“You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28.)
The Messiah’s view of power is the power to serve, to freely give oneself for the sake of others. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the prophets, judges, kings and priests recognized the Spirit of God as the source of their strength. The prophet Micah declared, “But as for me, I am filled with power, the Spirit of the Lord [.]” (Micah 3:8) True power, in godly terms, begins with the Triune God sharing Godself with humanity. Throughout Scripture, God is referred to as the Almighty because God has all power. God is omnipotent because God possesses all logically possible powers which it is logically possible for a being with the attributes of God to possess (John Bowden and Alan Richardson. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983, 414). Therefore, God can never contradict God in se, including acting contrary to His goodness. In other words, unlike fallen human beings, God does not abuse power; God shares it.
The power of God is not an object that should be fought over, but a person to be shared, namely His Son, Jesus The Messiah. The apostle Paul confessed, “[We] preach The Messiah Crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, The Messiah the power and wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1st Corinthians 1: 23-25). The Christian concept of power is when one allows Jesus’ power to be made perfect in one’s weakness as s/he depends upon God’s grace. Holy Ghost power means embodying both God’s power and presence as one is conformed to the image of the Crucified Immanuel, God with us. Divine omnipotence and human empowerment are inextricably linked because it is the Spirit of The Messiah, the Holy Spirit, who is responsible for changing us into the image of our Risen Lord (2nd Corinthians 12:9).
*end*
Although this piece was submitted for an essay competition a couple of years ago, and despite the many ideological changes that have taken place within myself, I still hold the Trinitarian doctrine of Divine omnipotence suggested by this work. However, I would like to reflect on the political implications for a Trinitarian doctrine of Divine omnipotence. I uphold God God in se (as defined in the Christian tradition) as the standard for all human relationships, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and communal. God’s freedom to rule the world as God chooses is a key tenet for those that believe in the sovereignty of God; for Christians in particular, God intervenes in human history to redeem the world (in traditional Christianity). The Christian God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exists as three different persons, yet one divine essence. God the Father, according to the apostle Paul, delivers up the Son to die for our salvation, The Triune God does reveal Himself for his own glory; He shares himself in order to save humankind. In the same manner, human governments conformed in the image of the Imago Trinitas, should be limited in that no one single faction’s interests should not be held over other factions. This may call for shared power, which sounds INSANE in a country where corporations, the military industrial complex, and the prison industrial complex take priority when GOP holds the majority in the federal government, much like when unions and other special interest groups “win” when the Democrats are in power. Many would argue that America could not be changed constitutionally, say for instance, to a more participatory structure because of our long history as a 2 party system. I would contend, however, that maybe it is time to go back to the first days of the Republic. There was a tradition that the person (at that time, a white male who owned property), who lost the presidential election would become vice president. It was not until almost a half century later that political parties formally nominated a presidential and vice presidential candidate for the general election. We may need to consider returning to this tradition to liberate ourselves from the winner-take-all partisan politics that we continue to see in Washington, D.C. President Ronald Wilson Reagan, in his farewell address said , “But as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. And something else we learned: Once you begin a great movement, there's no telling where it will end. We meant to change a nation, and instead, we changed a world.” Reagan's farewell
Let us remember the traditions of the first days of the Republic and strive to be the most free, just, and peaceful nation that we can be.
Oct 30, 2008
Limited Government, Part 1: Some Initial Thoughts concerning the Incarnation
A recent SURVEY taken by the Faith in Public Life and Mercer University found that only 28 percent of American Christians relied on Christian doctrine to determine their views on torture. In general, it seems to be the case the North American Christians prefer to rely on their life experiences, logic and “common sense” in order to determine their positions on political issues. Lately, the campaign trail has heated up again with political rhetoric from the Cold War Era as well as the Civil Rights movement. Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin are insisting that Senator Barack Obama is a socialist (circa 1950s Joseph McCarthy) while Georgia Representative John Lewis uses the racist scarecrow of the now deceased George Wallace (of Alabama fame) in order to compare McCain and some of his angriest supporters.
This brand of fear mongering is ideological in nature and tries to make the accuser seems more “mainstream” than the accused; fear-mongering is more a pitch to independent, undecided voters who want to vote for the most credible candidate, i.e., the most objective-looking. The myth of unbiased politicians who work for the common good died long ago, and this year, Election of 2008 marked the death of a false myth in journalism that a reporter can be objective in the coverage of political candidates. Just ask Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Lately, as I have been reflecting on how a Christian should approach politics and a republican-democratic system, it dawned on me that maybe Christians ought to prioritize Christian teaching as they participate in public affairs. For many Christians, Jesus Christ is the king of the universe, as the King of Kings and LORD of Lords. The Body of Christ has to look no further than the reign of God that was disclosed in God’s Son Jesus Christ. God did not reveal God’s sovereignty over the nations in Christ through over powering them with military force or by leading a revolution. As Jesus was being arrested, he asked his opponents, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you come against me with swords and clubs?” (Matt 26:55; Mark 14:48; Luke 22:52). Jesus was not leading a political revolution in the sense that he was fully participating in the Roman Empire’s way of life. His revolution was one where he declared the Empire of God over and against all human governments; it was a revolution based on prayer and knowledge of Israel’s story about the creator God.
If Jesus is God Incarnate (John 1), who dwells among his own people, and we know from the story of Israel that the same creator God of Genesis is the very same Warrior God of the Exodus, then Jesus Christ’s example is one where the LORD of the world freely chooses to limit himself (having mercy on sinners and being in solidarity with the outcast). In the same manner then, followers of Christ should advocate limited government intervention in ALL aspects of life. The single most important event in God’s disclosure of God’s reign here on earth in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ according to the Christian narrative (Revelation 12). God does not rule with the powerful and the authorities of this world, but God choose to reign through with those who are powerless.
Therefore, Christ followers (I believe), should reject the bloodthirsty and imperialist foreign policy of someone like Senator McCain who uses atonement language (‘American blood sacrificed around the world saving western civilization”) to justify warmongering and empire building abroad. While defense spending is a necessity, the expansion of American territory overseas as well as the loss of human life is not necessary. Christ followers (in my opinion) should also avoid irresponsible domestic policies promoted by Barack Obama and the Christian Left who seem to think that Jesus and the church at Pentecost serve as models for a primitive form of Christian socialism. .Fiscal responsibility and balanced government need to be achieved. There was a day when frugality was looked upon as a virtue; however, it has been forgotten in this consumer society. Massive government intervention has never been the solution to our problems; to highlight the shining example of President FDR’s Good Deal policies only to forget that wars (for better or for worse), drive the economy or to ignore the fact that legal racial segregation still existed (and we have certain people still benefitting from it) is a pipe dream.
The problem I have with supporting either candidate in this election, if I give primacy to the doctrine of the Incarnation, is that both candidates promote activist government policies; for
Senator John McCain, the area of foreign policy; and for Senator Barack Obama, domestic policies. I look to King Jesus and His Government first, and then measure politicians accordingly. While I know that no politician or senator or prime minister can ever equal or serve as an imitation of Christ, rulers and representatives can share some of the same principles and virtues of God’s reign (such as self-discipline and truthfulness). Since the Incarnation for me, points to Christ’s Crucifixion, which then implies his resurrection, I must also say a word on two issues of life. God chose to first become incarnate in a vulnerable, Jewish baby during the time of Pax Romana (a very dangerous situation for infants at that time). God, therefore, identifies with the humiliated of the world, including the unborn; thus, I respectfully disagree with Senator Obama’s relative silence when it comes to confronting the pro-abortion movement.
The crucifixion and resurrection, as a doctrine taken literally, and if we believe the Gospel texts, we recognize that God is condemning the Roman form of political execution; that is why Christ is justified and glorified over Caesar in the Christian Testament (or NT), particularly in the Revelation of John. Perhaps the political implications are the creator God, God the Father of all of Creation, rebukes the use of political torture on any human being and maybe even the use of the death penalty. It is just something to think about.
Those are some initial ideas about the Incarnation and political preferences for the moment. Sometime, I may be able to go through all of the political implication of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; then again, maybe not!
“Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the Seven-fold Spirit before his throne, and from Jesus the Messiah, who is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:4-8
This brand of fear mongering is ideological in nature and tries to make the accuser seems more “mainstream” than the accused; fear-mongering is more a pitch to independent, undecided voters who want to vote for the most credible candidate, i.e., the most objective-looking. The myth of unbiased politicians who work for the common good died long ago, and this year, Election of 2008 marked the death of a false myth in journalism that a reporter can be objective in the coverage of political candidates. Just ask Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Lately, as I have been reflecting on how a Christian should approach politics and a republican-democratic system, it dawned on me that maybe Christians ought to prioritize Christian teaching as they participate in public affairs. For many Christians, Jesus Christ is the king of the universe, as the King of Kings and LORD of Lords. The Body of Christ has to look no further than the reign of God that was disclosed in God’s Son Jesus Christ. God did not reveal God’s sovereignty over the nations in Christ through over powering them with military force or by leading a revolution. As Jesus was being arrested, he asked his opponents, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you come against me with swords and clubs?” (Matt 26:55; Mark 14:48; Luke 22:52). Jesus was not leading a political revolution in the sense that he was fully participating in the Roman Empire’s way of life. His revolution was one where he declared the Empire of God over and against all human governments; it was a revolution based on prayer and knowledge of Israel’s story about the creator God.
If Jesus is God Incarnate (John 1), who dwells among his own people, and we know from the story of Israel that the same creator God of Genesis is the very same Warrior God of the Exodus, then Jesus Christ’s example is one where the LORD of the world freely chooses to limit himself (having mercy on sinners and being in solidarity with the outcast). In the same manner then, followers of Christ should advocate limited government intervention in ALL aspects of life. The single most important event in God’s disclosure of God’s reign here on earth in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ according to the Christian narrative (Revelation 12). God does not rule with the powerful and the authorities of this world, but God choose to reign through with those who are powerless.
Therefore, Christ followers (I believe), should reject the bloodthirsty and imperialist foreign policy of someone like Senator McCain who uses atonement language (‘American blood sacrificed around the world saving western civilization”) to justify warmongering and empire building abroad. While defense spending is a necessity, the expansion of American territory overseas as well as the loss of human life is not necessary. Christ followers (in my opinion) should also avoid irresponsible domestic policies promoted by Barack Obama and the Christian Left who seem to think that Jesus and the church at Pentecost serve as models for a primitive form of Christian socialism. .Fiscal responsibility and balanced government need to be achieved. There was a day when frugality was looked upon as a virtue; however, it has been forgotten in this consumer society. Massive government intervention has never been the solution to our problems; to highlight the shining example of President FDR’s Good Deal policies only to forget that wars (for better or for worse), drive the economy or to ignore the fact that legal racial segregation still existed (and we have certain people still benefitting from it) is a pipe dream.
The problem I have with supporting either candidate in this election, if I give primacy to the doctrine of the Incarnation, is that both candidates promote activist government policies; for
Senator John McCain, the area of foreign policy; and for Senator Barack Obama, domestic policies. I look to King Jesus and His Government first, and then measure politicians accordingly. While I know that no politician or senator or prime minister can ever equal or serve as an imitation of Christ, rulers and representatives can share some of the same principles and virtues of God’s reign (such as self-discipline and truthfulness). Since the Incarnation for me, points to Christ’s Crucifixion, which then implies his resurrection, I must also say a word on two issues of life. God chose to first become incarnate in a vulnerable, Jewish baby during the time of Pax Romana (a very dangerous situation for infants at that time). God, therefore, identifies with the humiliated of the world, including the unborn; thus, I respectfully disagree with Senator Obama’s relative silence when it comes to confronting the pro-abortion movement.
The crucifixion and resurrection, as a doctrine taken literally, and if we believe the Gospel texts, we recognize that God is condemning the Roman form of political execution; that is why Christ is justified and glorified over Caesar in the Christian Testament (or NT), particularly in the Revelation of John. Perhaps the political implications are the creator God, God the Father of all of Creation, rebukes the use of political torture on any human being and maybe even the use of the death penalty. It is just something to think about.
Those are some initial ideas about the Incarnation and political preferences for the moment. Sometime, I may be able to go through all of the political implication of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; then again, maybe not!
“Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the Seven-fold Spirit before his throne, and from Jesus the Messiah, who is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:4-8
Nov 22, 2007
Our Problem with God’s Justice
Texts: John 3:12-16; 35-36
1st John 4:9-16
Intro:
--Have you ever talked to a family member, it was like they were speaking a different language than you? My mom and I used to be like that. Whether talking about sports, or politics, we would saying the same thing, just using different terms.
--It is so funny because in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, it was if they were using 2 different languages. In John’s gospel, Nicodemus admits that Jesus a teacher from God, but Jesus corrects him, and says, oh no, that he is from heaven— from above.
We may only see John 3 as a chapter on God’s love on the surface, but it is also about God’s righteousness. The way we can talk about our sense of justice and divine justice can be just like the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus—same starting point, but 2 completely different understandings.
-The apostle John is often called the apostle of love. In 1st John—Love is God’s action-the crucifixion. Yet, doesn’t it strike anyone as ironic?—the author of the Gospels and Love letters from John--- may be the same oral tradition where the book of Revelation comes from-- a book dedicated to Jesus Christ and his justice. The Johanine tradition never separates God’s righteousness. This is primarily our problem with God’s justice
--Oddly enough, as Jesus is discussing his future work on the Cross and Ascension, he uses the story of how Moses raised the Serpent. This is not accidental. The Exodus story is when God 1st displayed His justice. Jesus’ Judaism is a large theme in John’s writings, like Matthew, only the use of symbols from the OT— whether referring to Moses, teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus as the manna from heaven [bread of life] (Passover),as the Passover Lamb, as David’s Good Shepherd.
Let us refer back to the Moses/bronze Serpent narrative:
Numbers 21
4From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
This was not the 1st time Moses had to deal with serpents sent from YHWH. [ In Exodus 3] Moses asked— What if the Hebrew children not trust him or YHWH’s justice, and God said—throw down your staff. A snake appeared and when Moses picked it up, it returned to a rod/staff. Then, when Moses and Aaron and Pharoah went before Pharoah: again, snakes came from Aaron’s rod which ate Pharoah’s snakes.
God was sending Moses and the Israelites a message—Trust YHWH alone. YHWH’s justice was greater than any human constructed view of Justice. Pharoah was right and just, in his own eyes. The Roman politicians and fellow Jews who executed Jesus were acting righteously, according to their own way. We Americans as so confident in our judicial system—“innocent until proven guilty” & “liberty and justice for all”—God’s justice, however looks nothing like the justice that we human beings can create. Bible’s story of God’s justice is quite different from what the world would have us to believe.
Divine justice is more majestic than what we can comprehend. God’s ways are not our ways. This is why in Scripture: snakes or serpents sometimes represent God’s wrath. When Isaiah was in the temple of YHWH, mourning the injustices of his fellow Israelites, he looked up—saw YHWH—and around his throne was these—winged cobras.
Isaiah 6:
6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
5And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”
Isaiah had to be justified—he had to recognize that only God was righteous and the One who vindicates—before he showed the family of Jacob the error of their ways. Isaiah was unjust in the face of God’s righteousness.
God’s justice is like a snake. Snakes, found in the desert, or in the country. In the City of Louisville, where I’m from—there aren’t any snakes, and although we need snakes to keep the rat population down, we really don’t want them around. We don’t want God’s justice anywhere near us. We want it to go away, like that homeless person we see sleeping in front of Loafin’ Joes, or that undocumented worker who doesn’t look like us or talk like us. God’s justice is a scary thing—like a serpent, it is ugly, lowly where we have to get low to the ground in order to receive it (just as Moses had to pick up the serpent by the tail to get his staff back) but at the same time, like the winged cobras in Isaiah’s dream, it is from above; we want divine judgment on others, on our enemies, but we never really want to that same justice shown to us. Instead, we would rather go to church every Sunday morning and talk about how God loves us and how we should love our neighbors (which usually means tolerating/without offending them). God’s justice—like the 100 foot long six winged dragon in the middle of your living room—Oh I hope it doesn’t see me…..
God’s love and justice are not divided in Scripture. Theologian James Cone argues that “Love without righteousness is unacceptable” to those who suffer injustice. If God’s love is preached without God’s wrath, sin and oppression rule; by embracing both the justice and mercy of God, we proclaim the fullness of God’s kingdom. God is not a neutral permissive Being, who sits idly by, hoping for the best while the iniquity goes unpunished; the Christian God, the Trinity—Father Son Holy Spirit—works in the world to establish God’s righteousness throughout the world, choosing the foolish, the lowly and the poor, to shame the wise, mighty and rich.
Jesus uses the example of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent as the foreshadowing of the revelation of God’s righteousness. [CAN YOU IMAGINE JESUS AS A SNAKE?] If there is one thing about the gospel of John--- it is that Jesus is innocent. His conspirators are wrong and God is right. Our human brand of law & order, what we call just, is exposed starting the Caiphas, who saw Jesus as a scapegoat so that the Roman authorities would be satisfied. However, God, in the greatest display of the Triune God’s power, used the crucifixion of Jesus to—reveal our wickedness while God remained righteous and just. In the resurrection and ascension of Christ, God vindicates Jesus as he is sitting at the right hand of God, on his throne.
God’s justice is for everybody; through Christ, God made a way out of no way, to show God’s love for all of the world—that whosoever TRUSTS in Jesus Christ, God’s son (John 3:16)—will saved.
Trusting in Jesus as God’s Righteousness is at the heart of the Gospel message. The apostle Paul, who was once a murderer, even found forgiveness by placing his trust in him. As he made the cases for the church at Rome about the order of the creation as well as the reason why no human being on this planet can call themselves righteous—as well as Jesus Christ serving as God’s Justice in his crucifixion and resurrection. Christ did not die for the righteous, but for sinners—and according to Paul, “All have turned aside, together, they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not one.” (Romans 3:12) Yet, the Letter to the Romans is filled with good news: God has shown His kindness—by sending our Justifier-- Jesus Christ. It is not from within ourselves as we remain self-assured in our justice systems or our man-made laws or our religions that we can find God, but thru fully trusting that the One True God is Just! Who can accuse God’s chosen?--It is God who justifies, it is God who vindicates, and God alone. In a land where the Supreme Court and the congress may have found me guilty of being 3/5ths of a person, but God has the final, the last word—the Alpha and Omega.
The Word according to Paul to the Romans does not stop without giving us a clue of what it means to be declared righteous, to act justly as a justified people. We should not conform to the what the world believes is just, yet be transform by the renewing of our minds, or as Jesus told Nicodemus, to be born again. Walk in humility; Rejoice and pray always; Be on one accord; and just as God treated us—do not repay evil with evil, but good with evil.
You may be asking yourself why I am wearing this Black church studies shirt. The motto say,” Linking divine justice to social justice.” Why? Because the apostle Paul nor John the evangelical kept God’s justice to the past—on the cross of Golgotha 2000 years ago. God’s justice is also for the here and now as well as the future
The words of Isaiah the prophet says it the best.
(Isaiah 9:7)
7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
1st John 4:9-16
Intro:
--Have you ever talked to a family member, it was like they were speaking a different language than you? My mom and I used to be like that. Whether talking about sports, or politics, we would saying the same thing, just using different terms.
--It is so funny because in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, it was if they were using 2 different languages. In John’s gospel, Nicodemus admits that Jesus a teacher from God, but Jesus corrects him, and says, oh no, that he is from heaven— from above.
We may only see John 3 as a chapter on God’s love on the surface, but it is also about God’s righteousness. The way we can talk about our sense of justice and divine justice can be just like the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus—same starting point, but 2 completely different understandings.
-The apostle John is often called the apostle of love. In 1st John—Love is God’s action-the crucifixion. Yet, doesn’t it strike anyone as ironic?—the author of the Gospels and Love letters from John--- may be the same oral tradition where the book of Revelation comes from-- a book dedicated to Jesus Christ and his justice. The Johanine tradition never separates God’s righteousness. This is primarily our problem with God’s justice
--Oddly enough, as Jesus is discussing his future work on the Cross and Ascension, he uses the story of how Moses raised the Serpent. This is not accidental. The Exodus story is when God 1st displayed His justice. Jesus’ Judaism is a large theme in John’s writings, like Matthew, only the use of symbols from the OT— whether referring to Moses, teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus as the manna from heaven [bread of life] (Passover),as the Passover Lamb, as David’s Good Shepherd.
Let us refer back to the Moses/bronze Serpent narrative:
Numbers 21
4From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
This was not the 1st time Moses had to deal with serpents sent from YHWH. [ In Exodus 3] Moses asked— What if the Hebrew children not trust him or YHWH’s justice, and God said—throw down your staff. A snake appeared and when Moses picked it up, it returned to a rod/staff. Then, when Moses and Aaron and Pharoah went before Pharoah: again, snakes came from Aaron’s rod which ate Pharoah’s snakes.
God was sending Moses and the Israelites a message—Trust YHWH alone. YHWH’s justice was greater than any human constructed view of Justice. Pharoah was right and just, in his own eyes. The Roman politicians and fellow Jews who executed Jesus were acting righteously, according to their own way. We Americans as so confident in our judicial system—“innocent until proven guilty” & “liberty and justice for all”—God’s justice, however looks nothing like the justice that we human beings can create. Bible’s story of God’s justice is quite different from what the world would have us to believe.
Divine justice is more majestic than what we can comprehend. God’s ways are not our ways. This is why in Scripture: snakes or serpents sometimes represent God’s wrath. When Isaiah was in the temple of YHWH, mourning the injustices of his fellow Israelites, he looked up—saw YHWH—and around his throne was these—winged cobras.
Isaiah 6:
6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
5And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”
Isaiah had to be justified—he had to recognize that only God was righteous and the One who vindicates—before he showed the family of Jacob the error of their ways. Isaiah was unjust in the face of God’s righteousness.
God’s justice is like a snake. Snakes, found in the desert, or in the country. In the City of Louisville, where I’m from—there aren’t any snakes, and although we need snakes to keep the rat population down, we really don’t want them around. We don’t want God’s justice anywhere near us. We want it to go away, like that homeless person we see sleeping in front of Loafin’ Joes, or that undocumented worker who doesn’t look like us or talk like us. God’s justice is a scary thing—like a serpent, it is ugly, lowly where we have to get low to the ground in order to receive it (just as Moses had to pick up the serpent by the tail to get his staff back) but at the same time, like the winged cobras in Isaiah’s dream, it is from above; we want divine judgment on others, on our enemies, but we never really want to that same justice shown to us. Instead, we would rather go to church every Sunday morning and talk about how God loves us and how we should love our neighbors (which usually means tolerating/without offending them). God’s justice—like the 100 foot long six winged dragon in the middle of your living room—Oh I hope it doesn’t see me…..
God’s love and justice are not divided in Scripture. Theologian James Cone argues that “Love without righteousness is unacceptable” to those who suffer injustice. If God’s love is preached without God’s wrath, sin and oppression rule; by embracing both the justice and mercy of God, we proclaim the fullness of God’s kingdom. God is not a neutral permissive Being, who sits idly by, hoping for the best while the iniquity goes unpunished; the Christian God, the Trinity—Father Son Holy Spirit—works in the world to establish God’s righteousness throughout the world, choosing the foolish, the lowly and the poor, to shame the wise, mighty and rich.
Jesus uses the example of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent as the foreshadowing of the revelation of God’s righteousness. [CAN YOU IMAGINE JESUS AS A SNAKE?] If there is one thing about the gospel of John--- it is that Jesus is innocent. His conspirators are wrong and God is right. Our human brand of law & order, what we call just, is exposed starting the Caiphas, who saw Jesus as a scapegoat so that the Roman authorities would be satisfied. However, God, in the greatest display of the Triune God’s power, used the crucifixion of Jesus to—reveal our wickedness while God remained righteous and just. In the resurrection and ascension of Christ, God vindicates Jesus as he is sitting at the right hand of God, on his throne.
God’s justice is for everybody; through Christ, God made a way out of no way, to show God’s love for all of the world—that whosoever TRUSTS in Jesus Christ, God’s son (John 3:16)—will saved.
Trusting in Jesus as God’s Righteousness is at the heart of the Gospel message. The apostle Paul, who was once a murderer, even found forgiveness by placing his trust in him. As he made the cases for the church at Rome about the order of the creation as well as the reason why no human being on this planet can call themselves righteous—as well as Jesus Christ serving as God’s Justice in his crucifixion and resurrection. Christ did not die for the righteous, but for sinners—and according to Paul, “All have turned aside, together, they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not one.” (Romans 3:12) Yet, the Letter to the Romans is filled with good news: God has shown His kindness—by sending our Justifier-- Jesus Christ. It is not from within ourselves as we remain self-assured in our justice systems or our man-made laws or our religions that we can find God, but thru fully trusting that the One True God is Just! Who can accuse God’s chosen?--It is God who justifies, it is God who vindicates, and God alone. In a land where the Supreme Court and the congress may have found me guilty of being 3/5ths of a person, but God has the final, the last word—the Alpha and Omega.
The Word according to Paul to the Romans does not stop without giving us a clue of what it means to be declared righteous, to act justly as a justified people. We should not conform to the what the world believes is just, yet be transform by the renewing of our minds, or as Jesus told Nicodemus, to be born again. Walk in humility; Rejoice and pray always; Be on one accord; and just as God treated us—do not repay evil with evil, but good with evil.
You may be asking yourself why I am wearing this Black church studies shirt. The motto say,” Linking divine justice to social justice.” Why? Because the apostle Paul nor John the evangelical kept God’s justice to the past—on the cross of Golgotha 2000 years ago. God’s justice is also for the here and now as well as the future
The words of Isaiah the prophet says it the best.
(Isaiah 9:7)
7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
Oct 28, 2007
A Tale of Two Temples
Introduction: discuss--When I was in 5th grade, I would watch Nickelodeon after a long day of school. The Legends of the Hidden Temple was my favorite show, and on it, It [the temple] talked, and told stories. It was like a history lesson and game show all in one. But today I would like to discuss 2 vastly different temples.
1st temple-
The apostle Peter preached in Solomon’s Portico at the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It was there that the prophecies in Haggai were fulfilled. the Temple was so important. Temple worship was central to all of life because YHWH resided among the Hebrew people there. Sketched in the walls of God’s house was a story, but not just any story, but the God story of salvation history from the beginning. The word of the Lord came to Solomon instructing Israel’s wisest king on every detail from the rooftops to the doors. The sole reason why Solomon was permitted to even lay the foundation of the Lord’s house was because unlike his father David, Solomon had not engaged in warfare which requires the destruction of living breathing tabernacles. [Read 1st Kings 6:1-3 (NIV)]
6:1
In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.
6:2
The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
6:3
The portico in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits wide, across the width of the house. Its depth was ten cubits in front of the house.
The sanctuary was made of the finest cedar with the inner most room containing the Ark of the Covenant. The whole house and alter was overlaid with the most refined gold. 2 angels (with their wings) guarded the sanctuary each from wall to wall. On the walls, engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers covered the outer and inner rooms of the house of God. The entrance way even had carvings of angels, open flowers, and palm trees while the inner court contained the best cedars of Lebanon. After all of this had happened, Solomon had everything that was in the tabernacle (from the dishes and cups to the burning menorah) into the innermost room of the Lord’s house. Why furnished this way (compared to 21st century churches?)?
King Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed [1st Kings 8:27-30].
8:27
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!
8:28
Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today;
8:29
that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, "My name shall be there,' that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
8:30
Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
King Solomon’s request was a return to the Garden of Eden. The flowers, the trees, the angels, on the walls in the sanctuary and on the doors refer back to the creation narratives, with the formation of God’s temple, the Earth, and His sanctuary, the Garden of Eden. God dwelled among us at Eden, in His Holy of Holies with his royal priesthood Adam and Eve.
(Scholar Scott Hahn) Parallels between Adam and Eve in Genesis and priests in Numbers and Leviticus:
a. Genesis 2:15, till (the garden) and keep it. Hebrew words—abodah and shamar---found also in commands to priests/tabernacle Numbers 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:5-6. Both Eden and the temple were entered from the East
b. God walks, the cherubim, menorah is the tree of life/ burning bush.
c. Lastly, God clothed Adam, just as Aaron was clothed. (Genesis 3:21; Exodus 28:42; Deuteronomy 23:13-14). High priests of humanity.
When the Enemy one day stole God’s treasured possessions and then returned them beyond the point of recognition; so much so that when God searched and called out for His priests, Adam and Eve, He asked, where are you? Who are you? Why don’t you know where you truly belong? Since the priests had failed to be holy anymore, God expelled them from His sanctuary, as a cherubim with a flaming sword was commanded to guard the tree of life. The events where God worked to get His priest hood back began with the election of and promises to Abraham and Sarah and realized after YHWH chose Moses at the burning bush as the liberator of the Hebrews from Pharoah. [Hebrews] celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem every year, reliving the Exodus event where God chose [their] forebears to be His royal priesthood. Centuries after King Solomon had dedicated the temple, God had expelled his priests from His sanctuary. Yet, the Lord of Hosts spoke to Haggai, promising a more glorious temple in which God would again dwell. [read Haggai 2:4-9].
2:4
Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts,
2:5
according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.
2:6
For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land;
2:7
and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.
2:8
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts.
2:9
The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
--I find it strange that the God who is supposed to reside in the temple is referred to as the Lord of hosts. The Lord of Hosts, a God with an army chooses a king who had never been to battle as the person to build His temple. This tells me two things: first, God the Creator is Lord of creation; God is sovereign because God has created all nations. This means that no nation has the right to lord themselves over another nation. Second, by selecting Solomon as the builder of choice, God is telling us something about the people who God wants worshipping at His house: people who live peaceful lifestyle to worship the One True God in spirit and in truth.
2nd Temple
That day, in Solomon’s Portico, the apostle Peter claimed that Solomon’s prayer had been answered, and that every word of Haggai’s prophecy had been fulfilled. He proclaimed the Good News, alongside his friend John, that YHWH tabernacled among us, as one of us [John 1:14— [14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.] [the Greek verb skenoo literally means God fixed a tabernacle among us]. This very person, Jesus Christ once told a Samaritan woman [read John 4:19-26].
4:19
The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
4:20
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you F30 say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."
4:21
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
4:22
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
4:23
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
4:24
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
4:25
The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."
4:26
Jesus said to her, "I am he, F31 the one who is speaking to you."
During the Passover one year, our Lord Jesus cleared the temple and made a promise to the crowd [John 2:16-19].
2:16
He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"
2:17
His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
2:18
The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"
2:19
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Throughout his life, Jesus talked about the kingdom of God in parables, about a stronger man plundering the strong man would take back his possessions. The opponents of Jesus accused him of wanting to destroy their temple while the Roman Empire accused the True King of the world of being a traitor and all had him crucified. At the crucifixion, the earth and heavens did shake as Haggai prophesied [Matthew 27:51-53].
27:51
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.
27:52
The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
27:53
After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Yet, 3 days after the temple of God had been crushed and buried, God raised him from the dead. Christ had conquered death and sin, delivering us (his treasure), from the strong man we call Satan. I remember Peter telling us that silver and gold, he did not have, but he did have the Gospel, the power of God which gives life. Upon the cornerstone who was rejected, God has made a new priesthood, of Jew and Gentile, male and female, red brown, black or white, we are all precious in His sight.
And today, the stories from the 1st Temple and the 2nd Temple continues in the life of every member of the faithful who believes in Jesus Christ and who becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. The enemy continues to try to take away Christ’s treasured priesthood—whether it be in Darfur, the western region of Sudan where the (Janjaweed) Devil Riders rape women and destroy villages; but even within the borders of the world’s lone super power, the USA,—in the abortion clinics and on death row where tabernacles of God’s breath (God’s ruach) are demolished in the name of free choice and capital punishment. [a favorite theologian, commentary] the apostle Paul, wrote to the Corinthians, however, [1st Corinthians 3:16-17].
3:16
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? F17
3:17
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
As Temples of the living God and as the chosen priesthood, the church must share the wealth of God’s Good news that Jesus lives & reigns, and that every person, old or young, from womb to tomb, is valued by our Lord. Clement of Alexandria once asked, “Without the body, how could the divine plan for us in the church achieve its end?” While the Enemies may try to steal us back, we know that he will fail. Because Christ became victorious over the world, his church will also---[in the words of the members in the Civil Rights Movement, who achieved victory in spite the bombings of churches and the abuse of their temples]-- We shall overcome; We shall overcome; We shall overcome some day; Oh, deep in my heart ; I do believe We shall overcome some day---We can overcome the destruction of God’s temple because His Son, Jesus Christ first did.
Life is sacred not because of my free choice or my flawed sense of justice but because of God's sovereign choice at the Incarnation and the justice of God we find at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the words of John--[Read Revelation 21:22].
21:22
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
1st temple-
The apostle Peter preached in Solomon’s Portico at the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It was there that the prophecies in Haggai were fulfilled. the Temple was so important. Temple worship was central to all of life because YHWH resided among the Hebrew people there. Sketched in the walls of God’s house was a story, but not just any story, but the God story of salvation history from the beginning. The word of the Lord came to Solomon instructing Israel’s wisest king on every detail from the rooftops to the doors. The sole reason why Solomon was permitted to even lay the foundation of the Lord’s house was because unlike his father David, Solomon had not engaged in warfare which requires the destruction of living breathing tabernacles. [Read 1st Kings 6:1-3 (NIV)]
6:1
In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.
6:2
The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
6:3
The portico in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits wide, across the width of the house. Its depth was ten cubits in front of the house.
The sanctuary was made of the finest cedar with the inner most room containing the Ark of the Covenant. The whole house and alter was overlaid with the most refined gold. 2 angels (with their wings) guarded the sanctuary each from wall to wall. On the walls, engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers covered the outer and inner rooms of the house of God. The entrance way even had carvings of angels, open flowers, and palm trees while the inner court contained the best cedars of Lebanon. After all of this had happened, Solomon had everything that was in the tabernacle (from the dishes and cups to the burning menorah) into the innermost room of the Lord’s house. Why furnished this way (compared to 21st century churches?)?
King Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed [1st Kings 8:27-30].
8:27
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!
8:28
Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today;
8:29
that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, "My name shall be there,' that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
8:30
Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
King Solomon’s request was a return to the Garden of Eden. The flowers, the trees, the angels, on the walls in the sanctuary and on the doors refer back to the creation narratives, with the formation of God’s temple, the Earth, and His sanctuary, the Garden of Eden. God dwelled among us at Eden, in His Holy of Holies with his royal priesthood Adam and Eve.
(Scholar Scott Hahn) Parallels between Adam and Eve in Genesis and priests in Numbers and Leviticus:
a. Genesis 2:15, till (the garden) and keep it. Hebrew words—abodah and shamar---found also in commands to priests/tabernacle Numbers 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:5-6. Both Eden and the temple were entered from the East
b. God walks, the cherubim, menorah is the tree of life/ burning bush.
c. Lastly, God clothed Adam, just as Aaron was clothed. (Genesis 3:21; Exodus 28:42; Deuteronomy 23:13-14). High priests of humanity.
When the Enemy one day stole God’s treasured possessions and then returned them beyond the point of recognition; so much so that when God searched and called out for His priests, Adam and Eve, He asked, where are you? Who are you? Why don’t you know where you truly belong? Since the priests had failed to be holy anymore, God expelled them from His sanctuary, as a cherubim with a flaming sword was commanded to guard the tree of life. The events where God worked to get His priest hood back began with the election of and promises to Abraham and Sarah and realized after YHWH chose Moses at the burning bush as the liberator of the Hebrews from Pharoah. [Hebrews] celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem every year, reliving the Exodus event where God chose [their] forebears to be His royal priesthood. Centuries after King Solomon had dedicated the temple, God had expelled his priests from His sanctuary. Yet, the Lord of Hosts spoke to Haggai, promising a more glorious temple in which God would again dwell. [read Haggai 2:4-9].
2:4
Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts,
2:5
according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.
2:6
For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land;
2:7
and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.
2:8
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts.
2:9
The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
--I find it strange that the God who is supposed to reside in the temple is referred to as the Lord of hosts. The Lord of Hosts, a God with an army chooses a king who had never been to battle as the person to build His temple. This tells me two things: first, God the Creator is Lord of creation; God is sovereign because God has created all nations. This means that no nation has the right to lord themselves over another nation. Second, by selecting Solomon as the builder of choice, God is telling us something about the people who God wants worshipping at His house: people who live peaceful lifestyle to worship the One True God in spirit and in truth.
2nd Temple
That day, in Solomon’s Portico, the apostle Peter claimed that Solomon’s prayer had been answered, and that every word of Haggai’s prophecy had been fulfilled. He proclaimed the Good News, alongside his friend John, that YHWH tabernacled among us, as one of us [John 1:14— [14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.] [the Greek verb skenoo literally means God fixed a tabernacle among us]. This very person, Jesus Christ once told a Samaritan woman [read John 4:19-26].
4:19
The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
4:20
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you F30 say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."
4:21
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
4:22
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
4:23
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
4:24
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
4:25
The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."
4:26
Jesus said to her, "I am he, F31 the one who is speaking to you."
During the Passover one year, our Lord Jesus cleared the temple and made a promise to the crowd [John 2:16-19].
2:16
He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"
2:17
His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
2:18
The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"
2:19
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Throughout his life, Jesus talked about the kingdom of God in parables, about a stronger man plundering the strong man would take back his possessions. The opponents of Jesus accused him of wanting to destroy their temple while the Roman Empire accused the True King of the world of being a traitor and all had him crucified. At the crucifixion, the earth and heavens did shake as Haggai prophesied [Matthew 27:51-53].
27:51
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.
27:52
The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
27:53
After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Yet, 3 days after the temple of God had been crushed and buried, God raised him from the dead. Christ had conquered death and sin, delivering us (his treasure), from the strong man we call Satan. I remember Peter telling us that silver and gold, he did not have, but he did have the Gospel, the power of God which gives life. Upon the cornerstone who was rejected, God has made a new priesthood, of Jew and Gentile, male and female, red brown, black or white, we are all precious in His sight.
And today, the stories from the 1st Temple and the 2nd Temple continues in the life of every member of the faithful who believes in Jesus Christ and who becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. The enemy continues to try to take away Christ’s treasured priesthood—whether it be in Darfur, the western region of Sudan where the (Janjaweed) Devil Riders rape women and destroy villages; but even within the borders of the world’s lone super power, the USA,—in the abortion clinics and on death row where tabernacles of God’s breath (God’s ruach) are demolished in the name of free choice and capital punishment. [a favorite theologian, commentary] the apostle Paul, wrote to the Corinthians, however, [1st Corinthians 3:16-17].
3:16
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? F17
3:17
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
As Temples of the living God and as the chosen priesthood, the church must share the wealth of God’s Good news that Jesus lives & reigns, and that every person, old or young, from womb to tomb, is valued by our Lord. Clement of Alexandria once asked, “Without the body, how could the divine plan for us in the church achieve its end?” While the Enemies may try to steal us back, we know that he will fail. Because Christ became victorious over the world, his church will also---[in the words of the members in the Civil Rights Movement, who achieved victory in spite the bombings of churches and the abuse of their temples]-- We shall overcome; We shall overcome; We shall overcome some day; Oh, deep in my heart ; I do believe We shall overcome some day---We can overcome the destruction of God’s temple because His Son, Jesus Christ first did.
Life is sacred not because of my free choice or my flawed sense of justice but because of God's sovereign choice at the Incarnation and the justice of God we find at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the words of John--[Read Revelation 21:22].
21:22
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
Jun 16, 2007
Sermon, "God's Original Intent"
SEMINARIANS INTERACTING SERMON
“God’s Original Intent”
It was in a constitutional law course as an undergrad that I came across the term, “original intent.” Original intent is the theory of constitutional interpretation that seeks to find our Founders’ primary objectives at the creation of our republic. John 1 is a biblical passage about God’s original intent for humankind at foundations of the world and how He accomplished His task. “In the beginning was the Word” John the Evangelist declares. The literal Greek for “the beginning”, or arche, (ar-kay) in this passage, when translated, means the commencement and the primary rule. When we look for God’s original intent, we will find redemption, relationship, and restoration.
First, the Creator chose His Son, Jesus Christ as redeemer for the whole creation. God intends for all of humanity to receive redemption through Jesus Christ (1st Timothy 2:4).
The Son was with the Father at the beginning of creation because, God who is all knowing, knew that we as humankind, were capable of breaking our bonds with the Creator. In Genesis, God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” John Wesley commented on this passage found in Genesis 1:26-28
“The three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about it, and concur in it; because [humankind], when [it was] made, was to be dedicated and devoted to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That [humanity] was made in God's image, and after his likeness […]”
The three persons in the Godhead have only one will because there is only One God; and that will is redemption through Christ. The second purpose why the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made us in their image was that God desired relationship. 1st John 4:8 says that God is love. He encompasses all love: Love for self, love for others, and love for God. God’s way of loving Himself, and others, which is the world, is His Son. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten son for whosoever believes in him shall not perish be receive eternal life.” (John 3:16) God is an intelligent spirit who draws us into intimate relationship with Him and others.
The last part of God’s intention that we find in Christian Scripture and tradition is the full restoration of our humanity. Though this passage emphasizes Christ’s divinity, it tells us something about our humanity. God dwelled with humankind at the very beginning. Yet human sinfulness, the darkness that
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