John 3 is probably ground zero on this whole issue. Certainly there is no verse more universal known than John 3:16. So let's start small. John 3 opens with Jesus having a clandestine (I presume) chat with Nicodemus, who was a man on the Jewish ruling council. Old St. Nic here really took a chance with this since Jesus was largely seen as directly challenging the Jewish way of life. Still, Nic seems sincere in learning from the Master. Jesus opens with this line:
3 Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again. It's interesting that Jesus does NOT say we have to be born again to be saved. He says we have to be born again to SEE the Kingdom of God. Being born again opens our eyes to the truth that is already present before us.
I love the movie The Matrix. In it, there is a hidden world behind the Matrix---one is that is the truth and always present. Neo is born again as he comes to realize that what he knew of the world is a cyber existence. The transition is shocking and painful and comes with great responsibility. Being born again is being willing to accept the Truth behind what we see, to trust and see the Divine Creator continuing to weave and create. Coming into the Kingdom is an act of BEING and SEEING. Later we will see that while the Truth is revealed at no cost whatsoever, that knowing the Truth commands a response.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
John 2---Desecration of Pots and Temples
Of course not all chapters in John will deal directly with this concept of Christ taking away the sin of the whole world. A secondary issue of great interest to me is Christ's constant demonstration that the code of law established by Moses and the Levitical priests had passed away with His coming. Note first that it is Christ's coming that mattered most, not his death and resurrection. This is made obvious by the fact that if His arrival had not superseded the law then Jesus would have been a notorious sinner---not just breaking the law, but engaging in acts which could be conceived as mocking it.
In John 2 we begin with Jesus' first public miracle---the changing of water into wine. It was no accident that He choose the huge ceremonial cleansing pots to contain the wine. These held blessed water that was used through the day for pre-meal washing. After having the servants fill them to the brim, the water became wine which defiled the pots. Further the quantity here is staggering---a hundred and fifty gallons of wine---enough to make all the wedding party drunk many times over. At verse ten we hear the comment from the master of the banquet,
"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." I believe this is a prophetic comment about Christ's arrival---God had revealed himself through the prophets of old, and yet Jesus was a giving of the very best at the end of the season of the wedding party between God and Israel. Throughout the Bible fine wine is referred to as a blessing from God. Here, the fine wine is God Himself, "This is my blood..." We commune with Him in a declaration of abundance.
John 2 begins with Jesus making a mockery of the ceremonial cleansings by desecrating the cleansing pots. The chapter ends with his clearing the temple of the money changers and those selling sacrifice. He did so not with words of admonition or a kindly plea, he runs through like a mad man with an instrument of violence. Interestingly he takes the whip to the physical temple in an act symbolic of the scourging His own body---the true temple of God---will receive at the end of His life. This is a demonstration that the old ways are set aside; the striving is gone, and perfection has come. Jesus desecrates the temple---at least in the understanding of those at the time. The true temple---the true dwelling place of God---supersedes all buildings and monuments which were a shadow of what has come.
In John 2 we begin with Jesus' first public miracle---the changing of water into wine. It was no accident that He choose the huge ceremonial cleansing pots to contain the wine. These held blessed water that was used through the day for pre-meal washing. After having the servants fill them to the brim, the water became wine which defiled the pots. Further the quantity here is staggering---a hundred and fifty gallons of wine---enough to make all the wedding party drunk many times over. At verse ten we hear the comment from the master of the banquet,
"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." I believe this is a prophetic comment about Christ's arrival---God had revealed himself through the prophets of old, and yet Jesus was a giving of the very best at the end of the season of the wedding party between God and Israel. Throughout the Bible fine wine is referred to as a blessing from God. Here, the fine wine is God Himself, "This is my blood..." We commune with Him in a declaration of abundance.
John 2 begins with Jesus making a mockery of the ceremonial cleansings by desecrating the cleansing pots. The chapter ends with his clearing the temple of the money changers and those selling sacrifice. He did so not with words of admonition or a kindly plea, he runs through like a mad man with an instrument of violence. Interestingly he takes the whip to the physical temple in an act symbolic of the scourging His own body---the true temple of God---will receive at the end of His life. This is a demonstration that the old ways are set aside; the striving is gone, and perfection has come. Jesus desecrates the temple---at least in the understanding of those at the time. The true temple---the true dwelling place of God---supersedes all buildings and monuments which were a shadow of what has come.
John 1:17-51 "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"
Continuing in our examination of the Gospel of John from a presupposition that God will actually accomplish what He set out to do: the Restoration of ALL. We are specifically setting out verses which either refers to this or the converse side. Read the whole chapter to maintain context.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This will be examined more later. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law, but to fufill it. In looking at the actions of Jesus in the chapters to come we will see he often behaved contrary to the law of Moses. If we are to ask WWJD? we must note that He did not honor the law of Moses very much. Jesus brings both grace and truth. Grace means unmerited, unconditional favor. That's a hard truth for the legalistic folks.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This one just blows me away. Here we have John the Baptist, the one sent ahead to make way for a new order between God and man, and he is proclaiming that Jesus takes away the sin of the world. There are no qualifiers here, no specifying that just those who believe will be saved. Indeed, the whole world becomes sinless, which to me indicates that not just humankind is brought into restoration, but all the earth---all of creation. The term Lamb of God is important. I don't truly understand the whole sacrifice thing; I suspect that in Old Testament times the sacrifice process was simply a type and shadow of the sacrifice God Himself would make by and through His Son Jesus. If we simply looked to John's proclamation, we would be done here: Jesus took away the sin of the world. Amazing.
To Be Continued...
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This will be examined more later. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law, but to fufill it. In looking at the actions of Jesus in the chapters to come we will see he often behaved contrary to the law of Moses. If we are to ask WWJD? we must note that He did not honor the law of Moses very much. Jesus brings both grace and truth. Grace means unmerited, unconditional favor. That's a hard truth for the legalistic folks.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This one just blows me away. Here we have John the Baptist, the one sent ahead to make way for a new order between God and man, and he is proclaiming that Jesus takes away the sin of the world. There are no qualifiers here, no specifying that just those who believe will be saved. Indeed, the whole world becomes sinless, which to me indicates that not just humankind is brought into restoration, but all the earth---all of creation. The term Lamb of God is important. I don't truly understand the whole sacrifice thing; I suspect that in Old Testament times the sacrifice process was simply a type and shadow of the sacrifice God Himself would make by and through His Son Jesus. If we simply looked to John's proclamation, we would be done here: Jesus took away the sin of the world. Amazing.
To Be Continued...
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
John 1:1 through 16; The Gift of Light to Everyone
It's all about presuppositions. When you approach the Bible with the mainline belief that God will only save those few who have ever lived that got the formula right for "salvation" then that's what you will find. Of course that belief is what I was told from the pulpit for decades, so I have to really work to push that mindset back and really seek to hear the Truth of God. I am examining what happens when I approach the Bible with the hope that God might actually accomplish through Jesus what He set out to do---which was to bring the whole world into a loving relationship with God and each other. Yes, I know there seems to be a conflict, yet both thoughts are fully there. I want to choose to believe that God is bigger and more gracious than I can ever hope or dream. I want to believe God has already set the world right in the heavenlies and that the world is in the process of becoming "on earth as it is in heaven."
I am doing a study of the Gospel of John with the presupposition that through the gift of His son, God set into motion the redemption of all. Today I will focus on verses from John 1:1-16 which witness to this concept. All Bible quotes are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. When God pronounced in Genesis 1 that He looked over all his creation, and it was good, was God suddenly confined to the restraints of time? Was it good only for a minute and then went to hell the second Adam ate some bad fruit? I don't believe it. God stands outside of time and pronounces His creation Good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end. Do you live in a good house? Is it perfect? Do you have a good child? Is he/she perfect? Good is an attitude, a hope, that what is is in the process of becoming good. Good means the glass is half full. What God pronounces as good is good! Note ALL is good. Then, now, and forever!
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Here is the set up. The redemption of ALL people is in Jesus. I choose to believe that the mystery, the magic, and the majesty of Jesus is that through Him ALL are restored to right relationship with the creator. Verse 5 answers Verse 4: indeed, darkness is within men (men always includes all people), yet it is proclaimed here that darkness will not prevail. Glory to God!
7 He [John the Baptist] came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. Here's that pesky word ALL again. Those with a presupposition that most people who've ever lived will go to hell focus here on the word might. To them that means not all will believe, but they might, which means they could, yet won't. However that is not the clear context of this verse or the passage. Here, ALL means ALL. All will believe.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Here, the true light, who is Jesus, gives---a perfect gift---to everyone. This is a gift, not a contract. There is no "I'll give you this IF you do that." Perfect light is the unconditional gift to everyone from the True Light.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The light is there. The gift is there. Not all will see it or receive it immediately, yet it is there. All will see it some day; for those who see it and embrace it now, nestling into the bosom of God is available immediately.
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. Those reading with the most go to hell mindset relegate all here to mean just those who believe. We will talk about that a lot. There is no qualifier here. The word we here could, and I believe does, mean we in the collective we of us all, just as all here means all. Grace did exist before Christ---that was grace already given, yet with the advent of God on earth, a better grace---the fullness of grace is received by us all.
I had intended to put a commentary of one full chapter in each post, yet I am going to have to break it up. Please go back and read the whole chapter in context. My highlighting certain verses does not mean I am neglecting the others or that they conflict with my presupposition. If they conflict we will deal with them. Blessings to all.
I am doing a study of the Gospel of John with the presupposition that through the gift of His son, God set into motion the redemption of all. Today I will focus on verses from John 1:1-16 which witness to this concept. All Bible quotes are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. When God pronounced in Genesis 1 that He looked over all his creation, and it was good, was God suddenly confined to the restraints of time? Was it good only for a minute and then went to hell the second Adam ate some bad fruit? I don't believe it. God stands outside of time and pronounces His creation Good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end. Do you live in a good house? Is it perfect? Do you have a good child? Is he/she perfect? Good is an attitude, a hope, that what is is in the process of becoming good. Good means the glass is half full. What God pronounces as good is good! Note ALL is good. Then, now, and forever!
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Here is the set up. The redemption of ALL people is in Jesus. I choose to believe that the mystery, the magic, and the majesty of Jesus is that through Him ALL are restored to right relationship with the creator. Verse 5 answers Verse 4: indeed, darkness is within men (men always includes all people), yet it is proclaimed here that darkness will not prevail. Glory to God!
7 He [John the Baptist] came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. Here's that pesky word ALL again. Those with a presupposition that most people who've ever lived will go to hell focus here on the word might. To them that means not all will believe, but they might, which means they could, yet won't. However that is not the clear context of this verse or the passage. Here, ALL means ALL. All will believe.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Here, the true light, who is Jesus, gives---a perfect gift---to everyone. This is a gift, not a contract. There is no "I'll give you this IF you do that." Perfect light is the unconditional gift to everyone from the True Light.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The light is there. The gift is there. Not all will see it or receive it immediately, yet it is there. All will see it some day; for those who see it and embrace it now, nestling into the bosom of God is available immediately.
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. Those reading with the most go to hell mindset relegate all here to mean just those who believe. We will talk about that a lot. There is no qualifier here. The word we here could, and I believe does, mean we in the collective we of us all, just as all here means all. Grace did exist before Christ---that was grace already given, yet with the advent of God on earth, a better grace---the fullness of grace is received by us all.
I had intended to put a commentary of one full chapter in each post, yet I am going to have to break it up. Please go back and read the whole chapter in context. My highlighting certain verses does not mean I am neglecting the others or that they conflict with my presupposition. If they conflict we will deal with them. Blessings to all.
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