It’s all about hope

I have finished reading Surprised By Hope by N. T. Wright.  I can’t recommend it enough.  There is so much that is not understood about what the Resurrection was, and what it is.  While there is a lot said that demands contemplation, I, personally, have been overwhelmed by the hope we have in the Resurrection of Jesus.  Last Sunday, I woke up to a single thought that has stayed with me since then.  Our job/mission as a believer in Jesus Christ is extremely simple.  All that is required of us is to tell the world that there is hope for them in Jesus and Jesus alone.  God is the creator.  This is His world, and one day He will restore it to the way He originally created it-  good- according to His goodness.  We, though caught up in our own way, can be a part of God’s restored creation, here on this Earth.  This “restored creation” is what is usually referred to as the “Kingdom of God.”  Being a part of this Kingdom ensures that one will not ever be apart from God–Ever!  While God’s Kingdom is the future, it is also the present.  We can be in  the Kingdom now, actively working and building for the Kingdom to come.  It is in this that we have hope.  Hope in knowing that God’s Kingdom will prevail, that eventually it will be all that is left.  Anything that is done apart from God’s Kingdom will not carry over when this world is restored.  Realizing this makes me more motivated to make decisions that will carry over to the restored world.  By the way, it is the Resurrection that will restore all creation.  It is the Resurrection that we wait for.  It is the Resurrection that will transform us, again -as well as all creation, to what scripture calls the glorified state where sin will no longer exist. 

So, while this may sound complicated, all we really have to do is let others know that the Kingdom of God is here and that they can be a part of it which will allow all residents of that Kingdom to be with God forever.  This and this only is hope for anyone.  If Believers understand this, we all will see the value in living holy, separate lives because we will understand that nothing offered by this corrupt world is worth having. With that understanding, believers should then understand the Scripture is  God’s way of letting us know what will be a part of His Kingdom and what will not.  Isn’t He a great God to be so generous to us?  While some see the Bible as a list of rules, God just wants us to know what counts and what doesn’t.

Hope is not in a party or president.  It is not in a thriving economy.  And it will never go away even in the worst of times.  When your hope is in God through Jesus, you won’t even be as concerned when things get rough.  Just think, God already resurrected Jesus, and one day, we will be resurrected like Jesus: we will have a renewed body like Jesus has, and nothing can take that away.  What more could one hope for?

The book, Surprised by Hope, says a lot more and really is worth reading.  I just wanted to share what it did for me.  The thing is that while what I shared here sounds basic and maybe cliche, it all means so much more than I have ever realized before.  Everybody wants and has to have hope whether they realize it or not.  Christians, you have within you knowledge to this gift God has granted to us.  Don’t just hoard it for yourself, share it.

Identity

This week, a few friends of mine gathered to discuss the book Our Father Abraham.  There are 2 aspects to this that makes this pretty amazing. 1- The fact that a group of us are getting together pursuing God together.  There is nothing like meeting with others that are passionate about seeking God in His Word and learning what it means to pursue His Kingdom.  2- The content that we are discussing.  This book we are going through discusses in depth the Hebraic nature of the Scripture (both content and writers), and also the Hebraic nature of Jesus.  Jesus was a Jew, the Bible is written from a Jewish perspective because it was written by Jews.  So what does that mean for us? This question frames the book’s intent of helping us understand how the Hebraic nature is important for us to understand God’s Word.

This first meeting was short and more of an introduction, but I want to share a thought that stuck with me.

I find it amazing how ,at times, it is so hard to put Jesus into our lives.  I’m not alone.  Pretty much everyone I know struggle with the same thing.  There is a huge industry of resources that is available to us to teach, influence, encourage, guilt us into including Jesus in our daily walk.  By the way, I refer to Jesus, Scripture, and God interchangeably.  On Sunday morning across the world, by far most of the sermons address putting God into our lives.  There is no doubt that this is a very valid point and very needed, but it can be hard to follow through with.  But a point came up in our discussion that the national identity was God.  God chose Abraham to be separate and be the father of a nation.  So all of the political, geographical, commercial, social, and so on, aspects originated from God through the Torah.  What it meant to be a Hebrew was to be in God.  What does it mean to be an American?  What is our national identity?  I realized that this can be a eye opening question.  Typically, to be American is to be democratic, a capitalist, free, and civilized.  However we identify what it means to be American, we think of ourselves as American trying to live out God.  Maybe we should be like the Jews and think of ourselves as God’s children living in America, or where ever you happen to live.  Maybe if we can see ourselves as a part of God’s Kingdom first, then we can see past the boundaries that cause us to stumble as a people and a nation.  Maybe we’ll see that we are no better than anyone else and are a part of this world like everyone else.  Maybe we’ll realize that we all are made in God’s image whether we like, or recognize, it or not.  Maybe we’ll humble oursleves, seek God’s face, and hear from Him.

What is your identity. I’m having to rethink mine.

Jim

Myth Of A Christian Nation

So I’m reading this book (here and there).  I’ll have more to say on it as I go along, but I want to encourage everyone to consider reading it.  Boyd takes a very challenging approach in teaching about a “power-over” kingdom vs. a “power-under” kingdom. 

Here is an except from the back cover:

Boyd shows how Jesus taught us to seek a “power-under” kingdom, where greatness is measured by sacrifice and service.  There are not sides or enemies because we are meant to embrace and accept everyone.  In The Myth of a Christian Nation, Dr. Boyd challenges readers to return to the true love of Calvary and the message of the cross–setting the “power-over” politics of wordly government aside.

As always, I may not agree with every little point he makes, but I do think he is making a strong case of what it means to live more for Jesus than anything else.

 

Rob’s New Book

In writing that last post, I stumbled across the fact that Rob Bell has a new book coming out soon.  How could I not know this.  I have a particular friend (TG) that surly would not have kept such a significant detail from me.  Or perhaps I could say that he does not know of Rabbi Bell’s upcoming work, but I know better.  Enough of that, here is the link to if you want to check it out.  The title is, Jesus Wants To Save Christians.”