So we come to the end of our posts on God the Peacemaker: How the atonement brings shalom.
Chapter Ten: Conclusion
Graham Cole sums up in these words:
“Atonement brings shalom by defeating the enemies of peace, overcoming the barriers both to reconciliation and to the restoration of creation. This is God’s peacemaking mission.”
I like to think of this peace mission with vertical and horizontal components (just like the Moral Commission): vertical – peace with God; horizontal – peace with one another.
Is this project (that required the blood of the Cross) worth it? Graham answers:
“Yes! If it glorifies the triune God and results in a creature as close to being God as a creature can logically possibly become…”
Graham, may the Lord be pleased to greatly bless this book. The more I have thought about the title of this book; the thesis of the book; the practical call to daily be a peacemaker, and the certain hope in a future state of peace that will never be shattered nor broken, the more I have been both challenged and encouraged.
Read this book slowly; chew on its contents; check out Scripture; and allow the Holy Spirit to continue His great work of transforming the followers of Jesus more and more into His likeness. For the praise of His glory.
For reference, listed below are the posts on God the Peacemaker:
Introduction
1: The righteous God of holy love
2: The glory and garbage of the universe
3: The great need: peace with God, with one another and for the cosmos
4: Foundations and foreshadowings
5: The faithful Son
6A: The death and vindication of the faithful Son
6B: The death and vindication of the faithful Son (cont.)
7: The ‘peace dividend’
8A: Life between the cross and the coming
8B: Life between the cross and the coming (cont.)
9: The grand purpose: glory
Chapter Nine: The grand purpose: glory
This second last chapter of God the Peacemaker is somewhat heavy – but that’s not surprising as the glory of God is a heavy concept to get our creaturely minds around. But, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, it is essential that we seek to do just that. Why? Because the plot line of the Bible; salvation history itself is moving towards one goal: ‘glory.’
Our author, Graham Cole, helpfully unpacks God’s grand purpose in this chapter. Here are some highlights:
- Part of God’s grand purpose is for His people to become like Him. CS Lewis coined the expression “to make them little Christs” and Eastern Orthodoxy speaks of ‘theosis’ or ‘deification.’ There is risk with any language, and in these types of usage, I think consistent care is needed to maintain the distinction between Creator and creature. And so I agree with Graham that an expression such as ‘becoming like Christ’ may be wiser (2 Cor 3:18).
- But why have people, transformed into the likeness of Jesus, serving and reigning in a new heaven and new earth? Answer: For God’s glory.
- Glory? How should it be defined? It is not an easy concept as its meaning exceeds how the word is used in relation to human glory viz. fame, reputation, honour. Graham describes glory as “the transcendent majesty that shines out of God’s very being.” The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery puts it like this: “Glory is one of the great positive images of the Bible, the language of the mystic and of the believing heart that has glimpsed the greatness of God.”
- If the ultimate goal is glorifying God, what does this tell us about God? Is He the supreme egotist? In answering a strong negative to this question, our author notes the mutual glorification within the inner life of the Trinity (John 16:16; 17).
Graham concludes the chapter with these words:
“…other-person-centredness has always been true of the inner life of the God. Love and glory are not in antithesis. If so, the triune God is no narcissus, in lonely monad in need of praise. Rather, when we as creatures are commanded to glorify God…we are called to a practice that is true to the very nature of God…”