Deep Creek Anglican Church Blog

The issue of capital punishment is not debated in Australia with anywhere near the same intensity as it is in the United States.  Ben Witherington has recently posted a very good article, Why Capital Punishment is not such a Capital and Christian Idea.  He comments:

“Jesus did not care just about the sacred worth of unborn life, or young and vulnerable life, though about the latter he indeed said things like ‘theirs is the Kingdom of God’, and he gave stern warning to those who cause the least, last, and lost to stumble. No, Jesus died for adult sinners as well. He died for hated Samaritans as well. He died for hated Romans as well. We could go on. He died for every age and stage of human life, because all of it was seen as of sacred worth and all of it needed atonement.

Jesus did not tell his disciples, pick up your swords and follow me, he said pick up your crosses and follow me. And when in extremis two desperate disciples at the Last Supper said ‘we have two swords, we are ready to rumble’ Jesus’ response was ‘enough of this!’. Sadly they had not gotten the point after lo those many months of his teaching them the ethic of non-violence and forgiveness. And when one of them actually used a sword to try and prevent his capture, Jesus not only stopped such action dead in its tracks, he paused to heal the wounded servant, on his way to execution. Who lopped off the slave’s ear? The very person who asked Jesus about forgiveness…

Jesus wanted no violence at all done in his name. It is not merely an irony, it is a disgrace that Christians later thought Jesus might endorse a Crusade or two. Those were some of the most shameful things ever done in the name of Christ, but of course, we could name much more recent examples from the Holocaust or the dark days of Apartheid in South Africa.

Christians still have a capacity for deafness when it comes to Jesus’ life ethic. Jesus you see was totally pro-life—- not just pro birth, pro life. And above all, he believed that justice, if we are talking life and death here, should be left in the hands of God. The Biblical message is clear— ‘vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay’.

Too often we forget that when John of Patmos heard the martyred saints under the altar cry out ‘How long O Lord’? they were reminded that only one person is worthy of unsealing the seals and judging the world, only one person knows enough, cares enough, is fair enough, is compassionate enough, is just enough, is holy enough, to judge the world when it comes to beginning or ending life— the Lamb upon the throne depicted in Rev. 5— only he is worthy of unsealing those seals. We are simply not good enough, not holy enough, not wise enough, not just enough to do it right. We just aren’t.”

We are so used to violence and wanting to exercise judgment ourselves, the radical call of Jesus is a jarring one.

I’ve been lately thinking much about the return of the Lord Jesus.  One aspect of this certain future event is the Final Judgment when the Lord will set all things right.  Michael Bird has an excellent short post on God’s judgment – is it retributive, restorative or both?  He writes:

“We do not have to choose between retributive and restorative schemes of divine justice. The righteousness that brings judgment also fills the universe with God’s shalom for. For “the fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa 32:17; cf. Ps 85:10; Isa 9:7; Heb 12:11). There can be no reconciliation without recompense otherwise the disorder, destruction, and decay of evil prevents peace from lasting. The incarnation and the cross achieve both: juridical judgment and relational peace wrought in the atonement.”

The comments on Michael’s post are also worth reading.  You might find Michael’s musings here worth chewing on as well.

The Bible’s claim to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ raises numerous ‘interaction’ issues – not only in western multi-cultural societies of our time but also back in 1st C Palestine and the Greco-Roman world.

Here are two helpful insights on Jesus and other religions, dealing with two different questions:

• can all religions be equally right?
• how should followers of Jesus interact with those of different faith?

Tim Keller tackles the first question at a Veritas Forum at UC Berkeley:

John Armstrong tackles the second question in a recent blog post, What about other religions? I think John strikes the right biblical balance when he concludes:

“Our message to people of other faiths ought not to be an all-out attack on them as the teachers of a false religion and the followers of the doctrines of demons. If you read the New Testament the Lord Jesus himself had some rather unkind things to say about faith and religion but it was almost universally pointed at those who practiced a conservative form of Judaism who believed in the supernatural but lived as if their version of the faith was the beginning and end of all truth and practice. We can present Jesus as the “way, the truth and the life” without attacking others and their faith. We can see the “ethical” elements in other religions and have dialog for common cause in society. In the process we had best be very careful we never surrender the finality of God’s revelation in Jesus, who leads us to the Father. But we can, and should, do all of this while we also embrace the mystery of some things that we do not fully understand.

God will be the judge. I do not tell specific people that they are going to hell. Why? For starters, I do not know that for certain. Second, they could still believe on Christ in the future and become Christian believers. Third, I do not finally know how God will treat different people and different faiths in his final, just judgment. What I do know is that God’s judgment is very real and I must warn people of the reality of this just judgment….”

We have arrived at the final two chapters of Adrian Warnock’s Raised with Christ:

Chapter Eighteen: Our Resurrection Bodies

Chapter Nineteen: The Resurrection of all Things

The certain hope of the resurrection has been much on my mind in the last two days as I prayed with a dying Christian brother.  What an incredible testimony.  His body racked with pain, but a calm and certain confidence of the Lord’s love and the realisation of soon being in His very presence.  That is now the reality for my dear friend.  I have been reminded of the words of the great evangelist of the 19th century, D L Moody.  At his funeral, the words he had spoken a year earlier were remembered. He had said:

“Some day you will read in the papers that D.L Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.”

And that wonderful biblical truth is explored by our author.  Adrian reminds us of Jesus’ words, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).  But that is far from the end of the story.  For the person trusting in the Lord Jesus, there is hope (certain confidence) beyond the grave.  It is a “hope that we will be physically raised, not merely somehow survive as spirits.”

The so-called intermediate state (between physical death of a believer and the resurrection) is helpfully described by Adrian.  At death we experience a kind of spiritual renewal  - we become fully aware of what is already true of us.  Our spirits are already with Christ (Eph 2:6).  And we will await (absolutely alive) in heaven our eternal destiny of a physical resurrection – the direct consequence of being connected to the One who is the firstfruits (1 Cor 15:20).

We are reminded by our author that at the return of Jesus, the whole world will be judged by Him.  Everyone will appear before Him, in bodies (John 5:28f; Acts 24:15).  ”Every wrong that has been committed that has not been placed on God’s Son will be put right.  No evil will go unpunished.”  Should that fill the heart of a Christian with dread?  No, in Adrian’s words, “if we are sure of our salvation, far from inducing fear and dread, judgment day should produce a joyful expectation.”

The return of the Lord Jesus will lead to the renewal of all things – all of God’s people will be with Him in an absolutely physical new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1-5).

Adrian Warnock has taken us on a journey that has wonderfully demonstrated the truth of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and the cosmic consequences of His death and resurrection.  The certain hope of the resurrection and the unveiling of the age to come is to impact every follower of Jesus NOW:

“Christians have the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead living inside them.  One day that power will complete the work of saving us, but in the meantime the normal Christian life can be one in which we are aware of the change that the resurrection brings.  We are citizens of the age to come, living in a world that is dead to God.  But we are not dead to Him.  We live to Him.  May God help us live in the light of that fact each day.  One day we will all see that, thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus, everything has been changed.  The whole creation will have been renewed, and we will be like Him.”

Here are the links to the earlier posts for Raised with Christ:

Chapter One: Christ Has Died! Christ Is Risen! Christ Will Come Again!

Chapter Two: The Empty Cross, the Empty Tomb

Chapter Three: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?

Chapter Four: Resurrection Neglected?

Chapter Five: The Importance of Resurrection in the Bible

Chapter Six: Glimpses of Resurrection?

Chapter Seven: Resurrection before the Cross

Chapter Eight: What did the resurrection ever do for us?

Chapter Nine: Raised for our Justification

Chapter Ten: Resurrected with Jesus

Chapter Eleven: Transformed by the Resurrection

Chapter Twelve: Send a Resurrection, O Lord!

Chapter Thirteen: Reviving Prayer

Chapter Fourteen: God’s Reviving Word

Chapter Fifteen: A relationship with the Risen Jesus?

Chapter Sixteen: Assured by the Resurrected Christ

Chapter Seventeen: Our Mission from the Risen Jesus

Chapter Three: The great need: peace with God, with one another and for the cosmos

As the author of God the Peacemaker says, we live outside of Eden and therefore “our great need is peace…with God, with one another and for the cosmos itself.”

Do you agree with Graham Cole that in the West, peace with God is not such an obvious need?  He explores in Chapter Three the barriers to enjoying shalom:

• problem of sin: we inherit a corrupt nature (its influence is seen in every part of our lives) and consequently we act in sinful ways.  This creates “moral guilt before a righteous God” and “ought to cause shame before a holy God”
• problem of wrath: sin offends God personally and invites divine wrath – the expression of divine holiness against human sin
• problem of judgment: sin puts us in the wrong before a righteous God and invites judgment.  The Bible reveals all facets of justice – deterrence, reformative, restorative and retributive (ie. we get what we deserve).  “A universe without final retribution, even a hell, would be a morally indifferent one.”
• problem of the human other: our relationships with one another are spoiled because of sin
• problem of the god of this world: Satan uses our sin to hold us in bondage – as an instrument of fear and oppression.  Our author gives a succinct summary of the ‘doings’ of the devil – he is “evil’s all too personal face.”
• problem of the groaning creation. The created order also needs liberation (Rom 1.21 cf. 8.20).

Graham leads us inevitably to the all-encompassing need for deliverance, as he asks:

• how can forgiveness and cleansing come?
• how can divine wrath be assuaged?
• how can anyone face the great white throne judgment?
• how can interpersonal hostility be removed?
• how can the evil one be defeated? and,
• how can the creation be set free?

We as individuals, nations and the material universe have a great, great need – and Graham Cole spends the remainder of his book unveiling “God’s project” – the reclamation of creation.

Bought God the Peacemaker yet?

Chapter Nine: Raised for our Justification

This is an excellent chapter in Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything.  As Adrian Warnock says, “Christians are usually more comfortable with the idea that it is the cross that justifies.  However, it is our union with Christ’s obedient life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection that saves us.”

Our author observes that the Apostle Paul makes a distinction between the role of Jesus’ death and of His resurrection in our salvation.  But critically, they are both necessary for God’s transformation of a sin infected cosmos.

I like Adrian quote of ‘preacher Bill Johnson’: “the cross was for our old life and the resurrection for our new life.”  The chapter focusses on Rom 4:25

²⁵ [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Adrian identifies the following links between Jesus’ resurrection and our justification. Jesus was:

1. raised to give us a future resurrection
2. raised to prompt faith in us
3. raised for His own justification
4. justified so we can be justified
5. raised so He can apply justification to us

Our author rightly states, “it is union with Jesus Himself, the One who died and was raised, that saves us.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter.  It seems that often the link between Jesus’ resurrection and justification takes a back seat, and the critically important doctrine of union with Christ gets weigh too little airplay.

If you’d like to pursue the subject of chapter nine at a deeper level, I warmly recommend Michael Bird’s The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification and the New Perspective (see chapter 3).

Chapter Eight: What did the resurrection ever do for us?

I remember the first time I read the Acts of the Apostles in one sitting. I came away with two ‘R’ words embedded in my mind: Repentance and Resurrection.

And the author of Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything, Adrian Warnock is also impacted by the importance of Jesus’ resurrection in Acts.  As he rightly says, “each sermon [in Acts]…highlights a particular aspect of what the resurrection accomplished.”  So let’s make a quick journey with Adrian:

• Acts 1:1-2: this is the continuing story of Jesus – the risen Lord.  The fearful disciples were transformed from ‘fear paralysis’ to bold proclaimers of the Good News through the resurrection and coming of the Spirit
• Acts 2 (Pentecost sermon): Peter told the crowd not only that Jesus had been raised but also the implications of that resurrection for them
• Acts 3:15f, 26 (healing of lame man): Healing through faith in Jesus, who is alive.  And direct link between the resurrection and salvation
• Acts 4:11f: Jesus is the most important being in the universe – the “capstone”.  Salvation by union with Him alone.
• Acts 5:30f: it is the risen Jesus who grants us repentance and forgiveness
• Acts 7: risen Jesus gives Stephen remarkable confidence in the face of martyrdom
• Acts 9:4ff, 20: resurrection, Saul’s transformation and commissioning directly linked
• Acts 10:39ff (Peter/Cornelius): Resurrection, commissioning, proclamation
• Acts 13:37ff: Resurrection and salvation – Paul declares that salvation is more than forgiveness – we are freed from the power and consequences of sin
• Acts 17:2f (Thessalonica): OT record, cross, resurrection
• Acts 17:8, 30f (Athens): resurrection linked with truth of gospel; our resurrection and future judgment of world

Ever read Acts cover to cover?  It is not only a great read but contains life transforming truths. Jesus is risen and that changes everything.  We’ll be looking at the last part of Acts (chpts 18 to 28) at Deep Creek on Sunday mornings, beginning on May 9.  Join us and/or download the messages.

Jesus is risen!

In recent years I have assisted in lecturing in theology at Ridley Melbourne Mission & Ministry College.  In the ‘Doctrines of Grace and Eschatology’ unit, when I come to give three hours of lectures on ‘judgment’ I find myself each time going back over what Scripture says about the judgment of believers.

Paul in 2 Cor 5:10 and Rom 14:10, Paul states that we must all appear before the judgment (bema) seat  of God / Christ.  The picture is of the bema seat in ancient Corinth.  The ‘all’ certainly includes followers of Jesus.  It is clear that for the one trusting in Christ, the judgment is not one of life or death.  It will however certainly involve evaluation what we have done according to the light that has been given us and we will be rewarded accordingly.

But the question that often yields quite different answers is, ‘Will the believer’s sins (thought, word and deed) be displayed and then wiped clean based on the perfect work of Christ on the Cross?’

My study of Scripture has brought me to the same point as that expressed by Tim Challies in his post, Believers in Judgment.  Tim comments:

“Some Christians believe that in the judgment all of our evil deeds will be exposed—that before we receive our reward we will first have all we’ve said and done brought into the light (see 1 Corinthians 4:5). However, this must be balanced with passages such as Psalm 103:12 (“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us”) and Micah 7:19 (“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea”). It is my understanding, then, that our sins will not be exposed before others and that Christ will not speak of them in that day, for those sins have already been dealt with and have already been removed. Though Christ will dispense reward or withhold reward on the basis of what we’ve done or haven’t done, he will not bring those sinful deeds before all the world.”

There may well be some aspects of the Final Judgment that we cannot precisely determine from Scripture ahead of that Day.  But we do know with total confidence that for every person holding to Christ (present tense) we are covered by Christ’s righteousness and there is no condemnation before a holy God (Rom 8:1).  Praise God for such magnificent grace!