TotD: Kingdom Identity.

Recently I have been doing a little poking into the things of the Spirit, academically speaking of course, by reading books about prophecy and dreams and the like. Previously on Wavey's Thoughts there was a blog containing some of the things I had been thinking about prophecy specifically. 'TotD: Prophecy'. This thought of the Day is a little different, it is inspired by the same genre but I think applies whether or not we believe the Spirit moves in the same ways as He did in the New Testament. So these thoughts are inspired by those thoughts.

The whole point of Jesus' mission on earth was not just so He could save them and take them to Heaven.
This may sound like a controversial statement and I can hear some of you already typing your arguments (which is mad because this isn't published yet!) Just hear me out.

A gospel that says Jesus only came to save is only a fraction of what the Gospel truly is. This misconception of the full Gospel is what leads to what some friends of mine like to call 'mediocre Christianity'. This is the type of Christian that knows the Gospel (of salvation) and knows they are going to Heaven. They are happy in that knowledge and spend the rest of their lives sitting in a chair, complaining over the things they don't like in church, telling one friend about Jesus a decade, and basically wasting the abundant life that Jesus has given them. They are the kind of people that 'wait for the end'; basically. It is, pretty much, Sunday Christianity. Sunday Christians.

Mediocre Christianity drives me insane! But how do you move people, who were told a Gospel where the ultimate was salvation and then one day way off in the future when you die you will get to go to Heaven, from a life of mediocrity to a life that is Spirit-led, world changing and powerful.

While on earth Jesus said, "Greater works than these shall you do," in John 14:12. I believe I have asked this in at least one other blog post, but do we believe it. Do we really believe Jesus' words?

"Living according to a salvation-only gospel means you are operating in a fraction of your inheritance."- Ryan Wyatt.

Yes, our inheritance is to reach Heaven one day; but much more than that God is looking for people who are saved enough, who abide in Him enough, to bring Heaven to Earth now.
The full Gospel is not a gospel of salvation, but the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

"The Devil will never be threatened by people who are just saved enough to get into Heaven. He likes them that way, because they are blissfully unaware of their purpose on Earth."- Goll and Wyatt (not sure which).

Jesus wants to display Himself to the world through us. This means that He wants us to continue to do the work He started. He did not save us to sit and watch the world turn to Hell, knowing we are okay because we get to leave. He saved us to be the change in the world and to announce His Kingdom on this earth.

At the beginning of history God created two people. He gave these people that he created dominion and authority over the earth which He had created for them. Man, however, chose to lay aside this mantel (like what a King has) and in leaving go of the authority of the earth Satan took it up. (see Genesis 1-3) "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."
(1 John 5:19 ESV)
When we relinquished our God-given authority on this earth Satan took up the mantle and began ruling in 'our' place. It took Jesus' death to shift that power back.
However, we Christians have not realised fully the extent that Jesus' death set things right. Wherever He went Jesus 'fixed' things: forgiving sins, healing, right teaching, right view on society and social order etc. etc. If we are to continue His work we are to be people who 'fix' the Earth.

I led a Bible study in which one of the points was based on these two verses: "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5:18-19 ESV). If we are out of that power and protected from it, but others are still under the authority of the devil what should we be doing? Using the authority God has given to us to free people from the 'authority' of the Evil One, through love, friendship and discipleship.

We need to realise that Satan is carrying a mantle that no longer belongs to him and we need to take it back. "When we rise up in our true identity, we too(like Jesus), will carry a Kingdom atmosphere with us. No longer so affected by everything around us, we will begin to make a difference." -Wyatt.

Jesus has an inheritance too, and it is not some beat-up, battered and just about saved old Bride it is a vibrant, alive, warrior Church who is demonstrating her unity with His victory on the cross and who is occupying and advancing His Kingdom until He comes.

We have to realise that our citizenship is in Heaven and that all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Jesus, which He shares with us. Yes the Devil is a powerful entity but we have one who is greater than the one who is in the world. We don't live as if we do though, we don't live to increase the Kingdom of God on Earth. We need to recognise who we are as sons (and daughters) of God and begin to make colonies of the Kingdom on Earth; places where His name is honoured and that spread out. To close I will tell you something of Ancient Rome (I am also reading a book on the history of the Popes, which is where this is from). When Rome took over a new territory, in the name of the Emperor, they would move some key Roman's to this place (like Pilate in Israel) and some army people, some cooks and bakers, some pottery makers etc etc. They were charged with living in this new colony as if it were Rome herself. In this way the Romans created many little Romes and brought many people groups under the control of the Roman Empire in customs and habits as well as in political/military senses. That is what we are to do. We are to live as those of Heaven should, what example do we have? Jesus. He fixed the wrongs of the world and walked in confidence and power. He wants us to all this, and more. Greater works brothers and sisters; I want to be part of that. Do you? I pray I can be and I pray you can be too.

God Bless,
~

TotD: 1 Peter 5:6-7

This is the second blog I have posted based on things I have had to think about in IBI. This one was an assignment on the interpretation of 1 Peter 5:6-7 that I liked reading it back to myself so much that I thought it needs a more permanent home on the internet than an IBI forum page that will be deleted in May.
As part of learning to interpret the epistles there are four steps to interpretation. I will outline them here, in italics, before showing you my thoughts (which I think are God's thoughts) on those verses.

Step 1: Grasp the text in their town: what did it mean to the original audience? In this you need to research the background of the book (in a commentary/study Bible etc), read the whole book to find any main issues and then read the specific parts of the book the verses under question are found within.

Step 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. That's looking at the differences between the audience then and the audience now

Step 3: Cross the principle bridge: find theological principles that can be applied to today.

Step 4: Grasp the text in our town: Apply it to now, leaving the first century stuff there, but taking the principles and implying them here.

Now on to the text.

Step 1:

1 Peter is a book written "about 60 AD"1 by the Apostle Peter. It is believed that it is written to Christians generally and not to a specific Church. The content of the letter is about living in holiness. "Peter addresses the issue that believers are to live a life of personal holiness as God's people, even during times of suffering and persecution."2

The content of the letter seems to tell us something about the context that the letter was specifically written to. Peter is talking a lot about maintaining your holiness, and remembering who you are in Christ in the face of persecutions. It could follow (though does not necessarily follow) that the Christians receiving the letter were being persecuted for their faith and perhaps some of them were reacting in a way unbecoming their status as people born again in God.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

By the time we get to Peter's final chapters, chapters 4-5, we are talking about how the readers of the letter should not be astonished when they are persecuted and that God uses that suffering to purify the Church. "Peter concludes his letter with exhortations for the leaders and the congregation as a whole to continue in the faith, knowing that their final reward is certain."3

The context of the verses specifically under question make clearer the intended meaning of the two verses. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV) 

Reading these verses out of the context of the whole epistle might lead one to ask, "humble yourselves to what?" but, as the ESV Study Bible puts it, "Humble yourselves. In their suffering, God's people are to give themselves entirely to him, submitting to his wise ordering of their lives."4 The context is specifically in their suffering that they are to humble themselves so that God, the mighty one who liberated Israel from Egypt, may bless them and lift them up when the time is right. The second verse changes the humble idea to one about casting worries and doubts on Him because He cares for them. So, in keeping their doubts stored up inside they are actually being proud and prideful.

Step 2:

1 Peter is one of the nicest epistles, in my opinion, in terms of measuring how wide the river to cross is. This is because it was not written to any specific church where issues may, or may not, only have faced that Church. The first verse in 1 Peter tells us this: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." (1:1 ESV)

Peter probably does not mean literal exiles, but exiles in the sense that all Christians are exiles as we are not in our eternal home in heaven. In that sense we, 21st century Irish Christians, could be included in the list.

The persecution and suffering we face in 21st Century Ireland is quite different from anything that would have been suffered by the believers Peter wrote to, yet the results are the same.

Christianity in Ireland today is suffering from the pressures of the atheist, and sometimes, scientist community as well as the pressures of the world (in terms of temptation to live a life that is, at best, lukewarm; engaging instead the pleasures of the flesh). It is often said that in our world today there is much more an emphasis on sin as being acceptable than there ever has been before, and the Devil has more opportunities, and means, than ever before to ensnare even the most mature of Christians.

Though these two issues (persecution of the church and onslaught of the Church) are not the same thing there are comparisons we can make. Christians who live differently, who want to follow Jesus, who will not give in to temptations, are often insulted and belittled by the world around them. This is suffering.

In light of this suffering Christians can have one of two reactions, humble yourself to God and cast your burdens on Him, or give in to the evil one. It is clear which Peter would suggest.

Step 3:

Finding the theological principles for 1 Peter 5:6-7 is easy once you have read the entire context of the epistle.

The principles are fourfold.

1. We are to humble ourselves before God in the face of sufferings. This is about recognising He is sovereign and in control of all the elements of our lives.

2. In time, God will exalt those who believe in Him and give them the rewards that are coming for their faithfulness.

3. Next we are to cast all our anxieties on Him. This, in truth, is part of humbling ourselves, but Peter seems to be saying that it is just as destructive a part of pride as others. The fact he specifically mentions it must mean he heard about it. For today this is also a big issue. As Christians, we often bottle up our worries and fears, for a number of reasons. This verse gives us the confidence that we can cast our cares on Him... why?

4. Because He cares for us. This is the fourth, and possibly most powerful of the four principles found in this verse.

Step 4:

There can be many applications to these two verses in different contexts for our brothers and sisters around the world today. We shall stick to a generalised 21st century Irish Christianity context.

As I pointed out earlier Christians in Ireland today face many pressures to give in to the ways and temptations of the Evil One. Our suffering often comes from the ridicule that we do not have sex before marriage, don't get drunk, don't curse, don't joke crudely with our peers, don't gossip, don't watch things we shouldn't etc. etc. The world is constantly placing these things in front of us and when we do reject them we are laughed at.

This causes one of two reactions. The first is to give in to the pressure of this world and sin. When we fear rejection from our peers and being laughed at it sometimes, to some Christians, feels as if it would be easier to give in and do what the crowd are doing. Logic such as "Everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay" comes into play.

The other reaction we can have is to 'humble ourselves' before God. Look to Hi for His strength to overcome the suffering knowing that we have our place in Heaven and one day He will wipe away every tear and 'exalt' us. The starting ground to sin can often be thoughts and so Peter implores us to cast our cares on Him. Give the worries we have, about being laughed at, rejected, maybe even physically assaulted because of our faith, to Him. God is judge and God can deal with these things. We should not take vengeful action, nor should we give in to the things people are laughing as us for not giving in to.

We can do all this because God cares for us. That is an overwhelming statement that we do not understand 2000 years after Christ as people would have in the days 1 Peter was written. God, the creator of the universe, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt, the one who fell the walls of Jericho and brought nations into submission to, or destruction at the hand of, Israel. That God cares for us and wants to know our worries and struggles and wants us to tell Him about them, and allow Him to be the judge. Then we can go on living in a holy manner, upright and pleasing to Him, because we can have confidence in where we are going, who loves us, and that He will deal with those that cause our sufferings.

 

1. Jay Smith on 1st Peter, pg. 1.

2. Ibid.

3 ESV Study Bible on 1 Peter 4:12-end.

4. ESV Study Bible on 1 Peter 5:6.

TotD: The Laying on of Hands.

This is one I wouldn't have thought about myself but someone once suggested to me that the next step in my spiritual walk is probably to have the power of the Holy Spirit imparted onto me by the laying on of hands. As far as I'm aware the Holy Spirit is already present and active in my life but I thought it was something worth looking into as "He must increase and I must decrease".

So the idea of the imparting of the authority and gifts of the Holy Spirit comes from, as far as I can see, two passages in Scripture (or two example of passages that have different people but the same pattern).

The first of these is in Numbers: "So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey."
(Numbers 27:18-20 ESV)
This is the point at which Moses elects Joshua as his successor and the scripture seems to imply that the authority of Moses passed to Joshua by Moses laying his hands on him. There are, of course, other scriptural examples of laying on of hands on an individual to give them authority but this one will do as the example of what I'm talking about.

The other example is found in Acts 8: "Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:14-17 ESV)

That second example is obviously the big one. It, almost clearly, states that the Samaritans had not received the Holy Spirit until there was hands laid on them. Similarly Paul encourages Timothy not to be too fast in the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 5:22).

However, the norm for the NT church was not to have hands laid on them to release the power of the Holy Spirit into their lives. Many churches were set up around Asia Minor and Europe and North Africa that we are not told there was any 'laying on of hands' to pass on the power of the Holy Spirit.


It does seem as if it was used as a sign of passing on authority though. What Paul is saying to Timothy is that if he lays on his hands on the wrong person, a person who should not be in leadership, then he may be blamed for the sins of that person because he is the one who established them by the laying on of hands.

So, to conclude, there are scriptural passages which suggest that the laying on of hands transfers spiritual authority and power to those who have the hands upon them, however, there is also evidence that this power and authority can come from God without any laying on of hands (think of the men who helped judge with Moses). Therefore, I have no idea if the next step in my life of allowing Him to increase and me to decrease involves the laying on of hands.


You may feel that was pointless. This blog is about my thoughts. From time to time/ more often than not, those thoughts will not be fully formed. This means you may get blogs like this. I would very much appreciate that, if you have any thoughts on this matter, you share them in the comments below (using your Google/gmail account) or in a comment on the FB post or in a message. All would be appreciated :)

God Bless,

~

TotD: 1st Century Christianity in the Third Millenium

It's about time for a new blog isn't it? I am also working on Love 3, Reasons Buffy is Shpiffing 4 and a possible new series. This particular blog entry is the very first one inspired by IBI, besides the one on IBI itself. As part of the Biblical Interpretation course online we are reading a book by Fee and Stuart called How to Read the Bible for All its Worth. Chapter 6 of this book is on how to correctly interpret the book of Acts. One of the main thrusts of this chapter on the interpretation of Acts is about whether the outlines of life in the Acts Church (specifically in Jerusalem) is normative for the Church around the world today. This question is a very important one these days as there are entire denominations, let alone individual church groups, that claim the church today should be more like the church found in the first number of chapters in Acts. The belief of these churches and groups is that the Church today should be one where people do not own possessions but sell all they have and give it to the community, that they should live together and spend a lot of time together, that they should eat together and break bread each time they do and they would insist that this is the model put forward in Acts. I have thought about whether I agree with them or not before reading this chapter and thinking about the correct interpretation of Acts. I came to the conclusion that, although the Jerusalem Church in the first century was a beautiful example of Christian community, it was not a set form of Christian community and instead of looking back (to a context we are no longer living in) we need to reinterpret the idea of Christian community for the third millenium, we need to become a Church 3.0 (I am aware this is the title of a book though I do not suggest that is the model the third millenium church should take either, I have not read it). It is wonderful to read that, even the first century church, did not agree that the first century church had to be based around the model we today know as the 'first century church.' Fee and Stuart point out "Luke neither says nor implies that Gentile Churches experienced a communal life similar to that in Jerusalem… Such diversity probably means that no specific example is being set forth as the model Christian experience or churn life." (113) They go on to say, “Unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not function in a normative (i.e. obligatory) way – unless it can be demonstrated on other grounds that the author intended it to function in this way.” (pp.118-119, italics original). The book is a narrative telling about the Gentile expansion of the church as opposed to one outlining principles for running/ being part of a Christian community. God is doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19) and He does not wish us to look back and copy what has come before us in hopes that He will be in it and move in it. He wants us to learn from the past, most certainly, but to keep looking for Him and what He is doing now. Church in this millenium could, and probably should, look quite different from the Church that came before it. God is doing a new thing, not the thing He did first. Acts in no way sets out that the Church should be like the 'First Century Church' but provides a narrative on what it was like. We need to seek God for, what will be, the narrative of the Church in our time.