Understanding and Owning Christian Theology

Week 12 (Oct 23): The Kingdom of God, The Church and the World/Society

 The Church ought to be understood in terms of its many different biblical descriptions. She is the Bride of Christ, His body in the world and for the world. It is the assembly of the saints from all ages; the “called out” (ekklesia) ones. It is the new thing that began at Pentecost, but is as old as the world, corresponding to God’s covenant people throughout history. It is the true worshipping community; it is known historically and will be fully manifested on the last day. The church is the chosen people of God; and it is an institution with an orderly life. The church is a family, and is made up of families.

What does the Bible mean when it talks about the Kingdom?

The Kingdom

God has always been King over the world, and most especially His people (Ps. 10:16; 22:27-31; Dan. 2:44; Heb. 1:8-13). God always intended His rule to be, at least in part, administered by men. Adam was commanded to rule and have dominion over all the creation. Not even sin changed this. Men would take dominion, either in obedience or disobedience to God. The kingdom in Israel (1 Sam. was an early manifestation of how God would rule through His people, and promised the Davidic Messianic King to sit on the throne forever.

²⁷All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. ²⁸For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations. ²⁹All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive. ³⁰A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, ³¹They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this. Psalm 22:27–31 (NKJV)

⁴⁴And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Daniel 2:44 (NKJV)

⁸But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁹You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” ¹⁰And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. ¹¹They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; ¹²Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” ¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”? Hebrews 1:8–13 (NKJV)

With the coming of Jesus, there was something new that was good news that need to be proclaimed. John & Jesus both said the Kingdom was “at hand” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17, 23). Our prayer is that God’s Kingdom would come, and His will would be done “on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), and the disciples were sent to preach the coming of the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7). The miracles of Jesus (and the disciples) were evidence that the kingdom was coming. The new thing is that God will rule through the man Jesus – forever.

Kingdom of God…Christ…heaven – the same thing.

In what sense was it coming?

²⁰Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20–21 (NKJV

³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” John 18:36–37 (NKJV)

 When did it come? (Matt 16:28; Mk. 9:1; Lk. 21:10, 31 – His Ascension & 70 AD)

 ¹⁰Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  ³¹So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Luke 21:10, 31 (NKJV)

The Kingdom can be defined as: “The new world order that Christ established in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension; a new order of things that will be fully revealed and established on at Christ’s return.” (Peter Leithart, The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church)

Jesus is King and rules from His throne at the right hand of the Father (Eph. 1:19-23; 2:6; Rev. 11:15); it is a real throne and it is actual (not just future) rule – now. He is not being thwarted in His rule; He cannot be defeated; and His will is being realized in time and history. The Kingdom is an existing reality, since the coming of Christ. Revelation 11:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Are the Church and the Kingdom the same thing? No. We pray and work to see the Kingdom come and God’s will done throughout the world, not just in the church.

The Church is the first form of the Kingdom of God. She forms the pattern for all other manifestations of the Kingdom: The word (law), government, and sacraments (defining who is in, and ongoing peaceful relationships). These are what the world needs. It is a pattern, example and leader for the rest of the Kingdom’s manifestations.

Kingdom manifested progressively through history (It is a present reality, but not fully manifest until the second coming of Christ: “Already and not yet” character of the Kingdom)

Conflict, holy war with the kingdoms of this world. How does the kingdom progress? What is the conflict?

Is everything conflict between us and the world? No. Often we are beneficiaries of contributions made by unbelievers to our wellbeing. We can cooperate together for the common good of all.

Interactions between the world/society and the Church – Common Grace (what it is and isn’t).

Tags: bible study, Church, Kingdom, society, Sunday School

The Church: People or Building?

Understanding and Owning Christian Theology

Week 9 (Oct 2): The Church – Why It Matters

 The Sunday School Class was recorded and can be heard here: The Church – Why It Matters

What is the “Church”? Building? People?

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Tags: Bible Classes, Church, Ecclesiology, RCC, Sunday School

Understanding and Owning Christian Theology

Week 8 (Sept 25): The Sovereignty of God & Responsibility of Man – Why It Matters

The Sunday School Class was recorded and can be heard here: The Sovereignty of God & Responsibility of Man

For most Christians today – the very idea that God is sovereign in anything (salvation, or in the world generally) is not something that would get a “Like”  for – more probably a “Dislike.” Do you agree? Why do you think that is? I bring up the question of “liking” the sovereignty of God because I’ve had many people tell me that they don’t – and they don’t want to believe in that kind of God. It is quite understandable that people have struggled with this for 1000’s of years – and it is good for us to feel the weight of it.

Let take a few minutes to reason together from the scriptures.

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Tags: Bible Classes, Free Will, Reformation Covenant Church, Salvation, Sovereignty of God, Sunday School

Understanding and Owning Christian Theology

Week 2 (Aug 13): The Triune God – Why it matters

This week’s young adult Sunday School Class was recorded and can be heard here: The Triune God – Why it matters

“It is this Trinitarian confession that distinguishes the Christian religion from all pagan religions and philosophies and every cultic distortion of the Bible. No doctrine of the Christian faith is more important or more profound.” Smith, Trinity & Reality 

Beginning of our services RCC: “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”

Historical Importance to the Church: Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds

RCC Confessional Statement: “3.  We believe that God is one God, yet three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  We therefore believe in the equal ultimacy of the one and the many.”

1. There is one God (Dt. 6:4; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Kngs. 19:15; Is. 37:16; 44:8; Mk. 12:28-34; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jas. 2:19). That the Bible teaches this proposition is not disputed.

2. The Father is God (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 8:6; 15:24; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 4:6; Phil 4:20). Again, this proposition is seldom disputed.

3. The Son is God. Because this proposition is frequently denied, I give a fuller statement of evidence, but still only scratches the surface.

a. The Son is called God (Jn. 1:1; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8)
b. The Son is given divine names (Jn. 1:1, 18; Acts 5:31; 1 Cor. 2:8; Jas. 2:1; Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13)
c. The Son has divine attributes:

i. Eternity (Jn. 1:2; 8:58; 17:5; Rev. 1:8, 17; 22:13)

ii. Immutability (Heb. 1:11, 12; 13:8)

iii. Omnipresence (Jn. 3:13; Mt. 18:20; 28:20)

iv. Omniscience (Mt. 11:27; Jn. 2:23-25; 21:17; Rev. 2:23)

v. Omnipotence (Jn. 5:17; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 1:8; 11:17)

d. The Son does divine works:

i. Creation (Jn. 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16-17)

ii. Salvation (Acts 4:12; 2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 5:9)

iii. Judgment (Jn. 5:22; 2 Cor. 5:10; Mt. 25:31-32)

iv. The Son is worshipped as God (Jn. 5:22-23; 1 Cor. 1:2; Phil. 2:9-10; Heb. 1:6)

4. The Spirit is God. Those who accept the biblical evidence for the deity of the Son seldom have trouble understanding the evidence for the deity of the Spirit.

a. The Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 3:17)

b. The Spirit is given divine names (Matt. 12:28)

c. The Spirit has divine attributes (1 Cor. 2:13-14; Gal. 5:22; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:7; 9:14; 1 Jn. 5:6-7)

d. The Spirit does divine works (Jn. 6:33; 14:17, 26; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2:17-18; 16:6; Rom. 8:26; 15:19; 1 Cor. 12:7-11).

e. The Spirit is worshipped as God (Mt. 12:32)

5. The Father, Son and Spirit are distinguishable persons in relationship with one another. They are not merely different names for the one God.

1. a. The Son prays to the Father (Jn. 11:41-42; Jn. 17; Mt. 26:39ff)
2. b. The Father Speaks to the Son (Jn. 12:27-28)
3. c. The Father, Son and Spirit – all three – appear together, but are clearly distinct from one another (Mt. 3:16-17)
4. d. The Father send the Son and the Spirit, and the Son send the Spirit (Jn. 3:17; 4:35; 5:30; 6:39; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7)
5. e. The Father and Son love one another (Jn. 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 14:31; 15:9-10; 17:24)

Smith, Trinity & Reality

 Ontological & Economical

Perichoresis – Mutual Indwelling; God is by nature relational – loving/self-sacrificial

The One and the Many

The Trinity and the Three spheres of human life:

 Church

Family

State

Tags: Bible Classes, RCC, Reformation Covenant Church, Sunday School, Trinity

Christ the Conqueror - Christ the Savior

As a follow up to my post on The Gospel In All Its Forms, I wanted to make all seven of my blog followers aware of a great post by Peter Leithart Good news in which he show how the Greek word for “gospel” is use in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament). The Gospel takes on new dimensions when the word is studied in its wider Jewish context, dimensions that are helpful to us as we consider what good news we are to announce in our modern world.  I quote it in full:

” The Septuagint uses the word-group euaggel- primarily in military and political contexts to describe the proclamation of victory.    This is not invariable (cf. Jeremiah 20:15).

The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and strip his gear so that they can carry the “good news” to idols and people (1 Samuel 31:9).  In his lament over Saul and Jonathan, David warns Israel not to evangelize Philistia with the news of the fall of Israel’s heroes (2 Samuel 1:20).  When David later describes what he did to the Amalekite who thought that the death of Saul would be “good news” to David, he uses the same term (2 Samuel 4:10).  2 Samuel 18, where David awaits news of the battle with Absalom, is studded with the word (vv. 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 31).

Adonijah expects Jonathan the son of Abiathar to bring him good news (1 Kings 1:42), but he doesn’t.  The lepers who find the Aramean camp abandoned realize after eating their fill that they shouldn’t keep the “good news” from the rest of the people in the city (2 Kings 7:9).

This meaning is in the background of the more “theological” uses elsewhere in the LXX.  The “new song” of Psalm 96 is the “good news” (v. 2) of Yahweh’s s salvation, which comes when He judges the world in righteousness (v. 13).  Good news comes because Yahweh the Divine Warrior gains His victory.  The same goes for the good news of Yahweh’s reign announced in Isaiah 40:9, 52:7.  The good news that the Spirit-anointed servant brings to the afflicted is good news of rescue and deliverance, liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners (Isaiah 61:1).  The good news is good news of peace (cf. Nahum 1:15; 2:1 in LXX), a peace gained by righteous victory.”

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 4:21 am  http://www.leithart.com/2011/03/29/good-news-2/

What most people conceive of as “the gospel” seldom contains an image of the Lord as Divine Warrior. And yet, the New Testament does (Rev. 19). To truncate the good news to ‘Jesus died to save sinners’ is to so compartmentalize and minimize what God has and will do in the world to make it almost no news at all to the hearts and minds of moderns.

How small has become our view of what Jesus came to do, what He accomplished, and what He has promised to do in our world. Do we have the faith to believe, let alone to announce, that our God, Jesus, is progressively judging the world in righteousness? Is our confidence in God’s word sufficient that we can take for granted as true, and declare openly, that the reign of King Jesus does in fact bring “rescue and deliverance, liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners?” Do we true believe that the only hope and good news for a world in turmoil (you name the turmoil: international finacial meltdown, terrorism, the impact of the collapse of middle-eastern governments, etc) is Jesus?  Or is that just a little too simplistic to say outloud? Isn’t it possible that all of these culamities are in fact part of the work of God to gain the victory on behalf of His people? Is that too much to believe? Is it a bit too religiously edgy to actually tell someone that the good news is that God is using all of these things to bring salvation to the world?

Anything short of this kind of conception of the gospel does an injustice to what God has done through our Lord Jesus.

Tags: evangelism, gospel, LXX, Old Testament, Peter Leithart, Septuagint