Fm - Session 10

cross

Cross God Saves More than People

Session 10

worship and prayer

10 minutes

• Sing 2-3 Worship Songs (project songs on PowerPoint) • Pray out loud for the course and for God to reveal himself through it and have each student pray for his or her neighbor at the same time that God may reveal himself and his purposes in a deeper way, give vision and renewed passion for his work on earth to be done.

review of previous session Ask students to summarize the most important points of the last session. xx minutes

video clip: the cross group activity: homework review

xx minutes

I’d like us to first review your homework and application exercise for this week. I asked you to read the article “e Historical Meaning of the Cross” and answer the reflection questions at the end of the article, and to come prepared to share your findings with other members of your group. e article indicated that of most biographies that are around, few devote more than ten percent of their pages to the subject’s death – including biographies of men like Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Steve Biko and Oscar Romero who died violent and politically significant deaths. e Gospels, though, devote nearly a third of their length to the climactic last week of Jesus’ life. Only two of the Gospels mention the events of his birth, but each chronicler gives a detailed account of the events leading to Jesus’ death. It must be that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John saw death as the central mystery of Jesus. Nothing remotely like it had happened before.1 But what did Jesus intend by it all? What did he think would happen next? Why did he walk into trouble in this way? And why, after his own violent death, did anyone take him seriously any longer, let alone suppose that he was the living embodiment of the one true God?2 What was the meaning of the cross and Jesus’ death? As the article indicated, it is important that we distinguish between the historical meaning and the theological meaning of the cross. e present article focused on the historical meaning of the cross and ended with some reflection questions.

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How did you answer these questions? (Project questions on PowerPoint and give participants time to answer them). Let’s first take a few moments to dialog about the first four questions: • What are your reactions to this article? • Describe the meaning of crosses in the Roman Empire. Was this a new insight for you? How does it compare with associations most people have with the cross today? • How do you react to this article’s claim, that Jesus’ death had not only spiritual meaning? • Have you personally seen the effectiveness of Jesus’ strategy in disarming the powers work? After about 5-10 minutes lead participants to dialog about the latter five questions which are more personal: • How does this article affect you in terms of your own personal faith and your spiritual journey? • What would it imply for you to ‘take up your cross’ in your community/city? Would you be ready? • What would it imply for people in your church to ‘take up their cross’ your community/city? • What are ways that you and your church are called to take up your cross? What issues and injustices in your community and city can only be overcome by a movement of ‘cross-bearing’ disciples? • What would happen in your community/city if a growing number of churches took up their cross the way Jesus commanded his disciples to do?

lecture: introduction: the theological meaning of the cross

xx minutes

As we have seen, the historical meaning of the cross is very important, and it is to our own detriment if we neglect its implications. We simply become less faithful followers of Christ when we do so. In this session we will focus the bulk of our attention on the theological meaning of the cross, though. e New Testament focuses on the theological meaning of the cross – i.e. Jesus as the Savior from sin and evil – far more than it focuses on the immediate historical meaning of the cross – i.e. Jesus the social revolutionary. One of the reasons for this is that the historical meaning of the cross was obvious to the contemporaries of the New Testament writers – it’s like saying today that Jesus died as a political prisoner or freedom fighter on the electrical chair or by a

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shooting squad – whereas the theological meaning needed exposition, defense and practical application.3 So what happened on the cross? What did Jesus accomplish? What was the purpose of the cross, apart from the historical meaning we already looked at? What kind of salvation did he bring about? How could his death and subsequent resurrection bring salvation and restoration to the world? Have a participant read the introduction to Scripture Study “e eological Meaning of the Cross” (Project picture of windows and sky on PowerPoint to visualize the idea of different theological meanings of the cross.) In the following group study we will seek to look through six different windows in our house onto the theological meaning of the cross. In doing so we will see that the cross was God’s primary way to deal with the powers of evil and destroy those forces who oppose his divine intentions on earth. e cross was God’s way to set the stage for the renewal of his creation to once more reflect his divine intentions: Shalom on earth as it is in heaven!

scripture study 1: god saves more than people

xx minutes

In the following group study we’re going to seek to explain how and in what ways God saves more than people! We will seek to explain the theological meaning of the cross by looking through three different windows of our house. I’d like you to approach the texts you’re going to study with the questions assigned to each group in mind. At the end, each group will present your answers to the questions asked to the plenary. Have participants turn to “Group Study: e eological Meaning of the Cross” and divide them into six groups. Assign each group its texts – to study the first three windows. Give groups about 15 minutes time to read the texts and discuss their answers to the questions. Have groups present their findings to the plenary. As groups present their findings, project the texts on screen via PowerPoint and fill in insights they might have left out from below, using the PowerPoint Outline. 1. rough Jesus’ Death God Defeated the Evil Powers Group 1: Col. 2:13-15 e extremely vivid image Paul is using here, of course, is the triumphal procession after a Roman victory. When a Roman general conquered an enemy, he would make a triumphal procession into Rome, marching though the city streets not only his conquering army, but his foe’s defeated

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troops, the hostages and booty taken and, finally, the vanquished general or king. ey would proceed down the Via Appia to the Roman Senate. Once they arrived at the steps of the Roman Senate, the general would lead the king of the conquered nation by a chain up the stairs where the Emperor was waiting. At the top of the stairs he would give the chain to the Emperor and force the king to fall prostrate before the Emperor who then put his foot and the defeated king’s neck. (Project picture of triumphal procession on PowerPoint). It was, for any Roman general, the supreme moment of his career when he was granted the right to such a triumphal procession.4 Using this extremely vivid picture of a conqueror’s triumphal procession Paul states that God defeated and disarmed the evil powers of their authority. In other words, Jesus’ journey to the cross was a march to victory, characteristic of a military leader who had triumphed over his enemies. e people watching Christ limp to Golgotha witnessed the political equivalent of a victorious Roman general entering Rome, parading the defeated and vanquished principalities and powers through the city they once sought to rule, disarming his enemies, and making a public spectacle of them.5 In making a public spectacle of them Jesus exposed to the universe the evil powers’ utter helplessness, leading them ‘in him’ in his triumphal procession so that all the world might see the greatness of his victory. On his cross, he made a mockery of the powers and authorities by disarming them, i.e. by making their weapon – the cross – redundant. So how exactly did Christ defeat the principalities and powers of the world’s cities and empires? Paul tells us that on the cross Christ “cancelled the written code” (i.e., the system or mosaic of religious, cultural, political and economic rules and regulations which ordered all life throughout both Judaism and the Roman Empire).6 He forgave our sins, freed us from the authority of the city’s and empire’s systems over our lives, and granted us freedom in Christ. By such redemptive action, the power of the systems and their principalities (both earthly and demonic) has been broken, both over the church and over all society.7 In other words, the work of Christ is defeating and redeeming God’s enemies, which can be spiritual beings or such things as the social, economic, and political structures that comprise the elements of the kosmos and estrange both people and societies from God. Group 2: 1. Cor. 15:54b-57; Gal. 1:4; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14-17 1 John 3:8 maintains that the purpose of Christ’s coming is to enervate the devil, to eliminate his power, to destroy his effectiveness. If the world is the battleground between God and Satan, this passage reminds us that Christ came to the world to die in order to undo all that Satan has done in the world among its people, systems, and principalities.8 Galatians 1:4 states along similar lines that Christ came to rescue us from this present

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evil age, in the here and now. e writer to the Hebrews makes it clear once more that one of the primary purposes of Jesus’ incarnation and death was to nullify the power of the devil and thereby free those held in bondage by this evil tyrant. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2: 14-15). Hebrews indicates that the devil continues to hold people in slavery because of their fear of death. e devil does not possess control over death inherently, but gained his power when he seduced humankind and its systems to rebel against God. So how does the kingdom of Satan survive? It survives by entrapping people in fear; the fear of being shamed; the fear of “losing out,” the fear of physical suffering; and most supremely, the fear of death – the ultimate weapon of the kingdom of Satan. If you threaten the rule of injustice and oppression in a social system, the maximum it can do to protect itself is to eliminate you by killing you.9 What’s, then, the only thing that can undermine this reign of fear? e cross! It takes the weapon of the kingdom of Satan, and turns it against Satan. 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57 summarizes it well: e death of Jesus effectively dealt with this problem because “he made atonement for the sins of the people” through his death. He conquered death! We can be released from Satan’s power and freed from fear of death to serve God by the forgiveness or cleansing made possible by Jesus’ death. By his death and resurrection Jesus has destroyed Satan’s final weapon.10 Unfortunately, the contemporary evangelical exposition of the cross fails to notice that the cross does more than delivering us from our individual sin and its consequences and giving us a ticket into heaven.11 Jesus died and rose again so that, “by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” e primary role of Jesus, then, is that of conqueror of evil because the central problem of our cities and nations is the power of evil, whether seen in demonic beings, corrupt social structures, or death itself. e work of Christ is seen as defeating God’s enemies, which can be spiritual beings or such things as the social, economic, and political structures that comprise the elements of the cosmos and estrange both people and societies from God. e cross, then, is a message of hope for those who live in fear of death, evil, supernatural powers and oppressive systems. Christ died in order to rescue us from the present evil age in the here and now. ere is no slightest indication that the New Testament writers projected this rescue solely into the heavenly realm. René Padilla underlines the importance of this model: “e church today urgently needs to experience the cross as far more than the cultic symbol of a privatized faith. It needs to experience it as God’s victory over

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the powers of darkness and therefore as a basis to challenge every dehumanizing power that is destroying life in the modern world, be it militarism or consumerism, statism or materialism, individualism or hedonism.”12 2. rough Jesus’ Death the Cosmos and the Principalities and Powers are Saved from Self-destruction Group 3: John 3:16-17 John 3:16-17 is perhaps too well known for us to be analytical toward it. We recite it without much thought, our minds shaped by it primary use – as the Scripture passage used to introduce an individual to Christ. In the light of such popularity, it is important to assert that the Greek word John uses which is frequently interpreted individualistically (“God so loved Juan Garcia that he gave…”) is not an individualistic word. It is the word ‘kosmos’ – the entire created order. It does not mean the physical earth; the word ‘oikoumene’ was used for the inhabited world. Nor does it mean people; the word ‘laos’ would be used if referring only to humans. e word ‘kosmos’ was used in Scripture to refer to the universe, the heavens, and the earth and all its inhabitants (both human and non-human), the scene and systems of human activity; the order of things. It is an allencompassing word and means “the totality of existence.”13 To capture the power and implications of what John was writing in this passage, let us translate it this way:14 “For God so loved the cosmos that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the cosmos to condemn the cosmos, but to save the cosmos through him” or “God so loved the entire created order – including people, systems, structures, celestial beings – that he gave his one and only son,… so that the entire created order might not perish but might have eternal life.” It is crucial to understand that John chose to use the word ‘kosmos’ in this passage. Perhaps the most precise of all biblical writers in his use of Greek, John would not have used the word if he had not meant ‘cosmos’. If he had simply meant ‘people’, he would have said so. In short, this passage is not written to deal simply with the redemption of human beings (although it includes them). It is referring to the redemption of the universe, the geophysical world, the social systems, and structures of humanity, and the entire human enterprise. In other words – the entire created order. It is the ‘cosmos’ that God does not want to condemn and have perish, but which he wants to save and for which he has provided a way of salvation through his one and only Son.15 Christ’s death and

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resurrection, then, is giving remedy for the downward cycle of society. God, through Jesus Christ, has made a way to restore the ‘cosmos’ – the created order including people, systems, structures, celestial beings – to its original purpose. Jesus’ death IS God’s way to redeem all things unredeemed, and bring under the Lordship of Christ all things in rebellion to him.16 ose who have been redeemed by him, are then called to work with God in the redemption of all things not yet redeemed and bring under the Lordship of Christ all things in rebellion to him. Group 4: Colossians 1:15-20 ese verses are among Paul’s most illuminating statements about Christ and the meaning of his death. Paul presents Jesus here as the cosmic Christ.17 What he is specifically referring to is that both the sociopolitical structures of society and the spiritual forces behind and within those structures were created by Christ. ese created “powers are both heavenly and earthly, divine and human, spiritual and political, invisible and structural.” ey are the “inner and outer aspects of any given manifestation of power”, according to Walter Wink. Paul goes on to say that the powers and systems were originally a divine creation and were to find their goal in Christ. ey were created for only one purpose: “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever” – in other words, to be centered on God and the service of God’s creation.18 It is interesting to note, then, that seven times, this passage reminds us that God’s agenda is as big as “all creation”. Jesus’ blood was shed for the restoration of “all things”. Why? “All things” were broken when sin entered our world.19 Because of the fall, when the principalities and powers turned against God in rebellion, creation can no longer support life, including that of plants, animals, and humans, as effectively as God intended. is inability introduced suffering into creation, such as hunger, sickness, and social and cultural disintegration, as well as other problems.20 God loves his creation, however, and he wants “all things” reconciled to himself.21 erefore, God sent Jesus as God’s representative to reconcile all things to him and transform and redeem the systems and powers.22 Jesus, then, is not only co-creator with God of all the structures and powers of the cosmos. He is also their redeemer. rough his redemptive work on the cross, Jesus Christ has reconciled the entire cosmos (whether things on earth or things in heaven”) to God. Who is reconciled? Everyone. Everything. Not just people, but “thrones… powers… rulers… authorities” (or as it says in other translations “thrones… dominions… principalities… powers): the heavenly order (the angelic and demonic forces) and the earthly order (the systems and structures, the material world, all human beings). Everything and everyone!23 Reconciliation, as it is used in this passage, then, has the sense of restoration. It assumes

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creation’s fall and God’s commitment to its restoration, so that it can fulfill its purposes.24 Most of the evangelical church tends to interpret visible and invisible as physical and spiritual, which limits Christian ministries to the spiritual realm and prevents them from grasping the comprehensive ethical nature of Christ’s reconciling work to which he invites us. As a result, far too few churches equip their people to restore “all things”. Some concentrate on spiritual salvation, where restoration begins. Others concentrate on social and physical reform, to the neglect of spiritual regeneration. But the church must equip its people to represent God’s whole agenda, to bring “all creation” under the Lordship of Christ.25 A proper interpretation of this passage, thus, makes it clear that God’s reconciling work embraces the restoration of individuals as well as social, cultural, political and economic structures. Christ is at work globally, and he is seeking to use his people to transform societies and their systems, confront principalities and powers, and work for public justice and human rights.26 Group 5: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 ese verses contain Paul’s great declaration of the reconciling work of God. e phrase that leaps out from this passage is, “All this is from God.” is is where the focus must lie. Both the work of reconciliation and the use of his people as agents of reconciliation are motivated, instituted, and implemented by God. e Lord does the work – sometimes through us, sometimes in spite of us – but it is he who does the salvific work. at is how the world is to be transformed from a world at enmity with God to a world at one with God: through the work of God in Christ. e work God did and is doing through Christ is the work of reconciliation. And it is not just individuals or humanity he is reconciling; it is the whole world:27 all of creation, nations, people groups, systems, individual persons, powers, and whatever else is alienated from God will be reconciled through Christ. Reconciliation makes the most comprehensive renewal possible. Everything becomes new as Christ has opened the door for the entire world to be reconciled to him.28 We might employ Paul’s declaration in 2 Cor. 5:19 (alternating two words) to show the essential contents of the Old Testament…: “God was in Israel, seeking to reconcile the world unto himself.” “In Israel” God did not succeed in redeeming the world. It remained for him to act “in Christ” in order finally to draw all unto himself.29 ose who have been redeemed through faith in his atoning work, those who are “a new creation,” are called to a “ministry of reconciliation”.30 How does this look like and what exactly does this “ministry of reconciliation” involve? Our task, in this ministry of reconciliation, is not the reconciliation itself; only God can do that, particularly at the systemic and cosmic levels. Our

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task as people of God is to proclaim what God has already done. It is to witness to that reconciliation by first being reconciled to God ourselves.31 If anyone is “in the Messiah”, what they have and are is… new creation. Your own human self, your personality, your body, is being reclaimed, so that instead of being simply part of the old creation, a place of sorrow and injustice and ultimately the shame of death itself, you can be both part of the new creation in advance and someone through whom it begins to happen here and now.32 Second, it is to witness to that reconciliation by becoming agents or ambassadors of that reconciliation to others; sharing with the world (including those systems and structures which are no longer living within their God-given purpose and in rebellion against God) the Good News that they are already reconciled and can receive God’s salvation if they so choose.33 Indeed, God uses humankind to work out the full implications of his redemption. As the Redeemer’s ambassadors, Christians are called to work for the redemption of the creation in its entirety—family, the marketplace, the arts … and, of course, politics. us, in the same way that humankind was commissioned to work out the full implications of the original creation, believers are called to work out the full implications of the redemption as it extends to all things.34 Although harmony between God and his creation is restored de jure in Christ’s work on the cross, it is the business of each and every believer to engage the world, using the unique capacities with which each has been gifted, to restore God’s original purpose for creation – Shalom – in fact.35 3. rough Jesus’ Death the Created Order is Restored to its Original Purpose Group 6: Romans 8:18-25 is is a most amazing and truly mind-expanding passage. In verse 20, Paul’s starting point is the fact that the creation had been “subjected to frustration”. He is contending that creation – the world, the cosmos, the universe – is enslaved to decadence and sin as much as are human beings. Most certainly Paul is referring to Genesis 3, which says that human sin also caused disruption and evil in nature. e material world shares humanity’s destiny. “It was cursed for man’s sin … and is therefore now deformed: impotent and decadent (Gen. 3:17, 19-22).36 Indeed, “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pain of childbirth right up to the present time” (v. 22). “It waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (v. 19; literally, “waiting for the revelation of the sons of God”). It waits for its delivery from sin and longs for its own salvation, as much as humanity yearns for wholeness.37 Paul recognized that the world is delightful as well as disastrous; orderly as well as chaotic. Sin is so prevalent and so destructive that the whole creation is affected. Sin is not just individual, it’s global. It’s infused in the bloodstream of the whole

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world, where sinful people create systems and cultures that promote and protect evil, as well as good. e good news is that God’s salvation through Jesus’ death is equally universal in its availability and effect. Creation is as capable of being saved by Christ as are we!38 Indeed, one day all creation will be rescued from slavery, from the corruption, decay and death which deface its beauty, destroy its relationships, remove the sense of God’s presence from it, and make it a place of injustice, violence, and brutality. at is the message of rescue, of “salvation”, at the heart of one of the greatest chapters Paul ever wrote.39 e whole of creation has been created and now redeemed by Christ. Not just humans! e whole created order will be made new! Creation will enjoy the same benefits of salvation as will humans, and to the same degree, for “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (v. 21).40 In other words, Paul basically says that through Jesus’ death the present material universe is being transformed to fulfill the purpose for which God created it.41 Reflecting on these verses the noted evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce concludes: “If words mean anything, these words of Paul denote not the annihilation of the present material universe on the day of revelation, to be replaced by a universe completely new but the transformation of the present universe so that it will fulfill the purpose for which God created it.”42 Romans 8, thus, affirms that creation is so good that God intends to purge it from evil and bring it to perfection.43 It is the deepest New Testament answer to the problem of evil, to the question of God’s justice.44 Notwithstanding, this liberation of creation will be partial and imperfect until Christ returns to redeem it personally. Only at the end of time, when Jesus returns, will it be fully restored.45 In the meantime, until Jesus’ return, the passage affirms, we humans have a mandate to work with God in creation’s restoration. Christ calls his followers to participate in the world’s systems, to promote his values and love as we have opportunity; to participate with him in the first skirmishes of the liberation of his creation. Christ’s saving grace starts its work inside us, but simultaneously works its way out through our influence. God’s power and purposes begin to penetrate our values, worldview, relationships, career choices and community involvements. As God’s managers of the earth, we then begin to reclaim the devil’s territory, as it were, by redirecting social systems and cultural values so that people and creation benefit instead of being exploited.46

group study 2: god saves humankind: how and in what ways? xx minutes

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In the next group study we’re going to seek to explain how through the cross, God saves humankind and in what ways. We will seek to seek to explain some other theological meanings of the cross by looking through three more windows of our house. I’d like you to approach the texts you’re going to study with the questions assigned to each group in mind. At the end, each group will present your answers to the questions asked to the plenary. Divide participants into three groups and assign each group its texts. Give groups about 15 minutes time to read the texts and discuss their answers to the questions. Have groups present their findings to the plenary. As groups present their findings, project the texts on screen via PowerPoint and fill in insights they might have left out from below, using the PowerPoint Outline. 4. rough Jesus’ Death Human Communities and Societies are Restored to their Original Purpose Group 7: 1. Cor. 10:16-22; 11:23-26; Gal. 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:14-22; 1 John 3:10-18 Jesus’ death tore down dividing walls by calling people from divergent backgrounds to give up their differences and concentrate instead on the generousness of Christ’s sacrifice. Christ’s death enables people to live in koinonia (community/fellowship), as they become partakers in the Salvation brought about by Jesus. eir koinonia with Jesus must manifest itself in koinonia that crosses barriers with other believers, which is best seen in the Lords Supper. e Lord’s supper is not a religious remembrance ritual, but instead a call to “life together”, to forgiveness, to sharing, to intentional community. Only in remembrance of the cross, koinonia can deepen and mature, because it involves the crucifying of one’s own self-justice, egocentrism, and selfishness – openly admitting one’s own dark sides. e result is a preparedness to be honest and in open communion with other Christians, showing oneself vulnerable. rough Christ’s death, then, reconciliation between classes, races and genders is possible. To be ‘justified’ is to be ‘set right’ in one’s relationships; it is a ‘making peace’, a breaking down of the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile: the relationship between divine justification and the reconciliation of humans to one another is not a sequential relationship.47 Christian fellowship that neglects the commandment of reconciliation and doesn’t bridge gaps between rich and poor, “Jew and Greek”, man and woman, thus, falls short of God’s vision for his church. Indeed, the Christian’s calling is to show to a divided world that separation, alienation and barriers of all kinds can be overcome through the reconciling power of Christ. rough Christ’s death new societies can emerge. John explains the community-creating power of the cross: “is is how we know who

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the children of Children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Any one who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brothers. . . . is is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear Children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3: 10-18) 5. rough Jesus’ Death Individuals are Liberated from the Enslaving Power of Shame Group 8: Luke 22:63-65; 23: 11,35-39; Hebrews 12:2-3; 13:12-13 A reliance on Western theology has limited the breadth of understanding Jesus’ death. One of these limitations is that, because the West has little problem with shame, Westerners neither remember, nor teach, how the cross liberated Christendom from the oppressive culture of shame. Although the Western exposition of the cross often sees it as Jesus taking our guilt upon him, the Gospel story says more. Here is how Luke explains how the cross was as much about shame as about sin: e cross is the ultimate expression of an Asian culture using shame to coerce one its members to fall in line, to conform to its code.48 What crucifixion meant to the Romans is expressed in Cicero’s words, ‘Far be the very name of the cross, not only from the body, but even from the thought, the eyes, the ears of Roman citizens’.49 For Jews, it was clear that everyone who died on a “tree” was cursed and brought utter shame on his/her family. In effect, what the New Testament is saying, then, is that in enduring the cross, Jesus turned his culture’s weapon of shame against his culture, he “scorned” or “despised” its shame. (Hebrews 12:2). He refused to be ashamed of what they wanted him to be ashamed of. Instead, he made them ashamed of what they ought to have been ashamed of. e cross calls us to step out of the culture that uses shame to make us conform. We are to follow Jesus: “Who also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.” (Hebrews 13:12-13)50 6. rough Jesus’ Death Individuals are Saved from Self-destruction and Enabled to Enter into new Communion with God Group 9: Romans 1:18-23, 28-32; 3:21-26; 5:7-11; 6:23; Matthew 1:21; 1. Tim. 1:15 roughout Scripture, we observe that humans exercised the option of choosing to distrust and disobey God’s calling on their lives, to sin against

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his Shalom ethic, and to alienate themselves from their Creator. e choice to sin meant believing something false, allowing oneself to be deceived, and submitting to Satan’s kingdom. By their choice they went from light into darkness. eir mind was darkened; their heart was hardened; and their conscience became increasingly insensitive to truth. e spiritual life of humankind was dead. ey ceased to have fellowship with God and subsequently ceased to have up-building relationships with those ‘other’ than them. ey grew to love the darkness of evil. ey became slaves to sin, for, increasing compromise with sin means decreasing freedom and power to choose what is right. Sin bred poverty, corruption, oppression, exploitation, violence and destruction. As sinners against God’s vision of Shalom, humans are guilty – worthy not of respect but of punishment, of destruction and eternal separation from God who is Shalom. is is the basic argument of Romans 1-6.51 ose who don’t repent and refuse to have their sins forgiven must face God’s terrible wrath: abandonment by God and thus eternal separation from the source of all love, justice and goodness. “e wages of sin is death” (6:23). It is important to state once again that God’s wrath is not active punishment. It is precisely the opposite: It is withdrawal of God’s protection; it is letting people experience head-on the evilness of their own doings, without averting the evil and intervening on peoples’ behalf.52 So what remedy is there? Paul explains that through Jesus’ death, Christ took our sins upon himself to turn aside God’s deserved wrath and punishment of sinners. To avert that God would no longer intervene on humanity’s behalf and let their own wrongdoings fall on their head. As Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary, it was literally the sin of the world that was hanging there at that moment of history. Jesus became the sin of the world. Yet, it was not Jesus who was judged on that cross, but the sin of humankind that was judged and condemned. What follows is absolutely central to the gospel’s portrayal of salvation: Jesus did not die on the cross to reconcile God to us, as the blood atonement theory has it, but to reconcile us to God.53 God loved humans so much to send Jesus to take humans’ sin upon himself on the cross. Because of him – the only sinless human – God will not withdraw himself from humanity and abandon us to our own evil and the evil of the perverted principalities and powers.54 In other words, Jesus’ death allows a sinner, who has broken God’s commandments and sinned against his Shalom ethics, to own responsibility for oneself and to repent; to ask forgiveness; to get right with God; to be born again; to get out of the slavery of Satan and begin a life of obedience to God through repentance and faith. No matter how sinful and broken, no matter how poor, oppressed and malnourished, we can repent of our sins, receive divine forgiveness and enter into a personal living relationship with the holy Creator that will last eternally. We are saved, when we repent of our sin, believe in Christ and submit to the reign of Christ and his vision of Shalom in our lives.55

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Have a participant read out loud the summary to the Scripture Study “e eological Meaning of the Cross.”

group dialogue: your reactions to the theological meaning of the cross xx minutes

Let’s summarize and reflect and explore the breadth of the concept of salvation we have read about in Scripture today. What insights/ conclusions can we draw from these scriptures? Project the following questions on PowerPoint and discuss them with the whole group: Divide participants into two groups. Have the first group reflect on and discuss the first two questions plus the quote. Have the second group reflect on and discuss the last two questions plus the quote. Give them about 15-20 minutes to discuss their answers. Group 1: • In light of all we’ve reflected upon in our exploration of scriptures today – why did Jesus have to die? • What difference would it make in our ministry and practice of our faith for us to believe that God saves more than people? at God is actively at work seeking to redeem the structures, the systems of the city or nation – or even the city or nation itself? Group 2: • Holding to a doctrine of salvation as outlined in our Scripture Study today, what would you suspect Christ would call the church to be and do in your nation? • Why do you think so many churches have been so reluctant to accept the centrality of restoring Shalom on earth in the gospel? Both Groups: ink about how you would explain the Gospel to a non-believer after all that we studied in this and the previous sessions. Take a few minutes to formulate how you would present the Gospel of the Kingdom. Discuss with your group members how you would go about it, and come prepared to share your findings with the whole group.

homework assignment and application For your homework for this week, there are three assignments: xx minutes

1. Read the following quote and reflect on it. Do you agree? What are specific ways that you as individual could put the insight from this quote

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into practice this week? What are specific ways that you could get your church to put the insights from this quote into practice? ink of one specific way in which you will put the insights from this quote into practice this week, and share it with other members of your group. Be prepared to share with them how you did, in next week’s session. “In our ministry as churches we often have focused too much on individuals rather than the whole cosmos. Because the church has defined sin individualistically – the naughty things we individually do – the church has then had to construct a theology of salvation that was individual and a theology of mission of the church that was individual, thus missing the far more comprehensive picture of what God has actually done to make this world fully the world he created it to be. Salvation, as we have seen in these passages, however, is individual, corporate and systemic; vertical and horizontal. Jesus pleads us that we need to make a relationship between preaching, advocating justice and ministering to the poor, by defining redemption “as restoring the elements of creation to fulfill the purposes for which God created them”. is understanding of redemption provides a rational for Christians to pray for and work for the transformation of our societies here on earth. Did Jesus ask us to pray that we might go to heaven, or that the kingdom of heaven might come on this earth? e latter of course! erefore the church must be focused on more than people! It needs to be focused on individuals but also on the restoration and transformation of the political, religious, economic and social systems of its nations, including all the domains worldwide.”56 — Robert Linthicum, Executive Director of Partners in Urban Transformation 2. Read the article “e Purpose of the Church”, answer the reflection questions in the article, and come prepared to share your findings with other members of your group. 3. Read the article “e eological Meaning of the Cross” to review the material we studied today. If you feel like it, you can also read the article “e Resurrection of Christ – e Historical Evidence” for your own enjoyment.

closing prayer Ask a participant to close in prayer. 5 minutes

total time: xx minutes

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personal notes

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endnotes 1

? N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 103 3 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 24 4 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 5 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 6 It is debated among scholars whether Paul is referring solely to the Jewish legal and regulatory system or whether he is making reference to the entire “written code” that regulated all life – both Jewish and Gentile – in the Roman Empire. is study has taken it to mean the latter, but holding the former would not detract in any way from the argument presented regarding this Scripture passage. 7 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 e forgiveness of which Colossians 2:13-15 speaks, then, is forgiveness for complicity in our own oppression and in that of others. Forgiveness for complicity in the oppressive, exploitative and controlling systems. Our alienation is not solely the result of our rebellion against God. It is also the way we have been socialized by alienating rules and requirements. We do not freely surrender our authenticity; it is stolen from us by the powers. (Walter Wink, e Powers at Be, 90) 8 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 123 9 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 126 10 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 126 11 Many people around the world (including Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist etc. leaders) find the Western Gospel to be obnoxiously cheap, because its beginning and end appears to be that Jesus died so that Christians can get a free ride to heaven. (Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 37) 12 e Christus Victor motif, established in these verses, then, gets beyond an exclusively individualistic understanding of sin and salvation and hints to the social and cosmic aspects of salvation. is understanding of Christ’s death provides a rational for Christians to believe that Christ can transform culture, since it recognizes that Christ is Lord over natural and supernatural powers, over systems and structures as well as over persons; his Kingdom is cosmic in scope. 13 e Greek word for world—kosmos—can be employed either broadly or narrowly. In the New Testament both uses occur. We can only understand which usage is correct by reading a particular text in light of the overall message of scripture. When we consider the command to hate the world, or when we seek to understand Christ’s words that his followers are not of the world, we must understand kosmos narrowly to mean the effects wrought on the creation by the Fall. us, we should hate the effects of the Fall, and as children of God we are obliged to flee from sin and remain distinct from the fallen world. If in these passages we read kosmos broadly—as if it meant all of creation—we are faced with the problem of squaring hatred of the world, as well as separation from it, with Christ’s command to be salt and light in a world that is sorely in need of both. If we separate ourselves from the kosmos (broadly construed) because we are not part of the world, we forfeit the possibility of engaging as salt and light, for being salt and light requires active participation in the creation. Furthermore, if we take Christ’s use of kosmos broadly and in so doing retreat from engaging the world, then this implies that the command to oversee God’s creation, given to man in Genesis 1, has been rescinded. But there is simply no biblical support for such a position. Christ came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. Indeed, scripture tells us that, “God so loved the world (kosmos) that he gave his only Son” ( John 3:16). Here it seems clear that kosmos is intended in the broad sense—Christ died for all of creation. (Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 16) 2

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Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 120 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 120 16 It is important to note that if we take kosmos to mean all of creation, and at the same time we take creation to be wholly evil due to the Fall (that is, if we deny creation’s ongoing structural goodness), then we have God loving evil and giving his Son for its redemption. One only redeems that which is redeemable, and that which is redeemable is necessarily good. Christ died for the totality of creation, which has been effaced by sin, but the underlying structural goodness of creation remains intact. us the distinction between sacred and secular is a false dichotomy. Instead, the creation, properly conceived, should be seen in terms of two very different categories: redeemed vs. unredeemed—or (and this is another way of saying the same thing), those under the Lordship of Christ vs. those in rebellion. (Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 16) 17 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119 He is co-eternal with God (“He is before all things”… and the “firstborn over all creation”). He is co-Creator of the universe and everything that is in it; everything material and everything spiritual. He is even the ruler over the competing power networks of the world, since he is the creator of thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities along with “all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible,” they were created “in”, “through” and “for” him. at is, Christ is the creator and sustainer of both the demonic/ angelic possessors of power and the political, economic, religious, and social systems, structures, and personalities of power. ey were created, Paul contends, as an integral part of the universe God had planned. (Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119) 18 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119 19 Bob Moffit, If Jesus Were Mayor, 61 20 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 45 21 Bob Moffit, If Jesus Were Mayor, 61 22 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119-120 23 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119-120 Indeed, through his death and resurrection Jesus was the first to conquer death, “so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (v. 18). 24 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” So once again, all things can reach fulfillment through Christ – whether things visible or invisible, whether thrones, dominions and powers. is doesn’t mean, however, that ultimately all things will be reconciled to God and redeemed as universalism asserts. People, systems and powers still have a choice to reject God’s invitation. Nonetheless, Jesus’ death and resurrection demonstrates that it is possible to overcome the worst evil – death; that unredeemed people, systems and powers can be redeemed and brought under the Lordship of Christ, if they so choose. Jesus’ death and resurrection furthermore demonstrates that ultimately no people, systems or powers will be able to oppose God’s will and vision. 25 Bob Moffit, If Jesus Were Mayor, 62 Reconciliation focuses on the conviction that the most basic thing about humans is not their sin but their restoration. Reconciliation consists in spirited actions, often very ordinary everyday ones, against the anti-creational forces that violate creation’s integrity and degrade and destroy (Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 45-46) 26 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” Paul, in these verses, thus, offers Jesus as the Lord of the public sphere whose death enables him to transcend individual needs to deal with global concerns. 27 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 121 15

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Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 29 quoted in Arthur F. Glasser, Announcing the Kingdom, 17 30 Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 17 31 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 32 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126 33 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 34 Politics, then, along with art and business and science and motherhood and mechanics and cooking—the list is as long as creation is broad—are all in need of the redemption Christ provides and which is administered through “Christ’s ambassadors”. 35 Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 17 36 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 37 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 38 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 39 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126 40 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 Since sin is not just personal, the whole creation needed to be saved. We see, then, that in Romans Paul is teaching that there is no dichotomy between the individual and his corporate environment (whether social or physical). It is all corrupted by sin. And God has provided for the redemption of it all. (Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118) 41 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 42 F.F. Bruce, e Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, 170 43 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 46 44 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126 Unless creation as a whole is put to rights, it might look as though God the Creator had blundered or was weak and incapable, or was actually unjust. No, declares Paul: the renewal of creation, the birth of the new world from the laboring womb of the old, will demonstrate that God is in the right. (Ibid, 126) 45 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 46 What begins as personal conversion results in societal change as God’s people impact their families, coworkers, churches, communities, culture, and the environment! Where it doesn’t, the conversion was not full. (Based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power”) 47 Melba Padilla Maggay, Transforming Society, 25 It is not that ‘faith’ occurs first as an inner existential leap of the individual… and then God operates a change in him which enables him to love his brethren… ese two cannot be distinguished. In other words, conversion does not take place in two moves – first, a conversion to Christ, and then a ‘second conversion’ from Christ to the world. Both occur in one single act. 48 Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 34 49 Carson, D. A. 1994. New Bible Commentary: 21st century edition. Rev. ed. of: e new Bible commentary. 3rd ed. / edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970. (4th ed.) . Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA 50 Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 35-36 51 All people are sinners standing under God’s holy condemnation. “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (3:23). ere is a clear consistent warning. e Holy

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Creator hates sin, though he loves sinners. All who sin stand under God’s wrath and condemnation. A day of judgment is coming. 52 ? 53 God has renounced any accounting of sins; no repayment is required or even made possible. God is not a stern and inflexible magistrate but a loving parent. Why, then, was a redemptive act necessary? Because our resentment toward God and our will to kill leave us unable to turn to God. God needs no reparation, but human beings must be extracted from their own prison if they are to be capable of accepting the pure gift of freely offered love… It is not God who must be appeased, but humans who must be delivered from their hatred of God. Jesus absorbed all the violence directed at him by the authorities and the powers but still loved them. If humanity killed the one who fully embodied God’s intention for our lives and God still loves us, then there is no need to try to earn God’s love. And if God loves us unconditionally, there is no need to seek conditional love from the various powers who promise us rewards in return for devotion. (Walter Wink, e Powers at Be, 92) 54 Jesus became sin for us. He took our punishment. He bore vicariously the wrath of God upon sin. He died on the cross as our substitute. Since Jesus loved sinners so much and became the sin of the world Himself on the cross, humans can find forgiveness for their sin through faith in the death of Christ, as the final and complete sin-offering; they can have a renewed relationship with God and life eternal rather than eternal separation from God in the claws of evil. 55 ? But conversely, if a person does not personally accept the death of Christ as a means to his salvation from sin, then s/he cannot be saved; s/he will have to take the full consequences of sin before a perfectly Holy God. Many people find it hard to accept that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the only means of finding forgiveness for one’s sin. But who else ever became sin for the world? In the whole of human history Jesus is the only one who took human’s sin upon Himself. Indeed, we can ignore the theological meaning of the cross only at eternal cost to ourselves. e New Testament, consequently, affirms that the renewal of society begins with the renewal of individuals who pass from death to life, from unrighteousness to righteousness. e true key to Shalom lies with the quality of life the people lead. Holistic reform can only happen as a consequence of repentance. us, Jesus’ death on the cross brings together God’s wrath and God’s mercy. It saves individuals from self-destruction/eternal separation from God and his Shalom. It saves humans from having God eternally withdraw from humanity and give them over the clutches of evil. 56 Based on classnotes from course by Robert Linthicum, Building a People of Power

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