Sw - Session 10 - Homework

cross

Cross God Saves More than People

Session 10 Homework

homework: practicing the way of the cross 1. Read the following quote and reflect on it. Do you agree? W hat are specific ways that you as individual could put the insight from this quote into practice this week? What are specific ways that you could get your church to put the insights from this quote into practice? Share with other members of the group one specific way in which you will put the insights from this quote into practice this week. Be prepared to share with them how you did during 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.” 1 —Rev. Robert Linthicum, author and 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 Historical 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.

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application journal:

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article: the purpose of the church: why does your church exist? Introduction: What Drives Your Church?2 In many Churches there are multiple driving forces competing for attention. is results in conflict and a Church that is trying to head in several different directions at the same time.3 If you look up the word ‘drive’ in a dictionary, you’d find this definition: “to guide, control, or direct”. When you drive a car, it means you guide, control, and direct it down the street. Every Church is driven by something. ere is a guiding force, a controlling assumption, a directing conviction behind everything that happens. It may be unspoken. It may be unknown to many. Most likely it’s never been officially voted on. But it’s there, influencing every aspect of the Church’s life. What is the driving force behind your Church? Churches Driven by Personality In this Church the most important question is, “What does the leader – the pastor – want?” If the pastor has served the Church for a long time, he is most likely the driving personality. But if the Church has a history of changing pastors every few years, a key layperson is likely to be the driving force. One obvious problem of a personality-driven Church is that its agenda is determined more by the background, needs, talents, and insecurities of the leader than by God’s will or the needs of the people or surrounding community. Church members simply do things, because the “pastor or leader” said so, often without really understanding the purpose and/or meaning of their actions. Accordingly, they give their allegiance to the pastor or leader in a way that hinders their own spiritual maturing process. Another problem is that the personality-driven Church comes to a standstill when its driving personality leaves or dies. Churches Driven by Programs e Sunday school, the women’s program, the choir or worship band, and the youth group are examples of programs that are often driving forces in Churches. In programdriven Churches, all the energy is focused on maintaining and sustaining the programs of the Church. Often, the program-driven

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Church’s goal subtly shifts from developing and equipping people to just filling positions. e leading question no longer is: “In what ways is God desiring to develop you to contribute to advancing his Kingdom and how can we equip you in this process?” but rather “We need someone to teach Sunday school and you can do it as well as any other person. So could you join the Sunday school staff?” If results from a program diminish, the people involved blame themselves for not working hard enough. No one ever questions and evaluates if a program still works. Churches Driven by Events If you look at the calendar of an event-driven Church, you might get the impression that the goal of the Church is to keep people busy. Something is going on every night of the week, whether it’s a prayer meeting, a Bible Study, small group meetings, a committee meeting, worship practice, a Church-sponsored outreach event etc. As soon as one big event is completed, work begins on the next one. Some event-driven Churches live from one conference or concert by a well-known worship leader to another; from one event by a famous speaker/preacher to another. ere is a lot of activity in Churches like this, but not necessarily productivity. A Church may be busy without having a clear purpose for what it does. Someone needs to ask, “What is the purpose behind each of our activities?” In the event-driven Church, attendance in the various activities of the Church becomes the sole measurement of faithfulness and maturity. We must be wary of the tendency to allow attendance at meetings to replace ministry and service as the primary activity of believers.4 Churches Driven by Tradition In the tradition-driven Church the favorite phrase is “We’ve always done it this way.” e goal of a tradition-driven Church is to simply perpetuate the past. Change is almost always seen as negative, and stagnation is interpreted as “stability”. Older Churches tend to be bound together by rules, regulations, and rituals, while younger Churches tend to be bound together by a sense of purpose and mission. In some Churches, tradition can be such a driving force that everything else, even God’s will, becomes secondary. Ralph Neighbour says the seven last words of the Church are, “We’ve never done it that way before.”

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Churches Driven by Finances e question at the forefront of everyone’s mind in a finance-driven Church is, “How much will it cost?” Nothing else ever seems quite as important as finances. e most heated debate in a finance-driven Church is always over the budget. While good stewardship and cash flow are essential for a healthy Church, finances must never be the controlling issue. e greater issue should be what God wants the Church to do. Churches do not exist to make a profit. e bottom line in any Church should not be “How much did we save?” but “Who was saved?” I’ve noticed that many Churches are driven by faith in their early years and driven by finances in later years. Churches Driven by Buildings e former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, once said, “ We shape our buildings, and then they shape us.” Too often a congregation is so anxious to have a nice building that the members spend more than they can afford. Paying for and maintaining the building becomes the biggest budget item. Funds needed to operate ministries must be diverted to pay for the building, and the actual ministry of the Church suffers. e tail ends up wagging the dog. In other situations, Churches allow the smallness of their buildings to set the limit for future growth. Churches Driven by Seekers In an honest attempt to reach unbelievers for Christ and be relevant in today’s culture, some Churches allow the needs of the unbelievers to become their driving force. e primary question asked is, “What do the unchurched want?” While we must be sensitive to the needs, hurts, and interests of seekers, and while it is wise to design evangelistic services that target their needs, we cannot allow seekers to drive the total agenda of the Church. God’s purposes for his Church include evangelism – but not to the exclusion of his other purposes. Attracting seekers is the first step in the process of making disciples, but it should not be the driving force of the Church. While it is fine for a business to be market-driven (give the customer whatever s/he wants), a Church has a higher calling. e Church should be seeker-sensitive but it must not be seeker-driven. We

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must adapt our communication style to our culture without adopting the sinful elements of it or abdicating to it.

reflection questions Before reading on, take a moment to reflect on the following questions and write your answers to the questions into your Application Journal. Come prepared to share your answers with other members of your group in the next class session: • Why does your Church exist? Does your Church know its purpose and mission? • What drives your Church? Do any of the driving forces described above characterize your Church? • What activities does your Church spend most time doing? Is there anything you think needs to change?

application journal:

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article: the theological meaning of the cross: the restoration of shalom Introduction 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 as the troublemaker and rebel). 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 on the electrical chair – whereas the theological meaning needed exposition, defense and practical application.5 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? Explaining the theological meaning of the cross may be like trying to see the whole beautiful, majestic sky from one of the windows of your house. You can see part of the sky through your window, and you can go to the other rooms of your house and look through other windows too. But even after looking out all of the windows, you aren’t seeing the whole sky – you aren’t seeing to the end of the sky, which is infinite through each window, and is more than even all the windows can show you. It’s the same in theology. Trying to explain the meaning of the cross is like looking through different windows in your house. ere are different theological explanations or theories. Each of these is like looking through one of the windows of your house, granted some may be larger than others! Yet, not even one of these theories can give you the whole sky, as none of your windows can. Our best formulations thus don’t give us the whole sky, just a window in it. Nonetheless, even though we know we may not grasp the whole sky, having a theory is better than staring at a blank wall or even a picture hanging on the wall, or even tapping in the dark, since there are no windows.6 In what follows 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 that oppose his divine intentions on earth. e cross

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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! God Saves More an People In this first section of the article, 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. Window 1: rough Jesus’ Death God Defeated the Evil Powers Colossians 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 also his foe’s defeated 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. It was, for any Roman general, the supreme moment of his career when he was granted the right to such a triumphal procession.7 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.8 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).9 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

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and their principalities (both earthly and demonic) has been broken, both over the church and over all society.10 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. 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 powers11 1. Corinthians 15:54b-57; Galatians 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.12 Galatians 1:4 states along similar lines that Christ came to rescue us from this present 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 “loosing 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.13 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

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the forgiveness and cleansing made possible by Jesus’ death. By his death and resurrection Jesus has destroyed Satan’s final weapon.14 As we see in these passages, a number of NT writers see the primary role of Jesus as 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. To the contrary! e Christus Victor motif, established in these verses, gets beyond an exclusively individualistic understanding of sin and salvation and hints to the social and cosmic aspects of salvation. 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 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.” 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. Unfortunately, the contemporary Western 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. 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.” Many people around the world (including Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist 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.15 Window 2: rough Jesus’ Death the Cosmos and the Principalities and Powers are Saved from Self-destruction 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

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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 all-encompassing word and means “the totality of existence”.16 To capture the power and implications of what John was writing in this passage, let us translate it this way:17 “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 ‘kosmos’. 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.18 Christ’s death and resurrection, then, is giving remedy for the downward cycle of society. God, through Jesus Christ, has made a way to restore the ‘kosmos’ – 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.19 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! Colossians 1:15-20: Seven times, this passage reminds us that God’s agenda is as big as “all creation”. Paul was making a point! Jesus’ blood was shed for the restoration of “all things”. Why? “All things” were broken when sin entered our world.20 Because of the fall, 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

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hunger, sickness, and social and cultural disintegration, as well as other problems.21 God loves his creation, however, and he wants “all things” reconciled to himself.22 Reconciliation, as it is used in this passage, then, has the sense of restoration. It assumes creation’s fall and God’s commitment to its restoration, so that it can fulfill its purposes. ese verses, then, are among Paul’s most illuminating statements about Christ and the meaning of his death. Paul presents Jesus here as the cosmic Christ. 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 demonic/ angelic possessors of power, as well as 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.23 is doesn’t mean that Christ created the Roman state or the capitalist economic system. is would make him responsible for all of these systems’ failures. No, what Paul is specifically referring to is that both the socio-political 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 theologian 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.24 However, when the principalities and powers fell, and turned against him in rebellion, God sent Jesus as God’s representative to reconcile all things to him and transform and redeem the systems and powers. 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! Indeed, through his death and resurrection Jesus was the first to conquer death, “so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (v. 18).25 To believe that God plans a cosmic salvation in which eventually all things will be reconciled to God doesn’t mean that ultimately all people

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and powers will be redeemed as universalist theology may want to assert. Rather it means that all parts of the created order – persons, human civilization and even the non-human creation – will participate in God’s ultimate salvation.26 Every person, system and power still has a choice to reject God’s invitation to reconciliation. 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. So, once again, all things can reach fulfillment through Christ – whether things visible or invisible, whether thrones, dominions and powers.27 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 managing cultural change. A proper interpretation of this passage includes God’s reconciling work, which embraces the restoration of social, cultural, political and economic structures. 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. Christ is at work globally, using his people to transform societies and their systems, confront principalities and powers, and work for public justice and human rights.28 Wonderful things happen, thus, when churches respond to God’s larger agenda! However, 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.29 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:30 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 – including the world –

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becomes new in an ongoing process. Christ has opened the door for the entire world to be reconciled to him.31 We might employ Paul’s declaration in 2. Corinthians 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.32 Despite the finality of Christ’s work, those who have been redeemed through faith in his atoning work, those who are “a new creation,” are called to a “ministry of reconciliation”.33 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 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.34 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.35 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.36 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. 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”. 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 the harmony of creation de facto.37 Window 3: rough Jesus’ Death the Created Order is Restored to its Original Purpose

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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).38 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.39 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 world, where sinful people create systems and cultures that promote and protect evil, as well as good.40 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!41 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.42 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).43 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.44 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.”45 Romans 8, thus, affirms that creation is so good that God intends to purge it from evil and bring it to perfection.46 It is the deepest New Testament answer to the problem of evil, to the question of God’s justice.47 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.48

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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 places benefit instead of being exploited. What begins as personal conversion must result in societal change as God’s people impact their families, coworkers, churches, market places, communities, culture, and the environment!49 If it doesn’t, the conversion was not full! God Saves Humankind In this second section of our article, 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. Window 4: rough Jesus’ Death Human Communities and Societies are Restored to their Original Purpose 1. Corinthians 10:16-22, 11:23-26; Galatians 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 Lord’s 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.50 Christian fellowship that neglects the commandment of reconciliation and

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doesn’t bridge gaps between rich and poor, “Jew and Greek”, man and woman, therefore, 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 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) Window 5: rough Jesus’ Death Individuals are Liberated from the Enslaving Power of Shame 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 not as many problems with shame, Westerners neither remember, nor teach, how the cross liberated Christians 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.51 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’.52 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)53 Window 6: rough Jesus’ Death Individuals are Saved from Selfdestruction and Enabled to Enter into new Communion with God

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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 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. e basic argument of Romans 1-6 is that 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 Creator hates sin, though he loves sinners. All who sin and don’t repent stand under God’s wrath and condemnation. A day of judgment is coming, where God’s wrath will be fully unleashed. ose who don’t repent and refuse to have their sins forgiven must at that day face God’s terrible wrath: eternal separation from the source of all love, justice and goodness. is could mean eternal separation by means of annihilation or eternal separation by means of conscious banishment from the source of all good. In any case, “e wages of sin is death”, whether death by annihilation or death by loss of God’s image in us. (Romans 6:23). It is important to state here that God’s wrath is not active punishment, according to Paul. 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, it is allowing people to reap the consequences of their own actions, without averting the evil, intervening on peoples’ behalf and protecting those who have turned against God and his vision of Shalom.54 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: God loved humans so much to send Jesus to take humans’ sin upon himself on the cross. Jesus became sin for us. He took our punishment. He bore vicariously the wrath of God

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upon sin. He died on the cross as our substitute. 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. 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 sinoffering; they can have a renewed relationship with God and life eternal rather than eternal separation from God in the claws of evil. 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 us, Jesus’ death on the cross brings together God’s wrath and God’s mercy. It saves individuals from self-destruction and eternal separation from God and his Shalom. It saves humans from having God eternally withdraw from humanity and give them over to the clutches of evil and everything that stands in opposition to God’s empire of Shalom. Summary e story we find ourselves in has been hijacked by sin and evil. All of us are, to some degree, passive participants or even coconspirators in this hijacking.56 e common view, therefore, asserts that Jesus came to save us from this evil world which has been hijacked by sin, in order to give those who accept him as their Lord and Savior tickets into his realm – heaven. Indeed, many evangelical theories of atonement (i.e. ransom and substitution theories) concentrate on the individual person’s salvation. In doing so, they separate salvation from ethics and give Christians little or no reason to participate in the conquest of evil or to transform the structures of the cosmos that are governed by these powers.57 e result is the scandal of worshiping churches, who exercise no transforming impact on their surrounding communities and nations; of professing Christians whose sexual practices, business dealings, and political attitudes are no different from those of non-Christians.58 In contrast to most evangelical theories of atonement, however, the writers of the Gospels and the epistles understood that the sinfulness in our world is simultaneously political, economic, social, religious, and moral.59 In their understanding Jesus didn’t come to save us only from private, moral, and religious imperfections.60 As much as that was part of his aim, he also

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came to save us from oppressive political, social, or economic sins in the here and now.61 ere is no slightest indication that the New Testament writers projected God’s redemptive action solely into the heavenly and spiritual realm. To them, the rejection of Jesus is part of a much larger, sinful world that consists of sinful imperial, social, economic, and religious structures and practices that benefit the elite, burden the rest, violate God’s will and sovereignty, and resist God’s empire of Shalom. From this present world and its evil powers people are to be saved.62 e New Testament understanding of Jesus’ death on the cross, then, goes beyond the individual’s salvation; it emphasizes that biblical salvation is much broader than the individual’s redemption from sin, his reconciliation with God, and his receiving the gift of eternal life. It emphasizes that instead of withdrawing and abandoning us to our sin and evil, God stepped into our story and absorbed an unfathomable infliction of pain, so we won’t suffer it ourselves, so our story won’t have a tragic end.63 In doing so, God saved this entire created order from the evil principalities and powers, as well as the oppressive structures and systems, which continuously enslave humankind and oppose God’s vision of Shalom. e result: God’s redemptive work on the cross enables people who repent of their old ways and submit to God’s Lordship, to become reconciling agents, who can help God restore his creation, its systems and structures, to its original purpose: Shalom. e cross, then, is a message of hope. Christ died in order to rescue us from the present evil age in the here and now. is understanding of Christ’s death provides a rationale for Christians to believe that Christ can indeed transform culture in the here and now. It provides a rationale to become involved in this endeavor ourselves, since it recognizes that Christ, the Lord over natural and supernatural powers, over systems and structures and persons, has invited us to join him in his mission to bring his Kingdom of Shalom on earth as it is in heaven! While his Kingdom will only be established fully upon his return, already now we can help advance it by becoming his ambassadors of reconciliation to people, creation, systems, structures, and all things visible as well as invisible!

reflection questions: your reactions to the theological meaning of the cross Summarize and explore the breadth of the concept of salvation exposed in this article as you reflect upon the following questions and write your answers into your Application Journal:

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• In light of scripture exposition presented in this article – why did Jesus have to die? What insights/conclusions can you draw from the afore-cited scriptures? • 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? • Holding to a doctrine of salvation as outlined in this article, what would you suspect Christ would call the church to be and do in your city and nation? • Why do you think so many churches have been so reluctant to accept the centrality of restoring Shalom on earth in the Gospel?

application journal:

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endnotes 1

Based on classnotes from course by Robert Linthicum, Building a People of Power is entire section is adapted from Rick Warren, e Purpose-Driven Church, 76-80 3 In like manner, Churches are started for different reasons. Sometimes those reasons are inadequate: competition, denominational pride, the need for recognition by a leader, conflict and break-away from another church, or some other unworthy motivation. (Rick Warren, e Purpose-Driven Church, 82-83) 4 Unfortunately, very little actual ministry takes place in many churches. Instead, much of the time is taken up by meetings. Faithfulness is often defined in terms of attendance rather than service, and members just sit, soak, and sour. (Rick Warren, e PurposeDriven Church, 104) 5 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 24 6 Brian McLaren, e Story We Find Ourselves In, 102 7 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 8 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 9 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. 10 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 132 11 Walter Wink, e Powers at Be, 90 12 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 123 13 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 126 14 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 126 15 Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 37) 16 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) 17 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 120 18 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 120 19 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 2

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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) 20 Bob Moffit, If Jesus Were Mayor, 61 21 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 45 22 Bob Moffit, If Jesus Were Mayor, 61 23 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119 24 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119 25 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 119-120 26 Ronald Sider, One-Sided Christianity, 91 27 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 28 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 29 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) 30 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 121 31 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 32 quoted in Arthur F. Glasser, Announcing the Kingdom, 17 33 Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 17 34 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 35 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126 36 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 37 Mark T. Mitchell, A eology of Engagement for the ‘Newest Internationalists’, e Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003, 17 38 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 39 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 40 e Word In Life Study Bible, 2038 41 Robert Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 118 42 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126 43 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) 44 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 45 F.F. Bruce, e Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, 170 46 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 46 47 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 126

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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) 48 Paragraph based in parts on personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 49 Paragraph based in parts on e Word In Life Study Bible, 2038, as well as personal notes taken during a course offered by Robert Linthicum entitled “Building a People of Power” 50 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. 51 Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 34 52 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 53 Vishal Mangalwadi, Corruption and the Culture of the Cross, 35-36 54 ? 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. 56 Brian McLaren, e Story We Find Ourselves In, 170 57 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 122 58 If one reduces the atonement just to Jesus’ death for our sins, one abandons the New Testament’s understanding of the Gospel of the Kingdom and severs the connection between the cross and the purpose of Jesus’ disciple-based movement – to restore creation to its original purpose. 59 Warren, Carter, Matthew and Empire, 79 60 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 81-82 61 Warren, Carter, Matthew and Empire, 79 62 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 81-82 e Roman imperial world does not manifest the gift and blessing of the gods. It manifests Satan’s reign. 63 Brian McLaren, e Story We Find Ourselves In, 170

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