Monthly Archives: January 2014

Jan 19 2014

Nuggets of Fudge – A WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF LIFE


As those who claim to represent Jesus Christ today, we Christians need to get clear on our core message, then get on with proclaiming it to the world. This is true across the theological spectrum. Unfortunately, much that is offered as “gospel” today has little in common with the message announced by the apostles in obedience to Jesus. The confusion began quite early. John Chrysostom of Constantinople (A.D. 349-407) thought the apostolic message included “the glad tidings of the soul’s immortality.” However, the idea of an “immortal soul” that lives forever comes not from Jesus or his apostles but from Socrates and Plato. According to Genesis 2, God made man from dust of the earth (physical body), breathed into him breath of life (spirit, breath, wind), and man became a living soul or living being. Only God is immortal by his own nature (1 Tim. 6:16). We humans are not naturally immortal; we die unless God gives us life.

Contemporary with Chrysostom, “Saint Augustine” of Hippo (A.D. 354-430), was shaping the Western church. Burdened with a guilty conscience after an early life of sinful indulgence, Augustine viewed God and humankind in terms of cosmic criminal law. As a result, the Western church developed a legalistic culture with a core message that focused on our guilt, God’s wrath, and Christ’s appeasement. And always looming overhead was the ever-present threat of unending torment in hell. Meanwhile, Eastern Orthodox churches were centering attention on the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, but especially the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and his Ascension to God’s right hand. The chief motivation in Orthodox Christianity is God’s glory as seen in the Risen Christ, and the expectation of our sharing it, beginning now, and far more fully in the Age to come. This difference between East and West is seen in their respective aids to devotion, whether Western crucifix (punishment, suffering) or Eastern icon (reward, glory).

So what did the apostles proclaim? Not doctrine but a story. As reflected in Acts, apostles and other evangelists alike told the story of Jesus, often in the context of God’s larger salvation story. Jesus went about doing good, the story says, then he was killed by wicked men. But the story climaxes with the announcement that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24; 3:15; 3:26; 4:10; 10:20; 13:30; 17:31). On that grand note the apostles declared “the full message of this life” (Acts 5:20). Many Jews heard only “weakness”; many Greeks sneered, “foolish talk!” But to all who believe, both then and now, this gospel sparkles with wisdom and resonates with power. In a world of mortal humans, where sin and death seem often to hold invincible sway, there is no better news imaginable. Through Jesus of Nazareth, God has overcome sin, defeated Death, and given us the promise of eternal life. Death is not invincible after all. Life will have the final word!

Edward Fudge – January 19, 2014

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Edward Fudge is an author, theologian, thinker, scholar, teacher, preacher and most important to me, my dear friend. I invite you to visit him at EdwardFudge.com. You will find a wealth of great material helpful to any serious follower of Jesus.

 

Jan 1 2014

Loving God by Knowing Him – He is Holy


When you hear the words “God is Holy” what does that mean to you? Probably the most common idea that people have is that God is morally pure. He is that, and a facet of his holiness does have to do with his moral purity, but, that is not the primary meaning.

That God is “Holy” is that he is separate from all others. There is none like him. That God is Holy speaks to the whole of his character and his attributes. He is apart from all other beings. When you consider his attributes (omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, etc. it becomes clear quickly that the God of the Bible alone can be described with those words and their meanings. That God is Holy is that there is none like him…period.

Perhaps the best word picture of God’s holiness in all of the Bible is found in Isaiah 6. 

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-4)

Kings and kingdoms rise and fall as did King Uzziah but God’s place of authority and grandeur is unmatched and unequaled. As one wise man once said, “In 50 years not one person who now rules a country or is a head of state will be in power”. Yet God is eternally enthroned and what king can even be compared to him? Not one.

“The whole earth is full of his glory!” How wonderful and majestic is this God and how marvelous are his ways! God is separate from all others because he is God! It is his very essence and uniqueness that sets him far apart and above every human.

God is so removed from we his lowly creatures, who can know him? Who can come into his presence and address him? You can, and I can.

We just celebrated Christmas and we sang the song “O Come Emmanuel” (God with us) God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son to live in a body of flesh, to live a life of purity and righteousness, and to take upon himself our sins, and upon the cross to die by blood shed to free us from sin(s) and death forever.

By the worth and work of Jesus Christ our Lord we can now call this Holy God, Father. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). We were (past tense) reconciled to God by the death of Jesus (Romans 5:10).

Just as God is “set apart, or separate” from his creatures, those who are now in Christ are called to be set apart (1 Peter 1:13-16) as well for His glory. That God loved us so should compel us to separate ourselves for his purposes.