I guess, truthfully, this blog is mainly catered towards one man: Justin Tanaka. I guess blogging is my way of continuing our discussions about theology and God. So I hope this stuff is really interesting, man. And if you can/want, just write up rebuttals or just overall thoughts about it.
This post will mainly continue my last post about resurrection and some interesting notes about it. It is interesting to notice the parallel between the beginning of Genesis and the beginning of the Gospel of John. Why does John purposely echo the creation narrative and place Jesus, the Word, as the center of creation? This, I believe, has to do with, once again, the renewal of creation from its corruptible state to its incorruptible one.
In the Gospel of John, John states that the Word is the chief architect of creation and that, through him, all things were made. Many have viewed this to be an affirmation of the divinity of Jesus, which it can undoubtedly be, but the deeper meaning seems to point towards how creation has changed in respect to Jesus. How has creation changed because of Jesus?
Clearly, through Jesus, creation has been judged and redeemed. Like the resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of creation is happening right now. The Kingdom of God is upon us and we must pledge our allegiance to the king, Jesus. This is what I believe salvation really means. Salvation does mean that I am redeemed from my sins. However, that would be a grossly incomplete picture. Salvation is, ultimately, the Exodus out of Egypt and entering into the Promised Land; our exodus from sin and entering into new creation, the Kingdom of God.
I'll admit right now before I go into my next point that this post is quite disjointed and, in a way, severely lacking in point development. I guess it's because I feel like I have many things to say but only a limited words and space to say it. Anyways, on to the next point.
I guess my last point would be to connect the Kingdom of God and heaven. Heaven is not the final destination of Christians. This has been made clear to me upon reading "The Resurrection of the Son of God". Heaven is only a resting place, a rest stop, to the FINAL destination, which is the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom will of course be very physical, perhaps more physical than we can currently comprehend. Jesus was resurrected PHYSICALLY and thus we will all be raised physically as well. I used to, if I can be honest, dreadful of the Second Coming, mainly because I did not understand it. I believed that the Second Coming was marred with tribulations and people suddenly disappearing on airplanes. However, there seems to be no indication of such belief in the New Testament (much to my relief). American Christianity has, unfortunately, believed this lie that God will one day take all the Christians to heaven and destroy this world. But that is, of course, not the case. God will not throw away the world but RENEW IT! This means a physical world will continue to exist and that heaven will no longer be our final destination. Instead, the second coming will be the marriage of heave and earth, like how Eden was, where God and men will live in the same space. Once again, this is only made clear with renewal rather than disposal.
Anyways, that's all for now.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Resurrection...
Lately, I've been reading NT Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God". It is an attempt to show historically that Christianity cannot make sense without the actual event having occurred. However, despite it's apologetical nature and the specific focus of the narrative, I must say that my perspective of Christianity has been greatly altered and broadened.
The point of this post, I guess, is to organize my thoughts on Christianity. I've realized that MY Christianity has been tainted by the Platonististic dualism that is so prevalent in Western culture. Plato, of course, claimed the duality of physical and spiritual; the spirit being good and the physical being evil and corruptible. However, despite the current trend in the Church to emphasize the "soul", this view is, unfortunately, not biblical. The biblical view does not emphasize this dualism but instead the harmony of flesh and soul. This is, of course, where resurrection comes in.
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was the climax of history, according to Christian eschatology. The resurrection is what makes the entire corpus of the Old Testament lucidly understandable, beginning with, of course, Genesis. I guess this is where the this post will gravitate towards; the connection between resurrection and creation.
It is significant that, when God created the heaven and the earth, he deemed creation good. Creation was and is supposed to be "good". Of course, as every Christian knows, creation was tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve and, thus, destined for death; suddenly, the incorruptible became corruptible. But what does resurrection have to do with Genesis?
It is interesting to note the language used by the authors of the New Testament. For example, in Romans, Paul speaks of the old Adam and the "last Adam". The point of this passage is to show how sin and death entered into the world through one man, God's original creation, Adam, and how life can now be found in the new Adam, Christ. What is the significance of this distinction? Clearly, it refers all the way back to the creation in Genesis; how creation had been tainted by sin and death. So, in this view, what is the resurrection and, specifically, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth? After reading NT Wright, I have come to understand the gravity of the resurrection. Resurrection isn't merely a return to life, a resuscitation. It is, in fact, a passing through death into a new physical reality; becoming a new creation in the Kingdom of God . New creation, then, is God's way of honoring his covenant with Abraham and his promise to Eve in Genesis. He is restoring creation and this was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus.
Well these are my immediate thoughts so far. I need to ponder more and start connecting the dots. Anyways, as Porky Pig likes to say, "That's all folks!....for now"
The point of this post, I guess, is to organize my thoughts on Christianity. I've realized that MY Christianity has been tainted by the Platonististic dualism that is so prevalent in Western culture. Plato, of course, claimed the duality of physical and spiritual; the spirit being good and the physical being evil and corruptible. However, despite the current trend in the Church to emphasize the "soul", this view is, unfortunately, not biblical. The biblical view does not emphasize this dualism but instead the harmony of flesh and soul. This is, of course, where resurrection comes in.
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was the climax of history, according to Christian eschatology. The resurrection is what makes the entire corpus of the Old Testament lucidly understandable, beginning with, of course, Genesis. I guess this is where the this post will gravitate towards; the connection between resurrection and creation.
It is significant that, when God created the heaven and the earth, he deemed creation good. Creation was and is supposed to be "good". Of course, as every Christian knows, creation was tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve and, thus, destined for death; suddenly, the incorruptible became corruptible. But what does resurrection have to do with Genesis?
It is interesting to note the language used by the authors of the New Testament. For example, in Romans, Paul speaks of the old Adam and the "last Adam". The point of this passage is to show how sin and death entered into the world through one man, God's original creation, Adam, and how life can now be found in the new Adam, Christ. What is the significance of this distinction? Clearly, it refers all the way back to the creation in Genesis; how creation had been tainted by sin and death. So, in this view, what is the resurrection and, specifically, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth? After reading NT Wright, I have come to understand the gravity of the resurrection. Resurrection isn't merely a return to life, a resuscitation. It is, in fact, a passing through death into a new physical reality; becoming a new creation in the Kingdom of God . New creation, then, is God's way of honoring his covenant with Abraham and his promise to Eve in Genesis. He is restoring creation and this was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus.
Well these are my immediate thoughts so far. I need to ponder more and start connecting the dots. Anyways, as Porky Pig likes to say, "That's all folks!....for now"
Monday, November 15, 2010
Failure.
There has to be nothing worse than the feeling of failure. I guess I write on this subject because of my discovery today of how poorly I did on my accounting exam.
For the past few hours, I have been meditating on this failure of mine. And my conclusion is that failures are good (Don't worry, I am not going to write all this you-can-do-it crap to build myself up to feel better. In fact, I'll be doing the exact opposite).
I have this tendency to take the blessings the Lord has poured in my life and use them as justification for arrogance. For example, the Lord has blessed me with a somewhat of a strong mind. I never had to work too hard whilst growing up and, in all honestly, never really had to work that hard in college. I do not know how many countless all-nighters I have pulled in my life. But even despite all my last-minute studying, I have been able to do fairly well. As a result, I have found I have fashioned an idol in the image of myself. In Jesus' parable of the talents, I would have been none of the servants. Instead, I would have been the one to usurp the master and claim the home as my own. I would have been one of the Israelites demanding we make an idol for ourselves whilst Moses was on top of Mount Sinai. Instead of a golden calf, I would have demanded a golden Ray. How wonderful is it then, that God can instantly shatter these idols and bring us back to the nadir of our existence by simply allowing failures into our lives. Is it not funny and interesting that, when we are so absorbed in ourselves, how unimaginably catastrophic failure is. I am not even saying failures have to be even that great or significant. I mean how significant is this ONE exam? But yet, my not doing well on this exam has sure hurt my pride. And for someone who thinks he is so smart, evidence that seems to show the contrary can pop his inflated ego. I guess this applies to everyone who is not truly humble in Christ and I thank God humbling me.
For the past few hours, I have been meditating on this failure of mine. And my conclusion is that failures are good (Don't worry, I am not going to write all this you-can-do-it crap to build myself up to feel better. In fact, I'll be doing the exact opposite).
I have this tendency to take the blessings the Lord has poured in my life and use them as justification for arrogance. For example, the Lord has blessed me with a somewhat of a strong mind. I never had to work too hard whilst growing up and, in all honestly, never really had to work that hard in college. I do not know how many countless all-nighters I have pulled in my life. But even despite all my last-minute studying, I have been able to do fairly well. As a result, I have found I have fashioned an idol in the image of myself. In Jesus' parable of the talents, I would have been none of the servants. Instead, I would have been the one to usurp the master and claim the home as my own. I would have been one of the Israelites demanding we make an idol for ourselves whilst Moses was on top of Mount Sinai. Instead of a golden calf, I would have demanded a golden Ray. How wonderful is it then, that God can instantly shatter these idols and bring us back to the nadir of our existence by simply allowing failures into our lives. Is it not funny and interesting that, when we are so absorbed in ourselves, how unimaginably catastrophic failure is. I am not even saying failures have to be even that great or significant. I mean how significant is this ONE exam? But yet, my not doing well on this exam has sure hurt my pride. And for someone who thinks he is so smart, evidence that seems to show the contrary can pop his inflated ego. I guess this applies to everyone who is not truly humble in Christ and I thank God humbling me.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wretched.
There is one verse that I recite to myself every day of my life. The verse is, "O wretched man I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?". More than any verse, this verse daily rings in my head. When it does, I can guarantee you that it is coupled with a feeling of absolute disgust. I am disgusted by, of course, this sinful, wretched, and shameless person that I am. Paul is so right where he writes that our conscience bears witness to God as he, in his holiness, shames our sinfulness. I guess our consciences' role is not as a machine that spits out moral imperatives. Instead, I think our consciences serve as an indicator of our wretchedness.
I love Paul's next sentence. In verse 25, Paul writes, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!". How wonderful it is that despite myself, I have been delivered from myself. How awesome is that my sins have been blotted out on the cross? Seriously, I think Christ is so glorious to me when I taste his forgiveness.
Anyways, just wanted to write because I have not been writing at all for the past couple months. Seriously, none of my classes right now require writing. And this thought was in my head. Cheers!
I love Paul's next sentence. In verse 25, Paul writes, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!". How wonderful it is that despite myself, I have been delivered from myself. How awesome is that my sins have been blotted out on the cross? Seriously, I think Christ is so glorious to me when I taste his forgiveness.
Anyways, just wanted to write because I have not been writing at all for the past couple months. Seriously, none of my classes right now require writing. And this thought was in my head. Cheers!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Back to it...
So Justin totally called me out on my complete lack of interest in blogging so I have decided to dive back into it.
All I have to say for now is that England will beat Slovenia tomorrow to get out of the group.
Goodnight.
All I have to say for now is that England will beat Slovenia tomorrow to get out of the group.
Goodnight.
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