Heaven is…

The first half of John 14:6 is well-known. ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life”.’ Other parts of Scripture reinforce this exclusive role that Jesus has in our coming to know God. Acts 4:12: ‘Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’. Matthew 11:27: ‘No-one knows the Son except the Father, and no-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him’.

But it is the second half of John 14:6 where we survey heaven. ‘No-one comes to the Father except through me’. The focus is now upon the destination. Jesus’ message is not simply about being on a journey. He doesn’t try to placate us like so much of post-modernity – that being on the journey is enough, and with this we should be content. Instead, he comes as the way, to bring us to a destination. And the heavenly destination Jesus brings us to – is the Father! Not golf courses, nor rolling surf; not endless sunsets, nor untouched rainforest; instead, heaven is the Father!

With this we are also able to speak more personally about our personal relationship with God. I wonder why people talk about having a personal relationship with God, but don’t actually speak about God personally! As Jesus (the Son!) reveals to us, God is his Father. And through the gospel we are graciously adopted as sons, so God becomes our Father also!

Scripture models to us how to personally relate to God. Jesus teaches his disciples to pray to our Father in heaven (Matthew 6:9). Paul give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3), and always thanks God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter also praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Addressing God as Father is the reflex action of the Christian, one in whom the Spirit of the Son dwells, the Spirit who thus cries out ‘Father!’ (Gal 4:6).

And yet, as our attention is fixed upon the Father, we must remind ourselves that our gaze upon him as our Father can only be made from the standpoint of our being included in Christ (Eph 1:13). Our gaze upon the Father is never direct, as in unmediated. Our sonship, by which we can call God as Father, will always be a borrowed sonship – one which we eternally borrow from Jesus Christ himself – the one into whose fellowship we are called (1 Cor 1:9). Heaven is the Father, and to put it in a corny way, Jesus Christ is the stairway to our heaven!

The heavenly banquet will taste great, but we shouldn’t speak of heaven simply as the place to enjoy all the wonderful stuff given by the Father. Rather, Heaven will be an eternal and sinless enjoyment of our personal relationship with God – as we gaze upon Jesus Christ the Son, face-to-face, and through him commune with our Father.

one-to-one-ing

I was recently asked chat about what’s involved in doing a ‘one-to-one’.

What is a ‘one-to-one’? Its when two people sit down together, regularly, to read the Bible.

I’ve 6 points…

1a. Guys vs girls. Generally speaking, a one-to-one looks different depending on whether its two guys reading the Bible together, or two girls. For the guys, they need a task to unite them. And their mission is this: to read the Bible, make sense of what its saying, and then pray. The less idle chit-chat the better. Make sure the job’s done within then hour, then move on to what’s next in life. Men, don’t apologise for doing things this way. Its just the way it is. For the girls, there’s an extra ingredient. A relationship. The Scriptures speak about personal things. So how can you possibly read the Bible with another girl unless you know her first? So, the girls will probably spend more time getting to know each other before they start to read the Bible.

1b. Guys & girls. Unless you want to marry them, and are prepared to follow through on that, then don’t have a regular one-to-one with someone of the opposite sex!

1c. This follows on from 1a. Guys, over time you might want to try some of that relationship thing that the girls do. Girls, make sure you’re also reading the Bible!

2. When the Apostle Paul writes to the saints in Rome, he says that he’s keen that ‘you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith’ (Rom 1:12). Now remember, this is the Apostle Paul who is writing – he is the master of handing on the faith! And yet what he is looking for from his upcoming visit is mutual encouragement in the faith. Sometimes a one-to-one will be between two people of similar maturity in the faith, so obviously you will be mutually encouraging each other. But even when one person is more mature in the faith, such as it was between the Apostle Paul and the saints in Rome, the one-to-one is still an exercise in mutual encouragement. Both people benefit from reading the Word of God, and both are to draw encouragement from the other’s faith.

3. Therefore, don’t prepare! There’s no need for one person to prepare the Bible passage your going to read. Read it cold, together. Read the Scriptures together, try to make sense of them together. On this point, I’d add that ‘less is more’ when doing a one-to-one. Don’t try to get through of lot of the Bible with only superficial understanding. Instead, read only as much as you can make sense of together, even if this is only a third or half a chapter. You can pick up from the same place the following week.

4a. Notice that I’ve assumed we’re reading the Scriptures in a ‘one-to-one’. Not a Bible commentary, nor a devotional book, but the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 are our guide on this one. There are 3 things to say.

4b. First, the emphasis is on the value of the holy Scriptures – and we should have this same emphasis. It is these Scriptures that need to be learned, and of which we must be convinced (v. 14). It is these Scriptures that make us wise for salvation (v. 15), and it is these Scriptures that are useful to us for various things (vv. 16, 17). These are the Scriptures which we ought to examine (Acts 17:11), and handle correctly (2 Tim 2:15).

4b. But, second, reading the Bible is not an end in itself. The Bible does not save, nor does a better understanding of the Bible. Rather, the gospel about Jesus Christ, and faith in him, are what saves. So we don’t read the Bible for its own sake, but for a certain purpose, which is…

4c. Third, we read the Scriptures so that we might be wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We read the Scriptures to encourage each other in the truth found therein.

5. Application. Don’t feel you need to come up with searching and profound application from every Bible passage you read. The most important application from the Scriptures is always to remind each other of the gospel – that Jesus Christ has been crucified, and that he lives again, that we might be reconciled to God – and then to encourage each other to continue to trust in this great hope.

6. Some practical tips. What do you actually say when you’re together? If stuck, you can (a) try to paraphrase what the passage says. Having done this you could (b) explore the meaning of the key ideas and words in the passage (like faith, grace, hope, mystery), and then see what these ideas and words are referring to in their context. Finally, (c) you could ask why this passage is in the Bible. Why was it written? What’s it purpose? For example, Paul writes great truths in 2 Cor 4. But the value of these truths for us is seen in verses 1 and 16: Paul reminds us of these things so that we do not lose heart. This is the reason why he writes!

Psalm 8: nature embraced by grace

Apparently the dna of a monkey is about 98% comparable to both yours and yours truly. At first report, this is a startling statement. The immediate implication is that any serious differentiation between monkeys and men is all but insignificant. This corollary may not sit well with many, but its a hard one to pick a prehistoric bone with. However, a big question that fossil-fuels the ensuing debate, is:

Does there now remain any basis upon which humanity may continue to lord it over the rest of creation?

The answer is a surprising: No, and Yes! And even more significantly, this double answer provides us with an even more valuable insight – not into humanity & the rest of creation – but into Yahweh himself!

The case for NO. The scientific data concerning dna does not fly in the face of good theology. Rather, such scientific conclusions are consistent with a important aspect of the doctrine of creation: Humanity, who is a creature, is not necessarily any different from any other aspect of creation. Christians ought not be surprised by the similarity between monkeys and men, or babies and baboons. We’re all made, and made of the same stuff.

Now the case for YES. While there is nothing that necessarily separates humanity from the rest of creation, nonetheless, Yahweh has freely chosen to set humanity as lord over the rest of what has been made. Check out Psalm 8:5-8. My appeal to Scripture may have the aftertaste of a primordial soup to some, but there it is.

What does this say about Yahweh? It says a lot – because the NO case does not cancel out the YES, nor the YES case cancel out the NO, but instead both stand together. And the fact that both cases stand together shows us that Yahweh is full of grace, which is specifically directed towards humanity. How does this work? The starting point, and the implication of creation, is that humanity is just another cat in the jungle. However, on the basis of God’s free grace, Yahweh has decided not to treat humanity according to the limitation of his nature, but has bestowed upon him something that is beyond his nature – lordship. Yahweh is exceedingly gracious towards humanity!

A final word.

So how ought we respond when scientific discoveries seem to bring humanity back to the pack? We must not deny our monkey-likeness. To do so is to arrogantly think of ourselves more highly than our createdness allows. In fact, we ought to embrace our monkey-likeness, precisely because it makes us recognise that the high position we do have within creation, as its lord, is something with which we are not naturally-endowed, but has instead been graciously God-given. We have no need to fear the limitation of our nature! Because we also recognise the unlimited character of God’s grace!

So science hasn’t ended up just telling us more about ourselves. Science has also helped us see more clearly the magnitude of God’s grace towards the part of the creation that is dearest to his heart – humanity.

Jesus : He turns mere men into sons of God

For the Word was not impaired in receiving a body, that He should seek to receive a grace, but rather He deified that which He put on, and more than that, ‘gave’ it graciously to the race of man.

Athanasius, from Contra Arianos, Chapter XI (42)

‘For the fact that the Lord, even when come in human body and called Jesus, was worshipped and believed to be God’s Son, and that through Him the Father was known, shows, as has been said, that not the Word, considered as the Word, received this so great grace, but we. For because of our relationship to His Body we too have become God’s temple, and in consequence are made God’s sons, so that even in us the Lord is now worshipped, and beholders report, as the Apostle says, that God is in them of a truth.’

Athanasius, from Contra Arianos, Chapter XI (43)