A New Blog: 'Created Order of God' Replaces 'Casting Nets'

The blog world is always changing. The blog site: 'Casting Nets' was a collaboration between Jeremy O'Clair and Darin Little. Sadly, Jeremy is at this time unable to continue contributing. I (Darin) have decided to continue writing but find it necassary to switch over to a new blogger address: 'The Created Order of God.' The name of the blog comes from my passion in studying numerous areas dealt with in theological issues.

God is Creator and we are His creation. This is one of my theological foundations I build from whenever choosing to write about various topics. I examine how topics in the theological, academic world impacts its audience. The writings that you can expect to find on this blog deal with agendas occuring in academic fields, ministry, as well as my own personal theological reflections. I hope it allows for your own theological reflections and contributes to an on going dialogue within a broad community.

Blessings,

Darin Little

Thoughts on 'Erasing Hell' by Francis Chan. The Book Rob Bell Should Have Written

I had almost forgotten about the controversy surrounding Rob Bell and the idea that he was a Universalist. Recently, however, a few responses have emerged that have rekindled the subject. One such book is ‘Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up,’ by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle. It is the book Rob Bell should have written – even though it wouldn’t have been as popular. Controversial popularity is what sells. Take an old idea, throw a kink in it, make it pretty and entertaining for your audience and WHAM! You’re name is splattered across the covers of magazines and you become the center of the media for what seems to be a little longer than 15 minutes. As Rob Bell had done with his book, ‘Love Wins,’ so many others have accomplished before. One of the reasons they are popular finds its roots in the idea of something new. Something fresh about the Christian faith that had previously been unknown – or something that we thought we knew and actually had wrong. However, people are being misled – horribly misled by such authors. One of today’s more popular scholars that achieves this notion is Bart D. Ehrman.

The best thing for an audience desiring to branch out and study such things that are labeled ‘controversial’ is to be in dialogue with others. Take Rob Bell’s book for example. A person wanting to study hell, salvation and even Universalism only reads one book: ‘Love Wins.’ This is a mistake. Rob Bell barely hits on the issues – and so does Francis Chan. However, it begins a dialogue. That is why I encourage people to read Chan’s work. It will not take you long. If you don’t like to read, get the audio. It is no longer than 3 hours. Chan actually does research. He wrote this book along with Preston Sprinkle who holds a PhD in New Testament. The two of them dug into the material and asked other scholar’s opinions. There is actually a bibliography in the back of the book – something that is rarely seen in such a book as this.

Where Bell is mainly wrong, Chan and Sprinkle are correct. They do a fantastic job addressing the questions people are concerned with. My favorite parts of the book actually deal with scriptural references on how Jesus and God deal with salvation. Chan cautions us from using what we think is just and right and reading that over the notions taught within scripture. For example, we may wonder how God can create something and punish it forever in hell; but when we think about Satan (a being that God also created and is punishing in hell) we don’t have a problem with that. One might question, ‘how can I be compared with Satan? I’m better than him.’ This might be true – but whose scale of morality and ethics are we using to address such issues? Ours or God’s?

When the God within scripture is revealed, we see a god that is not like us. He does things according to His will and idea of justice. Chan refers to such passages as Isaiah 55 and Psalm 115 to illustrate that God is the creator and we are His creation (a creation that has failed to reflect His image and that is dead). We all deserve hell. God can do with His creation what He wants. This is where many struggle with God. Thinking they know what true justice and righteousness is and God does not. People don’t understand the concept of God being a god of love and of wrath. What they miss out on is God’s holiness. That God does work through love, grace and mercy – but God is holy and just and sets out to conquer and destroy sin and death. The consequences of how this is accomplished is sometimes not pretty.

Chan raises the question about us having a problem with a god that allows for hell but not having a problem with a god that destroys the earth by a flood or about to destroy His people at Mt. Sinai. When we read the god of scripture it is very uncomfortable for people. Many times they come away saying, ‘I don’t like that god.’ A person can choose not to believe in this god – but when they say they believe in the YHWH within scripture and pick and choose what to believe, they are not being true to the god of scripture. The teachings about God in scripture are dense and amazing – if one dares to dig deep. The answers are there – but they are about God’s ideals – not humanity’s ideals.

Francis Chan does a good job on addressing various issues with Universalism and salvation. There is obviously a tremendous amount of material this work did not cover – but it doesn’t need to based on the kind of audience needing to be reached. It is a popular level book that hits the same type of audience Rob Bell would have hit (hopefully).

Instead of doing a full-fledged review here, I think it would be better for you simply to read his book. It would take about as long as reading a review that I would write.

New Testament Textual Criticism

Textual criticism is a discipline most are unable to undertake. Textual criticism, as defined by scholar Daniel B. Wallace, is to ‘try to ascertain the wording of the original text of a particular document when that original document no longer exists.’ When it comes to the New Testament, the goal is to try and obtain the original wording of the original author (the autograph). This is done through examining and comparing the many manuscripts we hold today.

Recently, Daniel B. Wallace, one of today’s leading textual critics, released new videos long awaited by the scholarly community. You can see them here: http://www.csntm.org/. The collection of videos set out to help explain the discipline of textual criticism. Dr. Wallace is a professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and the founder of ‘The Center for Study of Study of New Testament Manuscripts’ – a group that has spend years researching manuscripts and digitally copying them for public viewing. Wallace has stated that he wants a big portion of his professional life to be dedicated to getting as many manuscripts digitally copied and cataloged for students and scholars to be able to examine.

For some time the text of the New Testament has been under fire for various reasons. One of these reasons is that we are unable to reach back and see the original wording of the New Testament text; therefore asking the question, ‘what’s the point in believing in the Bible if we are unable to know what was originally written?’ One of the main proponents of this view is scholar Bart Ehrman. Ehrman, once a Christian, had lost his faith after studying textual criticism and seeing what he believes as contradictions within the writings of the New Testament. He is now the author of such books, ‘Misquoting Jesus’ and most recently, ‘Forged.’

When Ehrman’s works are read by someone untrained in textual criticism, especially if they are a Christian, it can be difficult working around the issues Ehrman brings to light. The reader needs to be well-rounded and not take Ehrman’s beliefs as doctrine. They need other sources to help shed light on Ehrman’s errors (for there are many). Dr. Wallace’s videos and other works act as such a tool. Wallace's work helps in understanding the difficulties of textual criticism and where it needs to go. Dr. Wallace’s advice and educated thoughts can also be seen in the book ‘The Case for the Real Jesus’ by Lee Strobel, as well as the webpage ‘The Ehrman Project’ addressing issues with Bart Ehrman’s teachings.

I highly recommend to student and public alike to take a look at these wonderful videos featuring Dr. Wallace himself, as well as the website, to begin understanding textual criticism.

The Heart of the Kingdom

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Mark 1:15

The gospel according to Jesus is that the kingdom of God is here. All throughout scripture God has been slowly illuminating what this kingdom represents. When Jesus steps into creation it is on giant leap for mankind. The kingdom is how God is taking His creation and reigning, ruling, and conquering within it. But there is one further step within this kingdom message that many scholars have left in the dust: ‘How’ this kingdom reigning is being established. I do believe it is this very occurrence that is at the core, the very heart of the kingdom.

It is the throne of God and that He has seated the Christ at His right hand. God shares His throne with the resurrected Messiah. It is on this throne where God says in Revelation “Behold, I am making all things new.” He doesn’t say, “all new things” – but “all things new.”

The throne of God carries a lot of weight throughout the entirety of scripture. Some may want to argue that God is to be at the core. This may be true in certain ways – however, when we talk about the kingdom, we are discussing relational methods. Kingdom language is ‘how’ God is working His will within creation. It is the mechanics of what God is doing. It is not enough to talk about God alone as being the core of the kingdom. The throne, as the core, is how creation is established – how it is to behave. The throne is about what is to govern all of creation. It does not take much knowledge to understand that the throne is the highest peak of authority. It is where the king sits to make judgments and rulings. Psalm 89:14 states that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne and any throne established among God’s people (such as King David's throne) is to be one of righteousness and justice as well (Proverbs 16:12).

In Ephesians 1:15-19, Paul prays that God would give his readers three things:
1). A spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (1:17).
2). The eyes of their heart may be enlightened, so that they will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (1:18).
3). To know what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (1:19).

Continuing reading in 1:19-21, these blessings come through what God has done through Jesus when He raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places. This position at God’s right hand (Christ’s enthronement) is “FAR above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He (God) put all things in subjection under his (Jesus’) feet.”

The very means of the throne: true righteousness and justice – now has new creation (the resurrected Messiah) seated upon it. The divine and creation are intimately interwoven within the being of the Messiah. God has stepped onto the very battlefield where sin and death reign – in creation and the flesh itself through Jesus of Nazareth and conquered it through the his life, death, resurrection and enthronement.

Not only is Jesus seated at the right hand of God – but in the heavenlies or heavenly places. This is where realms collide: both the spiritual and of the flesh. The heavenly places are of the created order. Here is where the believers receive their blessings Paul mentions in his prayer. They are spiritual blessings – not material blessings. It is in the heavenly places where chaos also is located (however one must be careful when speaking of ‘location’ in regards to realms in the notion of them being far off). This chaos is what Jesus is conquering along with the cooperation of the church. Yes, the church.

The church too has a role to play in all of this. Continue reading what Paul says in 1:22-23 – God ‘gave Him (Jesus) as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.’ The blessings the church receive are not simply for themselves but to use them for the glory of God because the church is also seated in Christ (Eph. 2:6).

If the church is seated with Christ, in Christ – what does this mean for the church? It means the church needs to examine what kind of enthronement they are seated upon. Let us return to God’s throne. The throne which has its foundation established in righteousness and justice is now being shared not only with the resurrected Messiah – but all those who follow God, who are in Christ: the church. The church has a role: to follow the Christ who is at work in them with POWER, righteousness and justice in order to reign, rule and conquer with God who is making all things new.

It can be argued that the church is not seated in the same ‘position’ as Christ. Rather the church is seated among Christ. This is a problem for some because it seems to convey having the same ‘status’ as it were with Christ. I would argue it’s more complicated than that. First of all we are seated ‘in’ Christ. Where is Christ seated? Again, the language of the throne and kingdom is for our work with God. We also need to keep in mind that the throne is more than likely not literal. It is to convey images of rule and authority. God uses language we can understand – but His actual throne in heaven would transcend anything we could imagine. Therefore, we should be careful when we are speaking about literal positioning. The enthronement of Christ is for God to bring His followers to share in His rule. For the church to ignore this position God has brought us into is to ignore God’s purpose for His people and what they are elected to accomplish. I have barely touched upon this subject. I wanted to at least bring this to light if you (the reader) have not meditated upon these things. If we to not examine our purpose in Christ - where he is now – we are not grasping the purpose God has for us in His kingdom.

In closing, examine one more passage from Jesus in Revelation 3:20-22;
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

N. T. Wright and Reading the Gospels for All They Are Worth

Below is a summary of N. T. Wright’s four lectures given recently given in Nashville, TN. This summary does not convey the full breath of Wright’s tremendous knowledge and teachings. In other words, if you are new to N. T. Wright and looking for depth in regards to his theology, reading blogs may not the best place to turn. Read his works, listen to his lectures.

This past Saturday, May 21st, N. T. Wright presented four lectures at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. The lectures were entitled: Reading the Gospels for All They’re Worth (perhaps a play on Gordon Fee’s works: Reading the Bible for All it’s Worth).

Wright’s agenda was to examine the problem with how the church defines the ‘gospel.’ He states that the church proclaims a gospel that seems to derive more from Paul than it does the actual four canonical gospels. For many Christians the gospel is about salvation. It is a gospel describing a savior dying on a cross for sin and thereby enabling his followers to go to heaven. Wright does not wish to downplay this point but he wants to approach the material by asking the question, ‘what is the gospel within the gospels?’ Wright sets out to conclude by distinguishing the gospel by what the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) describe as the gospel. Below is a basic breakdown of his four lectures.

Lecture I: Defining the Problem: What is the Gospel within the Gospels?
Problems with defining the gospel become clear when we ask the question, ‘why did Jesus live?’ Has the gospel only become about sin, death and salvation? Wright disagrees with Richard Hays’ statement that, ‘the Jesus of the gospels is the Jesus of the creeds.’

‘This isn’t true’ – Wright proclaims. Why? Because the creeds go straight from Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection. Where is the life Jesus lived? What were his teachings? What is the picture the disciples are trying to paint? The church has become immersed in sharing a gospel that is not full. Wright's point is that there is more to the gospel than Jesus being born on earth and dying for everyone’s sins so that they may go to heaven.

For Wright, the gospels are about the announcement of the kingdom. Jesus is proclaiming in his teachings that the kingdom of God is at hand. Wright’s frustration with the creeds in this manner is that the only mention of Jesus and a kingdom is referring to the 2nd coming. The creeds eventually became for the church a ‘syllabus’ of sorts for what is to be taught within its walls. If only the virgin birth, Jesus’ death and resurrection are taught from the gospels as the gospel – then the church will miss out on the teachings of Jesus and everything else the four writers are trying to point out about THEIR version of the gospel.

Wright points out that the gospels are about ‘how God becomes king.’ Various Enlightenment and historical Jesus agendas (such as Ray Morris with the Jesus Seminar and the traditions of the creeds) have helped to cloud the proper view we need to have of the actual gospel revealed among the pages of the gospels themselves. At the same time – other dilemmas are evident when some (especially within the Jesus seminar) have looked only at the life of Jesus without recognizing his death and resurrection. For Wright, the proper understanding of the gospel is when applying all aspects of Jesus’ life along with his death and resurrection. When examining the gospel as God becoming king and this being accomplished through Jesus, a better picture comes into focus of what the gospel within the gospels is. Jesus’ teachings are therefore how life is transformed around this king and kingdom. Jesus is lord of all things and therefore all things in our lives are now being redefined.

The purpose for the gospels is to show that God’s rule is now being enacted ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is not merely a list of moral teachings but how we are to live now that God is in charge.

Today people are concerned with Jesus’ divinity and humanity so much that they try and pull out things within the gospels that aren’t even there. Wright agrees that one can achieve this goal (arriving that Jesus is divine and human) – but this is not the main purpose for the writers of the gospels. They ‘presuppose’ that Jesus is divine and human. Their writings are not to prove this fact. The writings are to show that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah.

Lecture II: Matching up the Gospels.
What are the gospels about?
Wright illustrates his points within this lecture by referring to four speakers that are setup in four corners of a room. These four speakers need to be equally matched in order for us to hear properly. The four gospels are the same. The gospels are doing four things. They don’t need to be distorted. The church has had some speakers turn down while they have had others turned up. The gospels are telling the life of Jesus – but a particular life of Jesus. The writers have chosen specific details to tell their story. We need to listen to all of them in order to achieve the proper balance.

Speaker 1). The gospel story is the story of the climax of Israel.
The story of Israel is not finished in the Old Testament. The people are waiting for something. There is an expectation that God is going to redeem Israel and bring peace to her. There is an expectation of a Messiah. This is where Wright refers to his ‘grand narrative.’ God is going somewhere with this people Israel. The gospels are about Jesus being the climax of Israel’s history. Jesus achieves the fullness of why Israel has been elected. Israel’s story is important because it is through Israel that God is redeeming the world. God has elected Israel to deal with the turmoil within creation. Jesus is the fulfillment of how God is doing such a task. Wright describes that through Jesus, Israel’s God has returned to them and therefore they are now out of exile (various scholars have issues with Wright at this point such as James D. G. Dunn in regards to if Israel still saw themselves in exile – but Wright argues more of his beliefs than what I will blog about. See his works for more info.).

Speaker 2). Which 'god' is Jesus revealing?
Jesus is divine – but divine how? Asking if Jesus is divine is not the full question. Wright believes the proper question to ask is, ‘how is Israel’s God reveled in the incarnation of Jesus? What kind of God are we talking about?’ The answer then is more profound to answering the question of whether or not Jesus was divine. When we answer these questions – we examine ‘why’ has God done what He has? The same ‘kind’ of God we are familiar with in the history of Israel – we also see being revealed through Jesus.

Once Israel is in the land, Israel eventually becomes wicked. In Ezekiel, we see God leaving the temple. Through exile with Assyria and the Babylonians, God is waiting and disciplining. When they return – where is their God? He hasn’t returned . . . yet.

One of the key characteristics about the gospels is how God is returning to His people. This is found within Mark especially. Jesus does not simply teach how to live until he returns - Jesus 'is' God returning. Jesus is bringing the reign and rule of God to His people. God is re-ordering creation. God made Israel to suffer for the world. This is done through the nation as well as the son who is Israel’s representative.

Speaker 3). God is launching His people. A renewed people for God.
The people of Israel already exist – the church is not replacing Israel – but continuing the story of Israel. The church continues to be Israel for the world.

Speaker 4). The Kingdom of God clashing with the kingdom of Caesar / Satan.
Here Wright discusses various means by how God’s kingdom is to be the one that rules and not any kingdom of this world. It is not the kingdom of Satan, nor the kingdom of Caesar that is to rule in a person’s life.


Lecture III: Cross and the Kingdom
When reading the gospels, the reader needs to understand that the gospels set out the change one’s worldview. They are about how to live a new life. They are about living this life to God, for God, through Jesus the Messiah. The New Testament shows the political powers of the world are dealt with – but in many ways different than how we would understand this in the 21st Century. Therefore we need to read the gospels afresh and understand them first in the original context and in turn better understand how to apply them to the various agendas of today.

John 20-21, Mark 16, along with other passages describe the fact that new creation has begun through Jesus and needs to continue through living the kingdom. Various agendas become vague when struggling with the purpose of this kingdom in regards to the church. Wright reminds us to look at the overall picture of what God is doing. His people have always struggled with being 'in the flesh' – but He continues to work through them. Through the gospels we see the kingdom being enacted through all regions of life. God has always been a king – but through Jesus, we see how God has become a king that rules within humanity. God is enabling new creation to reign with Him. God has always been ruling in heaven– but on earth chaos and evil have reigned. Through Jesus and the church, however, this chaos is being conquered. The solution of why God can’t reign before this is because He needs to first deal with the problem where it exists – within humanity: sin and death. To do this, God returns to the temple. This temple is now through Jesus and the saints through whom the Spirit dwells. Jesus enacts the temple. People go to him for forgiveness of sins, to be healed, to be restored. The final means by how God conquers sin and death is through the sacrifice of Israel (Jesus).

How does Jesus’ death bring God’s kingdom? It is at the cross that God is to defeat the worst power in existence. It is death. All the chaos and evil in the world can only end in death. God defeats death and therefore if God defeats death – He can defeat and conquer those powers leading up to death through sin. This is done through Jesus at the cross and the resurrection. But this isn’t merely for us to be able to be forgiven and go to heaven – as it is about God’s ruling kingdom to be brought to earth and eternal life beginning in the present and being continued into the new heavens and new earth. The cross shows how God overthrows the kingdoms of the world.

Lecture IV: So what?
In this final lecture, Wright addresses many ways by which this fresh reading and understanding of the gospel should affect our lives. We are to live under this gospel of God’s kingdom ruling among His people. Scripture is not simply to be read and studied. It is also missional. If the gospels are about God’s kingdom being brought in and through His elect people, this ought to look like something within this people. The people are to live accordingly. Are we living accordingly? Do our families and marriages reflect this new-creation worldview? How do we see ourselves continuing the ‘grand narrative’ of what God is doing through Jesus, through the Spirit empowered saints, to the praise and glory of His name?

Reading the Gospels for all they are worth

Theological Thoughts on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

We will never obtain a univocal language with God. His ways are not our ways for He is God and not a human (Hosea 11:9). Therefore, how can we possibly begin to understand how God thinks regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden? The answer comes when examining the broader picture of what ‘kind’ of God exists within the pages of scripture.

Before we begin I would like to ask what your feelings are regarding Bin Laden’s death. Overall, this post is about whether or not Christians should rejoice in Bin Laden’s death. Did you rejoice when you heard about his death? Did you have mixed feelings? Where you against any notions of rejoicing? Whatever your response – chances are I will not change your mind with what I have to say. We all struggle with reading scripture through our own worldviews – there is no way around this. However, where we can begin is acknowledging that we read through these worldviews. We need to realize how we are impacted by the world and how it enables us to read scripture within our own context. This is something scholars continue to point out. Luther’s view of the Jews impacted the way he read about Jews in the New Testament. N. T. Wright, in his works, ‘Jesus and the Victory of God’ and ‘Scripture and the Authority of God,’ points out the fact that we all come with some baggage when reading scripture. We are (or at least most of the ones reading this post) 21st Century, Westerners that have been raised in a politically correct culture. This has huge ramifications of how we read through a biblical text –especially if we are passionately involved –such as the death of Bin Laden. The question is – when God works through humanity, did He know this would be the case? Did He understand humanity and their hearts and how He would reveal Himself? I do believe He did. This then helps to shape what kind of biblical, historical, theological image we obtain of God who has revealed Himself through such occurrences. When our image of God is clearer – the better chance we have of obtaining a better theological interpretation of difficult areas.

M. Scott Peck, M.D. in his work, ‘People of the Lie,’ warns his readers of what they study because it can have an immense impact on their lives. He cautions because it can be areas of negativity or positivity. This is not only so in the world of study but also in what one believes. How does belief impact what we study? All of this is said to show that both, 1) what we believe and 2) what we study regarding scripture forms us in such a way that can lead us to various conclusions that may not be in accordance with God Himself. People have their proof texts of scripture they cut and paste in order to support a belief they have. All of this needs to be discussed because one Christian has their texts that support rejoicing in Bin Laden’s death while others hold out other texts down- playing such a response. What is the solution?

We need to move over and make room for God. Well, then the question becomes ‘which god?’ The question I want to ponder regarding Bin Laden is not necessarily about us rejoicing or not rejoicing as it is participating in what God is doing. Sometimes that goes against what we want. For example, many Christians think that God will still save the Jews without Christ (and they have a problem with Rob Bell?) - they get this idea from Romans, the very book by which Paul says that is not the case. Paul says that they (the Jews) might be grafted back in only through Christ. People don’t like what God is doing. More on this below.

There can be many aspects of this agenda (whether or not we rejoice in Bin Laden’s death) that can be discussed and will continue being discussed – but the idea of asking whether or not rejoicing in the elimination of a person of any range of morality is by no means a new argument. I do not have the final word on the issue because I am not God. But that is the question isn’t it? Does God rejoice in Bin Laden’s death? If God does, then surely we should be able to rejoice as well. Again, it is about participation with God.

I’m afraid this begs for reflection on what Dr. Scott Peck calls ‘delayed gratification.’ In other words don’t ask a complicated question and expect to get an easy answer in return. As Britains would say, ‘it’s not so jolly easy.’

Let’s examine a few passages used:

Not rejoicing
Proverbs 24:17-20
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Or the LORD will see it and be displeased,
And turn His anger away from him.

19 Do not fret because of evildoers
Or be envious of the wicked;
20 For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Ezek 33:10-16
10 "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have spoken, saying, "Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?"' 11 "Say to them, ' As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?' 12 "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.' 13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14 "But when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 " None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

Rejoicing
Revelation19:1-4
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, " Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER." 3 And a second time they said, " Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER." 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, " Amen. Hallelujah!"


Deuteronomy 28:58-63
58 "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 60 " He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61 "Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed. 62 "Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 63 "It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.

Each individual holds to their various verses – and they seem to support each position. However, what I think we should look at is exactly what we are rejoicing in. I believe it is about rejoicing in God – not death.

These are just a few of the passages used by some to justify ‘their’ position. All of these texts of course have their own context. These contexts – as well as the entire bible - can be put in what is known as ‘conditional’ context. Practically the entire biblical narrative is written on this conditional basis. What the condition basically says, ‘It’s God’s way – or no way.’ The formula found in the bible is as follows: ‘If you do _____ then you will be rewarded. If you do not do ______, then you will be punished. God is giving His will to follow and also the option to reject this will. However, if they reject His will – punishment comes. I’m will not be discussion God’s love being conditional here but His will. A good example of this is found in the book of Exodus:

Ex 15:26
"If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians;”

Ex 19:4-6
4' You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 5'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'

What this conditional paradigm establishes is an either / or aspect. God gives a way out. He gives options. Even more so – when there is evil, God gives options to repent and turn away from sin and return to Him. This is not only for His people but others as well. If they do not return from their sin, God will do something about it. God gave Egypt an option to let His people go. They refused. God used them to show His power. He punished them. The Hebrews did not obey God at Sinai so He didn’t allow them to enter into the Promised Land. Israel did not follow God and worshipped other gods – so God brought Assyria and Babylon. It is the divine vision. God takes credit for the punishing of the disobedient. We need to be careful when we say, it ‘pleases God’ to punish because if He punishes it is usually after He has tried to keep them from being punished. It needs to be seen as God being pleased in His will being done – this can be from saving or from punishment.

Another illustration of conditional context is the story of Jonah and Nineveh. God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against it because of its wickedness. Jonah does not like this and flees. Jonah knows God and knows that He would spare them if they repented (4:1-4). The narrative shows Jonah going to Nineveh and proclaiming that if it doesn’t repent it will be overthrown. It is debated if this ‘overthrowing’ came from God – but it is a clear likelihood.

What I want to examine in these contexts is the idea of God’s will. God desires all to come to Him – but following His will He also desires. That is more important. His will is to save and to punish. God wants all to come to repentance – but those who do not and continue to do evil - it is His will to punish them. Not only with death – but the 2nd death which is the lake of fire (Revelation 2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8).
Let us also keep in mind when we think about death that it is God’s will to bring about death. It is a punishment. It is God’s will to create Hell.

The reason why we need to examine this conditional context is to see that God’s will is being done whether it appears to ‘us’ good or evil. That doesn’t mean that it is evil – just that God’s will is being done. God can be displeased by an event – such as His people being taken into exile – but it achieves His will. So to some extent it is pleasing to Him because in the long run His goal (Greek: Telos) is being accomplished.

God is holy. We need to redefine our definitions of love and wrath around God’s holiness. Much of what God does through His holiness might strike a nerve with us.

It is interesting that on Sunday morning, May 1st, I gave a sermon on how God is love and a God of wrath. These two concepts seem to be contradictions to many. However, I concluded that we need to redefine these two characteristics by viewing them through God’s holiness. We cannot help but read so many things in scripture through our own worldviews and our idea of love and wrath – but we do need to acknowledge that we struggle with this and in turn be able to have a more open mind in our study of the biblical texts. We need to examine God first and interpret Him and His love through holiness instead of forcing our understandings of love around Him.

That same Sunday night of May 1st the world discovered that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. It didn’t take long for headlines to rip through with praise of his death. Christians followed through with posts on Facebook and blogs praising his death while other Christians proclaimed they would not celebrate such a moment. It was a reflection on God’s love, wrath and holiness.

Death is the enemy of God. God allowed death for humanity because it revealed that humanity can only go so far in their evil. Death, regardless of whether or not it was enacted by Navy Seals, points to God.

We are not merely rejoicing in the death of a man, but in the end of evil. God’s mission is to reverse evil. Reversing this evil takes a personal response, a repentance. Where there is no repentance there is death. As with Nineveh, when there is repentance, there is life. Some might say that Bin Laden did evil things but in the eyes of God he is no worse than any other sinner in history. Biblically, this is nonsense. We are all sinners – but there is sin that displeases God more than other sins. There is sin that leads to death once again and sin that does not lead to death: Matthew 11:23-24; 1 John 5:16.

In conclusion:
Do we celebrate or struggle with death? We do both to some extent. We celebrate because of who the celebration points us to. We also struggle with death because of who it points us to. It points us to a God that desires His creation to be obedient to Him. We don’t necessarily celebrate the death of a man – but what it points to. God’s will is done in death already. Evil has its limits. God has set it so.

We do not celebrate death as it were. We celebrate and participate in the God that works through death.