theology-acst – Page 10

Should the Advent Christian denomination survive?

The answer to the question “should the Advent Christian denomination survive?” is not obvious. Organizations outlive their usefulness, lose their original objectives, become superfluous or obsolete. This is just as true of Christian denominations as it is of individual churches. Sometimes decisions are made which lead to that fate, although the people making those decisions might have had the best of intentions. Stuff happens.

In New Zealand a few years ago, a denomination much like ACGC evaluated itself, and made the decision to disband. Many of the proponents of the move suggested that members would have more influence among mainline evangelical churches by joining those churches, and that maintaining a separate denomination was not practical. From the advantage of hindsight, the results of that decision appear to be mostly negative. A very few of the churches have decided to start a new Advent Christian conference in New Zealand.

Many Advent Christian churches in the U.S.A. and elsewhere have already surrendered their denominational distinctives, for whatever reason. They preach and teach the second coming of Christ at about the same frequency as other churches. They rarely – if ever – proclaim the message of life only in Christ – that is, conditional immortality. They appear to be going out of their way to be just like the other evangelical churches in their communities. This trend is bound to lead to suggestions among our churches that perhaps it is time for ACGC to give up its lease and go the way of all flesh.

Among these churches, many have named or renamed themselves, with names which are ambiguous. The names either do not reflect the Advent Christian heritage, or they do so in less obvious ways. They strive to be community churches – which is honourable – but they do not appear to want to be recognized as representing any particular denomination. Many within these churches (and within others who have retained the name) have no idea what the Advent Christian churches have historically taught, and some do not even care to know.

Tests of Authenticity

These realities make the question this article asks an important one – one which our churches must go to the scriptures to find an answer for. The Bible provides a number of texts which can serve as tests of authenticity for a denomination, as well as for individual churches. By examining these scriptures, churches can evaluate whether they are doing the works Christ expects of his Church. They can also see if their message fits that which Christ called his Church to proclaim.

The Confession Test

After Peter confessed the Jesus was the Christ, Son of the Living God – Jesus blessed him and said “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”[1] The word hell that Jesus used here was hades – which signifies not the place of final punishment but the state of death. The gates of hades is another way of saying the grave. Jesus promised that the Church that Peter would have a part in founding would survive; it would not die.

Any church which dares to confess the truth about Christ will be in danger of persecution and trouble from this world which is in opposition to Christ’s kingdom. The Church (notice capitalization), however, will never be totally eradicated because The Church is the means of Christ’s mission. The extent to which the Advent Christian denomination is part of The Church depends upon to what extent it maintains its confession of Christ.

The Discipling Test

Christ called his Church and all the groups within it not only to maintain a confession but also to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that (he has) commanded (us)”.[2] This discipling role is also a test to see if a denomination is living up to its calling. We are not called simply to preserve a truth, but to infect the world with it. Churches have to be contagious. If a group starts losing more churches than it plants – something is wrong.

Discipleship involves four commitments:

First, it is a commitment to prioritize Jesus Christ. Compared to your commitment to Jesus, all other commitments and relationships must be regarded as the enemy. Jesus said “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters– yes, even his own life– he cannot be my disciple.” (NIV Luke 14:26).

Secondly, it is a commitment to the work that Christ calls you to do. Jesus said “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (NRS Luke 14:27). We don’t all have the same cross to bear, but we all must be committed to doing what we were charged to do. That commitment includes allowing Jesus to turn us into the kind of people who can do what he wants us to do. He said to his disciples “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (NKJ Matthew 4:19).

Thirdly, it is a commitment to sacrifice. Jesus said “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (NIV Luke 14:33). This means investing everything you have in the cause of the Master. That investment may mean giving away things that you possess. It may mean using those things to benefit others in Christ’s kingdom, or to help the needy.

Fourthly, it is a commitment to the truth. Jesus said “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.” (NLT John 8: 31). This commitment starts as a desire to learn the truth, and further manifests itself as a disciplined lifestyle that stays with and lives the truth that is learned.[3]

It is not enough merely to plant things which call themselves churches. Those churches must contain disciples.

The Lamp Tests

In Revelation 2-3, the question was whether the churches in Asia Minor in the first century AD would survive. The churches were pictured in a vision as seven golden lampstands, with Jesus walking among them.[4] Jesus addresses each church with a challenge. If the people in the churches overcame the challenge, their church would survive. Otherwise, Christ would remove their lampstand.

This passage is a reminder that no church or group of churches is guaranteed survival, even if it has had a great past. What matters is how the church faces the challenges of the present. That is the question Advent Christians are facing today. Our future depends on how authentic we are in the present.

The Distinctiveness Test

When the apostle Paul was dealing with the problem of undisciplined tongues-speaking in the churches at Corinth, he said “if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?”[5] He argued that just making a lot of noise is not the way to do Christian ministry. Words need to be intentional for them to accomplish what the Holy Spirit wants. The same can be said of churches and denominations. History reveals that when any organization ceases to serve a distinct purpose and carry a distinct message, that organization is doomed to failure.

But what is the distinct message of the Advent Christian denomination? In spite of the fact that we have the word advent in our name, the message of the soon coming of Jesus Christ fails to qualify. It certainly deserves to be an emphasis in our teaching (especially in this age when there is so much excess baggage attached to the teaching). But this is a message which has been faithfully proclaimed and one about which we are in agreement with the vast majority of Christendom.

To nail down what deserves to be our denomination’s distinct message-mix one must combine a doctrinal essential which we share with other evangelicals and a doctrinal distinctive to which we have been attached from the beginning of the Adventist movement. The essential is salvation by grace; the distinctive is conditional immortality.

There is no doubt that there are other evangelical groups and denominations who have been more faithful and successful at planting churches which proclaim the truth of salvation by grace than we. There are also certain groups which have been more successful at teaching their members the conditionalist truth that life is only in Christ than we have been. But our calling is do both and sacrifice neither. Perhaps the following Venn diagram will illustrate:

Advent Christians find our niche and our usefulness to the kingdom of God by celebrating eternal life by God’s grace and by recognizing that eternal life is a gift, not an innate possession. We tell people that God does not owe them eternity, but offers it through Christ – and Christ alone. This message is important, and worth proclaiming. It is not supposed to be a secret that we keep.

The reader will notice that the title of this article begins with the word should and not the word will. There is no means of determining how long the Lord will preserve the denomination. The question that has been put forth for inquiry is “should the denomination survive?” The answer will depend on whether the churches continue to confess Christ, continue to make disciples for him, continue to overcome obstacles to our witness, and continue to proclaim the unique message God gave us to preach.

[1] Matthew 16:18.

[2] Matthew 28:19-20.

[3] Jefferson Vann, The Commands of Christ (http://commandsofchrist.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/chapter-19-determine-to-be-discipled/)

[4] Revelation 1:12-2:1.

[5] 1 Corinthians 14:8.

ACST 32. Christ: The Nazarene

There have been those who have problems understanding and believing what the Bible says about Christ’s pre-existence and deity as the eternal Logos. There have also been those who cannot quite accept the flip-side of the issue. The Bible insists that Christ was (and is and always will be) fully human as well. In the same chapter where he writes of the Logos coming to earth, John says that he “became flesh” and pitched his tent among us.[1]

Jesus was called (among other things) a Nazarene.[2] The title referred to the fact that he grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. Except for a few miracles connected with his birth and one particular incident when he was twelve,[3] we know nothing about that childhood. The scriptures leave us to assume that the early years of Christ’s life were relatively insignificant. Jesus did not take advantage of his divine nature during these years. Instead, being human, he submitted entirely to his human nature and became a servant instead of the Master.

Jesus Got Hungry

One of the signs of Jesus’ full humanity was that he became hungry.[4] The scriptures indicate that his body worked like every other body, being subject to the same limitations and needs. One of the first needs any person feels is hunger. Immediately after birth most babies instinctively search for their mother’s breast. One day when Jesus was hungry he walked up to a fig tree, but found it empty. Matthew tells us that “he said to (the tree), “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.”[5] Perhaps Jesus was doing something symbolic there – indicating his disgust at Israel. His own nation was being like that fig tree – pretending to bear fruit but bearing nothing. But Jesus’ hunger was real. He was like any one of us.

Jesus Got Tired

Jesus and his disciples traveled a great deal, and almost always walked wherever they went.[6] His encounter with the woman of Samaria happened because Jesus was tired after a long day of walking, so was sitting at the well.[7] The human body was created with a mechanism for self-renewal, and fatigue is part of that mechanism. The urge to rest showed that Jesus was completely human. He was not pretending to be human, nor was his humanity completely under the control of his divine nature. Weariness showed that he was real.

Jesus Got Emotional

Another clue that Jesus was completely human was the way he reacted to the things that happened around him. Even though Jesus knew that Lazarus was asleep (dead) and he was going to wake him up (by raising him from the dead), Jesus still wept and was overcome by sorrow at his friend’s grave.[8] In the same way, we Christians weep over the deaths of our loved ones. Even though we know that their deaths are not permanent. Our sorrow is not like that of unbelievers who have no hope.[9] Yet we do sorrow, because we know that death is real and the loss is real.

Jesus was called a man of sorrows.[10] The scriptures tell us that he wept, but it is not recorded that he laughed. Doubtless he did. He surely experienced the full range of emotions. The writer of Hebrews implied that Jesus experienced all aspects of humanity so that he could be a sympathetic high priest.[11]

Jesus Experienced Limited Knowledge

As the divine Logos, Jesus was omniscient. Throughout eternity he knew all things. But for the short time between his incarnation and his ascension, Jesus apparently limited his own knowledge of certain facts. At one time during his ministry he was surrounded by crowds, and a woman seeking healing touched his garment. He asked who it was.[12] This may have been only to draw the woman out so that he could heal her, but it certainly suggests that Jesus’ knowledge was limited during his earthly life.

When Jesus was teaching about his second coming, he indicated that the exact timing of this future event was known only to his heavenly Father. He said that “concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”[13] The New Testament says a great deal about this event, but nowhere does it tell us when it will occur. In God’s wisdom, this fact is hidden from us. Jesus could live with that. He did not have to have all his questions answered. It was enough for him to know that the Father knew. It should be enough for us as believers as well to know that Christ is coming again, and to seek to live our lives in such a way that we are prepared for him when he comes.

Jesus Experienced Psychological Anguish

Jesus was born in the shadow of his own cross. He described his coming suffering as a baptism that he is destined for, and said “how great is my distress until it is accomplished!”[14] Imagine going through life knowing that you are destined to die a horrible painful death, and there is nothing you can do about it. He knew that his own people would turn against him. He knew that his own disciples would run in fear at his arrest. He knew that he would be betrayed by one of his own students.

The apex of Christ’s lifetime of mental suffering came on the night of his betrayal, when he was praying alone in the garden called Gethsemane. That night Jesus said “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.”[15] He prayed to God alone while his heart was breaking. Luke tells us that “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”[16]

A tremendous spiritual battle was being fought that night. The devil, having been defeated when he tried to tempt Jesus years before, had only “departed from him until an opportune time”[17] Now Satan was giving Jesus all that he had. Men who have undergone great physical torture and endured it without breaking have been known to fall apart when they felt that their loved ones were in danger. Possibly Jesus ordeal in Gethsemane involved the fact that he knew the eternal lives of multitudes of people rested upon his shoulders. The rescue of the entire human race depended upon his ability to withstand the temptations of the devil that night.

The writer of Hebrews showed how this terrible event fit within the plan of God for Christ and those he would redeem:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.[18]

What was at stake was Jesus qualification to be “the source of eternal salvation.” If Jesus had not endured and overcome the anguish of that fateful night, he would not have been qualified to go to the cross to purchase salvation for humanity. He had to endure the worst and remain the best so that he could redeem his own.

That psychological anguish continued while Jesus endured the cross. Even as his life’s blood poured from him, he had to face the fact that his mother would be left alone. He also felt the horrible emptiness that even his heavenly Father was going to turn his back upon his suffering. When he cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[19] He was not just quoting scripture. He was expressing how he felt.

Jesus Experienced Temptation

Before Jesus began his ministry with his disciples, he underwent a time of prayer and fasting in the wilderness alone. There Satan joined him and tried to thwart God’s purposes by tempting Christ to sin.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘ He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘ You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.[20]

This ordeal in the desert was not the only time Jesus was tempted. He was completely human, so there were many times when the enemy sought to overcome him through this tactic. Once the devil even utilized the apostle Peter to convince Jesus that he could achieve God’s will without going to the cross. Matthew records that Jesus “turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””[21]

It was God’s will that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”[22] That “in every respect” suggests that there will be no temptation that any of us have to endure that Jesus has not already endured and was victorious over. His victory was a human victory. He did not utilize his divine powers to overcome temptation because that would have disqualified him to be our high priest.[23]

Jesus Experienced Physical Pain.

Jesus took on humanity in order to save humanity. He did not just take on the appearance of humanity. The Bible presents him as a babe in a manger, but the Bible does not say “no crying he makes.” He was what Pinocchio wanted to be; he was a real boy. Real boys and laugh and snuggle and wet themselves. They also cry, because they experience discomfort. Eight days after his birth, Jesus was circumcised. He felt pain.

Before having his flesh nailed to the wooden beams of the cross, Jesus had already been beaten almost to death by the Roman guards. On the cross, every breath was an experience in agony. Every movement accentuated the pain. He spoke several times, and each word was paid for by pain. Just as the sacrifices suffered when being slaughtered outside the gate of Jerusalem, so Christ suffered outside the gate “in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.”[24]

The fact that Christ, as a completely human being was able to suffer and remain sinless is an example for those of us who choose to follow him. Peter says “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”[25] If Christ were some divine being posing as human, his suffering and death could hardly serve as an example for his followers.

Because Christ was who he was – what he did matters. Even in the first century – during the time of the apostle John – some were beginning to doubt that Christ was fully human. John attacked this heresy by proclaiming that “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”[26] He had to teach this doctrine because “many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.”[27] To deny that Christ was fully human was to deny Christ.

Yet this was the same John who had declared that Christ was God and with God in the beginning.[28] The apostle encourages believers to hold to two seemingly opposite truths at the same time. Christ is simultaneously both fully divine and fully human. This mystery shall be explored in the next chapter.

[1] John 1:14.

[2] Matt. 2:23; Mark 14:67.

[3] See Luke 1-2.

[4] Matt. 4:2.

[5] Matt. 21:19.

[6] The only exception I can think of is Jesus’ riding the donkey’s colt during the triumphal entry (Matt. 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12).

[7] John 4:6.

[8] John 11:11,35,38.

[9] 1 Thess. 4:13.

[10] Isaiah 53:3.

[11] Heb. 4:15.

[12] Luke 8:45-48.

[13] Mark 13:32.

[14] Luke 12:50.

[15] Matt. 26:38.

[16] Luke 22:44.

[17] Luke 4:13.

[18] Heb. 5:7-10.

[19] Matt. 27:46.

[20] Matt. 4:1-11.

[21] Matt. 16:23.

[22] Heb. 4:15.

[23] Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15-16; 5:2,7; 7:25.

[24] Heb.13:12.

[25] 1 Peter 2:21-23.

[26] 1 John 4:2-3.

[27] 2 John 1:7.

[28] John 1:1-2.

ACST 31. Christ: The Logos

Christ is the center of any theology which derives from the Bible, because he is the chief character in God’s story from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is his story concealed; the New Testament is his story revealed. He stands as the central person in all history. He is our way to God and God’s way or reconciling himself to us. He is the truth, and knowing him will set us free. He is the life, because he made the way for humanity to live again.

John described him as the Logos – the Word. He said “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”[1] John was referring to Jesus, because he said “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”[2] With those few words John explained that the person who became Jesus of Nazareth pre-existed his birth at Bethlehem, and became God incarnate (in human flesh) at his birth.[3]

The Old Testament Witness

Jesus once spoke to his disciples about “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms.”[4] One would expect there to be a witness to Christ’s pre-existence in those Old Testament books. Notice, for example, Psalm 2:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This psalm speaks of the LORD, the God who created the nations. It also speaks of another, whom the LORD calls “my Son.” The LORD speaks to the Son and chooses somehow to beget him on a certain day. The LORD does not create him as a person; he brings him into existence as a human. The One to whom the LORD is speaking is already in existence as a divine being. He is the Son — the “anointed” who is to become King of Zion. The LORD warns the kings of the nations to kiss the Son, lest he be angry and they suffer his coming wrath.

When the Old Testament predicts the birth of this Son, it reveals his pre-existence at the same time. Micah encourages the little town of Bethlehem by saying “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”[5]

Isaiah says “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”[6] Here again, there is the Lord (divine person #1) and the son (divine person #2) whom his earthly mother will call Immanuel (God with us). Later Isaiah reveals the titles of this divine son. He predicts “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”[7] The son will have all the attributes of his Father, including that of Mighty God (omnipotence) and Everlasting Father (infinity). For a mere created being to accept those titles would be blasphemy. But if the Immanuel who is to come is the same eternal being spoken of in Psalm 2, then it is not blasphemous to give him these divine titles.

Malachi predicts that the Israelites will see “the Lord whom they seek,” and that he will be preceded by a messenger who will “prepare the way before me … says the LORD of hosts.”[8] That means that the Lord that the Israelites seek is the same as “the LORD of hosts.” It is not merely a human Messiah, but an incarnation of the living LORD himself who will appear.

John The Baptist’s Witness

John the Baptist was this messenger to whom Malachi was referring. Centuries later, John was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah. A few months later, Elizabeth’s relative, Mary, also had a son. We know this because Mary was pregnant with Jesus, and visited Elizabeth, but was still able to travel back to Nazareth just before John was born.[9] Travelling forward in time about thirty years, we find that John has become a great prophet, and people come from all over Israel to here him speak of the Lord who is coming.

Among the many things John says about this one who is to come, two things stand out: he says that the coming one ranks before him, because he was before him.[10] The one who is to come ranks before John because John is merely the messenger, but the one who is to come is the Lord. John said “he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.”[11] But that does not explain why John said that this coming Lord “was before me.” John was born first. He was the oldest. John knew that Jesus “was” before him, because Jesus pre-existed his birth.

John the Evangelist’s Witness

The author of John’s Gospel also bears witness that Christ pre-existed his birth. He said “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”[12] Before his birth, he was “at the Father’s side.”[13] Then, the Father sent him into the world.[14] While upon this planet, Jesus knew “that he had come from God and was going back to God.”[15]

In one of his epistles, this same author would explain how God’s love had devised the plan to send his Son to earth, to bring reconciliation to those who accept his sacrifice on the cross. He said “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”[16] The cross was not a mistake. It was the reason that Christ entered time itself.

The vision John sees of Christ on Patmos fills in the picture even more of who Christ is. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”[17] He was the child that the woman gave birth to, whom the dragon sought to devour, but who was caught up to God and his throne.[18] But he is also the living one, who died, and is alive forevermore.[19]

Paul’s Witness

The apostle Paul refers to Christ in his pre-existent state when he said that although he was rich (in heaven) he became poor for our sake (by coming to earth).[20] Paul encourages believers to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”[21]

Paul also refers to the incarnation when he says “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”[22] He speaks of Christ’s role in creation by saying “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”[23] Paul essentially agrees with every point that John had made of Jesus being both the Son of God who was born or Mary, and God, the Son who created all things.

The Author of Hebrews’ Witness

The author of Hebrews speaks of Christ as God’s “Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”[24] He expresses again that Christ was involved in creation before he came to this world to bring about redemption. Of particular importance is this author’s exegesis of Psalm 2.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.[25]

Melchizedek was a shadowy character in the book of Genesis who appears out of nowhere and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything he owns. The psalms predict that the Messiah will be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.[26] The author of Hebrews brings these two predictions together. He asserts that God’s Messiah would be a Son of God who would have “days of his flesh.” During those days he would suffer, and become “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”

Jesus’ Witness

Jesus himself also testified to his pre-existence as the Son of God. His favorite title for himself was “Son of Man.”[27] It is assumed that mostly this title refers to Christ’s true humanity, but the title can also be translated “Son among men” which fits into the whole emphasis in the Bible on the Messiah as God among us. Jesus accepted the title “Son of God” as well.[28] Those who testified to his gospel often used this term for him.[29] He is never said to have become the Son of God. It had been his title before he came, and continues to be his title now.

One day when Jesus was arguing with the Jewish leaders who were opposing his message, he let slip the fact that he was alive back in the days of Abraham. He told them that “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [30] That was enough for them. They were convinced he was crazy. They said “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”[31] If Jesus did not pre-exist his human birth, they would be right.

Jesus ended the argument by saying “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”[32] This opened a whole new can of worms for the Jews. The title “I am” was a special one for them, because it had been used by God to refer to himself when he revealed himself to Moses. Moses had asked what name he should use when offering God’s deliverance to the Israelites in Egypt. God said “ ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’”[33] By using this title, Jesus was claiming to have been the God of the exodus.

Jesus actually used that term “I AM” (Greek ego eimi) several times in his discourses in which he described himself.

Each of these statements identified Jesus as the LORD of the Old Testament, and thus implied that he was more than he seemed; that he pre-existed his birth.

There was another time when Jesus let it slip that he has been around a while. It was during his high priestly prayer for his disciples and the church that would come from their testimony. He prayed, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”[34] Later he prayed “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”[35] Twice he referred to being with God before the world was created. John would remember those words, and describe his savior as the Word who was with God, and who was God.

The pre-existence of Christ as the eternal Logos is not an easy doctrine to grasp logically. Many have sought after some doctrinal compromise that would allow Christ to be less than what these scripture imply. Some have done so out of the mistaken notion that to call Christ equal with the Father is blasphemy. The scriptures must be the standard to judge all theological premises. The scriptures affirm that Christ is equal with the Father in deity.

However, that is only half of the story. The scriptures affirm as well that Christ was (and is) fully human. Both of those realities must be held in balance if Christ’s identity is to be understood.

___________________________________-

[1] John 1:1-2.

[2] John 1:14.

[3] Technically, it was at Christ’s conception in the uterus of Mary that he became flesh.

[4] Luke 24:44.

[5] Micah 5:2.

[6] Isaiah 7:14.

[7] Isaiah 9:6.

[8] Malachi 3:1.

[9] Luke 1:56-57.

[10] John 1:15, 30.

[11] Matthew 3:11.

[12] John 1:1-2.

[13] John 1:18.

[14] John 3:16,34; 4:34, 5:23,30,37,38; 6:29,38,39,44,57; 7:16,18,28,29,33; 8:16,18,26,29,42; 9:4; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44,45,49; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3,8,18,21,23,25; 20:21.

[15] John 13:3.

[16] 1 John 4:9-10.

[17] Rev. 1:8,17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13.

[18] Rev. 12:2,4,5,13.

[19] Rev. 1:18.

[20] 2 Cor. 8:9.

[21] Philippians 2:5-8.

[22] Galatians 4:4-5.

[23] Colossians 1:15-17.

[24] Hebrews 1:2.

[25] Hebrews 5:5-10.

[26] Psalm 110:4.

[27] Matt. 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8, 32, 40; 13:37, 41; 16:13, 27f; 17:9, 12, 22; 19:28; 20:18, 28; 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:31; 26:2, 24, 45, 64; Mark 2:10, 28; 8:31, 38; 9:9, 12, 31; 10:33, 45; 13:26; 14:21, 41, 62; Luke 5:24; 6:5, 22; 7:34; 9:22, 26, 44, 58; 11:30; 12:8, 10, 40; 17:22, 24, 26, 30; 18:8, 31; 19:10; 21:27, 36; 22:22, 48, 69; 24:7; John 1:51; 3:13f; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23, 34; 13:31.

[28] Matt. 4:3, 6; 8:29; 14:33; 26:63; 27:40, 43, 54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 15:39; Luke 1:35; 3:38; 4:3, 9, 41; 22:70; John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31.

[29] Acts 9:20; Rom. 1:4; 2 Cor. 1:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1 John 3:8; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12f, 20; Rev. 2:18.

[30] John 8:56.

[31] John 8:57.

[32] John 8:58.

[33] Exodus 3:14.

[34] John 17:5.

[35] John 17:24.

Excursus: Sheol: The Old Testament Consensus

{view this article in Afterlife website}

There were 400 silent years – a gap between the closing of the Old Testament prophets and the writing of the New Testament. During this time the doctrine of the intermediate state (that state between death and the resurrection) underwent a sort of evolution. Jews became immersed in pagan communities which held to the doctrine made popular by Greek philosophy: the immortality of the soul.

The Judaism that emerged from this period was not consistent on the issue of the intermediate state. Some Jews adapted the Greek concept almost whole cloth. They conceded that all human souls are immortal, and understood “that the souls of the righteous proceeded immediately to heaven at their deaths, there to await the resurrection of their bodies, while the souls of the wicked remained in Sheol.”[1] For them, Sheol became a place entirely associated with the punishment of the wicked, although their own scriptures insist that Sheol contains the righteous as well.[2]

Other Jews were not willing to concede that Sheol was exclusively for the wicked. Instead, they imagined “that there was a spatial separation in the underworld between the godly and the ungodly.”[3] These retained the Old Testament idea that all souls go to Sheol at death, adding only the Greek concept that these souls are immortal, and conscious of being in Sheol – or as the Greeks called it — Hades.

By the New Testament era, a third view (or a variation of the second) apparently became popular among the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees. Jesus must have accommodated one of their own stories when he told the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus.[4] In that story, the rich man dies and ends up in Hades, while Lazarus is carried bodily to a place called Abraham’s Bosom. The irony was not lost on the Pharisees, who would have expected just the opposite. For them, riches were a sign of the LORD’s blessing, while poverty was viewed as a curse. Jesus used the story to warn the Pharisees that their godless greed was disobedience to the very laws they were trusting in for their salvation.

By using that story, Jesus was by no means condoning its theology. After all, he was not declaring doctrine to his disciples. He was speaking to a group who stood in opposition to his teachings. If Jesus were teaching his disciples about the intermediate state, his words would have conformed to the Old Testament consensus.

The best place to look for answers about the intermediate state is in the Old Testament. God’s people struggled with this question for millennia before Plato was born. One has every right to expect God’s word to provide answers, and for those answers to be consistent. The vast majority of biblical references to the intermediate state are in the Old Testament.[5] By the time the Old Testament was completed, a theological consensus was clearly revealed. This Old Testament consensus reveals that Sheol is a much different place than that imagined by syncretistic 2^nd Temple Judaism.

Sheol is Down There

When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had been killed by some wild animal, he was distraught. He imagined that Joseph was dead, down underneath the earth somewhere. Jacob was so upset that he thought he would die of grief. He tells his children who are trying to comfort him “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning”[6] This first reference to Sheol in the Bible reveals that the intermediate state is not a mystery that no one knows about. Jacob apparently knew that all people go there at death.

Jacob also knew that in some way Sheol is down there. The rest of the Old Testament has a number of references to Sheol that utilize the verb root that Jacob used: yarad – to go down or descend.[7] Other verb roots used with Sheol portray the same idea: nachat – to go down[8], and shafel – to be or become low.[9] Both people from within the covenant community and those without went in the same direction at death.

Some have suggested that these are all references to being buried in the grave, and that Sheol is merely a reference to what happens to the body. Thus Sheol would be taken as a synonym for Qever – the grave or tomb. But Jacob could not have been referring to a literal grave, since Joseph’s body was not found to bury.

Also, Sheol is normally associated with death in poetic parallels, not the grave. Of all the references to Sheol in the Old Testament, none directly parallel with Qever. However, the term Sheol is often paralleled with synonyms for the grave, like Bor, the pit,[10] and Abaddon, destruction.[11] This leads to the conclusion that the term Sheol has something in common with the grave, but cannot be equated with the actual grave itself. Although Sheol is often described as if it were a location, its Old Testament use leads to the conclusion that it more specifically refers to the human state after death. The location for the dead (at least those who are buried) is the grave. Their condition is Sheol.

This was the conclusion of Eric Lewis, whose examination of the 65 references to Sheol in the Old Testament led him to the conclusion that the term specified “not the place of interment, nor a presumed locality of departed spirits, but the condition of death, the death-state.”[12] Lewis suggested that a synonym for Sheol emphasizing this connotation is Gravedom. But how does one reconcile the idea that Sheol is a state with all these references to a direction (down there)?

Sheol is of Extreme Depth

Sheol is to down as heaven is to up. It is not simply six feet under. Moses spoke of the fire of God’s anger burning to the depths of Sheol.[13] Zophar said that God’s limit is higher than heaven and deeper than Sheol.[14] David described the LORD’s deliverance as being from the depths of Sheol.[15] When describing God’s omnipresence he said “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”[16] The LORD complained through Isaiah that Israel prostituted herself by sending envoys to all far-off lands, even sending them down to Sheol.[17]

His words through Amos describe the extent to which God was determined to go to bring punishment upon his own disobedient people:

If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.[18]

Here again, Sheol is contrasted with heaven – not because it is a place of suffering and heaven a place of pleasure. Heaven is listed because it is a high place – like the top of Mt. Carmel. Sheol is mentioned because it is a low place, like the bottom of the sea.

Perhaps the ancient Hebrews imagined Sheol an extremely deep place because of the mystery surrounding it. Perhaps it was thought so because people went there and did not come back. Perhaps it was regarded so because it was a mystery – hidden to everyone except God himself.[19] Regardless, when the Old Testament saints spoke of Sheol it was obviously not synonymous with heaven. It was the exact opposite. Yet this is the place that all souls entered at death.

Sheol is Silent

Another stark contrast the Old Testament presents when comparing Sheol to heaven is the activity they describe to each place. Heaven and earth are places where God is praised continually.[20] But when the soul reaches Sheol that praise stops abruptly. David prays for God to “let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol.”[21] The deaths of his enemies would not only silence them upon earth, it would silence them in the underworld as well. Sheol is a place where the once mighty now lie still.[22] It is the land of silence, where the dead go down to silence.[23]

Hezekiah prays that God would rescue him from his sickness because “Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.”[24] What he was saying was that if he died, his praises would stop. Sheol was a place of silence for both the believer and the unbeliever. For that reason, it makes sense for King Hezekiah to plead with God to rescue him from death. His death would not glorify God. His rescue would — and did.

David had a similar experience when he was in threat of death, and he prayed for God to deliver him “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?”[25] His plea is so like that of Hezekiah that they mark a certain approach to the whole concept of Sheol. To these two people of God, there was no afterlife. There was merely silence and stillness – a waiting on God to perhaps rescue by resurrection. To neither of these Old Testament saints would a residence in Sheol be considered a goal to attain. For both of them it was an inevitable consequence of their own mortality – to be avoided at all costs.

David’s son Solomon had an insatiable curiosity, and set his mind to study everything that could be studied. He wrote thousands of proverbs encapsulating his wisdom, and composed over one thousand songs.[26] His “wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”[27] Yet when he described Sheol, he merely warned his readers to do whatever they wanted to do before death, because “there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”[28] His studied assessment of Sheol agreed with the Old Testament consensus. He saw it as a place where the thoughts are silenced.

Sheol is Dark

Other characteristics of Sheol found in the Old Testament consensus do not match modern views of the afterlife. Job described a person in Sheol as spreading out his bed in darkness.[29] He described Sheol as “the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.”[30] David describes those “long dead” as “sitting in darkness.”[31] Jeremiah described “the dead of long ago” as dwelling in darkness now.[32] If Sheol is a place, then darkness might only imply a lack of visual awareness in that place. If Sheol is a state, then these references to darkness would imply a lack of cognitive awareness in that state.

Sheol is Sleep

David prayed to the LORD, “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”[33] He anticipated that his death would find him in Sheol and doing what all others in Sheol are doing: not praising, not singing, not playing golden harps. He defined existence in Sheol as sleeping the sleep of death. The exact phrase “slept with his fathers” is found 36 times in the Old Testament.[34] It was a common expression used to describe the fact that someone had died.

Daniel described existence in Sheol as sleeping in the dust of the earth.[35] It was a condition which required an awakening – a resurrection. This sleep was never the hope of Old Testament saints. The resurrection and restoration to life was the hope. Sleep was simply a way of describing the state of death itself. Jesus used the same terminology to describe the death-state of Jairus’ daughter.[36] He said of Lazarus (in Sheol) that he had “fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him”.[37]

Conditionalists prefer to use the term sleep to describe the intermediate state for several reasons, among them: 1) it is used by the scripture itself; 2) it emphasizes the need for resurrection; 3) it places the hope of humanity not in the death-state itself, but in the LORD who will raise (awaken) the dead.

Sheol is Universal

The thing most stressed in the Old Testament concerning Sheol is that it is synonymous with death itself. In the New Testament, this is seen by the terms death and Hades appearing next to each other.[38] All those who die (the event) experience Hades (the state). In the Old Testament, this fact is seen in numerous passages where death and Sheol are placed in parallel. David, for example says “the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.”[39] He also says “in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?”[40]

Other psalmists reflect the same association between death as an event, and Sheol as the state it initiates. The sons of Korah say of the foolish “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd”[41] Ethan the Ezrahite proclaims “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?”[42]

Hannah prayed “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.”[43] The theology of her prayer is impeccable. To die is to be brought down to Sheol, where all the other dead are. To be rescued from that condition is to be brought back to life, and that is something that only the LORD can do.

Summary

Sheol, then, is a silent, dark state or condition in which everyone exists at death, and can only live again by a resurrection from the LORD. It is always contrasted with heaven, and never equated with it. It is not the hope of the saints; rescue from it is the hope of the saints. That is the Old Testament consensus.

[1] Richard N. Longenecker, “Grave, Sheol, Pit, Hades, Gehenna, Abaddon, Hell” in Donald E. Gowan, ed. The Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible. (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2003), 189.

[2] Hezekiah, for example, lamented that at the age of 39 he must walk through the gates of Sheol, being deprived of the rest of his years (Isaiah 38:10). And David spoke of his hope that God would rescue him from death by saying confidently that God would not abandon him to Sheol (Psalm 16:10). Both of these men of God understood entering Sheol as synonymous with dying.

[3] Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994), 99.

[4] Luke 16:19-31.

[5] References to Sheol in the Old Testament outnumber those of Hades in the New Testament over 6 to 1. Also, most of the New Testament references merely use the term Hades without explaining it.

[6] Genesis 37:35.

[7] Genesis 42:38; 44:29, 31; Num. 16:30, 33; 1 Sam. 2:6; 1 Kings 2:6, 9; Job 7:9; 17:16; Psalm 55:15; Prov. 1:12; 5:5; 7:27; Isaiah 14:11, 15; Ezekiel 31:15, 16, 17; 32:21, 27.

[8] Job 21:13

[9] Isaiah 57:9.

[10] Psalm 30:3; Prov. 1:12; Isaiah 14:15; 38:18; Ezekiel 31:16.

[11] Job 26:6; Prov. 15:11; 27:20.

[12] Eric Lewis, Christ, The First Fruits (Boston: Warren Press, 1949), 48.

[13] Deuteronomy 32:22.

[14] Job. 11:8.

[15] Psalm 86:13.

[16] Psalm 139:8.

[17] Isaiah 57:9.

[18] Amos 9:2-4.

[19] Job 26:6; Prov. 15:11.

[20] Psalm 69:34; 113:3; 145:3-7; 148:2.

[21] Psalm 31:17.

[22] Ezekiel 32:21, 27.

[23] Psalm 94:17; 115:17.

[24] Isaiah 38:18.

[25] Psalm 6:5.

[26] 1 Kings 4:32.

[27] 1 Kings 4:30.

[28] Ecclesiastes 9:10.

[29] Job 17:13.

[30] Job 10:21-22.

[31] Psalm 143:3.

[32] Lamentations 3:6.

[33] Psalm 13:3.

[34] 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chr. 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20.

[35] Daniel 12:2.

[36] Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52.

[37] John 11:11.

[38] Rev. 1:8; 6:8; 20:13-14.

[39] 2 Samuel 22:6.

[40] Psalm 6:5.

[41] Psalm 49:14.

[42] Psalm 89:48.

[43] 1 Samuel 2:6.

Excursus: The Tree of Life

{This article was originally published on the Afterlife website}.

The tree of life appears first in scripture in the creation account. In addition to all other kinds of trees that are nice to look at, and nourishing, God makes two other trees: the tree of knowing good and evil (which God prohibits man from eating), and the tree of life (which God does not prohibit).[1] After Adam and Eve transgressed and ate of the tree of knowledge, God was true to his threat and made them mortal,[2] and also banished them from the Garden so that they would not have the opportunity to eat of the tree of life, and thus gain immortality in their unredeemed sinful state.[3]

The record in Genesis leaves some unanswered questions. Were Adam and Eve created immortal, only losing their immortality after they sinned? No, God’s warning was that if they ate of the tree they would “surely die.” This seems to indicate that they had the potential to become either mortal or immortal, depending upon their obedience or disobedience to God’s expressed prohibition. They also had the potential to become immortal in their innocent sate of creation had they merely chosen to eat of the tree of life instead of the prohibited tree. They were immortable: capable of becoming immortal. This means that human beings had actually two opportunities for immortality: escape becoming mortal by obeying God’s prohibition, or simply taking of the tree of life itself. This was not superfluous. It was merely our gracious God in action, giving his creatures more grace than they deserve.

But why mention the tree of life at all? After all, apparently no one ate from it in the Garden, and we are now banished from going back to Eden. Part of the answer is that, from then on, the tree of life becomes a metaphor for the rewards of righteous, faithful living.[4] Wise and righteous living yields a relationship with God and our neighbour that is as rewarding as returning to Eden.

The tree of life is also a promise of a literal return to Eden. The Prophet Ezekiel speaks of future trees in restored Israel that are watered by a river of life, and are both good for food and healing.[5] And in his Revelation, John holds forth the tree of life as a future reality for those who overcome.[6] These prophetic images speak of a future immortality for all the redeemed. They remind us that God has a plan for returning humanity to the garden paradise from which he has banished us.

There also seems to be a hint in Genesis of another tree of life that God will offer freely to all his creatures. Through the serpent’s deception, the woman took of the wrong tree and brought death to all who are in Adam.[7] But this same woman will give birth to a son who will do battle against the serpent, and will be bruised in the process.[8] The Apostles refer to Christ’s crucifixion by saying that he was hanged on a tree.[9] Paul says that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”[10] It is as if God is offering us a second chance at the tree of life if we put our faith in the Redeemer who died on a tree.

So, Moses was not wasting words by telling his readers of a tree in the garden from which no one ate, and to which no one now has access. That tree of life is both the tragedy of humanity’s past and the glory of our future. It told of a potential for immortality that God offered from the very beginning of creation. It is a sad commentary on human nature that – like our ancestors – so many humans are so busy acquiring other things, they do not find time for the most important acquisition of all – eternal life.

That first opportunity was lost. It was restored through Christ, “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”[11] The gospel is good news because it says that now immortality is available again. We have a second chance at the tree of life.

[1] Genesis 2:9.

[2] Genesis 2:17, 5:5.

[3] Genesis 3:22-24.

[4] Proverbs 3:13-18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4.

[5] Ezekiel 47:12.

[6] Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19.

[7] Genesis 3:6, 19; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22.

[8] Genesis 3:15.

[9] Acts 5:30; 10:39.

[10] Galatians 3:13

[11] 2 Timothy 1:10.