The Surprising God

In  Jesus Ascended, the Meaning of Christ's Continuing Incarnation  (T&T Clark, 2004)  Gerrit Scott Dawson (pictured at left) shows how vital it is to understand Jesus' ascension as God still in human (though now glorified) flesh.  As the ascended God-man, Jesus is our High Priest. He now resides bodily and intercedes continuously for us from heaven. And through his Spirit he lives in us and with us here on earth. In these ways he shares with us the eternal life that is his in communion with the Father and the Spirit. The ascended Jesus is our life - our "place" - with God (see John 14:2). Dawson quotes Andrew Murray: As Son, Christ alone was heir of all that God had. All the life of the Father was in Him. God could have no union or fellowship with any creature but through His beloved Son, or as far as the life and spirit and image of the Son was seen in it. If our salvation was not to be a merely legal one - external and, I may say, artificial - but an entranc...

John 17:3 (New International Version) Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This is SO profound! The primary hallmark of eternal life, the thing that the Spirit-inspired writer tells us, is that the concept of "eternal life" can only be understood in RELATIONAL terms (THIS is eternal life: that they may KNOW You!). Yes - by knowing God the Father and the Son He sent, anointed by the Spirit. Eternal life is ALL about knowing God the Father and His Son, in the Spirit, in Truth! Comprehending the heart of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their pure, from-all-time, beautiful, other-centered love relationship (they are ONE!) is posited by John as THE DEFINITION of eternal life! Any notion of eternal life we may have that is APART from seeing THIS God is a poor, distorted caricature at best. How do we "know" God? Understanding that God is Trinity and understanding the AWESOME implications of THAT ...

In the spirit of Holy Week, I offer words of inspiration from pastor and theologian Gerrit Scott Dawson (pictured at right). Dawson's writings wonderfully "flesh-out" a Trinitarian theology. The quote below is from his excellent book, "I am with You Always." Because the cross of Christ's agony is a gift to us, we may go there with our sorrows and pain. We bring our situations to the cross and let them feel the touch of God in the cross. When we find a connection point between the terrible, suspending pain of our trials and the cross of Christ, we see there God's touch. He takes our pain unto himself and tends it. He can redeem the situations of our lives so that, beyond hope, something good can come even in the worst situation.... Jesus the man of sorrows lived and died in the affliction of humanity. He is intimately acquainted with all our pains. But hear the news:...He still attends to the grief of this mortal life. This Christ still lives in us th...

Holy Week is near - our annual remembrance and celebration of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. This is not only Jesus' story - it's the story of all humanity. For by grace, and in love, Jesus united himself (and remains united) to all humanity as our representative and substitute. This is the gospel truth. The one who died on the cross on Good Friday, was buried dead in the tomb on Holy Saturday, and then emerged alive from the tomb on Easter Sunday morning was (and is) fully human and fully divine. Jesus' resurrection (glorification) did not mean that he ceased to be human. Indeed, he remains "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39) - fully human (though now a glorified human). And Jesus continues to be fully God. As the unique God-man (God-in-the-flesh), he continues to be our representative and our substitute. Thus the story of Holy Week is Jesus' story and ours. Notice what Paul says about this in Romans 6:3-14. ...Do you not know that all of...

I have been reading the blog and have learned so much about Christ centered theology from the comments made by my fellow pastors and have also been reading the books recommended on the blog. I do have a question in regards to Romans 8:9 where Paul says that "if you don't have the Holy Spirit you don't belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 (NRSV): "But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." How can a person be "in Christ" apart from the Holy Spirits living in them? My answer would be that the Holy Spirit does live in a person but the person has not yet acknowledged it therefore does not follow Christ or "belong to Him" yet in their mind? Terry Lambert Pastor Abilene, TX