The Surprising God

This post is adapted, with permission, from material written by Dr. Gary Deddo .  For a related earlier post,  click here . In proclaiming that "God loves, forgives and includes all people in Christ," is Trinitarian, Incarnational theology ignoring the difference between believers and non-believers? Some who disagree with the theology advanced here think so. Though I respect their concerns, in framing their objections they may be using a form of  mythological projection. This is   the error of projecting back onto God what is observed about humans. Here's an example: "Since some people believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and some do not, it follows that God must regard believers and non-believers differently." It is then a short hop to concluding that God loves, forgives and includes only believers. Trinitarian, Incarnational theology seeks to avoid mythological projections, using instead a theo-logic  that is grounded in the truth that only God revea...

In this season of Christmas, I thought it fitting to reproduce below the text of a "Speaking of Life" program with GCI President Joseph Tkach ( click here to watch it on YouTube). Merry Christmas to the readers of this blog.  --Ted Johnston The Meaning of Incarnation   by Joseph Tkach As we celebrate our Savior’s birth, I wonder if we ever stop to consider what a great sacrifice Jesus made by becoming one of us? Here is how Paul describes it in his letter to the church at Ephesus: Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became  human ! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died ...

This post concludes a ten part series looking at Adam Neder's excellent  book, " Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics) ." To read other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 . We come now to the last post in this series. We'll look at Neder's analysis of Barth's understanding that, through participation in Christ, we experience the new humanity that is ours in the resurrected, glorified humanity of Jesus Christ. In that regard, what is true for all people already in Christ in a de jure  (objective/universal) sense, is experienced by individuals progressively in a de facto (subjective/personal) sense through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thus Barth embraced a "Christocentric pneumatology " (a Christ-centered doctrine of the Holy Spirit), alongside his " theology of the resurrection of Christ" (p83, emphasis added). For Barth, this personal experience of ou...

Unfortunately, disciple-making in our culture often is equated with conveying information: insert information, out pops Christian maturity . But for Jesus and his early followers, making disciples was a highly relational, life-on-life process that led to growth in maturity. When Jesus called his followers "disciples" ( mathētēs  is the Greek word used in the Gospels and in Acts), he was using the word as it was understood in his first century Jewish cultural setting (for a helpful discussion about this, click here ). In that setting, disciple-making involved a relationship between a mentor (typically a Rabbi), the disciple-maker; and a protege, known as the "disciple." This relationship was not about mere information transfer. Rather the Rabbi shared his whole life with his disciple and in so doing, imparted his character ( who he was ), his knowledge ( what he knew ) and his skills ( what he could do ). You might say that the Rabbi gave his disciple his  hear...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 , 10 . Last time we looked at Neder's summary of Barth's dynamic Christology, noting that because Jesus is alive, all humanity (in an objective sense) is alive in him. In this post, we'll examine what Barth says about what this reality means (in a subjective sense) for Christians---those who hear and, in obedient faith, say "yes" to Jesus' call to be one of his disciples within the community of the church. Barth believed that the call of Jesus "creates a confessing community that witnesses to him as Lord" (p75). Thus the church, formed by this call to discipleship, has its "being in action" (p76). Of course, all people, in an objective sense, have their being in Christ. Through the vicarious humanity of Jesus...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 . According to Neder, "the dynamic, active, historical, and covenantal character of Barths' Christology... sets it apart from all others and is its most distinguishing feature" (p58). Rather than seeing the union of God and humanity in the person of Jesus as a "static state," Barth sees it as a dynamic, continuing "event" or "act," which defines Jesus' very being. Indeed, Jesus "became" in the continuing act/event of the Incarnation (p60). Barth's point is that Jesus is alive and through his continuing divine-human life, we are alive in him . It's important to grab hold of this vital and central truth of Barth's Christology, for it forms the core of his Trinitarian theology and so...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ,  10 . Neder highlights Barth's conviction that the triune God's work to convert our humanity into the likeness of Jesus has three aspects: justification, sanctification and vocation (calling). Believers respond to this grace of God by sharing in Jesus' own faith, love and hope ( 1Thes 1:3; 5:8 ). Through this response, motivated by gratefulness, believers actualize (experience/receive) their new humanity, which though now "hidden in Christ" ( Col 3:24 ) is nevertheless a present reality. Here is how Neder unpacks the details: 1. JUSTIFICATION → faith According to Neder, Barth defines justification as the verdict of God by which he... ...repudiates, displaces, removes, and pardons the being of sinful humanity and in its place e...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . In chapter 4, Neder unpacks Barth's view that reconciliation-salvation is a relationship occurring in and through Jesus Christ by which humanity is drawn into and thus participates in the divine life. Neder provides this representative quote from Barth: ....What unites God and us men is that He [God] does not will to be God without us, that He creates us rather to share with us and therefore with our being and life and act His own incomparable being and life and act, that He does not allow His history to be His and ours, but causes them to take place as a common history " (p44, emphasis added). It is through this "common history," which Barth sees as an ongoing event, that God shares himself with us. Thus reconciliation-salva...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 ,  6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . In chapter 3, Neder addresses Barth's biblically-informed, Trinitarian anthropology, noting that it views Jesus' humanity as inclusive of all humanity: The ontological determination of humanity [meaning the determination of humanity's fundamental being] is grounded in the fact that one man among all others is the man Jesus ...[he] alone establishes and reveals human nature... Barth's anthropology is an attempt to take this thought seriously, to follow it wherever it may lead, and to resist the temptation to either deviate from it or stop short of saying what must be said on the basis of it (p29, emphasis added). Accordingly, to know what human nature is, we "look to the place where it has been once and for all enacted and ...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . For Barth, our participation in the love and life of Jesus Christ is by a grace that involves obedience. Though obedience is sometimes construed in ways that are antithetical to God's grace, Barth sees obedience and grace linked within the covenant that is ours with God in Christ, our Lord: In showing His grace, God proves Himself both Savior and Helper... [His] exercising of lordship is kind as well as good... [Grace] rules by offering God to His covenant partner as Lord of the covenant (Neder, p19). Paradoxically, the covenant "rest" (freedom) we are given in Christ (by grace) is realized in obedience to Christ as Lord. According to Barth, God's grace sets us free first to hear Christ and then to obey what we hear him tell u...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . In his chapter titled, Election and Being in Christ , Neder examines Barth's "Christocentric treatment of election as an aspect of the doctrine of God..." (p15). For Barth, these two core doctrines are deeply and intrinsically connected for Jesus himself is the content of election. Therefore, according to Barth, Jesus should be the church's sole criterion when thinking about the topic of election. If this were the case, Barth believes that the result in the church would be... ...joy, not terror; incomprehensible light, not incomprehensible darkness; clarity, not obscurity, [understanding that] ...in Jesus Christ God is freely and graciously for humanity rather than against it... This is not merely one variation of God's wil...

This post is from  Charles Fleming , mission developer for GCI in the Caribbean. The most practical definition of mission that I know is this: Mission is joining Jesus in crossing a frontier (geographic, cultural, generational, life-experience) with tangible expressions of Jesus’ love (word and deed).  To illustrate, I want to share a powerful story told by pastor Ty Grigg on  The Ecclesia Network . It's titled It Starts with Lamenting . Pastor Ty's story Angela stood up to the podium and pulled out a piece of paper. Normally, during our worship liturgy, we watch an “icon,” that is, a short video or projected artwork that reveals something about the way the world is and the ways God reveals his glory in our world. This Sunday, we would hear a story of lament from Angela: My cry today, my lament today is for the Church, the bride of Christ, to be a voice--a beacon of hope, a light, a refuge in this time. By this time, I mean post-Trayvon Martin. As Angel...

This post continues a series looking at "Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics)" by Adam Neder. To read other posts in this series click on a number: 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . According to Neder, "Barth's conception of dogmatics is grounded in his understanding of revelation, which governs his doctrine of participation in Christ..." (p1). Barth stressed the priority of the Word of God, understood in its ultimate sense to be Jesus Christ, who "establishes an orderly fellowship between himself and human beings" (p1). Thus, "revelation is inseparable from reconciliation" (p1) as "an event of divine-human union" (p3). This equating of revelation with reconciliation, accomplished through the continuing event of the Incarnation, has significant implications, including that in Jesus, God "speaks to human beings in a creaturely form... through creaturely media" (p3). For Bart...

This post begins a series looking at Professor Adam Neder's helpful book, " Participation in Christ (An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics )." To read other posts in this series, click on a number: 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 . Perhaps you've read parts of Barth's Dogmatics and found it rather difficult and daunting (6 million words in 13 volumes!). I'm thankful to Dr. Neder for writing this accessible book, which shows how  participation in Christ is a key concept in Barth's theology. Neder comments: According to Barth, revelation, election, creation, reconciliation and redemption all take place "in Christ," and their meaning and content may only be rightly comprehended in him. In fact, the very being of all humanity itself is objectively included in the being of Jesus Christ, and is likewise subjectively (i.e., by individual people) realized in him. In these acts of inclusion and realization, the creature is incorp...