METANARRATIVE

This could stand some revising and fine tuning, no doubt, but here's my present understanding of the Bible's metanarrative:

When God created humans, He created us to be in His presence and to function as His image. Genesis 1 is foundational for all considerations about the relationship between humans and God. The “Image of God” is not a characteristic – like a family resemblance – it is a ROLE. We were created to be His representatives here on earth: to be fruitful and rule as He would.

But humanity wanted to have the final say on determining what is good and evil, breaking our relationship with our loving Creator, the source of Life Itself, leaving us now to suffer the consequences: hardship and death and loss of God’s direct presence in our midst.

Unlike Calvinists, I don’t believe that humans are God-hating worms deserving to burn in hell eternally. I see in Scripture that God and humanity have the same enemies: Sin, Death, and Satan. I see human beings created to be Image-bearers, constantly falling into sin but deep-down knowing we were made for something more. 

So God initiates his redemption plan through a man, Abraham - who becomes a family - who becomes a people. God slowly draws nearer to humanity again, even as they resist or stray. He makes a covenant with His people, signaling that they will never have to worry about HIM being the side to break covenant. He gives them the Law in order that they may know His character and how He desires for them to live their lives – as His Image-bearers. The Law is good and necessary, but it ultimately produces more death. Sin takes advantage of the Law to exert even greater influence over humans. Half the time, God’s people ignored the Law in order to satisfy their rebellious hearts and the other half they (sort of) obeyed the Law, hoping to gain God’s approval. 

All the while, Death is hanging over every human’s head. 

God promises that one day He will send a new King to reestablish proper order. Sin and lawlessness cannot continue indefinitely. The Messiah will inaugurate the Kingdom of Light. All other competitors are collectively the kingdom of darkness. Within God’s Kingdom, the will of God will ultimately be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Willing humans will be restored to their original purpose: acting as God’s representatives on earth, doing good. This is what we were created for and it is the only way for us to be truly happy. 

(Still, we stubbornly and selfishly persist in rejecting the Fountain of Living Water and constantly dig our own wells, broken wells that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).)

At the proper time, the Messiah shows up, preaching the “good news” of God’s Kingdom being established at long last on earth. The Messiah Himself, fully God and fully human, lives a sinless life, perfectly fulfilling the role of Image-bearer, doing the work of His Father. (In fact, He says doing His Father’s will is His food! It’s His joy. It’s what sustains Him. It’s His reason for being on earth. He never mentions doing it out of gratitude and He certainly isn’t attempting to gain the Father’s approval.) 

This King makes an astounding offer: You don’t have to die – you can have eternal life within this new Kingdom.

But there’s a problem. Every potential citizen of the Kingdom whom Jesus meets has one of two hang ups. Either they don’t believe He is the King and so they look down their noses at Him and reject His offer. Or they want to enter, but they have a criminal record as law breakers. 

The Messiah says, “Pick up your cross and follow Me – right into Death itself. Kill the old self with its sinful ways and I will raise you as a new creature with a clean slate AND My Spirit living in you.” 

And then He shows His followers where the cross leads. He lays down His life, allowing sinful human beings to spill His holy blood. And that blood, which is the Life of God Himself, becomes a brand-new covenant. It cleanses away the residue of sin and opens the way into God’s presence, making His followers into clean temples where God’s Spirit can live and guide and teach.

Once inside the Kingdom, do we have to worry about getting kicked out if we sin? No more than I need to worry that my wife will divorce me if I get lazy and refuse to mow the lawn any particular night. Marriage is a legal arrangement, yes, but it’s more than that: it is a relationship. The same is true with a Master and His disciple. With a King and His servant. If a citizen breaks the law of the Kingdom, he will suffer punishment – from a wrist slap to imprisonment – but he doesn’t get deported. 

Now in my framework as I’ve described it here, I don’t know how (or why!) to draw a line between believing in the King (“belief” as "mental assent") and pledging allegiance to the King ("belief" as “obedience”). After all, why would I want inside the Kingdom if I have no intention of living under that good King’s sovereignty? What could it possibly mean to say I “believe” He is a King if I don't simultaneously bow my knee to Him? 

Modern American Christianity seems to think the Kingdom of God (thought of almost exclusively as “The Kingdom of Heaven”, a future reality) is something akin to Disney Land – with endless entertainment and your own mansion. But that’s not at all what I see in Scripture – the Kingdom is much better than that. And less self-centered. 

I see the Kingdom as a present reality where we are to be occupied in doing our King’s will right here and right now, doing what we can to be a part of God’s present work: rescuing as many as possible from the dominion of darkness and setting things right wherever sin and Satan have sown chaos. The Kingdom is also a future place where there is no longer a threat of death or any suffering or pain or sadness. Instead, it is a place of absolute joy produced by being in God’s presence and finally finding the fulfillment of the very purpose of our existence. 

It is a return to Eden - which is exactly how the book of Revelation envisions it. 

And all of this is why it's so utterly insufficient - to the point of being misleading - to say that the "good news" is that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and Jesus came and died so that one day you can go to heaven.

A GOOD GOAL, BUT BAD TEACHING

Colossians 1:20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

The "elemental spirits" seeking to take the Colossians captive in 2:8 make a reappearance toward the end of chapter 2. Now Paul is acknowledging these "spirits" still have some pull with the congregation - shaping their behavior - even though the believers have "died" to them along with Christ. 

Once again, spirits are portrayed as being in league with "human precepts and teachings". Worldly wisdom and spiritual deception work together to mislead. 

Paul recognizes that it seems logical that there would be some usefulness in their guidance. On the surface, it looks like they are promoting a religious approach meant to bring the flesh into submission.

Nevertheless, Paul says "they are no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh". 

So it seems that whatever this false teaching is, its pretended goal is the taming of sinful impulses of the "flesh".

It's a worthy goal, but if the proposed path is ultimately false and ineffective, then it is a distraction from true freedom. 

So the good news for Paul as a teacher is that his students want the same end as he does: victory over sin.

He just has to convince them there is a better way than what they have been following so far. And that is what he turns to in chapter 3. 

IMPOSSIBLE

It's a good thing that God is the initiator and the central actor in our atonement, restoring our relationship with Him.

Because, when you think about it, our sins always negatively impact somebody - God, other people, ourselves. And making things right in the aftermath - assuming we even desire to do so - is simply impossible. 

This reality is easiest to see in the extreme cases: How does one make reparations for murder? for rape? for slavery?

Make an apology? Promise to never do it again? Offer an agreeable amount of money in payment?

Nothing could ever come close to making reparation for these vile offenses. Nothing will bring back the dead, nothing will restore sexual innocence, nothing can compensate for the loss of even a single day of freedom. 

Reparations for wicked acts are humanly impossible.

But here's the thing. The far lesser sins have the same issue.

Telling a lie, shoplifting, slandering another person's reputation - none of the damage can ultimately be undone. 

There are still serious consequences of even relatively minor sins. We tend to underestimate their gravity- unless WE are the victim!

The situation is hopeless for the sinner. No matter how much regret you might end up feeling, the wrong can never be fully righted. 

Thank God for the blood of the Lamb which blots out sin, big and small, and offers a second chance. 

It was impossible for us to do it ourselves.

FILTHY RAGS?

There is this idea in pop-Christianity that any good deed done which is not directly motivated by a conscious desire to serve Jesus is actually sinful. Even detestable in God's sight.

(I think maybe this is yet another Calvinist concept that has slipped into the broader Christian tradition. It has "Total Depravity" written all over it.)

One of the proof texts for this idea is Isaiah 64:6:

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

You might have heard "polluted garment" translated as "filthy rags". The Hebrew words here famously denote soiled menstrual cloths. 

Sounds bad for human righteous deeds, right? They are disgusting in God's sight, right?

But there are two problems here. 

The first is the oft-made mistake of assuming a verse applies to all people at all times. When Isaiah says "we", is he speaking of "we humans" of all times and places or is he speaking of "we Israelites and Judeans" of his own day?

Since he's prophesying to a wayward people at a crucial time in their history, I would lean toward understanding the "we" and "our" as applying to his immediate audience. Maybe the idea of "filthy rags" can be universalized, but we need to understand that this would require an extra step and then build a case for why it should be done. 

The second problem is pulling a verse out of context. 

Notice that Isaiah says "we" have all BECOME unclean, implying that it was not always this way. If the people were not always unclean, perhaps their righteous deeds were not always like filthy rags in God's eyes.

Look, too, at verse 5!

5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.

Seems to me Isaiah is not saying God has a problem with righteous deeds in general - after all, He's willing to "meet" with those who act righteously with joy. 

The problem seems to be when the Israelites think they can balance out their rebellion and sin with a few righteous acts done to placate God. 

That's the old "get drunk on Friday night and go to church on Sunday morning" approach. 

And that approach to "righteous deeds" is rightly repugnant in God's sight.