i've been exploring n.t. wright's "revisionist" theology since caleb first introduced it to me at new word alive, and i must say it makes perfect sense. while piper and wright are currently debating the future of justification (in a very gracious manner, i should add), i think they're simply seeing different sides of the same coin. from a third party perspective, reading/listening to the bishop of durham goes down well with the american fare served up by carson, piper and macarthur. now that's what you call a balanced diet.
in a nov 07 interview with trevin wax, wright makes a number of highly interesting remarks.
on penal substitution
So I come back to it and I say, as I understand Jesus and his mindset as he goes to the cross, I believe that he was aware as a deep vocational calling from the One he called Abba Father, that he had to be the one through whom the whole agenda of Isaiah 40-55 (which is a kingdom agenda) would come to pass.
Isaiah 53 (“pierced for our transgressions” and so on) is the means by which Isaiah 52:7-12 is accomplished. Isaiah 52:7-12 is about the defeat of evil, the return of YHWH to Zion and the exiles being set free. And the result of Isaiah 53 is the renewal of covenant in Isaiah 54 and the renewal of creation in Isaiah 55 and the invitation to the whole world to join in.
If you expound Isaiah 53 so that it isn’t about the kingdom, it isn’t about covenant renewal, it isn’t about the renewal of creation, then you have simply taken a little bit of Scripture to suit a scheme of your own, rather than the great Scriptural scheme. Jesus didn’t do that. You can see he’s got the whole agenda present to his mind.
So we have to understand the doctrine of penal substitution within the Scriptural framework, within which it makes sense, rather than within this very low grade thing that I’ve been a naughty boy, God wants to punish me, and for some reason, he punishes someone else, so phew! I’m alright. OK. For a five-year-old, that’s fine. That’ll maybe do it. But, actually let’s grow up! We’re not talking about five-year-olds here; we’re talking about grown men and women who ought to know better, to be honest.
on the resurrection
Let me put it like this. For many, many Christians, and I’ve heard these sermons down the years, the significance of the resurrection appears to be that there really is a life after death and that if you believe in Jesus you can go there too. Now that is simply not what the Easter narratives are about.
You’ve put it like this. In the New Testament outside the Gospels and the beginning of Acts, again and again, the fact of Jesus’ resurrection is closely linked to our own ultimate resurrection, which isn’t life after death – it’s life after life after death. Whatever life after death is, being with Christ which is far better, being in Paradise like the thief, etc, the many rooms where we go immediately… that is the temporary place. The ultimate life after life after death is the resurrection in God’s new world.
But then, in the Gospels you don’t get that yet. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the beginning of Acts, nobody is saying, “Jesus is raised from the dead! Therefore there is a life after death. Therefore we’re going there.” They say, “Jesus is raised from the dead… Therefore, he really is the Messiah… Therefore, he really is the Lord of the world… Therefore God’s new creation has begun… And therefore, we have a job to do!” It’s what John 20-21 are all about. It’s what Luke 24 is all about. It’s this astonishment. The stuff has happened! And that means, we’ve got to take this message out and make it happen out in the world.
It’s about new creation, in other words. It’s about Jesus’ bodily resurrection as the beginning of the recreation of the cosmos. That is so stunning!
The joke is, this has been in Scripture all these years. Why haven’t we seen it? The answer is, we really thought the only real story was how do you get to heaven?. Because that’s what the Sistine Chapel told us, and that’s what Dante told us, and that’s what even Bunyan (bless him) told us, and so we’ve forced the stories into our story.
Here’s the trick. Often people see doctrines as a checklist. Here are the following nineteen truths which you’ve got to believe to be a good sound Christian. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, and phew! There we are!… without realizing that actually doctrines mean what they mean within a Story, and it’s possible to check all the boxes, but to construct a different narrative which joins them up differently and thereby, even though you are affirming them, you are thereby falsifying what they mean in Scripture. No Christian tradition that I know is exempt from that, including my own.
what does it really mean to have our citizenship in heaven?
after reading the interview, Philippians 3:20-21 came to my mind and i was moved to look it up. the NIV is slightly misleading because it seems to suggest that we [on earth] eagerly await a Saviour [from heaven].
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)
if we are merely on earth and Christ is in heaven, how can we be in Christ? we can't.
in contrast, the ESV, NASB, NKJV and KJV all make it clear that from heaven (which is where we are) we eagerly await a Saviour. it is not we [on earth] who eagerly await a Saviour. rather, it is we [in heaven] who eagerly await a Saviour.
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." - Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." - Philippians 3:20-21 (NASB)
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." - Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJV)
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." - Philippians 3:20-21 (KJV)
even as we remain on earth (that is, the first earth - which is expiring), we are in heaven (that is, the first heaven - which is expiring) because we are in Christ. to have our citizenship in heaven does not mean that we are only going to be united with Christ in the future. to have our citizenship in heaven means that we are already united with Christ in the present - and that this will continue into the future.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
note: the first heaven is expiring in the sense that our relationship with Christ in a fallen world is expiring. however, this does not mean that our relationship with Christ per se is expiring. indeed, our relationship with Christ per se never expires.
the first heaven is our relationship with Christ in a fallen world, and the new heaven is our relationship with Christ in a new world. to this end, the first heaven (corresponding to a fallen world) is expiring, giving way to the new heaven (corresponding to a new world).
*****
1. first creation
a) paradise
b) first heaven, first earth
c) man is good, but can do bad
2. fall
a) paradise lost
b) first heaven lost, first earth lost
c) man is bad and cannot do good
3. redemption
a) paradise redeemed (but expiring)
b) first heaven redeemed (but expiring), first earth redeemed (but expiring)
c) man is bad, but can do good in Christ
4. new creation
a) paradise renewed
b) new heaven, new earth
c) man is good in Christ and cannot do bad
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