The Triumph of God - Pastor Astor

Evil is so pervasive in our world. From international terrorism, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, to domestic mass shootings, genocidal abortion and widespread racism, it seems like each day reveals just how tragic our world has become. The media reports these realities on a regular basis. Just a few months ago the world was presented with a disturbing picture of a young boy washed up on the shores of Turkey as he and his family were forced to flee their native country to save their lives due to the atrocities that were being executed by ISIS in their homeland. It was on the front page of every major newspaper outlet, as it became the leading story in the international news cycle. The image of the toddler’s lifeless body reverberated across the globe, stirring up profound emotions of sadness as well as outrage by the public. Every time I think of the event, my heart breaks as I immediately image the circumstances this child had to face in the waking minutes before he drowned to death. Then I think about his family, and how they’ve had to live through something so painful. How tragic. It makes no sense. No parent should have to undergo such a horrific experience, losing a son at such an early age. Their lives will most likely never be the same. I mean, how could it be? To lose a child, particularly in the manner in which they did, will require a great deal of patience, support and healing. God help them.

Unfortunately, grievances like this plague families regularly across the world. Whether victims of war, terrorism, natural disasters, malnutrition, terminal diseases, abuse or some other form of misfortune or injustice, the reality is, the great majority of the human populace face some form of evil, pain or suffering each day of their lives. This doesn’t include the day-to-day difficulties most of us ‘less at-risk’ people face, such as, the tensions in a household, the stresses of a workplace, the pressures of school, the fighting of a cold, an ending of a relationship, the struggle for identity, and the like. The fact is, the world we live in is fallen—plain and simple. When I think about these kinds of issues, it doesn’t take long until I am overwhelmed with mixed feelings of anger and confusion. I can’t help but ask myself: What is happening to this world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there so much evil and injustice? How can we put an end to this madness?

Having said this, I recall reading somewhere a powerful statement made by the famous Englishman Thomas Paine, as he once said, “The harder the conflict the greater the triumph.” At first glance, this paradoxical statement appears counter intuitive. Logically, the greater the conflict should lead to the greater the defeat, right? Well, according to Paine, not necessarily. For the Englishman, one need not assume hardship automatically leads to despair. Rather, the more difficult one’s predicament, if overcome with success, the more rewarding it will be for the individual in the end. But on what basis could he make this claim? Does this rule apply to all things? And if so, how? As a Christian—that is, a follower of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who died for the sins of the world according to the Scriptures, but was then raised to life by the Father—I believe so and this is why:

When the Bible is read as a meta-narrative—that is, a collection of stories that reveal a consistent theme, knowledge and experience from beginning to end—it is difficult to disagree with Paine’s assessment. You see, in the story of God, the reader discovers a cosmic battle between good and evil. Evil enters the world through the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But God, determined to have victory over the forces of darkness, uses divine love and justice to bring about the restoration of His good creation. God ultimately accomplishes this task through His Son, Jesus Christ. Here Jesus enters the world, proclaims the message of the kingdom of God, forms a community of disciples (the Church), faces great opposition from the religious establishment of the day, and is eventually put to death by way of crucifixion. On the third day, however, He is raised to life and soon afterword’s ascends back to heaven, where He currently sits at the right hand of God, the Father. In the meantime, the Church is called to proclaim the good news of God and advance His kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. Furthermore, Jesus will one day return to His people and rule with power, conquering evil once and for all, in which God will then create a new heavens and a new earth. Scandinavian theologian Albert M. Wolters illustrates this image brilliantly when he states, “Perhaps the most fitting symbol of the development of creation from primordial past to the eschatological future is the fact the Bible begins with a garden and ends with a city—a city filled with ‘the glory and the honor of the nations.’” [1] For Wolters, there is an ultimate destiny for all of creation, when the great triumph of God over the forces of evil is made real and the establishment of a new heavens and a new earth is the result. Hence, God’s answer to the entire state of affairs of this world is found in one word: Jesus.

The New Testament is full of ideas and images of the eschaton, most notably found in the writings of Paul. [2] To the minds of many readers, Paul's eschatology is apocalyptic, in that, it is most readily, or even exclusively, discernible in those passages which present a scenario of events anticipated to occur at Christ's parousia ("presence," "second coming," "advent"), an event that Paul can refer to as "the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Cor. 1:7, 15:20-28, 50-56; 1Thess. 4:13-18; 2Thess. 1:7). Here I agree with New Testament scholars like Krister Stendhal, W.D. Davies and N.T. Wright, who contend that Paul is primarily interested in heilsgeschichte—that is, salvation history. In their view, the apostle Paul believed that Christ centered at the midpoint of a continuum between creation and consummation. For these three scholars, eschatology has to do with salvation. If true, reading the Scriptures as a meta-narrative, will then naturally help uncover and understand the divine purpose and plan of God in Christ.

Having said this, in effort to engage in this conversation more forcefully, I want to focus on the thoughts and reflections from N.T. Wright’s book entitled, Paul: In Fresh Perspective [3] and Jouette M. Bassler’s reading, Navigating Paul: An Introduction to Key Theological Concepts [4].

In regards to Paul’s eschatology, Wright maintains that Paul believed that Jesus was the Messiah promised by God to Israel, and that his death and resurrection in particular, constituted the great apocalyptic event through which God’s hidden plan was at last revealed to Israel and, through the preaching of the gospel, to the world (59). Wright’s view here is consistent with his new perspective theology of Paul. According to Wright, the Bible is grounded in four underlining themes: creation, covenant, messiah and apocalypticism. When read as meta-narrative, these themes stand as markers that unveil God’s ultimate story throughout time. For Wright, Second-Temple Jews (such as Paul) believed themselves to be actors within a real-life narrative (11). If so, Paul’s writings should be read as a single story within the larger story, which stretches back from the creation of the world and the call of Abraham, who was chosen to undue the sin of Adam (11). Themes such as a coming judgment, vindication of Israel, the Day of YHWH, the establishment of God’s kingdom, the overthrow of paganism, and the arrival of Messiah, were anticipated in Second-Temple Judaism (132). [5]

The fulfillment of the covenant, resulting in a new covenant and a new creation, is accomplished, for Paul, by the particular events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So according to Wright, Jesus’ resurrection indicated not just that something extraordinary had come to pass, but what that extraordinary thing was: the anticipation and the breaking in to the scene of ongoing history, of the ultimate end (136) [6]. It is important to note that there is tension between what has already happened in the Messiah and what is still to happen at the ultimate end. This is commonly referred to as the ‘already, but not yet’ judgment. Here, Wright argues that on the last day, Jesus will perform an important function, namely, the receiving of homage from the whole creation and the handing over of the kingdom to the Father so that God will be all-in-all (136).

Interestingly, Bassler’s thoughts on Paul’s eschatology, also embraces the themes of the parousia, resurrection and judgment. Bassler is nevertheless quick to point out that Hellenistic Judaism embraced a mosaic of different expectations—for the two cultures of Greco-Roman and Jewish had opposing worldviews (87). While some Jews were apocalyptic, expecting a cosmic resolution of contemporary distress and injustice, some were not. And while some Jews anticipated a resurrection of the dead, others did not (87). The main reason for this dichotomy was the problem between Hebrew and Greek notions of the body. The writings that refer to the resurrection of the body imagine a single, future eschatological event in which all the bodies of the dead will be raised to judgment (Ps. 49:15; Isa. 26:19; Hos. 6:1-3). Conversely, writings regarding the resurrection of souls allow more variation in the eschatological timetable events (Job 19:17-26; Dan. 12:2) (88).

Therefore, according to Bassler, to interpret Paul’s eschatology is a difficult task, for he was influenced by both Jewish and Greek thought respectively. When we turn to what was probably Paul’s first letter, 1 Thessalonians, he writes in great length on the subject of end times. His audience appears to have been worried about those who had already died before Christ’ return, wondering if they would miss His glorious return. Paul’s response is that no one will be at a disadvantage, for the first thing Jesus will do is raise the dead to life, so that they may participate with the survivors in meeting with the Lord.

In light of the new issues being raised in the Corinthian church, Paul argues that the physical perishable earthly body will be transformed into a glorious heavenly entity at the return of Christ (1 Cor. 15:33-37). Clearly then, while Paul conceived end-time events within the boundaries of first-century Hellenistic-Jewish thought, he surveyed these implications in light of the needs and concerns of his church. According to Bassler, when God raised Jesus from the dead, three things took place: (1) this event signaled for Paul that the turn of the ages and the general resurrection was at hand; (2) this event guaranteed that God will raise those who have been united with Christ through baptism (Rom 6:5); and (3) God has supplied the Spirit to the faithful as a down payment on the eschatological glory that is to be theirs (2 Cor. 8:5) (96). With that being said, Bassler maintains that at the time of the parousia, Christ will transform earthly bodies into bodies of heavenly glory and the displaced citizens of heaven will at last enter their true resting place (94).

In closing, what is clear is this: according to Paul, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the first fruits of the world to come—a signpost of God’s new creation that awaits the entire cosmos in the future, when God creates the new heavens and the new earth. The products of sin, namely, evil and death were swallowed up on Calvary when Jesus sacrificed His body on the cross for the sins of the world. But in and through His resurrection, God launched His new world for us to see and anticipate. Hence, Jesus’ resurrected body is our future inheritance, our ultimate destiny—the hope we long for. Subsequently, this discussion has strong implications for our current ministry practices, for it brings a great level of awareness to the churches role in the manifestation of the triumph of God. The church must recognize that she is an active participant in the cosmic victory of the powers of good over evil. We could be living in the days of the parousia, giving us a heightened sense of confidence and hope that the injustices of the world will finally come to an end, where sickness, pain and death no longer have a stronghold over God’s creation. As a result, the church becomes a place to celebrate the completion of God’s grand story. Here we share this good news with our family, friends and neighbors. They must know what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will ultimately do with His world. Thus, regardless of which author’s perspective one agrees with, the truth is that both point to the end of the evil age and the beginning of the restoration of God’s new creation. In short, evil has an expiration date—it will one day come to an end. We can rejoice in knowing this. Until then, the church is called to patiently anticipate and welcome the parousia, the spirit of God and the final judgment, for then and only then, will God be all-in-all.

My prayer: Oh Jesus, come; Come quickly please.

[1] Albert M. Wolters, Creation Regained. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 48.

[2] Eschatology can be best understood as the doctrine of last things, which includes “the four last things,” namely, death, judgment, heaven and hell. Traditionally there are two parts, cosmic and individual eschatology. The former refers to the final outcome of the cosmos. The latter refers to the final outcome of the state of human beings. While traditionally eschatology has been understood as the teaching about the things to come, in contemporary understanding it is also hope for the present. For contemporary theologian D. Bloesch, “Eschatology is neither futurism nor (the promises of God completed in the past), but instead the revelation of the future in the present.” For more, see Donald Bloesch, The Final Things: Resurrection, Judgment and Glory. Illinois: InterVarsity, 2004.

[3] N.T. Wright. Paul: In Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.

[4] Jouette M. Bassler. Navigating Paul: An Introduction to Key Theological Concepts. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.

[5] According to Wright, two texts that give out these clues are Deut. 30 and Dan. 6. Here the texts demonstrate a long narrative of the blessings and the curses of the covenant of Israel.

[6] For Wright, inaugurated eschatology is one of the most central and characteristic subjects of Paul’s theology.