7/15/13

From Jim McGuiggan... Faith and the Unfolding Drama

Faith and the Unfolding Drama

This brief piece will be very repetitive. It’s abundantly clear to me that God forgave sins from the days of Adam and Eve down to the arrival of Jesus. Forgiveness was always by God’s holy grace and could never be "earned". God never asked anyone to "earn" it! The NT never doubts that and neither should we. David exults in the truth that there were people whose sins were not credited against them (Psalm 32:1,2 and Romans 4:6-8). But that’s not what the NT is dealing with!
Abraham’s faith in God was as true and as real as Paul’s faith in God. The faith of believers in ancient times (Hebrews 11) was truly faith in God. The NT never doubts that and neither should we. True believers are true believers no matter in what age they live. But that’s not what the NT is dealing with!
The obedience of faith that we read about in the OT (in people like Noah, Hannah, Josiah, Moses’ mother Jochebed or Melchizedek) was as real as the obedience that stemmed from faith in believers in Jesus Christ. The faith-filled obedient people are the same kind of people no matter in what age they live. But that’s not what the NT is dealing with!
The New Testament deals with a specific section of God’s unfolding drama. Everything prior to that, while absolutely essential to the drama as a whole, is prelude. The fullness of times (Galatians 4:4) and the "ends of the ages" (1 Corinthians 10:11) only arrived when God became incarnate in and as Jesus of Nazareth who is called the Christ. The NT era is the time that all the ancient worthies had to wait for if they hoped for the completed drama (Hebrews 11:39-40).
It doesn’t matter that they all didn’t know what the end was to be. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know all that the end would involve. In trusting to God they were looking for whatever it was that God had in store. Prophets spoke things they didn’t really understand and people hoped for things (as we do) that they didn’t understand. "Eye hasn’t seen, ear hasn’t heard nor has it entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for them that love him." That is as true today for us as it would have been for ancient believers prior to coming of God in the flesh.
People enjoyed forgiveness and life with God because God in holy grace granted it to them. But that life with God that they enjoyed could never come to fullness in the world as it was and is even now. For the life that God finally intended for the human family when he was creating us wasn’t fulfilled in Genesis 1. That was the beginning of what God had in mind for us but the fullness of what God had in mind for us is revealed in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16) who is the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:47). God gave forgiveness and life in a relationship to Abraham but Abraham would die, as would Moses and Samuel and David and the rest. Death would rob them of embodied life (and a human is not fully a human if not embodied). Click
Death reigned over the human family even over those that believed in God. Then came Jesus of Nazareth, the death killer! In and by him death was destroyed (2 Timothy1:9-10) and a new creation begun. In him, as a single individual, a new creation has actually begun.
By faith Abraham was as right with God in his day as Christians are right with God by faith in Jesus Christ. But the content of the Christian’s faith is richer and more developed that Abraham’s was. The shape of his faith bore witness to God within the parameters and boundaries of his place in God’s developing drama. The shape of a Christian’s faith in God through Jesus Christ is a witness to God’s bringing his creation purposes to completion in Jesus Christ. No one’s faith, prior to Jesus Christ, could bear such a witness precisely because pre-Jesus Christ faith could not proclaim what God has now accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. Christians live at a particular time in the history of the world and have been called to be the body of Jesus Christ in the world.
The forgiveness in pre-Jesus Christ days was real but forgiveness in Jesus Christ carries with it a significance that couldn’t be carried beforehe came. Abraham’s faith-motivated obedience (Genesis 22 and James 2) was genuine and acceptable with God as righteousness (Romans 4:3). In that respect there is no difference between Abraham’s obedience of faith and the Christian’s. But Abraham’s obedience of faith could not function as a witness that God's creation purposes had been fulfilled, because they hadn't been! Abraham, along with the other ancient worthies in Hebrews 11, had to wait until the Christian era arrived (11:39-40).
Forgiveness and faith and obedience and life with God in pre-Jesus Christ days were real but they did not have the significance that those realities have in and through Jesus Christ. Christian faith proclaims—on the basis of Jesus Christ—that all that the ancient worthies had looked for (though they may not have been aware of it, and certainly not, at any rate, in full awareness)—all that the ancient worthies had looked for has now come. We look now at Jesus and in him, the individual, we see God's creation purposes fulfilled, now! (This fulfillment that he as a single individual experience will be made the personal experience of all that are embraced in his redeeming work.)
Apart from Christians the ancients—whoever they were—could not be made perfect. Forgiveness and faith and life with God all have a different complexion now that Jesus has come. Those glorious realities function with a finality that wasn’t possible for even true faith in pre-Jesus Christ times.
I’m sure we’re on the right track when we say that there are differences between Paul’s and Abraham’s faith and forgiveness and relationship with God. But the differences have nothing to do with quality or with their reality! But since they lived at different points in the divine drama (N.T Wright divides the biblical story into 5 Acts), their faith and life with God contributed to the entire drama in different ways. Ray McClendon helpfully summarises the matter like this:
"For example, the reference to an unfolding drama enables us to ponder Hebrews 11:39-40 in this light: What does it really mean that, though faithful, they didn’t receive what was promised and only together with us are made perfect?
We could put it this way. At the end of the second act (of, say, a two-act story), all of the actors come out, join hands, and bow. Receiving the accolades of the honour and glory of the completed story they presented. They all occupy (finally and in the end) the same stage; regardless of where their part was in the story; regardless of whether it came in the first act or the second act and regardless of whether their part was small or large. The actors in the First Act didn’t come out after the first act to receive all of the honour and glory because that wasn’t fully revealed or known until the second act! It couldn’t possibly be fully understood or appreciated because the story was still being told and the finale had not yet come. The Abrahams, Melchizedeks, and Rahabs were all in supportive roles; they weren’t the stars nor did they appear in the final and critical stages of the story.
But when the Star appears and the climax plays itself out, all the act 1 players take their rightful place beside the act 2 players and together with them receive all the honour and glory (compare Hebrews 11:39-40 and 12:22-24). They’re entitled to share in the glory that comes to the act 2 players because without them there could be no act 2 players and no completed drama. In addition, it wasn’t until the whole story was told/known that everyone’s role could be fully understood and appreciated. Nevertheless, everyone’s place in the story, in his or her own time and circumstances, was crucial and served the will of God who, in every generation, dealt faithfully with all the players that had a place in the drama."

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... Faith and feeling

Faith and feeling

He asked me how I was feeling and I grinned a little—only a little—and said, "Aw, you don’t wanna know." He nodded like a man that knew from experience what I meant and he grinned a little—but only a little. We were silent for a moment and then he said, "And how’s your faith?" It lights me up when I think of my response—a genuinely felt and deeply grounded response. I said something like, "Now that’s a whole different story! Nothing seems ever to affect that." I’m not overly confident that I would be able to say that if I were living under extreme circumstances for a very long time. As it is, I have my share of troubles and disappointment, but I don’t live in Darfur or Zimbabwe or big city streets or other such models of purgatory.
But aren’t our feelings a gauge of how healthy our faith is? Um...not really! The notion that if you truly trust God you won’t feel pain or loss or disappointment is silly. Trust in God doesn’t exempt a man or woman from hurt or frustration or anxiety. Yes, I know we hear preachers and read authors who say otherwise and I know they can quote texts while they’re doing it. And worse—because it’s more plausible— they tell us when the roof falls in on us we shouldn’t stagger under the burden. Faith is supposed to take the pain out of the pain and the weight out of the load, don’t you know. (Faith in God through Jesus Christ is not the burdensome thing. It’s an easy yoke and a light burden; but in a fallen world it generates the stress of swimming against the current. Click here.)
Imagine one of the glib ones asking Habakkuk, "How are you feeling?" "Awful!" Habakkuk would tell him. "I just heard a message I don’t like. I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled." (Habakkuk 3:16) If a modern believer answered this way, a modern triumphalist response might well be, "Oh, that’s too bad. I thought you really trusted in God. If you did you wouldn’t feel this way." Had someone said that to Habakkuk he would have said, "Oh, but I do trust! Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (3:17-19)
This is one of the loveliest, strongest confessions in the entire Bible and he makes it while he trembles and while his legs can hardly support him. The same pounding heart and quivering lips that confessed his awful anxiety defied the anxiety he felt. This is not an unusual case; but even if it were, it would make the case that fear and anxiety can exist in the presence of the profoundest faith.
I can imagine someone coming to the Garden of Gethsemane, hearing Christ sobbing his heart out and asking him how he feels. The Christ would say, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." Peterson renders Mark 14:33-34 this way, "He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony. He told them, ‘I feel bad enough right now to die.’ " The major versions speak of Christ as deeply distressed and agitated. A shallow view of faith in God would find this inexplicable in Christ. "Oh, and here I thought you were the one human above all humans that trusted in God. Instead I find you an emotional wreck at this point." Hebrews 5:7-9 and Acts 2:25-28 add their own comment to Christ’s Gethsemane and cross experience.
It’s clear from scripture (and life) that tribulation and peace, faith and fear can exist together in the same persons. The Christ said, "In the world you will have tribulation but in me you will have peace" (John 16:33).
Faith doesn’t obliterate feelings. In truth, sometimes faith sharpens the pain. Questions like "why me?" seem more appropriate coming from those who trust God and are faithful to him. This point needs further development and there’s a lot to say that moves in this direction.
So we shouldn’t think we’re faithless because we’re sensitive to pain and frustration and disappointment. Faith defies these realities but theyare realities. The believing person feels them, may have more than his or her share of them, but the presence of his or her faith denies lordship to them!
I think we should work to ease the pain of people—this we’ve been called to—but whatever else we’re called to, we’re called to deepen one another’s trust in God. Maybe having genuinely enquired after the situation and feelings of some poor believing soul we should then major in grounding, deepening and enriching their faith. Faith defeats fear and anxiety not always by obliterating them (though surely there are many situations in which it does just that) but by rising above them in the name of the God and Father of our Lord Christ.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... Faith and Christian faith (1)

Faith and Christian faith (1)

The faith of the NT Church is faith in Jesus Christ and nothing less than that. Christians are not in the business along with other decent people and clubs and movements to make people kinder and nicer and more law-abiding. The Church is not to say to all these other socially useful people, “Look, we recognize that we’re in the same business only we believe we have the best programme and the greatest source of inspiration—Jesus Christ—so we urge you to join our movement and the world will be a better place.”
Christians are not in the same business as non-Christians. They don’t have a programme that’s tailored to make a better society even though it’s true that if a person becomes a true Christian he/she will be fervent in righteousness, compassion and helpful generosity.
No matter who has it, Christians need not deny that faith in God is real; but what they cannot say is that faith in God that rejects faith in Jesus is Christian! It is not! The Hebrew writer would never have dreamed of denying the rich faith of his fellow-Jews who lived before Jesus came; in fact, he extolled it (see Hebrews 11), but he insisted that with the coming of Jesus the faith that God now called for from Jews was faith in God in and through Jesus Christ(compare 1 Peter 1:21’s repetition)—it was Jesus Christ-shaped faith. Less than that, whatever else it was it wasn’t Christian. Now it might not matter if faith is not Christ-shaped but there’s no point in claiming that a faith in God that refuses to be faith in God through Jesus Christ is the same as Christian faith.
The believing men and women of Hebrews 11 committed to God in faith in terms of God’s self-disclosure up to the point before Christ came but with the coming of Jesus God revealed himself as never before and he called those Jews who were confronted with that self-revelation in Jesus to commit to him in a new way of faith. You simply can’t read Acts 2—4, 7 and 13 without seeing that the gospellers called people who had believed in God to come to faith in God in and through Jesus Christ.
The believing heart that devoted itself to God prior to Jesus’ public manifestation and/or the gospel of Jesus did not cease to be a believing heart; no, it now saw God in a new way and the God it had always embraced was now embraced in the person of Jesus.
[to be continued, God enabling]

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... The whole person dies

The whole person dies

 It's commonly said of someone who has died in Christ, "Only her body died." The suggestion is that the body is the shell and the real person is the spirit or soul of the person. I'm certain that a person doesn't become extinct when the body dies (something survives the death of the body) but to so speak as if the whole person didn't experience death is a mistake. People die; not merely their bodies. Death is a complex experience that robs a person of embodied existence. Humans are not bodiless beings and when a person experiences death that person is robbed of something that is part of his/her humanity. It doesn't matter that what we call the "spirit" doesn't decompose like the fleshly body—death is more than the destruction of the body. We mustn't speak as if the body were not an essential part of humanness. We mustn't think that life after death is the "final" state—it isn't! Humans are embodied beings, they undergo the death experience and at the resurrection they return to an embodied existence. The state after dying but before the resurrection is conveniently called "the intermediate state" because that's precisely what it is.
To confine the word "death" to what happens to the body narrows the word. The body decomposes and the spirit is robbed of the bodily self-expression that is an essential part of humanness. The body experiences death in one way and the spirit (soul) experiences it another way. Glorious resurrection for all those embraced in the saving work of God in Jesus Christ completes the redemption of a human. Mere life after death is not the full picture—resurrection to immortality completes it.
Click here for a little more.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Communal Christianity (Ac.4:32-37) 


                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                    Communal Christianity (4:32-37)

INTRODUCTION

1. The first church in the local sense was the church at Jerusalem...
   a. Noted for its dedication to apostolic doctrine and brotherly love
      - cf. Ac 2:42-47
   b. Which continued to exist as described by Luke in our text - cf.
      Ac 4:32-37

2. The example of the Jerusalem church has often led some to ask...
   a. Did the church practice communism as we know it today?
   b. Is having "all things in common" to be the norm for all churches?

[In an effort to answer such questions, let's begin by reviewing what is
revealed about...]

I. COMMUNAL CHRISTIANITY IN JERUSALEM

   A. THEY HAD ALL THINGS IN COMMON...
      1. Mentioned twice by Luke - Ac 2:44; 4:32
      2. Involving the selling of possessions, goods, homes, lands - 
         Ac 2:45; 4:34 
      3. Dividing the proceeds among all, as any had need - Ac 2:45;
         4:34-35

   B. SPECIFIC EXAMPLES, GOOD AND BAD...
      1. Joses (Barnabas) - Ac 4:36-37
         a. Sold a piece of land
         b. Brought the proceeds to the apostles
      2. Ananias and Sapphira - Ac 5:1-4
         a. Sold a possession
         b. Kept back part of the proceeds, lied about it
      3. Needy widows - Ac 6:1
         a. Recipients of a daily distribution
         b. But Hellenist widows were being neglected
 
[Without question the early church in Jerusalem practiced what could be
called a form of "communal" Christianity.  But was it communism?  Is it
to be the norm for churches today?  Consider some...]

II. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT COMMUNAL CHRISTIANITY

   A. IT WAS NOT COMMUNISM...
      1. Communism:  advocacy of a classless society in which private
         ownership has been abolished and the means of production and 
         subsistence belong to the community
      2. Communism requires that people of a society sell their
         property and give the proceeds to the community (or state)
      3. In the Jerusalem church the selling and giving was done
         freely, not out of compulsion
      4. As was giving by Gentile churches later on - cf. 2Co 8:12; 9:7

   B. IT WAS NOT THE NORM FOR ALL...
      1. Ananias and Sapphira did not have to sell their possession,
         nor did they have give the full amount; their sin was lying 
         about the actual amount - cf. Ac 5:1-4,7-8
      2. Some in Jerusalem kept their homes; e.g., Mary - Ac 12:12
      3. Christians elsewhere had their homes
         a. Aquila and Priscilla, in Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome - 
            Ac 18:1-3; 1Co 16:19; Ro 16:3-5
         b. Nymphas, near Colosse - Col 4:15
         c. Philemon, near Colosse, with a guest room - Phm 1:2,22
      4. Rich Christians were commanded to do good, be rich in good
         works, ready to give, willing to share, but it had to be of 
         their own free will - 1Ti 6:17-19

CONCLUSION

1. The example of the church in Jerusalem is an inspiration to all...
   a. Of brotherly love
   b. Of free-will giving

2. It may have occurred due to unique circumstances...
   a. Many new converts had been visiting from other nations on
      Pentecost - Ac 2:1-11
   b. Staying after conversion to learn more, their resources would
      soon be exhausted
   c. Those who lived in Jerusalem were willing to sell possessions to
      help them

3. But the "communal Christianity" practiced there should not be viewed
   as...
   a. Communism or the approval of it
   b. Required (the norm) for all churches

Rather, "communal Christianity" as practiced in Jerusalem can be
considered a viable option, should the need for benevolence arise, and
where it can be practiced without any sort of compulsion...


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

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From Mark Copeland... The Persecution Begins (Ac.4:1-31) 


                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                    The Persecution Begins (4:1-31)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following Peter's healing of the lame man, and his second gospel
   sermon...
   a. Religious leaders in Jerusalem became greatly disturbed - Ac 4:1-2
   b. While many people believed, with believers numbering 5000 - Ac 4:4

2. This conflicting reaction led to the persecution of the church in
   Jerusalem...
   a. What was the nature of this persecution?
   b. What lessons might we learn from it?

[The fourth chapter in Acts will answer such questions.  So let's begin
by reviewing...]

I. THE ARREST OF PETER AND JOHN

   A. BROUGHT BEFORE THE COUNCIL...
      1   Peter and John taken into custody - Ac 4:1-4
         a. By the priests, captain of the temple, and the Sadducees
         b. Who were upset by their preaching in Jesus the resurrection
            from the dead - cf. Ac 23:8
         c. Kept overnight until the next day
         d. The number of those who believed came to be about five
            thousand
      2. Their appearance before the Council (Sanhedrin) - Ac 4:5-7
         a. Before the rulers, elders and scribes
         b. Before Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and
            Alexander, along with other family members of the high priest
         c. Peter and John challenged to explain by what power or name
            they have acted
      3. Peter's response as led be the Spirit - Ac 4:8-12
         a. Were they being judged for doing a good deed to a helpless
            man in making him well?
         b. It was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth he was made
            whole
            1) Whom they crucified - cf. Ac 2:23,36; 3:14-15
            2) Whom God raised from the dead - cf. Ac 2:24,34; 3:15
            3) The stone rejected by the builders, now the chief
               cornerstone - cf. Ps 118:22
         c. There is salvation in no other name under heaven - cf. 
            Mt 1:21; Jn 14:6

   B. THREATENED NOT TO TEACH...
      1. The council's reaction - Ac 4:13-18
         a. What the council saw
            1) The boldness of Peter and John - contra Jn 20:19
               a) Perceived as uneducated and untrained men
               b) Realized as having been with Jesus
            2) The man who had been healed
               a) Standing with Peter and John - cf. Ac 3:11
               b) Against whose healing nothing could be said
         b. What the council reasoned
            1) A notable has occurred, evident to all, none could deny
            2) To prevent further spread, to threaten the apostles
         c. What the council did
            1) Commanded Peter and John
            2) Not to speak at all or teaching in the name of Jesus
      2. Peter and John's reply - Ac 4:19-20
         a. Shall they listen to the council or to God? - cf. Ac 5:29
         b. They cannot but speak what they have seen and heard - cf.
            Ac 1:8; 2:32; 3:15
      3. Peter and John released - Ac 4:21-22
         a. Upon further threatening, but finding no way of punishing
            them
         b. Because of the people, who glorified God for what had been
            done - cf. Ac 3:9-10
         c. For the man who was healed was over forty years old (lame
            from birth) - cf. Ac 3:2

[Thus the persecution against the Jerusalem church begins with threats
(Ac 4:18,21)  How did they respond?  What can we learn from their
response?  As we continue, we read of...]

II. THE PRAYER FOR BOLDNESS

   A. PETER AND JOHN RETURN...
      1. To their brethren - Ac 4:23
      2. To report all that had been said to them - cf. Ac 4:18

   B. THEIR PRAYER...
      1. Addressed to the Lord God, Creator of all things - Ac 4:24-28
         a. Who prophesied by the mouth of His servant David - cf. Ps 2:1
         b. Of the nations' rage and plotting against His Christ - cf.
            Ps 2:2-3
         c. As fulfilled by Herod and Pilate, by Gentiles and Israel
         d. Who did according to His predetermined purpose - cf. 
            Ps 2:4-6; Ac 2:22
      2. Asking for all boldness in the face of such threats - Ac 4:29-30
         a. That His servants may speak His word
         b. That His hand might stretch out
            1) To heal, to do signs and wonders - cf. Ac 4:33; 5:12,15-16
            2) Through the name of His holy Servant Jesus - cf. Ac 3:16;
               4:10

   C. THE ANSWER...
      1. The place in which they were assembled was shaken - Ac 4:31;
         cf. Ac 2:2
      2. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit - cf. Ac 2:4
      3. They spoke the word of God with boldness - cf. Ac 4:29

CONCLUSION

1. The persecution against the church began with threats...
   a. Warned not to speak nor teach in the name of Jesus - Ac 4:18
   b. Which Peter and John were determined not to heed - Ac 4:19-20

2. The response to this persecution was two-fold...
   a. Fellowship with one another - Ac 4:23,32; cf. Ac 12:5,12
   b. Prayer through which they received boldness - Ac 4:29,31; cf. Ep 6:18-20

Should we experience persecution, may we likewise respond with
fellowship, prayer, and boldness...!




Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

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From Mark Copeland... The Times Of Restoration (Ac.3:21) 


                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                    The Times Of Restoration (3:21)

INTRODUCTION

1. As Peter preached his second gospel sermon...
   a. He called on his audience to repent and be converted - Ac 3:19
   b. He promised that their sins would be blotted out - ibid.

2. Also that Jesus must remain in heaven until "the times of
   restoration of all things"... - Ac 3:21
   a. What are "the times of restoration"?
   b. Is it limited to events to occur at the end times, just before
      Jesus returns?
   c. Or does it encompass the period between Jesus' first coming and
      His final coming?

[The language in the text allows for either understanding.  To be sure we
understand the distinction between the two views, let's first summarize
them...]
 
I. TWO PROPOSED EXPLANATIONS

   A. REGENERATION OF ALL THINGS AT THE END TIMES...
      1. Many connect the word "restoration" with "regeneration" - cf.
         Mt 19:28
      2. That when Christ comes (or shortly before) all things will be
         restored, or regenerated
      3. Including the heavens and the earth, currently in bondage to
         pain and decay, but presumably will be "restored" (regenerated)
         as a permanent dwelling for the righteous - cf. Ro 8:18-22

   B. PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT THROUGHOUT THE MESSIANIC AGE...
      1. The word "restoration" can mean establishment or fulfillment 
         a. "the Greek could just as easily mean that a process of
            restoration is already underway and that Jesus' return will
            mark its climax and dramatic conclusion." - D.G. Peterson
         b. 'Establishment' or 'fulfillment' is equally well attested,
            and makes good sense in the present context, in reference to
            the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy - F.F. Bruce
      2. As seen in the RSV:  "whom heaven must receive until the time
         for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy 
         prophets from of old." - Ac 3:21
      3. This understanding is supported further by Peter:  "and all the
         prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have 
         spoken, have also foretold these days." - Ac 3:24

["It is difficult to determine the exact force of the term restoration in
this connection" (McGarvey).  Even so, I believe the second explanation
gains merit when one considers the following question...]

II. THE END TIMES:  REGENERATION OR RECREATION?

   A. THE REGENERATION OF ALL THINGS...
      1. Many believe that when Jesus returns the current heavens and
         earth will be purified by fire (i.e., refurbished, regenerated,
         not annihilated)
      2. A cosmic redemption, if you will, to serve as the eternal home
         of the righteous (not to be confused with any millennial reign
         on the earth)
      3. Hoekema (and other amillennialists) gives four reasons for
         renewal rather than annihilation:
         a. The word for "new" (kainos) means "new in nature or in
            quality," not new in the sense of "totally other"
         b. Paul speaks of a universe longing to be liberated from
            corruption, not replaced - cf. Ro 8:19-22 
         c. The continuity between our old and new bodies is an analogy
            of the old earth being made new 
         d. If God has to annihilate this present cosmos, then His
            original purpose for it will have been thwarted and Satan 
            will have won a victory
         -- The Bible And The Future, Anthony Hoekema, p. 280-281

   B. THE RECREATION OF ALL THINGS...
      1. Putting Ro 8:19-22 aside for the moment, consider what is
         revealed elsewhere:
         a. The earth and the heavens will perish - Ps 102:25-26; cf.
            He 1:10-12
         b. The heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth grow old
            like a garment - Isa 51:6
         c. Heaven and earth will pass away - Mt 24:35; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33
         d. The Lord will shake the earth and heaven, indicating its
            removal - He 12:26-27
         e. The earth will be burned up, the heavens will be dissolved,
            the elements will melt, therefore we look for new heavens and
            a new earth - 2Pe 3:10-13
         f. Earth and the heaven will have fled away, no place found
            for them - Re 20:11
         g. There will a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
            heaven and the first earth will have passed away - Re 21:1
      2. Every indication is that earth and the heavens will be
         annihilated; what then of Ro 8:19-22 and the four arguments 
         offered above in favor of renewal?
         a. It is true that "new" (kainos) means "new in nature or in
            quality", but if something is new in sense of "totally other"
            could it not also be "new in nature or in quality"?
         b. Ro 8:19-22 does speak of the universe longing to be liberated
            from corruption, but for what purpose?  Note carefully what
            is actually written, that the creation:
            1) "eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God" - Ro 8:19
            2) "will be delivered...into the glorious liberty of the
               children of God" - Ro 8:21
            3) Seeks not its own revealing or glorious liberty, but
               that of the children of God!
            4) Is not actually said to be refurbished when freed of its
               corruption
            5) The focus in the passage is on what happens for the
               people of God when the creation is finally freed (which it
               will be when annihilated by fire)
         c. The analogy between our bodies and the earth with the
            heavens is never made by Paul
         d. Any victory by Satan when the earth and heavens are removed
            is negated by a new heavens and new earth, just as any 
            victory by Death and Hades is negated when our decayed bodies
            are raised in incorruption and immortality as spiritual 
            bodies - 1Co 15:52-55

CONCLUSION

1. When Jesus returns, there will first be a de-creation followed by a
   re-creation...
   a. All things will not be regenerated or restored, but annihilated
      by fire
   b. All things will pass away, and there will be found no place for
      them
   c. In their place will be a new heavens and a new earth:  new in
      "nature and quality", because it will also be new in the sense of 
      "totally other" 

2. If such is to be the case, then it is best to understand "the
   restoration of all things" as...
   a. Translated by the RSV:  "whom heaven must receive until the time
      for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy 
      prophets from of old." - Ac 3:21
   b. Referring to the fulfillment of those things foretold by the
      prophets concerning the Messiah and His kingdom

This fulfillment of prophecy began with the first coming of Christ and
the establishment of His reign (cf. "the prophets...have also foretold of
these days" - Ac 3:24), and will continue until all is fulfilled with the
events of His second coming and the culmination of His reign (cf. 1Co
15:22-26).

Living in the days of such fulfillment, and looking forward to the Lord's
return, are we living as we should...?

   "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens
   and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  Therefore, beloved,
   looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
   peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the 
   longsuffering of our Lord is salvation..." - 2Pe 3:14-15

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

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