It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

May I make so bold a claim that one of the fundamental aims of the Christian life is to have your sense of value come from who you are, rather than what you do.

Sin is doing something wrong which affects our person, affects our very identity. If Jesus is the second Adam then he is the Human Species 2.0, and as we seek a life of righteousness and intimacy with God we become more like Christ, more like the new species of human and we are now defined by who we are and not what we do. Identity, not action, becomes the ultimate question.

My final trip to Sheffield for the internship was last week. With that it's become quite apparent that I'm drawing towards the end of the internship with Hope Church itself, and I guess this blog. Try not to feel too sad. I have until the end of July where Sarah and I will be joining Andy to go to Clan Gathering, which should be fun.

There are quite a few different
theories out there...

The last topic was eschatology which is hauntingly appropriate. (And an amusing coincidence that this was so close to the whole 21st of May stuff) Fortunately, Jesus didn't show up at the end of the lecture and I can therefore write this little thing. Basically covered all the different opinions on how the world is going to end. I personally am starting to think it will be something majorly anti-climactic for the world and glorious for God. A strange combination of the Big Bang and a whimper. The greatest ending and the most disappointing any novel has seen. I'm undecided on a lot of the specifics but something I have left with at the end of this whole lecture thing, and I guess this whole intern year, is the question - who is God? And what do I have to do with it?

Your eschatological theology is coloured by who you understand God to be, rather than the other way round. It's such a ambiguous subject that there is little exegesis you can do and come up with a clear picture with. So rather than going through it and making an opinion out of it, you have to put your own preconceived opinion into it, and as such it reveals more of who you are and what you think rather than the bible itself. And that's why I find it a fascinating study, it's the bible reading you, rather than you reading the bible.

So, what does that do to you? Well, it makes you read the rest of the Bible, because you start to realise that some of your eschatology makes God look like a big ogre and that somehow doesn't fit in with the rest. If you want to test what you really think of God, look at what you think of your eschatology. It's the measuring tool that God has provided us with - and I believe he intentionally has made it so unclear, for that very reason. So, you then begin to read and read and read and find ask the question afresh, who is God? Who is this strange concept, this strange man, this strange thing in the sky that has done so much for me, who is he? or she?

So here I am, spent a year working for the church, got good solid theological teaching through it. Had and still having amazing experiences with God and just getting to know him better and better and funnily enough I am now facing this question - what do I think of God and myself?

And here we have it. Eschatological theology often brings you back to works. The sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, the investors and virgins and others. There is a lot of doing that's going on here. James would say that it's because only in works do you find the authenticity of ones faith. Well, I think God's grace is the most powerful force in the universe and the most fragile. It relentlessly saves, it furiously loves and it passionately redeems all things and nothing can stop it. But strangely enough grace can be stopped. The cross can be emptied of it's power, by something as simple as loose talk.  (1 Cor 1:17) Grace is the greatest paradox in all of creation. It produces enigmas such as the coexistence of predestination and free-will. It sustains all things, but not all things. It loves all things, but not all things. And the understanding of grace is what fundamentally colours your eschatology and therefore colours your view of God.

One of the greatest miracles that grace performs is the re-evaluation of identity. When grace is given, sin is dead. The rock and the hard place have been removed and leave you're in a place of absolute freedom. Your value is no longer determined by what you do, which has always been the case in the history of man, but you have become Human 2.0, in which who you are is paramount. Your identity has been redefined - and out of that your actions spring.

And as the internship draws to it's close I can happily say, here I am and God is good.