Acts 3:17-21 The Vision of  Jesus

Part 1:  Some Foundational Questions

1.  Why Now?

A.  Socio-Cultural Factors

“In the history of the human spirit I distinguish between epochs of habitation and epochs of homelessness.  In the former, man [sic] lives in the world as in a house, as in a home.  In the latter, man [sic] lives in the world as in an open field and at times does not even have four pegs with which to set up a tent.” (Martin Buber).

“This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. (Vatican II).

• theme of habitation / home central
• relational and spiritual crisis in Western world
• no clear apprehension of God
• confusion in the church, e.g. the song “Great South Land of the Holy Spirit “this is our future, this is our hope” cf. Phil 3:20; Heb 11:13-16; flight into material prosperity, personal experience, sensuousness
• loss of the centrality of Jesus (see “Restoration” below)
• post-modernism

Opportunity:

• primacy of story over ideology / philosophy
• mystical / spiritual value of natural order
• increasing reliance of image over text

Challenge:

• art seen as “product” rather than gift (are we a community or an economy?  “Culture industry.”)
• dominance of pragmatic culture – empty glory and cheap creativity
• alienation of art from history; onus on interpretation of receiver, is there anything “real” to be communicated

B.  Spiritually

• God seeking to turn the church “inside out” and “upside down” (de-clericalise etc.)
• not “isolationist” (conservative) nor “accommodationist” (liberal) but  “transformational” Christians.  Full engagement with culture.
• God seeking to “disciple nations” (Matt 28:18 -20)
• God’s sovereignty over the ages.  Parable of “wheat and weeds” (Matt 13:24-30; 36-43).  The opening up of culture to the possibilities of a “home” that has no limits.
• the end of Christendom.  (Not chaplains i.e., caretakers to a Christian culture, but evangelists i.e., bearers of the message of a new creation.  Emerging global culture, globalisation of the gospel in culture.)
• God seeking to re-assert the supremacy and centrality of Jesus in “all things.”

2.  Why “Restoration?”

• not seeking a solution to the decline in influence, numbers and presence of church as institution i.e., not the restoration of “Christianity.”
• restoration concerns the coming of the kingdom of God (Acts 1:1-6)
• Jesus did not preach/pray church but kingdom of God (Mark 1:15; Matthew 6:10)
• this was also the subject of the apostolic gospel (Acts 28:31)
• the kingdom of God is God’s ruling presence and power in all things (Ps 47:2)
• kingdom of God builds church, not vice-versa (“kingdom of God movement”)
• kingdom of God is the presence of the future (1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 6:5)
• Matthew 19:28, “renewal of all things” is an all inclusive reality and must encompass everything that can be truly symbolised
• every sphere of human existence to be penetrated by the life- giving presence of Jesus; believers as “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16)
• discerning all of life under the Lordship of Jesus

3.  Why Art?

• universal interest of art – concerned for all the spheres
• universal influence of art (portrait, design, monument, advert, painting, museum, liturgy etc.)  If a “mind – moulder” then a potential “mind re-newer.” (Rom 12:1-2).
• access to the unseen realm (2 Cor 4:18; Col 3:1- 3)
• the prophetic nature of the artist – prescience (Amos 3:7)
• the prophetic nature of the artist – discernment, insight into “reality”, heart communication
• the prophetic nature of the artist – sensitivity of spirit; participation in the pathos of God
• art as prophecy cannot be fully comprehended by psychological, sociological, cultural-anthropological etc. categories.
• what is primary in everything prophetic is the testimony of Jesus (Rev 19:10) i.e., the witness of Jesus to the nature and purposes of the Father (Rev 1:1-2)
• art, as a participation in the testimony of Jesus, conveys God’s turning to humanity (Anthropotropic moment).a
• s such, the communication of the divine attributes (mercy, goodness, justice, wrath, compassion etc.) revealing what we mean to God, is the primary function of “Christian art.”
• a unique contribution.  Art mirrors the commitment of the artist in a particularly intense way that can transcend the dominance of the intellectual or emotional, sacred-secular, natural –supernatural etc. (dualisms).
• new images to express the gospel

4.  A Note on Method

• not a focus on a few biblical texts to do with “art”
• concentration on a biblically-informed framework in which “art” can be understood and expressed in the service of the kingdom of God
• a chronological order rather than systematic order for the sake of simplicity
• Jesus is the centre, substance and climax of every “Christian” discussion

1.  Creation

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the seventh day.” (Genesis 1:31).

Frank was someone who liked to work at painting “at the end of the day having created something that was not there in the morning.”  (Tribute to Frank Hodgkinson, S.B.S. Television 7/6/03.)

Analogies between God and the human artist:

God as artist

• Genesis 1, creation as a work of art, expressing the handiwork and creativity of God.  Examples from Christian experience  e.g.  Jonathan Edwards.  Action is personal, world as God’s good pleasure (Gen1: 31), open ended.  Emphasises self-expression of God.  Non – coercive of materials used.

God as designer-craftsman

• Genesis 2:7; Ps 19:1 ‘the work of his hands’; Ps 127:1; Jer 18:1-11; Rom 9:21.  God as potter: plan; will; design; kill; beauty; and order of world, e.g. Proverbs 8.
• through creation the “invisible power and divine nature” becomes plain for all to see (Romans 1:20); this revelation is God’s glory
• everything he has made blesses God; this is a matter of intense personal divine pathos (Genesis 1:31).  This must include the material reality essential to the artistic process: wood, metal, pigment, dye, minerals etc.

2.  The Image of God

“When he established the heavens… I was besides him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” (Prov 8:27,30 -31)

• it is impossible to discuss “creation” without speaking of humanity
• humanity as the climax of the acts of creation: “very good” (Gen 1:31)
• humanity alone is in the “image of God”
• religious background to Genesis 1: the last thing placed in a temple/centre piece was the image of the God
• a temple was the dwelling place or “house” of a god (1 Samuel 5:2), particularly symbolised and  represented by the divine image (In some real sense the deity was presenced by the image e.g. 1 Samuel 5:4ff.)
• the picture then is of creation as the house of God and humanity as the site of the concentration of his presence
• humanity is called to be like God in every way:  as God brought beauty and order into the world through the creative Word, humanity is now charged with this task by “dominion” (Gen 1:28); to be “like God” means to spread the kingly attributes of God’s justice, compassion, protection, mercy , goodness, love etc. in the universe
• through special and intimate creation (Genesis 2:7) and revelation (Genesis 2:17) humanity shares in the “innerness” or spirit of the divine life penetrating the inhabited world (Proverbs 8:22-31)
• humanity as prophets, priests and kings in creation mirroring the divine life (1 Cor 11:7)
• stewardship over the material reality essential to the artistic process means that the created universe can be drawn into God’s praise in a higher way
• by these means (which encompass all of life) the invisible becomes visible
• God to fill the world with his glory through his image (Psalms 8;104)
• the realisation of habitation (the earth as “home”) flows out of  the interpenetration of the divine life into and through God’s image.  As the glory of God is realised by means of willing creativity there is an increasing participation in the divine nature so that men and women more intensely recognise they are at home with God in creation.

3.  Chaos

• the theme of chaos appears mysteriously and unannounced in Genesis 1:2, “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.”
• this condition is not the divine intention and is the opposite of habitation (Isaiah 45:18 -19; Jeremiah 4:23-26).
• it is a condition overcome by the creative power of the divine Word (Genesis 1:3 etc.).
• humanity had an opportunity to personally participate in the repelling of chaotic powers through the Word of God (Genesis 2:17; 3:1ff).
• this gift was refused in favour of personal assertion or self – creation.
• the rebellion in Eden is an attempt to be “like God” (Genesis 3:5) without Go
• the result is that the true knowledge and presence of God is emptied out of humanity: “they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28) and the loss of “the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) so that it is plunged into moral and spiritual darkness.  “Their senseless minds were darkened” (Romans 1:21) cf. Ephesians 4:17.
• since the creative ability of humanity to image divinity is essential to human nature, when “the truth about God is exchanged for a lie” (Romans 1:24) the result is always idolatry.  “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four footed animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:23).
• the image created by the creative artistry of the idol worshipper mirrors the lost and fallen state of the artist.
• the act and image represented in idolatry keeps humanity in fear of death and a diminished sense of worth (Jeremiah 2:5; Psalm 97:7).  “Our God is in the heavens…Their idols…have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see… Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:3 -8).
• hence the absolute prohibition of all attempts to portray the LORD in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:1- 4; Deuteronomy 4:15- 24; 5:8 -10).
• “The God who made the world…does not live in shrines made by human hands…” (Acts 17:24).
• only God’s own image in (unfallen) creation could adequately reveal him, (note, the direction of Paul’s arguments in Acts 17:26- 31).
• idolatry of all kinds is systemic and represents an attempt to re – create order in the universe apart from God.
• such an attempt has its origin in the activities of evil supernatural beings from the beginning (Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9) who are the real presence and power behind idolatry (Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37; 1 Corinthians 10:20).

4.  God’s Presence in Israel

• covenant promise (renewed relationship) is God’s response to the chaos introduced by human rebellion.
• the essence of covenant is mutual belonging: “I will be your God and you will be my people” (Genesis 17:7 – 8; Exodus 20:2; Jer 24:7; Ezekiel 11:20; 2  Corinthians 6:16 etc.).
• Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests bringing God’s light to the world (Exodus 19:5 -6).
• the purpose of the Old Testament Law and cult (Temple, priests, sacrifices etc.) is to make possible entry into God’s holy presence (1 Chronicles 6:48;9:17- 27).
• the wilderness tabernacle and its furniture (later placed in the Temple) are constructed according to the pattern God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai; they are images of the heavenly reality where God dwells (Exodus 25; Numbers 8:4; Hebrews 8:5).
• the tabernacle was therefore the site of the manifestation of the glory of God (Exodus 34:34 -38; Leviticus 9:23; Numbers 14:10 etc.).
• the Temple of Solomon climaxes the early history of Israel and is the place of God’s permanent habitation; it is the “house of God” (2 Samuel 7:5 -7; 1 Chronicles 9:17-27; Ezra 1:5; Nehemiah 6:10; Psalm 23:6 etc.).
• this indwelling is intense and intimate: “for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God” (2 Chronicles 5:14); “my eyes and my heart will be there forever” (1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 7:16).
• it is in this context that we may understand the most overt references to artistic creation and design in the Bible: “”I have chosen Bezalel…and I filled him with the Spirit of God, and with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of craft and to make artistic designs…the Tent of Meeting, the ark…and all the other furnishings” (Exodus 31:2 – 11).
• the name Bezalel may mean “El’s (God’s) shadow” and his assistant Oholiab “My tent is the Father-God”; both men possess names pointing to the purpose of their work as being a construction for God’s indwelling presence.
• other details concerning the construction of the sanctuary and its interior are consistent with this theme e.g. the gift of “wisdom”(literally:”wise – hearted”) (Exodus 28:3).
• only to the degree that the artisans are filled with the Spirit and wisdom can their artistry be a fitting house for God; there is a correspondence between the presence of God in the human creator of the Tabernacle and the dwelling of God within it.
• the Temple was designed to be the place where the faithful met with God and were transformed by this encounter: “”One thing have I asked of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).
• in the sanctuary whose visible form spoke to faith of the invisible things of the Spirit, the worshipper experienced the rule and reign of God, and so went out empowered in the service of his kingdom (cf. Psalm 63:2).
• the tragedy of Israel is that it repeatedly seeks to worship God in the way it sees fit; this begins with the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32), a passage sandwiched between instructions concerning the making of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25 – 31) and its actual building (Exodus 35 – 40).
• as early as the reign of Solomon, God warns that because of idolatry he will destroy the Temple(1 Kings 9:6 – 9) after a long struggle and repeated prophetic warnings (Jeremiah 7:1 – 29) the glory of God (meaning his presence) finally leaves the Temple signalling its assured destruction by worshippers of foreign gods (Ezekiel 8 -10).
• nevertheless, the prophets look forward to the day when God will sovereignly restore his kingdom in the midst of Israel (Isaiah 61:4; Jeremiah 16:15; Hosea 6:11; Amos 9:11 etc.).
• at that time all the intentions of God in relation to his covenantal presence will be realised, from the renewed Temple and cult his glory will be known in all the earth (Isaiah 2:2 – 5; Ezekiel 40 – 48; Micah 4:1 – 5).
• the key figure in the restoration of the glory of God in Israel is the one filled with the Spirit of God without measure, Messiah : Isaiah 9:6 -7; 11:1 -9; Malachi 3:1-4).

5.  Jesus as the Restoration of Creation

• a careful study of the  New Testament reveals that the world was created for Jesus (Colossians 1:16).  
• this means that Jesus is the key to all of God’s purposes in the created world, including every form of artistry.
• the truth  of the Word made flesh (John 1:14) is a wholly unprecedented reality in the history of all religion and philosophy and opens up the ultimate truth that God is a Trinity of Persons in love (1 John 4:8). 
• this is the pristine revelation of a new and evangelical (“good news”) order of beauty.
• the unity in differentiation in the Trinity contains within itself the possibility of the creation of an other who is not God but like him i.e., humanity.
• this is a reality that is not open to ordinary observation or intellect but can only be known through “spiritual wisdom and understanding.” (Colossians 1:9).
• the site or focus of this wisdom is the One in whom all the fullness of  the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 1:29; 2:9).
• this means that Jesus is the “visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).
• the creativity of God that holds the diversity of the universe together was fully revealed in Christ (John 1:3; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3).
• in Jesus is exposed the eternal power and divine nature distributed through creation but repressed through human wickedness and idolatry (Romans 1:18-32).The form, order, light and beauty of God in the world is wholly present in Christ(John 1:9 -10).
• since he sees the glory of the Father’s work in all created things Jesus naturally uses many images derived from the created order in his preaching e.g. Matt 6:26-28 and moves to restore bodies and relationships (Mark 1:32-34; 2:1-12 etc.).
• the goal of the ministry of Jesus is the restoration of the kingdom of God upon the earth; the scope of this is universal liberation in all the spheres of human existence (Mark 1:15; Matthew 19:28).
• through Messiah humanity will be released (Jubilee) from all debts and oppressive force (Luke 4:18-21).
• as the one in whom the Creator Spirit (Genesis 1:2) dwells “without measure”(John 3:34) he is able to fulfil that work in creation that God desired to complete with humanity from the beginning.
• since creative power is literally released in Jesus, “power has gone out from me”(Luke 8:46; cf.6:19); not even the destructive power or chaos of death can resist the presence of God in Christ (Luke 7:11-16; John 11: 38- 44 ).
• where God’s sons in Adam (Luke 3:38) and Israel (Hosea 11:1) failed in their vocation to enlighten and order the world, as the “dwelling” (literally,”tabernacling”) of God with us, Jesus  brings the full glory of the Father: grace and truth (John 1:14).
• the ministry and mission of Jesus climaxes in the cross; this is why the most explicit language about him being the true Temple is found in the context of his death: “‘Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.’..the temple he has spoken of was his body.” (John 2:19, 21).
• in his body on the cross, Jesus voluntarily takes into himself all the chaos, darkness and disorder in the present cosmos.  This is the sin of the world and includes our idolatry (John 1:29; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).
• in the cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34), we behold the deformation of the image of God.  Since Jesus’experience is a share in the experience of the idolater, it seems that God, like idols,neither sees nor hears (Psalm 115:6).
• “He has no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him… Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 52:2 -3).
• the cross is to appearances and reason “senseless.”
• at a deeper level however, the cross is “the wisdom of God and the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).  It is the power of God because in his submission to the power of death Jesus carries to annihilation all the forces of evil (Romans 6:6; 1 Peter 3:18).  It is the wisdom of God because it embodies a higher order of glory.
• “Jesus Christ does present this (ugly) aspect of Himself, and he always presents this aspect first.  The beauty of God shines under this aspect.  Beautiful humanity is the reflection of the essence of God revealed in his kindness to us as it appeared in Jesus Christ (Titus 3:4).  In this self-declaration however, God’s beauty embraces death as well as life, fear as well as joy, what we might call the ugly as well as what we might call the beautiful.  It reveals itself and wills to be known on the road from one to another, in the turning from the self-humiliation of God for the benefit of man to the exaltation of man by God and to God.  This turning is the mystery of the name of Jesus Christ and the glory revealed in this name.  No other speaks at the same time of the human suffering of the true God and the divine glory of the true man.  This is the function of the face of Jesus Christ alone.” (Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, II/1 665 -666).
• the resurrection of Jesus is not a restoration to the status of pre-fallen humanity but a ministry of the power of  the Spirit that far exceeds the creation of the First Adam: “If there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written “The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit…The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:44-45, 47).
• in the glorious nature of Jesus’ resurrection is revealed all the wisdom and creative energy that God originally intended to put to work in humanity (1 Corinthians 15:43; Philippians 3:21).
• the movement of Jesus from death to resurrection is his own personal restoration from the depths of hell to the heights of heaven.
• as the restored head of humanity (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45) set over the created order he is in a position to “restore all things” (Acts 3:21)  that the first stewards of creation (Adam and Eve) caused to fall and lose their glory (Romans 8:19-21).
• since this is the act of the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 17:14; 19:16) it is the restoration of the kingdom of God in creation. 
• the quality and scope of this restoration means that it will bring about a fundamental transformation of the original created order.  In Christ there is a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).
• in this creation chaos and idolatry are completely excluded (Revelation 21:1 -5).
• residing in heaven Jesus ministers from the eternal Temple and presence of God (Hebrews 9:11;10:21) after which all God’s earthly works were patterned.
• therefore, when Jesus sends forth his Word and Spirit in the gospel, he radiates into this present darkness a light that is the uncreated and eternal glory of God (Revelation 22:5).
• those who receive Jesus are already incorporated into this eternal world and shine its light (Philippians 2:15; Colossians 1:13; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 2:8).
• the crucified, resurrected and exalted Christ is the divine art for which there is no possible human analogy in love, wisdom and creativity.

6.  The Christian artist and the restoration of all things

• the art form necessarily images the artist.
• in every believer in Jesus lives the presence of the future glory of a renewed universe: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).  Through spiritual regeneration believers are made alive in the Spirit as Jesus was in his resurrection and share in the life of the heavenly world (John 3:3,5; Ephesians 1:3; 2:6).
• living “with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3) they have access to the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 10:19).
• they are themselves inhabited by Father, Son and Spirit and so are the home or temple of the living God (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16- 17;6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22; 1 Peter 2:5).
• the eternal covenantal purpose of God “‘ I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16) is now being fulfilled.
• through their access to God in the Spirit (John 4:24; Philippians 3:3; Revelation 1:10) it is now possible for those on earth to image the heavenly realities.
• this is a prophetic action to be accomplished by word and deed and includes all manner of artistic expression (concrete catechesis).
• such action will centre on the person of Christ as the completed revelation of the glory of God and humanity; as such it will be a gospel action that tells the story of salvation in its fullness.
• this is a story as old as God (Acts 3:21) and as wide as the “the whole universe” that Jesus is seeking to fill with himself  (Ephesians 4:10) through “the church, which is his body,  the fullness of him who fills all things in every way.” (Ephesians 1:21- 22).
• this means that such art in the kingdom of God is not restricted to being overtly “Christian” in the narrow religious or institutional sense, since Jesus is the true meaning of the whole of the world and the one in whom all final insight is given, including into its broken and chaotic form.
• as with all prophetic activity, the Word spoken in art will be an expression of the invisible by means of the visible and so depends on faith (Romans 12:6; Hebrews 11:1; 1 Peter 4:10).
• this faith is the outflow of a life that is “being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:10 cf. Titus 3:5).
• it is life that is not egotistical but a manifestation of Christ, as such it involves a state of repeated death and resurrection experiences: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20; cf. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11;4:11 etc.).
• creativity from the centre of a crucified and restored ego is not idolatrous but glorious because it is indwelt by God: “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?  For we are the temple of living God.  As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord’…let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the lord.” (2 Cor 6:16– 17; 7:1).
• from the overflow of such a heart there is imaged the peace which is the future of the whole world God (Isaiah 9:7; Rom 5:1; Colossians 1:20). “The godly have a taste of this in the present life, for however they may be oppressed by difficulty and want, yet they partake with a peaceable conscience of those things which God created for their use, and enjoy earthly blessings from a favourable and willing Father as pledges and foretastes of eternal life, their poverty does not prevent them from acknowledging earth, sea, and heaven as their right.  Although the ungodly devour the riches of the world, they can call nothing their own, but rather snatch what they have by stealth, for they usurp it under the curse of God. (John Calvin).
• this is a revelation that the future of humanity is the future of Jesus Christ.

7.  Conclusion

• the talent of artistic expression is one that is called to bear fruit in the world (Matt 25:14- 30).
• the Christian artist enjoys a high calling and vocation from God to be the living medium through which the divine attributes restored to humanity in Jesus Christ are communicated.
• this is a prophetic, priestly and kingly task of justice, peace and service that may be exercised with great confidence.
• this confidence is faith to the degree that it is grounded, not in the ability of the artist as such, but in the triumph of  God in Christ in and over the chaos within creation (1 John 5:4).
• the Incarnation (John 1:14) fills the artist with an assurance that all will be well.
• where creativity is attuned to the transformative power released in Jesus’ resurrection and now dwelling in us (Ephesians 1:19-20), the Christian artist has the authority of hope (Romans 8:20-21) to improvise over the tune of the present created order.
• in this sense then all Spirit-inspired artistic works are “Rainbows for a Fallen World” that “dream the impossible dream” made possible in God alone.
• such pieces do not merely reflect reality, past, present or future, earthly and heavenly, but are agents transforming life that it may share the new creation that is eternal.
• however small a work, where it is done in the name of Jesus and in his humility, it is part of that great work of God leading up to the transformation of all things in the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:6;3:21).