02.04.2006
Introduction
The time in which we live is a time of intense struggle for the very character of our humanity.
After 9/11, at the all-religious prayer service in New York, the most influential religious figure in the U.S. conducted the ceremonies. The congregation of this person runs into millions, and they of course endowed America with its national chaplain. I refer of course to Oprah and Dr. Phil. Through chat shows, magazines, talk – back radio, reality TV and the atmosphere of advertising the cult of self, has become the dominating spirituality of our time.
Deep in the bowels of the economic world the words of the political economist Ayn Rand act as a liturgy for the global free market, the self is “the highest human value” and the free market the way to maximise self – interest. The cult of self – worship means that psychology as a form of religion has replaced the hearing of the Word of God in much of the affluent church. Counselling is a growth industry, Bible study is not. Motivational speakers extolling our destiny and our ministry are the new priests e.g. Harvest West brochure 30 x “you” “your ministry” 0 x “Jesus”. This is the time of the big personality, the cult of the celebrity and the super pastor.
We live in an age of the most dreadful narcissism, believing that our relationship with ourselves is the most important of all. The question, “Who am I?” “How can I develop a positive sense of self –identity?” is the new quest for humanity
Peoples of previous centuries would not have understood this individualism. Indigenous peoples drew their identity from the sacred earth, ancient religions looked to a sacred realm of the gods (Olympus/Valhalla) or to the sphere of divine Law (Torah, Koran). Today, the internal world has taken on the status of the ultimate. Westerners subject everything to the inner shrine of the ego – morality has become, “If it’s right for me it must be right”. Self-realisation and self-expression are the worship styles of our modern sacred cosmos. Suzie Quatro etc. 55 years old – finally “be herself”
Humans have always suffered from egocentricity, [e.g. people looking at an old school photo will try to find themselves first; the brain seems to be hard wired to be most attracted to faces that look like our own (masculinised/feminised experiment).] but our contemporary affluence has made this more possible than ever before.
Our society is engaged in a full frontal attack on the plan of God and the pillars and ramparts of much of the “church” are crumbling (1 Tim 3:15).
What do I mean by the plan of God?
Creation
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” (Gen 1:1) and after every creative act declared it to be good Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, [cf. 1 Tim 4:4 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.] In doing this the LORD was exalting in bringing forth something beyond his own personality.
What was most to him pleasing was the last day, 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good… (Gen 1:31). This “very good” is the harmonious ordering and arrangement of all creation, of the friendly agreement between the diverse dimensions in the universe, it is a divine reflection on a created goodness that reflects the unity in diversity of the eternal trinity. Creation was an outflow of God’s desire to communicate himself outwardly as he has always shared himself inwardly.
In the “very good” distributed throughout the whole creation the Father, Son and Holy Spirit beheld their own excellence. As Jonathan Edwards once said, goodness is delight in communicating happiness.
[To cite another theologian, Goodness is all that is right and friendly and wholesome (Barth)][For those with eyes to see it, the goodness of God is everywhere present. The holy angels sense it 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isa 6:3. The psalmist sees it, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Ps 19:1)]
Every human being made in the image of God feels that somehow everything is meant to fit together, as Ecclesiastes puts it 3: 11a “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,” However the text goes on to describe a state of affairs that leads to frustration, depression, despair…and suicide 11b (he has put eternity into man’s heart) yet so that he (i.e. unaided human soul) cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
There was no frustration like this in Eden, the goodness of God held everything together. If we must use the term, Adam’s self – esteem was perfect, because he found himself embedded in the delighting of God, himself and all creation. You may have had glimpses of this. JY Vancouver Island. Adam must have intuitively sensed what the apostle said long after, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”. (Rom 8:28 Cf. Isa 22:11; 37:26.).
One thing however seemed out of place, 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” What was missing was an opportunity for Adam to perfectly share himself with a partner. Only after allowing God to distribute the goodness of his life into another, could he be sense completeness. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” The “one flesh” union of marriage told him all was now “very good”. (Married people- sense God’s goodness through your one flesh union?)
Together, Adam and Eve were to fill the earth and rule all things. Through the good works God had prepared in advance for them to do (Eph 2:10) they and their descendants were to distribute the divine goodness over all the earth.
[28 , “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Gen 1:28]
Fall
Everything was harmonious, there was an ordered agreement between God, the created self and the world. God however was not yet sharing one thing, the “knowledge of good and evil”. The serpent, Adam and God agreed that God knew good and evil (Gen 3:22), what they did not agree on was whether sharing in this knowledge would be good for man. God said, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17) Satan said, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, [knowing good and evil.”] (Gen 3:4- 5).
All cultures have myths like this- don’t go near that stream or else…don’t look behind the door, don’t go into that room, don’t look in the mirror, don’t open the box etc. and all these stories end up in the same way. People cannot resist finding out for themselves- they will not trust the experience of another who says –don’t go there. Each generation insists on finding out for themselves, because each person demands the mastery of their own destiny, or to put it slightly differently, to find/realise the very best in themselves.
A famous poem to the “unconquerable soul”, called Invictus (Invincible: William Ernest Henley), puts it this way, “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Adam wanted to be his own master, to be “very good” by his own making, he wanted to create his own goodness. [cf. the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions 1 John 2:15]
What Adam and eve did not understand is that when the human self becomes its highest good, intimacy becomes an impossibility because intimacy is finding ones’ greatest good in another. The quest for personal pleasure in oneself (experienced as pride) makes knowing the depths of another’s soul impossible. Adam and Eve sought to “find themselves” but in the process lost the knowledge of God and of one another.
Since that Fall, human life has become completely self –centred. This is the message of the story of Babel. God commanded humanity to “fill the earth”, but when they came to the plain of Shinar they said, 4 “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen 11:4) instead of distributing the good things God had given them (e.g. building skills) across the earth, they sought to make a name for themselves. Cf. Migration system that strips the Third World of skilled labourers, nurses, doctors etc. God confused the tower builders them because he realised there would otherwise be no limit to their evil “nothing” cf. Gen 6:11 -13, and he has put spiritual confusion on self –centred Australians.
What stirs up the divine anger is cultures of unbridled consumption and accumulation. The parable fool the rich fool is a parable for our times, Jesus said 15 … “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 …, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ (This man knew about nest eggs, super and retirement funds.) 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15- 21).
When Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15) he was totally serious. You walk through the shops and think, does anyone need all this stuff? Has the church no sense? The global consumer culture wants your very soul and to get it will buy the soul of the church- Zondervan Rupert Murdoch, WWJD Hallmark Cards etc.
If a nation endowed with good things – e.g. gold, diamonds, pearls, iron, gas etc. (cf. Gen 2:12)does not take care of the physical and material needs of poor nations, God will give it over to another sort of poverty, spiritual poverty.
There is an old saying, those whom the gods want to destroy they first send mad, with (2004) $27 billion owing on credit cards ($5000 per family) this country is already mad- but we all want the boom to go on and on…I do not believe the reason John Howard and Peter Costello are so popular amongst Christians is essentially moral or spiritual, I think it is because they have kept us sleek and fat; “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ (Hos 4:1 cf. Deut 32:15 15 “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.)
I tell you, Australia is a rich fool on the precipice of eternal ruin. Unless own values as a nation are inverted – unless we start to give to the world more than our scraps – we are in deep trouble.
Redemption
Fortunately, for us, God has always been working to a plan.
Israel
Abraham was told, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3) Blessed with the blessing of sharing in the goodness Adam and Eve in the beginning (Gen 1:28).
Israel is called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6) i.e. distributors of “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises..” in the midst of the nations (Rom 9:4).
For these purposes God brought them in to the “good land” 15x in O.T. e.g. Num 14:7; Deut 1:25; Josh 23:15- 16. It was in this land that they would stand out from all other peoples because of the good laws of God, e.g. the year of Jubilee when property was redistributed to its original owners and all slaves set free (Lev 25).
This was the nation charged with the sacred duty of proclaiming in its holy temple, Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Chron 5:13 – 14; Ps 100:5; 106:1; Jer 33:11. These words were nothing other than a recapitulation of God’s self –testimony at creation, “very good”. If Israel had only done this they would have filled the world with glory.
If only Israel had done justice, loved kindness and walked humbly with God (Am 5:14- 15; Mic 6:8) it would have abided in his goodness. But it did not; they followed wicked idols and as God warned them from the beginning, the penalty for idolatry would be exclusion from the good land (1 Ki 14:15; Josh 23:15- 16).
Eschatological Hope
The prophets however never gave up hope. They began to speak of a new exodus, a new creation, when God would again rejoice in giving the land doing good
40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. 42 “For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. Jer 32:40- 42 Cf. Isa 43:9- 10
A time would come when the kingdom of God would destroy all Babylonian kingdoms and the goodness of God would again fill all things (Dan 4:35).
Jesus
If a man ruined this world , a man will restore it, this man is Jesus.
Isaiah 61:1- 2 = Luke 4:18 – 19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Jesus is the end time prophet who 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away (Luke 1:53) him the common people hear gladly because he brings in the year of Jubilee (Mark 12:37). In him is the appearing of “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour” (Tit 3:4).
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.. Mark 10:17 -18
This passage has caused many Christians unnecessary distress because we have forgotten the truth of the incarnation. In “emptying himself” of access to his eternal goodness (Phil 2:7) Jesus made it possible for his humanity to refer all goodness to God alone. Jesus refusal to claim goodness in himself is the key to his manifesting the goodness of God in everything he did..
Acts 10:38 38 .. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” In the humility of his Son, the Father found a human being utterly unlike all others – someone who claimed nothing for himself and so through whom he could share all his goodness with humanity. All Jesus words and works come from the Father (John 3:34; 5:36; 10:32; 14:10). His joy was always in giving, this is his goodness.
Humans are remarkable creatures, we have the unique capacity of attributing good to ourselves in any circumstance –even those who commit self- mutilation or self –killing think their act is a good one otherwise, they would not commit it). God’s wisdom (1 Cor 1:17- 24) however has found a way a way of destroying the idol of the self. This is the total self- death of the cross.
If the essence of sin is self- interest to the exclusion of all else, and if God’s punishment for sin is to hand people over to the consequences of their own desires (cf. Rom 1:24, 26, 28), hell is complete isolation from all else but one’s self. Eternal torment is to be a completely naked ego stripped of a world of enjoyment. An eternity without anybody to share with. This is the final destiny of humanity outside of the goodness of God. It is this destiny that the cross must deal with.
In “becoming sin” for us (2 Cor 5:21) Jesus embraces this reality, as Paul says, he “condemns sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3) by taking the wages of death into the depths of his humanity and there extinguishing its power forever.
When Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:324) it is because he has fully identified with our fallen ego, he has made his experience that state of self- revelation of which Paul speaks,
“I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” (Rom 7:18). To “know” us in this way means that Jesus loses the knowledge (i.e. intimacy) of the goodness of the Father (John 17:3).
Jesus’ cry is not about his relationship with himself, his relationship with himself is not primary, it is the loss of the Father’s indwelling goodness that is the stabbing agony of the cross. Despite the worst our sin can do to him, he is still a God- centred man, it is this invincible other – centred attitude that has defeated our self- obsession.
It is in Jesus total unawareness of the presence of the goodness of God on the cross that this goodness reaches its absolute; his infinity agony in losing the experience of God’s goodness is the goodness of God’s love at work.
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor 5:14- 15).
If the cross is the end of the old self, the resurrection is the creation of another kind of self, of a self that is the centre of a new and sacred cosmos that the Father, and the Spirit (in their other-centredness) are creating around the person of Jesus, a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” and which can never contain within it any element of self- interest (2 Pet 3:13).
From the beginning, God was working to a plan, 10 a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph 1:10). In the fullness of his goodness the God we worship was NEVER going to be totally satisfied in communicating to us his own happiness until he became one of us. In Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col 1:19), from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:16, [10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Col 2:9 – 10]
Now
If you are in Jesus you are in the new creation in him, and by his death and resurrection, you contain within yourself, by the Spirit, the power to see the self- centred structures of this world crucified and born anew.
The New Testament contains dozens of commands to do good (22 references below).
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matt 5:16; [John 10:32; Acts 9:36 (Dorcas); 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Rom 15:14 ;] 2 Cor 9:8; 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Gal 6:9- 10; [Eph 2:10; Col 1:10 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 2 Thess 3:13 13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.;1 Tim 2:10; 5:10, 25; 6:18; 2 Tim 3:17; Tit 1:16 “equipped for every good work”; 2:7, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.; 3:8,14; Heb 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works; 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Heb 13:16; James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.; 1 Pet 2:12;] 11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11)
Obeying these commands is the means to fulfilling God’s eternal divine plan to fill the universe with his own good life. 10 He (Jesus) who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. Eph 4:10; 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:22 -23)[19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:19]
Having put the fullness of his goodness in the exalted Son, the Father now wills to pour out his Spirit through the church (Acts 2:33) so that this goodness might be redistributed through all creation. The equipping of the saints for the work of ministry (Eph 4:12) is that the world might be filled with the presence of God in Christ.
The Charismatic movement gave birth to this church, but this movement had within it the seeds of its own destruction because it never grasped the passion of the Father for world transformation. In staying focussed on church renewal, the Charismatic movement simply became an extended form of the self- interested ego and fell under the judgement of God.
One of my favourite scriptures is the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14- 30) – every servant receives a talent to invest in the world. What is your talent? What are you doing with it? Is your whole existence framed around seeing the goodness of God imparted into the place he has sovereignly situated you in his creation – in your school, office, business, sports club, home, hospital, trade…
We wonder why the church is so spiritually poor, Paul says 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2 Cor 9:6. When Christians start to sow themselves into the world, they are most Godlike, and when they are most Godlike they are most free.
Suffering for Goodness
What then is the obstacle, why do we not see the life of Christ penetrating all the elements of society and culture? The block is always the same thing – the cost of the way of the cross. Have you ever heard someone say (thought it yourself) “If I were God I wouldn’t have created, it’s not worth it.” If you have never had this thought you have never understood the heart of God, 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Gen 6:5 – 6). (We hear the Father speaking here what the Son said in Gethsemane.)From the beginning (1Pet 1:20) God knew that the only way to fill humanity with his goodness was the costly plan of the cross.
What are we willing to suffer to see Jesus fill every element of life and culture in this city? Jesus lived the truth of his own words, 24 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? (Matt 16:24- 26). [Cf. 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Pet 4:19) 20 if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. (1 Pet 2:20)]
Application
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 2 Tim 3:1- 5 We are surely in these days.
Almost everywhere, certainly in many larger churches, the global consumer culture is undermining the foundation of the Christian faith – the uncrucified self is being enthroned as King. You cannot serve two masters, and the spirit of mammon wants your very soul (Matt 6:24).
Evangelical social commentator Tom Sine is correct to say, “With the growing pressure of this new global economy, going to church once a week will not be adequate. In the twenty – first century we will need to reinvent the church as new missional communities where we live seven days a week and where we also happen to worship.” (Tom Sine) Without this, a true church will not survive.
What would such missional communities be like –they would image the “all things in common” (Acts 2:44), the distributed good of the Early Church in Acts. They would come to the realisation, as Hebrews 10:24 puts it, that the reason for meeting together is not the edification of the self but to “stir up one another to love and good works” i.e. for the world’s sake, they would arrange finances so that they would not have to pay interest Ex 22:25 ff., they would form cooperatives intentionally designed to equip one another to release gifts and graces into the community etc. They would live the life of the crucified and risen Christ delight in communicating happiness to as many others as possible, at whatever cost. This is they would be like Jesus, good in God.
I was praying in bed this morning for some particular word for the church without a name. It is clear that where you need to be doing you need to be praying and working to release Andrew out of the church and into the world – into the gay bars and brothels. If you are clingy and possessive of him (and I can say this of certain past personal experiences), you will come under the discipline of God.
After I got up and went on my morning walk I came across a huge sign, there was a young naked woman with the words “Real Sex in the City” Sexpo 2006 next to her. Each congregation has a particular gift to offer the city, yours is in the arena of sexuality. God calls you, and I use this language intentionally, to penetrate this city with what has penetrated yourself most deeply and most intensely, there is a passion hotter than anyone’s sexual experience, it is the holy fire of the cross. In you is the power of death and life, in you is Jesus Christ who has crucified the flesh -of all people – with their passions and desires (Gal 5:24). In you is a pure goodness before which the demons tremble (James 2:19)
12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” 2 Cor 8:12-14
summoned to penitence by God’s goodness cf. Ezek 36 etc.
the joy of giving life away
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” Gen 1:22
24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. Isa 23:24
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, Ps 24:1
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Ps 41:12
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Gen 6:11-13
9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Gen 9:1
20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. Num 14:20-23
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, Gal 4:45 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, Heb 6:5
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:51)
Acts 2 – Spirit on all children…
Acts 4 – all in common i.e. common wealth
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. (9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Col 2:9–10) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood [Greek to a full-grown man], to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2 Cor 9:6-11
Maximising wealth or goodness?
The End
Rev 21-22 marriage of heaven and earth
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (1Pet 3:17)
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Ps 25:8
The question is simple, does God tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth – in which case he should always be obeyed because he is very good; or is he a liar. Every human being (Jesus excepted) has decided that God is a liar cf. Rom 1:18ff; 3:4
God’s response to such pride appears elsewhere in scripture, “May the offspring of evildoers never more be named! 21 Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.”22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” says the Lord. Isa 14:20-22
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them.”10 Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants. Isa 43:9-10
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Dan 4:35
viz. = Rev kingdom of world kingdom of God and Christ
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14
[Sharing in God’s goodness always unites, but sharing in the knowledge of good and evil always separates. Not only is there no fellowship between light and darkness (Gen 1:4- 5; Isa 5:20; 59:9; Am 5:18, 20; John 1:5; 3:19; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor 6:14; 1 John 1:5; 2:8 etc.) but whereas you may join together with another person in evil acts, because you cannot trust the darkness in another person you can never be truly intimate with them.]