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He saved Us
The Communal Aspect of Salvation
The human body is a marvellous piece of equipment, and pretty useful for transporting one's soul about. For one thing, the irreducibly complex nature of it's construction is an absolutely fascinating thing to think about. Sure, we don't die if we lose a finger, or even a limb; but never again is the body whole, and as intended, when such things happen. The optimum human body, with all its parts present, works like a well-oiled machine, each part in harmony and dependence upon another. The mouth chews, but only because the jaw muscles move, and the hands move the necessary utensils for transporting food from ones plate to ones pallet; the legs run, but only as the lungs continue to draw oxygen, due to the expanding and contracting of various muscles and ligaments, which in turn move because the glucose necessary for energy has been digested from the food consumed in the first part of this analogy; the human body is marvellous indeed. But we would never dream of addressing one part of our body apart from the others. I do not mean that one doesn't at times humorously say, "Come on, brain, function." In fact, I frequently say just that! What I mean is, we would never truly divorce one part of our body from it's place in the grand scheme of our construction and treat it as a single and separate entity from the whole. The Christian church is described as a body numerous times in various sections of the New Testament. Passages like 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 5, Romans 12, and Colossians 1 all spring to mind. I think my above musings are indeed very relevant to how we think about our relationship to God - both as individuals and as the body of Christ. Lend me your eyes. Galatians 1:1-5 reads, Paul, an apostle--not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-- and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I want to focus particularly on verse 4. Verse 4 reads, "who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,". Look at the collective pronoun. Paul, lumping both himself and all the Christians in Galatia (which by the way, is an entire region, modern Turkey, rather than just one city, like Ephesus for example) and talks about salvation as something they experience together. We in the west have, for oh, only 500 years or so, spent most if not all of our time thinking about salvation in terms of God and Me. My own, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That isn't bad; it's good and important. But, the New Testament seems to carry a flavour that is of different taste than our current, much more theologically forensic framework. For some time, Christian community has been, I think, pretty low. I do not mean that Christians haven't met together; but I meet all sorts of people everyday that I don't have real and meaningful community with - that is, togetherness - 'com' together, 'unity' the kind of being together. Christian community is relating to one another in the church with physical presence, and emotional depth. These two aspects of it are important; but I'll come back to that. Look how Paul talks about the Gospel as is being Jesus having given Himself for our sins. Of course the individual must own the sins personally committed, and indeed personal sinfulness (the quality of being that produces sins) but how often do we own before God our sinfulness as a people, as a body? It is certainly interesting that the Old Testament tells us many more stories about large groups of people repenting together than it does of singular individuals repenting. Jonah is a good example. Jonah never really repents; he does as he's told, but his heart attitude doesn't change, and we don't know if it - the book ends on a cliff hangar. However, the people of Nineveh, "from the greatest to the smallest" all put on sackcloth and ashes, and repent as a community - and a flipping large one! (Jonah 4:11). Paul presents the Gospel as something that affects and changes us together. Brothers and Sisters, you can't pick family; you just deal with them. Family takes work, and patience, and often tears and tantrums, but we are a family, and by the Grace of God, we will make it work. We are, together, experiencing the deliverance of God from this present evil age. And let me dwell there for a second, The 'present evil age', I take to mean the fallen world order of this period of redemption history, that is in rebellion to God, both wittingly and unwittingly, manifest in the sinful and rebellious behaviour of every culture, people and person. It is interesting that I find it to be an 'order' - it is a system, and it is collective. Humans have a shared sin-culture. And that is why we are saved together and not as individuals only. We are God's New Community. We are the New Humanity. We are the New World Order. We are going to be rulers and principalities of the Age to come - the Future Perfect Age. Amen! Amen, my soul cries. But the reality, although not fully realised, must be partially manifest now! We must be that place. We must be the group of people that stand together, as each of us go through the trials and tests of this evil day. When those trapped in the currently world system look at us as believers, they should be able to visibly see and spiritual sense a true, deep and eternal commitment to one another. What a challenge. We are to live with an eternal commitment to one another. We are saved as a people. We are saved together, from the present evil age, to know the Glory of God. A tribal people lived, very happily, on a single remote island off of the coast of the mainland. They had no contact with anyone or anything outside of their own small society, and they never left the island at all. One day, a series of strange events occurred. As they were going about the daily dealings of their existence, they saw in the distance something floating on the Big Blue, and coming towards where they lived. There was fierce debate among the leaders as to whether this thing was dangerous, or whether it should be welcomed. After much thought, they decided that it was surely an enemy, because all good things were already on the island, and they needed nothing more. So, when the floater landed on the land, they rushed it, and killed the strange white men aboard without mercy, throwing all the contents of the ship overboard and eventually sinking the ship itself. A week earlier, a medical boat filled with items of humanitarian aid had left port to reach the unknown people on the island to provide better and safer medicine and care. They took no weapons, nor anything except essential supplies like food and water, alongside their stock pile of vaccinations and remedies. Landing upon the island, the crew of trained and caring healthcare professionals were all brutally killed and buried without honour in the depths of the ocean. It was all because of the fear of something new, other and unknown. Sometimes, our attitude to community with other people can be like the attitude of the tribesman. We see approaching something entirely different to us, and we are afraid; it might hurt us, even (God forbid) change us. But actually, our attitude needs to be like that of the medical professionals. We need to be prepared to go to a place unknown and unwelcoming to be of benefit to them; not because they have necessarily asked us to, but because we know it to be true that we can help them, they can doubtless enrich us in our own experience. Be saved together. Next time you're about to go and spend some time with a bunch of believers, remember that it's all about being saved together. We are saved; together. We are redeemed people of God, and we are designed by Him to be that way. Our fellowship together needs to be two things, in the primary: Physical
I cannot comprehend the idea of an internet church. I'm very sorry to any who are sincerely involved in such a thing, but I cannot accept it as the biblical model of the body of Christ. We are to be actually, and really, spending physical time in the same place together. Often, we might not want to. It's certainly easier sometimes to deal with things coldly and objectively by email; but in reality, we are called to be together in one place. The book of Hebrews says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Heb. 10:24-25). Emotional
Christian fellowship must always flee the 'church-face' shenanigan. We cannot have it; our relationships toward one another must be real, so that we can pray. That doesn't mean you have to pour out all the secrets of your heart to every Christian you know; but it certainly DOES mean that if a Christian asks, in true love and concern, how you are doing, you should be prepared to talk to them honestly, because they are your family. Our connection and concern for others must be a genuine one; not one contrived and false out of a sense of obligation, but a true enjoining of spirit, as we labour together to share Christ with this fallen world, and spur one another on in the faith. Can I recommend that you watch this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRUJrjUGGfg Every blessing as you consider these things. In Christ, Arron
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