Adoption Theology

The Orthodox Study Bible repeatedly emphasizes the theology of adoption in its explanatory notes.  This is laudable, since Protestants generally neglect this important way to understand our own salvation. 

 

We know several adoptees personally, and it is good to meditate on the fact that we are all adopted sons and daughters of the King.  In this regard, the Study Bible’s notes to Luke 3:23-38 (the geneology of Joseph and of Jesus) are particuarly moving: “Jesus was born to bring all mankind into adoption by the Father, and thus He affirms that a lineage of adoption is as binding and receives the same inheritance as a lineage of blood (Gal 4:4-7).”

 

(A good essay on this is C.N. Wilborn, “Adoption:  A Historical Perspective with Evangelical Implications” in Sanctification: Growing in Grace, eds. Joseph A. Pipa, Jr. & J. Andrew Wortman, 2001.  Wilborn quotes Robert Smith Candlish:  “The more I think of it, the more I am disposed to regret that the subject of adoption, or sonship of believers, has been so little made account of in our Reformation theology.  It seems to me to be the appropriate crown of Calvinism…”) 

Pseudo-Scholarship & Opportunities to Evangelize

Darrell Bock has good observations and advice on how to deal with the all the media hype about the “latest-greatest Jesus”.  The bottom line is that all the interest in works like The Da Vinci Code and the tomb of James, “the brother of Jesus” present a wonderful opportunity to evangelize.  The problem is that most Christians don’t know enough history to combat the silliness of Hollywood or the one-sided scholarship of much Jesus research.  Tolle lege–take up those church history books and read!  The fields are ripe for a harvest!

Noah and Deucalion

Theophilus of Antioch (115-c. 181) notes an interesting connection between Noah and the mythical Greek character, Deucalion.  In his long treatise “To Autolycus,” Theophilus argues that the Bible is older than Greek mythology.  Along with other church fathers, Theophilus also contends that whatever was true or noble in Greek mythology was borrowed from Biblical truth. 

He draws this similarity bewteen Noah and Deucalion: “Noah, when he announced to the men then alive that there was a flood coming, prophesied to them, saying, Come hither, God calls you to repentence.  On this account he was fitly called Deucalion,” (Theophilus to Autolycus, III.xix ).  The editor explains that “Deucalion” derives from the Greek words, “Deute” (come) and “kaleo” (I call).  I don’t know whether this connection would hold up in a court of modern philology, but it ties in nicely with what 2 Peter 2:5 tells us about Noah, namely that he was a “herald [preacher] of righteousness” (ESV).  Perhaps the Greeks had some dim memory of this truth as they told the story of Deucalion. Theophilus also states, cryptically: “And of the ark, the remains are to this day to be seen in the Arabian mountains.” 

Jesus is a Complete Savior

J.C. Ryle anticipated a number of current controversies as he wrote in the Victorian period.  Of course, this proves that there is nothing new under the sun.  I found the following spot-on in regard to the Lordship controversy (though I’m not sure it’s actually a controversy anymore):

“Jesus is a complete Saviour.  He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin.  He does more–He breaks its power. (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 12:10.)” (Holiness, 49).

Academic Mission Opportunity

I came across an exciting mission opportunity for academics. This organization sends Christian teachers into other countries, finding positions for them in secular universities. A quote on their home-page says it all:

“The university is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world. Change the university and you change the world,” declared Dr. Charles Malik, former president of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.

Dispensational Anti-Semitism

Hal Lindsey wrote a book (which I own as a curiosity) in which he accused Theonomic Reconstructionists of anti-semitism.  The basic argument seems to be that theonomists believe the Church has replaced ethnic Israel, and this will lead to all sorts of end-of-the-world bad things.  However, I would suggest that radical Dispensationalists have a huge anti-semitic beam in their own eye.  The problem is with two verses in Matthew (23:36 and 24:34) and with the meaning of the word “generation.”

Matthew 24:34 reads: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  The Greek word for generation is “genea” (genea.n).  Charles Ryrie helpfully explains this away for us: “No one living when Jesus spoke these words lived to see ‘all these things’ come to pass.  However, the Greek word can mean ‘race’ or ‘family,’ which makes good sense here; i.e., the Jewish race will be preserved, in spite of terrible persecution, until the Lord comes” (Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition).   One reason for this “terrible persecution” may be slips of logic like this.  Let’s look at some of the other things Jesus said about that “generation”:

 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation(ESV, emphasis mine).

The Greek word here “genea” (genea.) is the same as in 23:36.  So, did Jesus really mean that the Jewish race would be punished forever for killing the prophets from Abel to Zechariah?  Of course, we need to add the execution of the Prophet Jesus to that list.  If this is true, then why do people complain about Christians persecuting Jews throughout history?  According to Ryrie’s logic, this is simply the will of God!  Or, did the meaning of “genea” suddenly switch between chapters?  It maketh no sense.

A more sane way to read these passages, though it may appear harsh, is to say that God did indeed judge that generation of Jews in 70 AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.  That was it.  No further punishment needed.  Any mistreatment of Jews because they are Jews (whatever that means now, in the New Covenant) is wrong and sinful.  Period.  That generation did reject Jesus and they were judged for it.  Their house really was left desolate (Matt. 23:38).  And, of course, it makes more sense to read most of Matthew 24 as fulfilled in the 1st century.  But, that’s a much bigger point… At the least, Dispensational exegesis is not consistent with the plain meaning of Greek words.  At the worst, some Hitler wanna-be could read their exegesis and find himself a handy proof-text. 

John 3:16

Mark Horne has an unusual, but I think helpful, angle on interpreting John 3:16.  Many Calvinists seem to be exegetical trapeze artists as they try to reconcile the “world” with the “elect”.  Horne stays within Jesus’ own universe of discourse, like N.T. Wright does, and the text seems to come out fine. 

I would also suggest that since Jerusalem was the symbolic center of the world, the actions of the reprobate Jews were paradigmatic of how rest of the reprobate cosmos responds to Jesus. 

Yahweh’s Sovereignty in Joel

I’ll be preaching through Joel in the coming months.  I’ve always been fascinated by this minor prophet, and I’m quickly learning there’s nothing minor about him!

I only had funds to buy one commentary (besides my staples of Calvin and Matthew Henry), and so far, David Allen Hubbard’s volume in the Tyndale OT Commentary has been both erudite and fun to read.  Commentaries sometimes make exegeting Scripture drudgery, but Hubbard actually knows how to write:

“Yahweh’s sovereignty over creation is one of Joel’s strong emphases.  There is no hint of any source of the locust invasion.  Yahweh is responsible for both the sending (2:11) and the withdrawing of his army (2:20).  In both judgment and restoration Yahweh holds sway over the creation in such a way that the Hebrews can hold no view of nature as a set of laws or pattern that operate on their own, independent of the Lord’s control” (34).

Joel was a good Calvinist! 

Did Adam Eat?

During our fellowship meal at Providence Church, I was stunned by an obvious question I had never considered: Did Adam and Eve need to eat?  Could they starve themselves?  Since “death came to all men” as a result of sin and the Fall (Ro. 5:12), would Adam and Eve have died if they did not eat, before the Fall?

I came up with two answers.  First, God created food to be eaten (Gen. 1:29) and gave Adam permission to eat of every tree, except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:16-17), so we can assume God also created Adam and Even with a desire to eat.  Perhaps their eating would be a pleasurable eating, and not the driving hunger we experience now.  Since everything has been affected by the Fall, it’s safe to guess their desire for food would have been different than ours.   Perhaps it was like our sexual desires: a genuine desire and need, but not essential for sustaining our lives.

But, the second answer makes some of that speculation unneccessary.  If we read Genesis closely, we see that God gave Adam permission to eat from every tree, except from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and this would include the permission to eat from Tree of Life.  It was only after the Fall that eating from the Tree of Life became a problem, since Adam and Eve would live forever in the torments of sin.  They would have entered Hell.

Since Adam and Eve probably fell in the course of one day, we can assume they had not yet eaten of the Tree of Life.  But, had they not fallen, they would have been granted to eat of that Tree.  They would have a God-given desire to eat, and God would grant them eternal life through eating a sacramental fruit. 

This provides some background for Jesus calling himself the Bread from Heaven (John 6:51).  God has always given eternal life through created matter.  He could give us grace directly, but he has ordained to bless us through created means, like water (Baptism) and bread and wine (Lord’s Supper).

Elijah & John the Baptist

Dillard and Longman point out some fascinating parallels between Elijah & John the Baptist. I’ll paraphrase a bit …

1. Both Elijah and John dress in the same, retro style.

2. Both Elijah and John are hunted by deadly, scheming chicks.

3. Both Elijah and John “anointed their successors at the Jordan River” (166).

4. Elijah’s successor Elisha does a bunch or miracles. John’s successor Jesus, of course, does a bunch of miracles. Additionally, Elisha and Jesus do many of the same types of miracles. Matt. 11:4-5, “is largely a list of the miracles of Elisha” (167). Dillard and Longman give more details and evidence for this claims, but those interested can read it for themselves …

Robes of Glory

Reflecting on Exodus 28: Aaron and his sons must be clothed in glory and beauty in order to minister in the tabernacle-their natural infirmity must be covered over by “cunning” and “curious” workmanship. When Adam and Eve fell, God had to clothe them before sending them out to take dominion over the cursed earth. When the priests, the fallen sons of Adam and Eve, enter back into the Tabernacle (which clearly manifested Garden imagery) they must be covered/clothed by God before entering into this liturgical service. God must beautify us before letting us into the sanctuary. The priests must be sanctified and glorified through artistic means before they step up onto the altar.

In contrast, Christ (our great High Priest), was stripped naked on the high altar of the cross. He had no natural infirmity which needed to be covered over. Though all the burning shame of our sins were imputed to him in that moment, still the glory of his sinless flesh shone forth in that glorious nakedness. Perhaps we obtain glimpses of that sinless state in the covenantal union of marriage–a taste of the Garden of Eden–of the coming eschaton when we shall shine in all the glory of Christ’s righteousness. 2 Chronicles 6:41 “… let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.”

God has now, already, clothed us with righteousness (Ro. 13:14; Gal. 3:27). In heaven, we will wear white robes of Christ’s beautiful righteousness. We will be perfect works of art.