The Advance Party

St Paul often reminds us that God's plan is to have all His creation reconciled and living in peaceful relationship with Him and each other.
For example:

... God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 
[1 Timothy 2 : 3, 4  KJV]

Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 
[Ephesians 1 : 9 - 10  ESV]

If this is God's intention, then before the end of time, He needs to give everyone the opportunity to discover Jesus and what He has done for them.
Clearly that's not happening right now, so the time for the completion of God's plan must still be in the future.

Enter "The Advance Party".
In previous posts I have often referred to the Body of Christ as the Advance Party.
What do I mean by this description?
The Advance Party is a familiar term in other settings. 
For example, in an exploration mission, an advance party is often selected to go ahead and decide on the direction the whole party should take.
In a combat offensive, an advance party usually goes ahead to determine the strength and positions held by the enemy.
As a young Uni student I had a vacation job with a company that harvested and processed crops of peas and it was my job to go ahead of the harvesters and determine the readiness of crops by testing samples, the first fruits.

First Fruits of harvest functions in a similar way to its namesake in an exploration expedition (or even in an offensive combat undertaking) that goes on ahead to prepare the way for the main party (or troops). 
For Israel in Bible times, "First Fruits" refers to the first portion of the crop to ripen and was dedicated to God. They were a sample of what the ripened crop would be and a pledge or guarantee of the complete crop to be harvested at the appropriate time in the future.
Indeed, the nation of Israel itself was called the First Fruits from among the nations (Jeremiah 2 : 3)

In a similar way, Jesus was referred to as the First Fruits of the rest of mankind who are to be resurrected as He was. (1 Corinthians 15 : 20 - 23)

In the Scriptures the Body of Christ is referred to as the first fruits of the harvest of all mankind.

The Jewish Christians (Messianic Jews) of the first century were called First Fruits (James 1 :18) and were joined by Gentile Christians to become the Advance Party, the Body of Christ, of all mankind.

God is currently preparing this Advance Party for governing roles in tomorrow's world. 

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 
[Ephesians 2 : 10  NIV]

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
[Revelation 2 : 26  NIV]

What a privilege to be called and to be trained to rule with Christ and to teach under Him when He comes in His Kingdom.
Others, not so called and trained now, or in previous ages, will be called and led to salvation in that glorious future.

Blessings, Barry

Other published Writings at https://www.ibtechservices.com.au

God So Loved the World

 Probably the most well-known Bible verse is John 3 : 16.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

It is most often taught in Christian churches that this verse means that those who believe in God's Son will live forever in heaven, and that non-believers will perish. And this perishing is usually described as enduring eternal torment in a place called hell.

We have been given this interpretation on the basis of common doctrines held dear by much of the Christian religion.
Regular readers of this BLOG know that many of these common doctrines don't stand the scrutiny of clear thinking.
As Oswald Chambers has suggested, "The first thing that goes when you begin to think is your theology."

So let's analyse this verse after re-quoting it from a more literal translation.
Here are two literal renditions:

For God so loved the cosmos as to give the Son, the only one, so that everyone having faith in him might not perish, but have the life of the Age. [DBH]

for God did so love the world, that His Son—the only begotten—He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during. [YLT]

Firstly, let's notice that it is God's love for the cosmos, the whole world, that prompted the sending of his Son.
Other consequences of this cosmos-wide focus are mentioned in other writings of John, in both his historical records and in his writings to early churches.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
[John 1 : 9  NIV]

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
[John 3 : 17  NIV]

"If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."
[John 12:47  NIV]

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
[1 John 4 : 14  NIV]

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
[1 John 2 : 2  NIV]

Secondly, let's notice that a more literal translation describes the life being promised as "the life of the Age" or age-during life, and not "eternal life" as most of our popular traditional translations do.
And which age is this?
Some call it the Messianic Age, some the Kingdom Age, some the Millennium, and some the New Heaven and Earth, depending on their currently held end-times theology.
 
Regardless of the name, we are discussing an age - a period of time with a beginning and an end. It is certainly not eternal - a timelessness realm or a period of endless time.

And thirdly, although eternal life is the end result for everyone ...

Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us.
[1 Corinthians 15 : 22 CEV]

Jesus said, "... And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
[John 12 : 32  NIV]

this "life in the Age" or age-during life is only for those having faith in Jesus.
 
Clearly, only those who have heard the good news of what Jesus has done for them and have been given the faith to believe such an incredible story will have life in that Age, will be spiritually alive, and therefore not perishing.

... we place our confidence in the living God. He is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
[1 Timothy 4 : 10  GW]

The especially ones, the believers, have life in the Age - rather than having to wait for the arrival of the eternal realm at the conclusion of the ages, as everyone else does.

So this well-known verse, when correctly translated, is not talking about eternity, but about participation in the kingdom that precedes the eternal realm.  Jesus was promising life during that age to his followers, those who believed in him.

Blessings, Barry

The Doctrine of Reserve

In my research on the views held by the ancient Church Fathers on the subject of universal salvation of all (USOA), I found something I wasn't even looking for.

Before I disclose my surprise discovery, let me share three related personal experiences as a believer in, and teacher of, USOA.

1. I had a very close friend with whom I enjoyed regular fruitful discussions about the Bible and church life generally.
He would always agree that the Bible did indeed seem to teach USOA, and that he would like to believe it, but it just seemed too far of a stretch and, in any case, contradicted what his church leadership had taught over his lifetime in the church.
He always confessed that he could not fault my exegesis of the Scriptures on this matter, but was unable to dismiss his longstanding position that was formed and frequently reinforced by decades of prior teaching.

2. Interestingly, in one of the churches he belonged to, I was told that I would be welcome to become a member provided I didn't share my views on USOA with other members of the congregation.

3. For over 20 years, my circle of friends included several church ministers of various denominations. One of them confided that he would like to believe in USOA, but even if he did, he would not be able to publicly support or preach it. Why?
Firstly, he would probably lose his denominational ministry position, and consequently his livelihood.
Secondly, he believed preaching USOA could easily lead some of his congregants to careless living and even gross sinning, because they might assume there were no longer any consequences for personal sin.

All three personal experiences were examples of the outworking of my surprise discovery in the writings of ancient Church Fathers - the doctrine of Reserve.

Although I had personally seen it in action, as described above, I had no idea it was a widely practised doctrine of the Christian Church, beginning right back in the second century AD.

So what is the doctrine of Reserve?
This doctrine teaches that it is right to withhold or disguise, or even deny, any Biblical truth if there is sufficient reason for doing so.

It was thought that it was perfectly alright for Church Fathers to hold or reserve the "deeper truths" for themselves, and to consider the people not ready for them. These were professional secrets, and it was considered not wise to confuse or confound the common people.

One such deeper truth that suffered, and still suffers, under this doctrine was USOA. Many of the Church Fathers reserved their belief in the USOA for themselves, and for other "doctors of divinity", but felt that it was not safe for the multitude, and so they taught them endless torment.

USOA is thought by some to be a recently invented belief used to attract people from our "everyone gets a prize" generation.
Not so! It seems the ancient Church Fathers held this belief, even though they were careful to keep it hidden from the masses.
 
Blessings, Barry

What's Next?

Where have I been?
What have I been doing?

Very reasonable questions given my last post was in October and nothing new has appeared on the Worksite Blog or the main Website for several months also.

Apart from time spent in medical waiting rooms and attending funerals (many of my friends are dying), I have been studying topics other than those specifically relevant to this BLOG.

If you've read the Preface to "The Really Good News About God", you will know that my earliest serious Bible studies were in eschatology - until I ran into the question, "What happens to those who have never heard the good news about Jesus?"

This began a search that spanned a few decades and resulted in sermons, writings, this BLOG, and the book mentioned above being published almost ten years ago.

During my "absence" (and a bit more) I have been studying eschatology again. I have explored most of the common views, and a couple of the less common ones, and have tried to put one together for myself using the "good" bits from the others.

However I found both good and not so good points and arguments in every one of them (including my own) and have come to the conclusion that creating an end-times scenario that is Biblically supported at every point is beyond us mere creatures, and is only totally known by The Creator.

So although eschatology is of great and enduring interest to me (now spanning about sixty years), I am returning my major study efforts and writing to the extravagant grace of God and His plan for the eventual reconciliation of the whole of creation to Himself.

So there will be a few new posts here, but my major emphasis will be producing an updated version of "The Really Good News About God".

Although I don't plan to change the popular style of the present book, I do want to make it a little more robust by including (maybe as appendices) things like:
A Scripture Index to the book
A Response to common objections to the theme of the book
An historical journey through the opinions of the early church fathers regarding universal reconciliation.
A Study Guide for Bible Study groups.
 
Even though I work more slowly these days, and therefore my days fill up more quickly, and my mind does drift off to other interests (particularly eschatology), it would be good to see this new project completed and published by the tenth anniversary of the publication of the first edition.

Your comments, as always, are most welcome and appreciated, especially those that challenge opinions I express, and which cause me to "think some more".

Blessings, Barry

Voting NO is Gracious to All

Hosting a BLOG that focuses on God's grace can easily attract criticism of any position I take that some readers might consider ungracious.

In Australia we are soon to vote at a referendum designed to change our Constitution so that Indigenous Australians have a greater influence in the design and implementation of the laws that govern our nation than non-indigenous Australians would have.

I am urging my family and friends to vote NO to this change, a position which is considered by some to be ungracious to the 3% of Australians who are Indigenous.
There are many social, political and legal reasons why I support a NO vote, but my main concern is that to vote yes would be ungracious to the 97% of Australians who would be denied this extra privilege.

Australia is a democracy in which all citizens are equal before the law and have an equal opportunity to influence those who make those laws through their local members of parliament and senators, and more broadly through the ballot box each three years.
To maintain this equality is being gracious to all Australians, including those of Indigenous ancestry.

Additionally, I would say that voting yes is ungodly as well.
Since God is no respecter of persons and loves all His creation equally, then for me as a Christian to support any action that unfairly advantages one group over all others would be an ungodly one.

As a Christian supporter of democracy I can only vote NO.

Blessings, Barry

WorkSpace Introduction

As regular readers of this BLOG know, my Bible Study aims to discover what the Bible reveals about God and His plans for us, both on this planet and beyond, without being restricted by traditional church creeds or doctrinal positions.

During 2023 I intend to commence a second BLOG called Barry's Work Space with an eschatological (end times) focus. It will provide a peek into my current research notes and an invitation for readers to discuss or debate these with me.

Please use the "Post a Comment" link for your discussion or debate, and offer appropriate Biblical support for any different points of views that you advocate.

Although I am now in my 80's, I consider my beliefs open to refinement and possible change, especially in eschatology, as I continue to grow and learn.
So don't be surprised if you challenge a point of view and receive a response from me like, "I agree. I've changed my mind since I wrote that note - and I'll tell you why." 

The new WorkSpace BLOG will be located at https://barrysworkspace.blogspot.com and my regular readers of this GraceSpace BLOG are invited to join me on this exciting journey of (end times) exploration. 

Blessings, Barry

Why Did Jesus Die?

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden there were several physical consequences for each of them, like toil to produce food and labour in childbirth.

However, this did not match God's original consequence that they would die.
Given that they didn't physically die the moment they disobeyed God, the death God was meaning had to be spiritual.
Yes, they immediately became mortal having lost their immortality, their God-likeness, their means of close fellowship/friendship with God, with which they were originally created.

So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,
[Genesis 1 : 27 GNB]

In the New Testament, the Greek word for sin means "missing the mark" or "missing the target".
So their sin of disobeying God missed the target of obeying their Creator which resulted in the sin of spiritual death, thus missing the target of immortality, God-likeness, and close fellowship/friendship with God.

Consequently, all humans since that time have inherited Adam's death, his mortality, his loss of God-likeness.

Therefore, just as sin entered into the cosmos through one man, and death through sin, so also death pervaded all humanity, whereupon all sinned.
[Romans 5 : 12  DBH]

We (all humanity) have inherited immortality (death); consequently (whereupon) we have all missed the target (sinned).

Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, as a human, to fix the condition Adam inflicted upon us.
Although He was sinless and lived in relationship with and dependence on God, the sins of all of us were placed on the innocent Jesus, and He did the dying on our behalf.
How do we know?

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
[Matthew 27 : 45, 46  NIV]

Jesus so carried humanity's sin of immortality, estrangement from God, that He experienced it in full measure on the cross.

Consequently, fellowship/friendship is restored for all through Jesus, and we become aware of it as God enables us to hear and believe this good news and implants His Spirit in us.
The Apostle John describing his time on earth with Jesus says:

That which we have seen and heard we are reporting to you also, that you too may be having fellowship with us, and yet this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ."
[1 John 1 : 3  CLV]

And to demonstrate the job has been completed?
Jesus came to life showing mortality and death had been conquered.
He then ascended to heaven demonstrating the estrangement with God had been completely resolved.

His death did it all; and his resurrection showed that it had been done.
Jesus died for us, so we no longer need to.

Accordingly:.
All are now reconciled to God, whether everyone knows it or not.
All must include everyone, not just believers as much of the institutional church regularly preaches.

And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone.
[1 John 2 : 2  GNB]

So pagans, Hindus, Muslims,and atheists are all included in the rescue operation, not because of what they currently believe or do, but because of what Jesus has done, which they will eventually discover and be given the faith to believe later in their time on earth or later beyond that time.

Some Christians who meet a person of another faith, or of no faith, see them as a "lost cause".
However, knowing what Jesus has done for all should prompt them to remember that Jesus died for these "lost causes" too and will eventually be saved from their estrangement from God, as they were.

God's unconditional love is unstoppable - it is that great!

Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
[1 Corinthians 13 : 7  GNB]

Blessings, Barry
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Other published Writings at https://www.ibtechservices.com.au