THE WILL AND CALL OF GOD
- REPRESENTING GOD IN HIS WORLD

1. INTRODUCTION

2. REPRESENTING GOD

• God's purpose for Humanity: Humanity representing God to the rest of Creation. Genesis 1:26-28. Image of God is not just a static notion like a Greek icon, which we look at, but something more active. It is more like being an ambassador. There are four elements of representing God, of which humanity representing God to the rest of Creation is one: Blessing the rest of creation, such that as it experiences humanity it is as though it were experiencing something of God. God is love [I John] so humanity should be love to rest of creation. This seems to be the sense of the 'dominion' or rulership that we have (Hebrew 'radah'. Blessing the rest of creation means tending, leading, developing it for its sake - like shepherds do with sheep, gardeners with a garden. But humanity turned away from God's Purpose, and wanted to be a prince rather than a shepherd, wanted blessing for itself rather than to bless the rest of creation.

• God's purpose for Israel: Israel representing God to the nations. This is the second element: Showing God and His ways. Israel were given the law and were called to live it out, to show to the rest of the nations how God's ways work out in everyday life as a nation. This included many blessings from God, such as victory over enemies, prosperity, etc. when they were faithful to God.

• God's purpose for Prophets: Prophets representing God to his people. The third element: Telling the oracles and other messages of God to His people. Verbal.

• God's purpose in Jesus: Jesus Christ is God representing Himself to us, among us. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed One, the One who is sent by God. Christians believe Jesus to be God in human form, but in a mysterious way. Jesus fulfilled all three of the above elements - Showing what God is like, telling the messages of God, blessing those around - but he added a fourth: Achieving God's 'project'. Jesus not only showed, told and blessed, but he also achieved the central part of God's Plan in this world, that of Salvation - enabling us to be right with God, and to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, so that human beings could be restored to their true meaningfulness in God's Plan.

• God's purpose for Us: We are called to carry on Jesus' work by representing God to people and world in all four ways. This is for those who have come to Christ, relying of Him to put them right with God, and allowing the Holy Spirit of God to live in them and make them what they were intended to be, so that they will again treat all creation as God would, with love and wisdom. For more on this, see Three Dimensions of Salvation. We are called to live not for ourselves but as as representatives of God as He revealed Himself in Jesus Christ.

The Four Ways We Are Called to Represnt God

• Showing. Acts 1:8 "witnesses". Matthew 5:13 "Light to the world". I Pet 2:9 "holy .. that ye may show forth".

• Telling. II Tim 4:2 "Preach the word" Phil 1:14 "boldly speak the word"

• Blessing. Gen 12:3. Matthew 5:13-14 Light, Salt. Gal 6:10 "Do good". Romans 8:19 "Creation eager".

• Achieving. We are called to achieve God's purposes. II Cor 6:1 Paul speaks of being "workers together with Him". John 14:12 Jesus says that His followers will do "greater works" than He Himself did.

3. PRIVILEGES OF THOSE WHO REPRESENT GOD

• God effects His work through us. His 'projects'.
• Meaningfulness. I Pet 2:9
• Joy. I Pet 1:8
• Christlikeness: holiness, character, mindset. Gal 5:22-3, Rm 12:2
• Continuing forgiveness. I John 1:9
• Provision, power. Miracles etc. Mt. 6:25-34
• Persecution. II Tim 3:12
• God's Presence. Heb 13:5

4. CHALLENGES OF THOSE WHO REPRESENT GOD

"He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will find it."

The Greek word for 'life' is not the bodily life (zoe) but rather the mental life, the life of the emotions, psuche. It is often translated 'soul'. But by 'soul' Jesus did not mean some spiritual 'essence', but rather our dynamic life in which mental activity and emotions play important parts. A couple of years ago a hoarding appeared that said "There are countries that nourish the soul" - referring to rest, comfort, pleasure, delight, etc. This is what psuche refers to.

So, what does this mean for us? It means that if we seek to protect our comforts, our conveniences, our pleasures, then we will lose them and indeed our very selves. But if we give up ourselves for Him and the good news and Kingdom of God, then we will have plenty of the privileges above.

Heart

God looks on the heart, rather than on our outward appearances. The heart involves, not so much our feelings, as our personality, our attitude, our mindset, and our deepest commitment in life. All four require radical root change:

• Our Personality. The Holy Spirit must be allowed to grow His fruit, Gal 5:22-3

• Our Attitude. "Have this mind in you, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not think that equality with God was a thing to grasp [c.f. Luke 9, "save his life"], but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant ..." Phil 2:5.

• Our Mindset (aspirations, expectations, assumptions). "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Rom 12:2. The Greek word 'minds' there does not refer to mental activity, but to 'mindset', to the way we see things. To our aspirations, expectations, assumptions.

• Our Deepest commitment (to God & His project, or to self, or to an idol) Luke 9:23-4, Matthew 6:33 "Seek first God's kingdom and his rightness, ..."

It is these things that determine what lifestyle we adopt.

Louie Giglio talks about us not following our own little projects, but rather having the privilege of being involved in God's Project. That is what Jesus calls us to. Henry Blackaby has famously said that the role and duty of the church is "to find out where God is working, and join Him there."

5. WHERE GOD IS WORKING

In most of these movements of God, new blessing came to the world. But in most of these movements of God, the main Church opposed it, rather than welcomed it. Each demanded a new heart - new attitudes, new mindsets, new aspirations, new expectations, new lifestyles. In most, a new theology had to be worked out, and this theology did not replace or deny the earlier ones, but built on them.

So it is today. Today, there are at least two new movements of God:

For each, a new theology is needed that builds on, rather than supplants, previous ones. For each, God's people are called to new aspirations, new expectations, new purpose in life.

Work Among Muslims

There needs to be a new working out of the spiritual status of Islam, and how Jesus Christ relates to it. The old ideas, that it is a demonic or rival religion, will no longer do.

Caring for Creation

Creation care as God working? There have been an enormous and increasing burgeoning of evangelicals writing about God's call to care for the earth, for the non-human creation. And action. It is not to be seen as following a fad of the world; rather, since humanity is now, for the first time in history, affecting the planet itself. Revelation 11:18 tells us:

"The time has come ... to destroy those who destroy the earth."

Since God has been known to move in the hearts of other people, so it may be that He is working today to bring concern. And the real solution to our environmental problems is not primarily economic, educational or political, but spiritual: Humankind needs to turn to Christ and let Him fill us with His Holy Spirit to grow his fruit in us, make us mature 'sons' (Greek hious) who are so like their Father that they will act towards the rest of creation as He would. See Romans 8:19-23. I have tried to work out a new theology for this.

We need new attitudes. New expectations. New lifestyles. New commitments. To see God's kingdom in new ways.

6. THE EXAMPLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

New era: Never before humanity impacts the very planetary systems. First in pollution of seas and rivers. And in Ozone Layer hole. Now, much more and much more seriously, in regard to climate change.

Briefly, climate change occurs because:

• With increased greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and some others), earth radiates less energy into space than it receives from the sun. So more energy is stored in earth's atmosphere and seas.
• More energy in atmosphere and seas means more violent storms more frequently. It also means slight increase in water and atmosphere temperatures.
• Slight increased temperature leads to melting of land ice, which increases sea levels.
• Ice melt uncovers land and sea that can absorb more sun - so it warms, and melts ice faster. Also releases methane, a greenhouse gas. Vicious circle, possibly leading to a 'tipping point'.
• It also changes global wind patterns, meaning huge shifts in climate. e.g. UK will get colder winters.

Some Effects on populations and biology:

• More storms and rising sea levels: floods in low lying lands like Bangladesh. Disasters.
• Much of Sub-saharan Africa will become arid and almost unliveable
• Better harvests in UK (an already-rich country)
• Worse harvests in equatorial countries (the poor countries)
• Warmer seas --> less fish life

Some Economic Effects:

• Rich countries even richer, poor countries even poorer
• Huge migrations
• Water wars?

Source of Greenhouse gases:

• Oil, gas, coal, wood burning ("Must keep lights on, homes overwarm")
• Car use, Plane flights ("so convenient, cheap, comfortable")
• Product demand, manufacture, transportation ("Must have new phone")
• (Beef-eating, more cows, more CH4, etc. "I want steak")
• Cutting down trees ("We need palm oil, fuel oil")

Lifestyle Challenges:

• Less car use (every mile we drive contributes to climate change, so only drive when necessary)

• Less flying (every hour we fly generates equivalent of 1500 miles of car use) So never fly, except in exceptional need.

• Demand fewer products (manufacture and storage generate climate change emissions)

• Use local, not international, products as far as possible (transport of products, especially from China: global shipping apparently generates more climate change than global flying, because of its huge volume)

• Change the products we use, especially food. Eat less meat, refuse rainforest products, etc. Keeping and feeding cows generates a lot of climate change emissions, so eat less beef especially.

Some excuses:

• "But cars and flights are necessary for the economy." In the early 1800s they said that about slavery too. They were wrong.

• "But I don't have enough time to catch buses" Make time. Are all your journeys necessary before the Throne of God? (which is a different question from "Can you justify them somehow?")

• "Must fly; train takes so long." Who gives you time: you or God? Will He not give you enough time to do the right thing? Actually, do you really need to make that journey? Why? (Answer as though answering to God.)

• "But I like beef" Learn to like something else? Why not? And, do you always (before God) have a right to what you happen to like?

• "But I must give the best to my guests" Who are your guests? Those who will pay you back with invitations? Those you want to impress? Jesus said something about that.

• "But I want the new version of the ipad" Why do you want it? Answer as before God. Is your aesthetic sensibility more important than other people's life-needs?

• "But local products are not so good" Do you have an absolute right to the best? Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.

• "But hasn't God given us dominion, so we can do what we like?" No. Dominion is not of that kind; the kind you are talking about is the kind condemned by God in the shepherds of Israel in Ezekiel 34. See See 'radah'.

• "But do we need to look after the world; won't this world be burned up?" Probably not. It will be purified or 'revealed' through fire, not destroyed - if you look a the Greek that Peter used in the passage that seems to suggest burning.

• Many other excuses.

Most of these excuses arise from an impure heart, a heart turned away from the Living God. Watch out! Repent, before it is too late! Do not harden your heart like Pharaoh did; after a time of choosing to harden his heart, he could no longer but become hardened; he had lost the choice and was doomed. 6.2 Our Response? God giving us warning signs, like He gave His people Israel?

Rev 11:18 "The time has come for destroying those who destroy the earth".

What the Answer? Christ's salvation, Holy Spirit indwelling to change heart and lifestyle, not just character.

God's people: Take responsibility and leadership.

This page is offered to God as on-going work in developing a 'New View' in theology that is appropriate to the days that are coming upon us. Comments, queries welcome.

Copyright (c) Andrew Basden 2013, but you may use this material subject to certain conditions.

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This page, URL= "http://abxn.org/nv/talks/representing.God.html", is part of the on-going work in developing a 'New View' in theology and practice that is appropriate to the days that are coming upon us. Comments, queries welcome by emailing

       

Compiled by Andrew Basden as part of his reflections from a Christian perspective. Copyright (c) Andrew Basden to latest date below, but you may use this material for almost any purpose, but subject to certain conditions.

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