From The Ground Up

MOVED BLOG

I have moved my blog to  http://bradmfitzgerald.wordpress.com  

 

Knowing who you are

The first thing the bible tells us about ourselves is that we were made in the image of God.  

"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them." Genesis 1.26-27

Here we learn a great deal about ourselves.  Humans Beings were made intelligent, creative, moral, capable, relational etc.  Unlike animals we were created with an ability to communicate rationally and emotionally.  Of course this image was marred through sin.  But in Christ, the image of God is restored in us.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5.17

 

Being made in God’s image gives us a sense of dignity.  Knowing that we are like Him creates in us an image of value. 

 “dignity” derives from Latin – dignus = worthy

    dignitas = worth

To be made in the image of God means to have a sense of value, of self-worth, of self-esteem, of self-respect.  It means to have a good self-image.

Dignity also means beauty.  The word translated “good” in Genesis 1 can also mean “beautiful”.

 

Through sin however this self-worth was lost and replaced with a sense of shame. 

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God amongst the trees.” Genesis 3.8 

There was no longer a feeling of dignity. But the Good News is in Christ this sense of dignity is restored. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5.17.  We are now “new creations” all that God originally intended is beginning to be restored. “We are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2.10

In the Old Testament the garments of the high priest were to give them dignity and honour. "And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty." Exodus 28.2; In the New Testament reference with regard to restoration of dignity is John 8.1-11 "but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

We must realize that we are the beginning of God’s new creation.  In the first creation, God started with the world and finished with humankind.  Now he is working in reverse.  The beginning of the new creation is the Church, the Body of Christ.  The new heavens and the new earth will be the end."Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." Revelation 21.1

The Lenses We Wear - Consumerism

Following on from my last post...

In the 1920's, a man called Edward Bernays became the absolute public relations and advertising guru. He is practically unheard of today, but his role in society's cultural self-perception is mammoth. His uncle was Sigmund Freud, and he used his uncle's understanding of ego and self to change advertising forever.  Prior to him, advertising had primarily focussed on what you need, after him, the emphasis increasingly became about what you want.  The world we use for this is consumerism. It is a form of spiritual amphetamine. 

This has had a massive influence on how the gospel is understood in our churches:

'In a culture context rife with such idolatry (self-love, consumerism), a gospel that promises enriched personhood and divine favour is readily accepted as goodnews, albeit in direct competition with the alternative forms of personal fulfillment.  To place personal salvation at the cutting edge of the gospel is such a setting therefore a clear miscontextualisation.' (David Lowes Watson, Christ All in All, in Church between Gospel & Culture) 

To be honest, I struggle with having a consumerist heart and desire the materialistic  "wants" just as much as the next guy. Like in all of the ages past this particular culture is not an easy place to live out the Christian message. But this is something I am deeply working on in my own life.  It's all about getting closer to the one who calls us to follow him!

The Lenses We Wear - Individualism

Australia has been heavily influenced by the Enlightment. The Enlightment was a cultural philosophy that was becoming popular when Australia was colonised.  Our whole history as Australian "arrivals" has been lived under its shadow.  But like other cultural things, it is hard to see.  

One of the central tenents of this cultural philosophy is individualism or the "what's in it for me." Previous generations and cultures  based their identity and value in terms of community. This is not so for us.  The problem is that this can start to affect our understanding of the Gospel. Now combine individualism with consumerism and we get to see a picture of the societal philosophies in which we operate. It is really important that we realise that this is our lens in which we read Scripture and apply it to our lives.  This lens does affect our understanding as we read Scripture focused as an individual rather than as a community. We know that our Trinity God is all about community. Sure we are individuals who make up this community, but it is in this community that we find our identity. 

"Evangelical doctrines of salvation augment this emphasis. Salvation is defined in terms of the individual's coming to God.  Little is said about salvation as a communal event, of redemption as that which liberates us from ourselves into a new peoplehood.  Preaching often underlies this individualism" Roxburgh, Alan. 

Hope for Haiti Now

Just bought this album from itunes.  It is a great album. Monies from the sale of the album will be distributed to a number of aide agencies working in Haiti. Click on the pic below and it will take you to iTunes to purchase. 

  

 

John Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

John Piper discusses the heresy involved in the health and wealth or prosperity gospel... which is no gospel at all (Gal 1)

Pseudo Christian or Christian - BE not do!

We are called to BE the church not DO church!

Think about it? Comments welcome. 

Interpreting the Bible

It is important that we are equipped in interpreting the Bible.  Here are four questions to ask ourselves when we are reading Scripture:

1. What did the text mean to the biblical audience? (this should be thought about/written in past tense)

2. What are the differences between the biblical audiences and us living in today's world?

3. What are the theological principles in the text? (this should be thought about/written in present tense)

4. How should the people of God apply the theological principle in their lives today? 

Question 4 can have quite a number of different pathways to go down depending on the culture in which we live and engage.  

It is also a very good idea that if you are looking at a particular passage that you not only read that passage but read a chapter or two before it and a chapter or two after to ensure that you are picking up the context in which the passage is being told.  Often times a misinterpretation of Scripture is because it is taken out of context. 

Preacher idol

It happens so much!  The preacher on the "platform" becomes more famous and chased after than the guy he is preaching about.  It is time that the Christian body looked to Jesus and chased after Him rather than the man or woman up on the platform talking about Him.We are the disciples of Jesus not that of any of the "celebrity" preachers around the place.

There is only one God!

Celebrity Idol

Lots of people were talking about Michael Jackson today as the news was full of his memorial events taking place.  I heard one guy today say to someone, Michael dying has made me think when one of the big guys go you realise that you and I as small people could go at anytime, anywhere. 

It made me realise how we hold celebrities up to be immortal.  We are always shocked when the "big" people die and makes us think if it can happen to them then it can definitely happen to us.  We hold these celebrities to be our immortal heroes. They are in fact only human just like us. 

 

Who is your hero? Who are you following? Are you looking up to and chasing after the guy who died on a cross on to rise again to beat death and set us free.

 

The only immortal hero, Jesus.