The Bible in a sentence

Colin Gunton had a conversation with John Webster "about whether one can say that there is a single leading idea in scripture" and concluded that if there is then "life" has a claim to it (p.x, Colin Gunton, The Christian Faith).

On the flip-side to this, death could also make a claim. In our recent book discussion of Harry Potter we asked whether the real enemy of the series was Voldemort or Death. I thought it was Death! The prominence of life and death in fiction reflects its pervasive presence in reality, which is just what the Bible deals with.

The Bible certainly sees death as the "last enemy to be destroyed" (1 Cor 15:26), and it is there as a threat and then presence from Genesis 2:17 to Revelation 21:8. A novel begins a story in the midst of countless other stories, and ends when that story is over even though the overlapping stories continue. Similarly, other than a bit of scene setting the Bible starts with the appearance of death, and ends when death's story ends. This is despite the eternity of incredible stories on either end. But not only does it frame the narrative of the Bible it stands at the central turning point when the Son of God died our death to bring us life.

Neither death nor life are static realities, but life is creative and death brings things to an end. Both are rich in meaning if understood Biblicaly as deeply relational, in the first instance toward the Trinity (John 6:63; 17:3) but also the whole of Creation.

The Bible has a two-beat rhythm that is initially of life-to-death, but the increasingly dominant rhythm is of death-to-life.

Therefore, if I had to sum up the Bible in a sentence, as one glittering group of people were asked, I would be tempted by JI Packer's "adoption through propitiation" or James Hamilton's "salvation through judgment", but think I'd plump for life through death.

What do you think?

The rhythm of life is a powerful beat

"The Word of God enters history both as judgement and as power of renewal. This two-beat rhythm is characteristic." (p. 120, CH Dodd, The Bible Today)

The Bible is a book with two main characters. The Actor and the Acted-upon. God is the ultimate Actor although he works through his creation, and particularly his image-bearers. Creation, and particularly Humanity are then the Acted-upon.

God (and those he works through) act in two main ways toward the Acted-upon: judgement and grace, destruction and creation, law and Gospel, or death and life.

The Actor and Acted-upon are present in all of life and all the Bible. The Act itself is always either death or life.

Jesus Christ unites in one person Creator/creation, Actor/Acted-upon. This is an incredible act of loving condescension and it is done to change the rhythm of his Action.

With Jesus there is a change in the natural rhythm of Creation post-fall. When THE Actor becomes the Acted-upon his power explodes the Act and starts something new. Whereas before the rhythm was always: life->death, life->death, life->death. He makes it death->life!

OT teachers often point to the fact that the 10 commandments start with a record of God's grace in saving his people from Egypt. Or they point out that God's grace is shown in our very creation. Grace is the foundational context and beginning of all God's dealings with us. So many argue, like Karl Barth, that we should really talk about Gospel and law, not Law and Gospel. That is fair enough in some ways, and actually it reflects human experience.

We are given life and given a wonderful law to live by, but then we sin and die. That is the rhythm of life as we know it. But the Gospel is more than the gift of life and relationship with God, it is the gift of new life and restored relationship with God through death. There was life in the old rhythm, and there is life in the new rhythm. But the new rhythm is the one we really want to grasp. It is the new rhythm that we want to see start weaving its way into our lives.

The new rhythm is jarring, and hard to get the hang of because it is so alien. We may even think that it sounds almost perverse. But that rhythm is going to take over from the old completely because the act of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection was utterly comprehensive in its scope:

• It is an individual moral thing: we put to death sin and putting on righteousness (Col 3)
• It is an individual physical thing: our body dies to be raised to new life (2 Cor 5:1-4)
• It is a corporate thing: we die to ourselves to bring life to others (2 Cor 4:11-12)
• It is a cosmic thing: the old heavens and earth will be burnt up and a new heavens and earth will replace it (2 Pet 3:10-13)

"If the witch understood the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic differently, for when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, dies in a traitor’s stead, the stone table will crack and even death itself will turn backwards" (CS Lewis, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Planning a funeral

A friend's mum has died. Her brother is a pastor and a blogger. In a very beautiful and moving post he has five thoughts on planning her funeral (in my words):

1. It need not follow the pattern of a usual public worship service.
2. It should remember and acknowledge the immediate reality of her sad death.
3. It should remember all her past life, personality and individuality.
4. It should be infused with the joy and sweetness of God's salvation.
5. It should look to the future, the last day and her resurrection.

Please read the post and pray a quick prayer for the family.

Dying well

One of many things I could do with sitting down and have a think about is how Christian's should approach their death.

Dying well was of massive importance to our ancestors but I don't think I really know what it would look like in reality. Food for thought has been provided by Mark Thompson's excellent post on death. I would encourage you to read it, as well as to read Oscar Cullmann's comparison between the death of Socrates and Christ... whether we should approach our death in the same way as Christ's is part of the big question though.