Discuss Theology

In a previous post I mentioned an Eschatology of the Resurrection. I came across N.T. Wright’s description of the centrality of the cross. Here is the quote:

“I skip to three verses almost at the end of the letter (Galatians – scj). In 6.14—16, Paul returns to what he has said in 2.11-21; the crucifixion of the Messiah means that everything has been turned inside out, not simply his own self, not simply Israel, but the entire cosmos. ‘The world is crucified to me, and I to the world.’ He thereby locates himself on the larger map of the purposes of God, which always stretched out through Israel to the restoration of the whole creation: ‘what matters is neither circumcision nor un-circumcision but new creation’. From here there is a straight line both to 2 Corinthians 5 and, more especially, to Romans 8: Paul is not just speaking of the individual Christian as a new creation, though of course that is true as well, but of the entire renewal of the cosmos in which the Christian is invited to be a participant, in the sense both of beneficiary and of agent.” Paul in Fresh Perspective, N.T. Wright, pg 114.

These are powerful words to modern evangelical libertarians/anarchists. Unfortunately I find myself in this category much too often. It was precisely the crucifixion which brought me back to wholeness within the restored, and being restored, creation. I have been made a man again, by God’s own redeeming work. Not a man of the world, but a man of the new creation. I have become, once again, one with creation (I know what that sounds like), but more importantly, restored to the image of God. And I am now a member of the Church Universal (one holy Catholic Church), not through circumcision, speaking in tongues, subscribing to a confession, evangelizing the lost, or registering as a Republican, but through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

We would declare we are saved by faith, and grace (I know they are different). Yet it’s not so much that I am a man of faith, but rather He is faithful to His covenant and covenant people. It is He who has been faithful to save His creation.