A. The Holy Spirit is a gift from Jesus to his followers. It is a part of him that he gives to each of us in order that we might strive to become like him. Since the Spirit resides in every believer, it helps us as a whole when we come together to unite us. You could liken it to a catalyst in a chemical reaction, in that it helps to inspire, ignite, motivate us to do God's will. It basically, takes what we already have and works with it in order to accomplish God's will. It does this through providing each of us with a different gift. Different in that each gift is unique to the individual. Two people may each receive the gift of prophecy, however, each person will use it differently, based on their personal experience and speaking style. The power of the Spirit is the ability of us to be able to connect to God, but it does not have the power to over come our own free will. It is much like the character of Jiminy Cricket in the movie Pinocchio. Jiminy could tell Pinocchio what was good to do, but he couldn't force him to do it, which is evident by the fact that Pinocchio started to turn into a donkey.
B. The incarnation acts as a bridge in which the world crosses over in order to be filled with the Spirit of Christ and become a part of the community of Christ. The figure on page 193 shows the world on the outside separated by a solid line which correlates to the separation of God from worldly sin. In order to step over that line a person has to believe in Jesus. And why Jesus and not God? Because, Jesus was the one who came to this earth and lived among us. He is the one who took all of our sins upon him. Jesus is the one who will stand in front of us so that when we stand before God all God will see is Jesus and not our old, sinful worldly selves.
C. Christ's three-fold apostolic ministry relationship to the kingdom of God can be explained by looking at Isaiah 55:10-11 "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
This is an example of the water cycle. My seven year-old daughter learned about the water cycle in science last year. In Down Comes the Rain, she learned that first it rains (precipitation), and then the sun comes out and dries up the rain and turns it into water vapor (evaporation). Next the water vapor collects together into clouds and eventually the clouds get so full that the water vapor turns back into water (condensation). This water can be in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail. This verse shows us how God provides for us by giving us the water cycle. (Branley 1997, 4-32) A cycle that ensures the earth continues to grow and blossom and provide for his people. If we take the same idea and apply it to God’s word then we have an example of the “Word of God” cycle. First, you have God telling his people what to do through prophets (oration). The people are sinners but repent and so they are saved (salvation) and then God sends down his spirit to help them out (sanctification). This same cycle is prevalent today, except we have the Bible and preachers or evangelists instead of prophets. The key to the “Word of God” cycle is repenting of our sins so that we may receive salvation. These two examples follow Anderson's threefold form of Christ's apostolic ministry. In his example Christ tells others (oration), after Christ rises he provides salvation and then in the end Christ will sanctify those that have followed him. This all relates to the ECM in that we as the ECM should be focusing on presenting the gospel of Jesus. (I certainly hope you are able to follow this train of thought, I have been interrupted several times while posting and am not sure.)
D. I have truly loved this book. In fact if my wife wasn't so busy with her two classes (Apologetics and Pastoral Care and Counseling) I would make her read it. In lieu of the fact that Anderson is a very seasoned pastor/Christian/theologian he presents his thoughts and ideas in a very modern and up to date way. In my opinion he has nailed ET and ECM on the head and has provided me with new ways to approach frustrations and issues I see not only in my church but also in the world. I plan on utilizing this book to help me stay on focus when I become a pastor.
1 comment:
Thanks Jason for an engaging post. Your flow was fine even with all the distractions that you may have been experiencing. I concur with you that Anderson is a stellar, if not the star pastoral theologian for our generation. Willimon is also excellent but lacks the ECM edge, he is perhaps more helpful as a pastoral shepherding coach.
I like the charts on pages 192-193, the world is depicted as creation being redeemed by Christ through the incarnation and reconciliation of the cross. This is similar to Celtic Evangelism model, the world is invited into the Kingdom Community of the Spirit rather than being excluded outside the church.
Continue to reflect upon the sancification process that begins at conversion and continues in our Christian life until the consummation when Christ returns, which be glorification with a new/redeemed body.
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