Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Through his incessant trashing of Christian beliefs, German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche (d. 1900) became known as the “ultimate atheist.” He claimed that the Christian narrative, particularly with its emphasis on love, is the byproduct of decadence, corruption and vengeance. Rather than admitting the existence of God, his now famous statement, “God is dead,” proclaimed the death of the very idea of God. His goal was to see traditional Christian belief (he called it “old, dead belief”) replaced with something radically new. He said that upon “hearing the news that ‘the old god is dead,’ we philosophers and free spirits feel illuminated by a new dawn.” For Nietzsche, the new dawn was a society of “joyous wisdom”—a place free of repressive beliefs that set narrow limits on people’s joy.

How should we relate with atheists?

Nietzsche’s philosophy has motivated many people to embrace atheism. Even some Christians endorse his teachings, thinking they condemn a form of Christianity that operates as though God were dead. What they fail to realize is that Nietzsche found the idea of any god absurd and any form of faith foolish and hurtful. His philosophy is thus contrary to biblical Christianity, though that does not mean we mock him or any other atheists. Our calling is to help people (atheists included) understand that God is for them. We fulfill this calling by living in a way that exemplifies for others a joy-filled relationship with God—or as we say in GCI, we live and share the gospel.

You’ve likely seen posters or bumper stickers that mock Nietzsche (like the one above). What these fail to account for is that during the year before he lost his sanity, Nietzsche wrote several poems that seem to indicate a change in his perspective on God. Here is one of those poems:

No, come back, with all your torments!
All the streams of my tears run their course to you.
And the last frame of my heart – it burns up to you!
Oh come back, my unknown God! My pain! My last happiness.

Misunderstanding God and the Christian life

It seems there is no end to the false representations of God that fuel the fires of atheism. God is falsely represented as vindictive, restrictive and punitive, rather than the God of love, mercy and justice revealed in Jesus Christ, the Savior who invites us to abandon the life that leads to death to embrace the new life of faith in him. Rather than one of condemnation and repression, the Christian life is one of joy-filled participation in the ongoing ministry of Jesus, the one who said he came not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:16-17).

To understand God and the Christian life rightly, it’s important to understand the distinction between God’s judgments and condemnation. God makes judgments not because he is against us, but because he is for us. Through his judgments, God is pointing out the ways that lead to eternal death—ways that block fellowship with him by which we receive, by grace, his many benefits and blessings. Because God is love, in judgment he stands against all that is against us, his beloved.

While human judgment is often meant to condemn, God’s judgments show us what leads to life compared to what leads to death. His judgments enable us to avoid the condemnation due to sin or evil. God sent his Son into the world to conquer the power of sin and to rescue us from its bondage and its ultimate result, eternal death. The triune God wants us to know the only real freedom there is: knowing Jesus Christ, the Living Truth who sets us free.

Contrary to Nietzsche’s misconceptions, the Christian life is not a narrow one of repression. Instead, it is a joy-filled life of living in and with Christ, by the Spirit. It involves participating with Jesus in what he is doing. I personally like the explanation that some give using a sports analogy: Christianity is not a spectator sport. Of course, some even misinterpret this to push people toward working for their salvation. There is a big difference between working for salvation (which puts the emphasis on us) and participating with Jesus, who is our salvation (which puts the emphasis on him).

Christian atheists?

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “Christian atheist.” It speaks of those who profess belief in God but, not knowing much about him, live as though God does not exist. A sincere believer can become a Christian atheist by ceasing to be a fully-devoted follower of Jesus. They can become so consumed with activity (even activity labeled as Christian) that they become part-time followers of Jesus—more focused on activity than on Christ.

Then there are those who, believing that God loves them and that they have a relationship with God, see no need to participate in the life of the church. In holding that view, they (perhaps unwittingly) reject being incorporated into and living as a member of the body of Christ. While they may trust God for occasional guidance, they don’t want God taking charge of their lives. Like the poster at right, they want God to be their co-pilot. Some even prefer that God be their flight attendant—merely providing what is asked for from time to time. But God is no co-pilot, and certainly no flight attendant. God is our pilot—he gives the directions that lead to real life. In fact, he is the life, the truth and the way.

Participate with God in the fellowship of the church

God calls believers to join with him in what he is doing to bring many sons and daughters to glory (Heb. 2:10). He invites us to participate in his mission to the world by living and sharing the gospel. We do that together as members of Christ’s body, the church (ministry is a team sport!). No one person has all the Spirit’s giftings, so all are needed. Within the fellowship of the church, we give and receive from one another—we build each other up and strengthen one another. As the author of Hebrews admonishes, we do not neglect coming together in community (Heb. 10:25), we join with others in doing the work to which God has called us as a community of believers.

Enjoying real, eternal life with Christ

Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, sacrificed his life that we might have “real and eternal life” (John 10:9-11, The Message). This life is not about guaranteed riches or good health. It’s not about always being free of pain. Instead, it’s about knowing that God loves us, and having forgiven and accepted us, has adopted us as his child. Rather than a restricted, narrow life, it is a life filled with hope, joy and assurance. It is a life of becoming what God intends for us to become, through the Spirit, as followers of Jesus Christ.

God, having judged evil, condemned it at the cross of Christ. Therefore evil has no future, and all history has been set on a new direction in which we, by faith, can share. God has not allowed anything to happen that he cannot redeem. Indeed, “every tear will be wiped away,” for God, in Christ and by the Holy Spirit, is “making everything new” (Rev. 21:4-5).

That, dear friends, is the gospel, and it is very good news! It tells us that God does not give up on anyone, even when they give up on him. As the apostle John explains, God is love (1 John 4:8)—love is the nature of his being. God never stops loving us, for to do so, he would be contradicting the essence of who he is. Therefore we can be encouraged to know that God’s love includes everyone who has ever lived or will yet live, and that includes Frederick Nietzsche and all other atheists. We can hope that as God’s love reached out to Nietzsche, near the end of his life he experienced the repentance and faith God intends and provides for all. Indeed, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Loving that God never stops loving any of us,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our culture, the word miracle is often used rather loosely. For example, if a quarterback completes a 60 yard-long Hail Mary pass into a crowded part of the end zone to win a game, the TV commentator will likely praise it as a miracle. Here’s another example: ailing Dodger outfielder Kirk Gibson won a game in 1988 by hitting what was said to be a miraculous walk-off home run. Being highly unlikely, his hit was certainly entertaining, but it was not a miracle.

A miracle is a supernatural event that goes beyond the productive capacity of nature, though as C.S. Lewis notes in his book Miracles, “miracles do not…break the laws of nature.” When God performs a miracle, he intervenes in natural processes to do something only he can do.

Unfortunately, Christians sometimes embrace false ideas about miracles. Some say, for example, that there would be more miracles if more people had faith. But history shows otherwise—though the Israelites witnessed numerous miracles from God, they lacked faith. As another example, some say all healings are miracles. But many healings do not fit the formal definition of a miracle—many are the result of natural processes. When we cut a finger and it heals gradually, a natural process God designed for the human body has occurred. This natural healing is a sign (a demonstration) of God’s goodness as our Creator. However, if the cut heals instantaneously, we understand that God has performed a miracle—he has intervened directly and thus supernaturally. In the first instance we have an indirect sign and in the other a direct sign—both pointing us to the goodness of God.

Unfortunately, some who claim the name of Christ abuse and even fake miracles to build a following. You see this sometimes in what are called “healing services.” But such abuses of miracles are not found in the New Testament. Instead we find worship that is about faith, hope and love for God, looking directly to him for salvation that comes by way of the proclamation of the gospel. However, abuses of miracles should not diminish our appreciation for genuine miracles. Let me tell you about one I witnessed. I joined others in praying for a woman whose virulent cancer had already eaten away some of her ribs. She was receiving medical care, and now was being anointed, asking God for a miracle of healing. The result was that she became cancer free and her ribs grew back! Her doctor told her, “This is miraculous. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it.” She explained to him that it was not her doing, but God’s blessing. Some may claim that her medical treatments put the cancer at bay and the ribs grew back on their own, which they can do. But that would have taken a long time, and hers quickly returned to normal. Because her doctor said that her return to health was “not explainable,” we conclude God intervened and performed a true miracle.

Believing in miracles is not necessarily anti-science, and looking for natural explanations does not necessarily indicate a lack of faith in God. When scientists propose a hypothesis, they run tests seeking to falsify it. If their attempts at falsification fail, the hypothesis is strengthened. Thus we understand that looking for natural explanations for what might seem to be miraculous is not necessarily a refusal to believe in miracles.

We’ve all prayed for the sick to be healed. Some were delivered immediately and thus miraculously while others recovered slowly and thus naturally. In the case of those healed miraculously, it does not seem to have depended on who prayed or on how many prayed. The apostle Paul was not healed of his “thorn in the flesh” despite praying three times. My point is this: when we pray for a miracle of healing, in faith we leave the means and the ultimate outcome to God. We trust him to do what is best, knowing that in his goodness and wisdom he takes into consideration factors we cannot be aware of.

Praying for a sick person to be healed is one of the ways we show love and compassion for those in need, joining Jesus in his faithful intercession as our Mediator and High Priest. Misunderstanding the instruction in James 5:14, some may be hesitant to pray for a sick person, thinking that only church elders are authorized to do so, or that somehow an elder’s prayer is more effective than the prayers of friends and family members. It seems that James’ intent in telling church members to call on the elders to be anointed when they are sick was to make it clear that elders, as servants of the people (and not lords over them), must make themselves available to those in need. Biblical scholars see in James’ instruction a reference to Jesus sending out his disciples in pairs (Mark 6:7), who then “drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them” (Mark 6:13). [1]

When we pray for healing, we must not think that our task is somehow to persuade (or otherwise condition) God to act according to his grace. God’s goodness is always freely given! Why then pray? Because through prayer we participate in what God is doing in the lives of others, and in our own lives as well, as God prepares us for what he will do according to his compassion and wisdom.

Let me add a note of caution: When a person comes to you asking for prayer concerning a health issue, and they say they want to keep the request private, their request for privacy should always be honored. People should never be made to think that their “chances” of being healed are somehow increased proportionate to the number of people who are praying for them. Such an idea reflects non-biblical, magical thinking.

In all our thinking about healing, we must remember that it is God who heals. Sometimes he heals through a miracle and other times he heals using the natural means he has placed within his creation. Either way, all the glory goes to him. In Philippians 2:27, the apostle Paul thanks God for having mercy on his friend and co-worker Epaphroditus who was deathly ill until God healed him. Paul does not mention a healing service or a particular power possessed by a particular person (himself included). Instead, Paul simply praises God for healing his friend. That’s a good example for us to follow.

Based on the miracles I’ve witnessed, and ones I’ve heard about from others, I’m confident God still heals today. When we are ill, we have freedom in Christ to ask anyone to pray for us and to ask the elders of our church to anoint us with oil and pray for our healing. It is then our responsibility and privilege to pray for others, asking God, if it is his will, to heal those among us who are sick and hurting. In all instances, we trust God for his answer and timing.

Thankful for God’s healing,
Joseph Tkach

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[1] Though GCI does practice anointing the sick with oil for healing, it does not consider this practice to be a matter of obedience to a command (as is the case with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper). For additional information about this practice and GCI’s understanding of the related instructions given in James 5:14, click here, here and here.

There is no regular issue of GCI Weekly Update this week due to the U.S. celebration of Independence Day (July 4th). We look forward to bringing you a full issue on July 12. In the meantime, you might enjoy reading a compilation, in booklet form, of the first 11 parts of Gary Deddo’s essay, The Church and Its Ministry. Click here to read it online.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am intrigued by the variety of things celebrated in the nations of the world. In the U.S., we celebrate freedom each Fourth of July (Independence Day). On July 4, 1776, America adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the 13 American colonies, no longer regarding themselves as part of the British Empire, would henceforth be called the United States of America.

Though highly regarded by most Americans, Independence Day does not have the same significance for most people living elsewhere. However, the U.S. has several celebrations that might be of interest to many. For example, July 4 is also National Barbecued Spare Ribs Day and National Caesar Salad Day. July 6 is International Kissing Day, established to remind us of the simple pleasure of a kiss (though kissing is cited as a direct cause for National Mono Day!). And don’t forget World Chocolate Day on July 7.

While I love ribs, kissing my wife and chocolate (not in that order, my wife comes first!), I have a particular appreciation for Independence Day. While it reminds me of our freedom as a nation, it also reminds me that Jesus Christ has set us free from slavery to sin thus granting us spiritual independence. Indeed, the freedom we have in Christ is worthy of great celebration!

By the Spirit, all who follow Jesus receive the freedom that comes with the gift of the new life that is theirs through our Lord’s death, resurrection and ascension. As Jesus, who is the Truth, said, “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 14:6; 8:32). As we trust in him, believing his word of salvation, we are set free from the sin and death that imprisons all humanity. The apostle Paul celebrates that gift in one of my top ten verses in the Bible:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened [entangled] again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1)

Physical death cannot rob us of this freedom for it has to do with the gift of eternal life, which greatly impacts how we live now. Paul shows how the life of freedom in Christ involves much more than behavioral conformity to a code of law. Instead, it involves being conformed to the righteousness of Christ with our whole being, including our thoughts and attitudes. Though we fall short of that deeply personal righteousness, we trust Christ to be our true “righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30 NRSV). We trust Christ to share with us by the Spirit his salvation in all its parts. There is great comfort in knowing that Christ, our righteousness, never leaves or forsakes us. Though we struggle against our sinful nature (which, thank God, is passing away!), we do so trusting Christ to stand with us and strengthen us. Confident in that grace, we receive God’s forgiveness and, by the Spirit, join Jesus in extending that forgiveness to others, that they too may receive it.

Spiritual freedom is not something that can be earned through our own efforts. The only way we can escape the condemnation under which all humanity has fallen is through an act of grace by which God grants us freedom. Jesus is that grace, that freedom—he is “the way” (John 14:6). Because of Jesus and what he has done for us, we do not fear the Day of Judgment. On the basis of Christ’s righteousness and faithfulness (and not our own) we have been justified before God. By grace, we are saved by Christ’s works not our own, and now the Holy Spirit enables us to participate in Christ’s works—in his faithfulness. Though our participation, on this side of glory, is always incomplete, one day we will share fully in Christ’s completed work on our behalf. May God speed that day!

What are we to do with our God-given freedom besides celebrating? The answer is somewhat different for each of us. But one thing is true for all—Christ has not purchased our freedom merely for us to live selfishly. As Paul notes, we have not been set free only to return to the slavery of our passions: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Gal. 5:13). The Greek word translated serve is douleo, the verb form of doulos, meaning slave. Christ has not set us free only to return to slavery to the sinful nature. Nor has he set us free to become slaves to the law. Instead, we are to be slaves who, in humility, serve one another in love. Imagine what the world would be like if we all lived that way!

As Paul goes on to note in his letter to the churches in Galatia, now that Christ has come, living according to the law and living according to the Spirit are mutually incompatible, for “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18). As Christ-followers, our allegiance is not to the law but to the Spirit of Jesus who gives us a renewed nature. Our obedience is now by faith in Jesus our living mediator. The Spirit leads us not into old covenant rituals, but into joining Jesus in his acts of love. Jesus, not the law, is the solution to sin.

Paul instructs us to go beyond the law by living in ways expressive of the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). The law does not deal with most of these things, but the Holy Spirit does. Led by the Spirit, we go beyond what the law required—we go beyond trying to justify ourselves by our works. We go beyond trying to “qualify for the kingdom.” Instead, we live out of our union and communion with Christ, which leads us to focus on others, acting in freedom to join Jesus in loving them that they too might be set free from bondage to guilt, shame and the power of sin and death.

People who are fixated on the old covenant have set their sights far too low. It is much more life-enhancing to focus on the high calling we have in Christ to live and share the gospel. I like the way the old Kings James Version puts it: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14 KJV).

In Christ we have true freedom—the kind worth celebrating every day of the year, July 4 included!

Enjoying the freedom that is ours in Christ,
Joseph Tkach

PS: Due to the July 4 holiday, we will not publish GCI Weekly Update on Wednesday, July 5. Our next issue will be published on July 12. However, we will publish the July issue of GCI Equipper on July 5. It includes part 4 of Gary Deddo’s essay, “Clarifying our Theological Vision.” I encourage you to read it carefully.

PPS: One more thing: in the U.S., July 9 (as designated by the National Association of Evangelicals) is “Pray Together Sunday.” For information and registration, click here.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Over the last couple of years, I’ve experienced great joy on several occasions. I’ve shared the joy of close friends becoming first-time grandparents, and others celebrating the marriage of adult children (I participated in a few of those weddings—what a joy!). Recently I learned that a dear friend in France was hospitalized with a life-threatening infection in one of his feet. I shared his deep concern, which, thank God, turned to joy for us all when it was announced that he was improving and his foot would not need to be amputated.

A few weeks ago my wife Tammy, her mother May and I experienced great joy attending our daughter Stephanie’s graduation. The joy was heightened when one of her favorite professors said to us that “Stephanie is a creative genius.” What parent or grandparent wouldn’t be filled with joy hearing that? Perhaps you can see our joy in the picture at right. Though it’s hard to tell, I think the one feeling the most joy was grandma!

Obtaining a master’s degree from Cal State University required a lot of effort on Stephanie’s part—seemingly endless reading and writing of papers, while working part-time jobs. But the reward of graduation is great, and it was wonderful to share her big moment as we experienced together a communion of joy!

Forgive me if my musing seems like bragging—I’m experiencing lingering joy mixed with nostalgia—like that experienced by the father (played by Steve Martin) in the movie Father of the Bride, who looked with joy on his mature daughter but saw a toddler in her booster chair. I relate!

As I thought about the topic of joy, I was reminded of the many times joy is mentioned in the Gospels. Upon learning that she would give birth to the Savior, Mary said this: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). At Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to the shepherds proclaiming this: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). And who can forget Jesus’ statement: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). These are examples of overflowing spiritual joy, and we magnify God when, in joy, we give thanks for his many gifts including creation and especially his salvation.

Sadly, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche reflected the thinking of many in claiming that Christians are joyless, anti-human and anti-life. But the truth is just the opposite. Note this from the apostle Paul:

Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. (2 Cor. 8:1-2)

Paul was admonishing believers in Corinth to follow the example of believers in the Macedonian churches who, despite severe trials, experienced a joy that led them to be generous in helping others despite their poverty. The source of their joy was not their possessions, but their salvation—their communion with the triune God. The word communion means sharing in common, and these believers, in communion with others in the body of Christ, joyfully shared what they had, meager though it was. The joy they experienced was a sharing in Jesus’ own joy and generosity—loving as he loves (John 13:34).

Jesus, the Bread of Life, shared his life with us. Jesus, the Redeemer, shared his love for us by laying down his life for us. Indeed, this is the greatest love. When we receive the bread and wine of Communion we are sharing in the life and love of Jesus that reaches all the way back to before the foundation of the world when we, along with all humanity, were chosen to be in Christ (Eph. 1)—chosen to share in the love and life that is shared by the Father, Son and Spirit. Communion, then, is about God’s desire to share himself with us by determining to adopt us as his sons and daughters. As we learn in John 17:1-26, it’s about being one with each other and with the Father as Jesus is one with the Father and with us.

This communion is made possible by the ministry of the Holy Spirit who unites us to Jesus and so to each other. By the Spirit, Jesus lives in us and we live in him. Knowledge of this union and communion brings us great joy even in the midst of suffering as we recall that “for the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). Jesus experienced joy knowing his sufferings were leading to our salvation. And when we suffer, we too experience joy knowing God takes our suffering and redeems it, making it serve his redemptive purposes.

On the cross, Jesus also experienced joy anticipating the great blessing of returning (via the ascension) to the Father. Peter noted this in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:28) by quoting Psalm 16:11, which gives prophetic voice to Jesus’ declaration: “You will fill me with joy in your presence.” We too experience great joy when God blesses us with wonderful things like the birth of a child, their baptism, graduation, marriage and birth of their own children. I’m rejoicing knowing that at least 40 congregations have joined GCI so far this year—what a blessing!

With these thoughts in mind about communion and the joy it brings, let me share a closing benediction:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)

Thanking God for our communion of joy,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Over the years, I have been given many enjoyable and unique Father’s Day gifts—special breakfasts, Belgian beer, beard trimmers and always one of Tammy’s homemade craft cards. I confess though, that what has brought me the greatest joy were the times my children gave me a big hug and told me they love me (I get misty-eyed just thinking about it!).

We humans are the most sociable species on earth—we want to love and be loved. But what accounts for love? Science, in accordance with its nature, looks for strictly physical explanations. A current explanation is that love evolved as a vehicle related to the human drive to reproduce. But if that is the case, why then do parents continue to love their children after they are born? Science points to reward processing systems in the brain (pictured below) that, through biochemical reactions, fire the pleasure centers of the brain. The pleasurable feelings that result are then interpreted as “love.” Conversely, the painful feelings we experience when love is lost are the result of events that lead to the firing of the brain’s pain centers. No wonder we hold fast to the objects of love and seek to avoid the loss of love through rejection, divorce, death, etc.

The physical reactions in the brain related to our feelings of love are real. But is the physiology of love all there is to it? The answer is no. By God’s design, humans are physical-spiritual beings—the union of body and spirit. [1] Though science generally does a good job dealing with the physical (with more being learned all the time), it does not (and with its tools, cannot) enter the realm of the spirit where understanding comes not through observation or experimentation, but by revelation that comes through the words and acts of Jesus, the ministry and personal agency of the Spirit, and Holy Scripture.

In Scripture, God has revealed to us that we humans were created in the image of God (imago dei). As discussed last week, Scripture also tells us that God (who is one in Being and three in Person) is love (1 John 4:16). Thus the love we experience as humans is not merely a biochemical phenomenon—it is a reflection, through the Spirit, of God’s own spiritual-relational nature. It is God who gives us the ability to give and to receive love.

When I think about my beloved family members—my grandfathers, my dad, my father-in-law, my wife and children—I experience very pleasurable feelings! I’m aware that these feelings involve the firing of the pleasure centers within certain regions of my brain—that is what is happening physically, and I’m thankful to God, my Creator, for that! But what produces those reactions in my brain is not the need to reproduce, but the spiritually-grounded desire for good and right relationships. For that desire (and ability) I also thank my Creator, who designed us for relationship—ones that, in amazing ways, can reflect, if only dimly, God’s own kind of love for us.

I know that some of you reading this have not had a good relationship with your human father. I also know that the painful feelings of that bad relationship sometimes are projected onto God our Father. If that’s the case for you, I’ve got good news: those bad perceptions can be overcome by extending forgiveness to the human father who failed to be the kind of dad God designed him to be. Rather than remaining trapped in the past, please remember that God is in the business of healing and changing individual people and even whole families.

Here’s good news for those of you who are fathers: no matter what kind of dad you have been, God wants to make you a better one. He is a perfect Father who is faithful and can help us all become better versions of ourselves, as he works to transform us into the person he created us to be. Indeed, he who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion (see Philippians 1:6).

Just as I relish my children hugging me and telling me they love me, I know God relishes when we trust and receive his love as we hug him back in response. But it doesn’t stop there—we can be conduits of God’s love to others. When we extend love to one of God’s children, they might sense they are being hugged by God himself. Our heavenly Father is perfect love and has moved heaven and earth to have a loving relationship with all his children—those he is bringing to share in the glory of his own Son!

Happy Father’s Day to you all,
Joseph Tkach

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[1] Click here for a GCI article that addresses the biblical teaching that humans are the union of body and spirit (soul).

Note: the images used in this letter are from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the Western liturgical calendar, the Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday—a day to rejoice in what theologians call “the divine mystery.” Though much about God is beyond our comprehension, by grace we are able to understand that God is one in Being and three in Person—the Trinity.

The nature of understanding

Thinking about understanding, we acknowledge that, at times, it comes suddenly—like a flash of light seemingly out of nowhere. But most often, it comes gradually—the way I came to understand mathematics when I was young. As I began to grasp the concepts of algebra, many of my classmates remained perplexed. The further we progressed in math, the smaller the classes became—many of my classmates did not want to torture their brains that way! But for those who stuck it out, the reward was a broader and deeper understanding of the marvelous world of mathematics, which tells us so much about the intricacies of God’s amazing creation.

Why it’s vital to study theology

I share this math illustration because I see a similarity in the way we grow in our understanding of God’s Triune nature. For various reasons, some Christians are unwilling to study theology, which includes challenging concepts like God’s three hypostases (Persons). Though not “lesser Christians,” these folks (who believe in and love God), remain uninformed concerning the history of how the church came to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. While this understanding is important for all Christians, it’s vital for those who teach within the church. If preachers and teachers don’t have an accurate understanding of the nature of God, what they teach may be a fuzzy (even distorted) picture of God. Lacking understanding of theology, they will be unable to answer the questions members have about God and unable to counter the false teachings about God that undermine the faith of many of God’s children.

Brothers and sisters, because this is a serious matter, I strongly encourage our pastors, preachers and teachers to carefully study theology, abandoning all false notions concerning church history and misinterpretations of Scripture, in order to embrace the historic, orthodox teaching of the church concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, which can be summarized in three fundamental truths:

1. There is one God (Mark 12:29; John 14:9; Heb. 1:2-3).
2. God is three distinct (not separate) Persons (Matt. 3:13-17; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1; Col. 1:15-16; John 14:17).
3. Each Person is fully God (Phil. 2; Col. 2:9; Acts 5:3-4).

Avoid flawed analogies

Over the centuries, several analogies have been used to help people understand the Trinity. Unfortunately, in one way or another, most of them advance false ideas. Here are four examples: [1]

1. The Trinity is like the three forms of water: ice, liquid and vapor. While it is true that water exists in these three forms, looking at God this way advances the false idea (a heresy called Modalism) that God merely represents himself in three different forms, but is not three distinct Persons. Historically, the primary proponents of Modalism taught that God first manifested himself as Father, then as Jesus, then as the Holy Spirit. These modes were viewed as consecutive, temporary and thus never co-existent, thus denying the distinctiveness of the three eternal Persons of the Trinity.
2. The Trinity is like the three parts of an egg: shell, white and yolk. By viewing God as existing in parts, this analogy teaches a heresy called Tritheism. But the three Persons of the Trinity are not three unalike parts (as with the parts of an egg). God is revealed to be three divine Persons who share one divine nature and are one in Being.
3. The Trinity is like a three-leaf clover: one entity with three parts. This is perhaps the most well-known analogy, purported to have been used by St Patrick. Like the analogy of the three parts of an egg, this analogy fails to account for the fact that the Godhead is not simply split into thirds.
4. The Trinity is like a man who is a father, a son and a husband: one man, three functions. The problem here is that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not merely functions of God—they are three distinct Persons. A typical man may have a wife (and so be a husband), children (and so be a father), but he acts out these differing roles depending on whom he is interacting with at the time. This analogy is another form of Modalism.

The careful use of human language

When it comes to teaching the truth concerning God’s nature, human language (which is always analogical) falls short in one way or another because it is unable to fully embody all that God is. For example, we use the word “Persons” to refer to the three “distinctions” of God. Doing so is helpful because out of all created reality, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are most like human persons in nature (or we might say that human persons are in their nature most like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). We capitalize Persons to indicate that the word is being used in a special manner in describing God’s nature. Thus we exercise great care in selecting words knowing that, as the apostle Paul wrote, “The mystery of godliness is great,” humbly acknowledging that God is much greater than we can say or understand. Not being a creature, God cannot be understood in the same way we understand created things. However, because God has revealed himself to us, we can apprehend God even though we cannot exhaustively comprehend God.

A common shorthand version of the doctrine of the Trinity says that “God is three in one.” Some anti-Trinitarians say this is a contradiction, but they are wrong—it’s a paradox. Knowing of paradoxes in the physical realm (e.g., light is both a wave and a particle) it should not surprise us to learn that, when it comes to God’s nature, there are paradoxes. To say that “God is three in one” is not to say that God is one in Being and three in Being, or that God is one in Person and three in Person (those statements are contradictions). Instead it is saying that, paradoxically, God is one in Being and three in Person.

It is not the intent of the doctrine of the Trinity to explain how God is triune. That, as Paul reminds us, is a “mystery.” The teachers of the early church taught that proper doctrine preserves this mystery, for God cannot be exhaustively explained as though God were a creature. In humility we confess that our understanding of God’s nature has limitations, though Jesus did reveal to us the personal names of the three Persons of the one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We also learn from Jesus that rather than a lonely being, God is a fellowship (communion) of Father, Son and Holy Spirit who have their very being by being in a relationship of holy love—knowing and glorifying one another for all eternity. That is why John tells us that God, who is love (1 John 4:16), out of love sent his only Son to reconcile the world to himself (John 3:16). Thus it makes perfect sense that the central will of our Triune God for us is that we would love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as we are loved by God (Matthew 22:37-39).

With these thoughts about God in mind, GCI’s Statement of Beliefs says this:

God, by the testimony of Scripture, is one divine Being in three eternal, co-essential, yet distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The One God may be known only in the Three and the Three may be known only as the one true God, good, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, and immutable in his covenant love for humanity. He is Creator of heaven and earth, Sustainer of the universe, and Author of human salvation. Though transcendent, God freely and in divine love, grace and goodness involves himself with humanity directly and personally in Jesus Christ, that humanity, by the Spirit, might share in his eternal life as his children. (Mark 12:29; Matthew 28:19; John 14:9; 1 John 4:8; Romans 5:8; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:2; Galatians 3:26)

Why seek to grow in understanding God?

I’ll end now with one of my favorite quotes from Charles Haddon Spurgeon—it says well why we seek a deeper understanding of God.

It has been said by someone that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with the solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.

Forever seeking a deeper understanding of our Triune God,
Joseph Tkach

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[1] For a short, amusing (tongue-in-cheek) and insightful video addressing some of the common analogies related to the Triune nature of God, watch the video at https://youtu.be/KQLfgaUoQCw. For a Trinity Sunday sermon by Weekly Update Managing Editor Ted Johnston, click here.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I remember as a child lining up in the schoolyard where sides were chosen for a sports competition. Invariably, the most athletic or popular were picked first. Though kids lacking athleticism and popularity were some of the brightest in my class, they typically were picked last. I remember feeling sorry for them—some, no doubt, still bear emotional scars.

So that no child would suffer the humiliation of being picked last, a gym teacher in my school tried a different approach. He assigned two kids (ones that often were picked last) to serve as captains who then chose the other team members. One began by picking kids usually selected last. Unfortunately his team lost and the next time captains chose sides, they reverted to picking the most athletic and popular first.

Perhaps you remember Merlin Olsen (pictured at right). As a child, he was one of the non-athletic, less-than-popular kids who got picked last. The embarrassment he felt apparently motivated him to work hard at sports. Eventually he excelled—during a 15-year career in pro football he was selected for the Pro Bowl 14 times! After retiring, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and went on to become a popular actor, portraying Jonathan Garvey on the TV show Little House on the Prairie.

Thinking about the humiliation of being picked last in sports got me thinking of the very different way God picks people to be invited into his kingdom. Instead of choosing on the basis of talent or popularity, God chooses on the basis of who he is and what he, in Christ and by the Spirit, has done. On that basis, as we say in GCI, all are included! [1]

Jesus made it clear that he came into the world not to reject or condemn, but to include and to save. In his economy, those who (by worldly standards) seem highly qualified, may end up going into his kingdom last, while the seemingly un-qualified may end up going in first. In his parable of the vineyard workers, Jesus declared that “the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16). His point was that God invites all into his kingdom and so excludes none. Jesus made a similar point when, speaking of his death, he said, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).

As the “son of man,” Jesus (the “Son of God”) is the elected (chosen) human. In and through him, and by the Spirit, we all have been chosen to share in all the benefits of God’s grace—we all are invited to become participants in Christ’s rule and reign. The Day of Pentecost (June 4, this year) celebrates this inclusive calling. It is made possible by Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, followed by the Spirit’s post-ascension ministry to lead all people to repentance and faith, and as followers of Jesus, to live into the reality of who they have been called to be—members of God’s household. Pentecost is thus a joy-filled reminder that everyone has this calling—everyone has been selected to be on God’s team. On Pentecost Sunday we celebrate that inclusion—the reality that, in Christ (the elected One) and by the Spirit, all are included!

The interesting twist here is that God does not force those he selects to play on his team. Each person must decide whether they will play or remain non-participants, watching from the sidelines. Though God loves all unconditionally, he loves each one of us enough to want us to participate and thus receive all he offers. But God does not force that participation—personal fellowship and communion with God cannot be impersonally coerced or mechanically caused (Hebrews 4:2). Instead, God sends the Spirit to free and enable us to share in all that Christ has accomplished for us, in our place and on our behalf. Though, in love, God permits people to reject his love, forgiveness and grace, he never stops loving them—he never stops calling them to participation.

As the captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10 KJV), Jesus continues to reach out to all people—and his training is available to all who say “yes” to his “Yes” to them. What a blessing it is to be on the Lord’s team—and what a joy it is to share with him in reaching out to those who, though included, remain on the sidelines.

Happy Pentecost!
Joseph Tkach

PS: For a beautifully-produced meditation with readings from the Pentecost account in Acts 2, see the video from Fuller Studio at https://youtu.be/F5w3upHui48—it would make a great introduction to a Pentecost sermon.

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[1] Regarding what GCI means by the phrase, “all are included,” be sure to read Dr. Gary Deddo’s essay “Clarifying our Theological Vision,” being published serially in GCI Equipper—click here for the first and second parts, the third will be included in the June issue, published later this week.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Searching for something to listen to as I drove home, I landed on a Christian radio station where a preacher made this proclamation: “The gospel is good news only if it’s not too late!” Seeking to motivate Christians to evangelize their neighbors, friends and family who have not yet accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, his underlying message was clear: “You must share the gospel before it’s too late!” Though that viewpoint is shared by many (though not all) evangelical Protestants, other viewpoints have been espoused by orthodox Christians both today and in the past. I’ll briefly review some of those viewpoints here, concluding that we don’t need to know exactly how and when God brings people to receive his salvation in order to actively participate today in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of evangelism.

Restrictivism

The preacher I heard on the radio holds a perspective on evangelism (and salvation) sometimes referred to as restrictivism. That viewpoint asserts that if a person has not explicitly and consciously accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before they die, their opportunity for salvation has ended; for them, God’s grace has run out. Restrictivism thus teaches that death is somehow stronger than God—like a pair of “cosmic handcuffs” it restrains God from saving people when they (even through no fault of their own) have failed to explicitly declare Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before death. According to restrictivism, lacking the exercise of conscious faith that names Jesus as Lord and Savior before death even seals the fate of 1) those who die without hearing the gospel, 2) those who die having embraced a faulty gospel, and 3) those who die after a life of mental disability that kept them from understanding the gospel. By placing such severe conditional limits on who does and who does not enter salvation, restrictivism raises perplexing and provocative questions.

Inclusivism

Another viewpoint on evangelism held by many Christians is known as inclusivism. This viewpoint, which sees the Bible as authoritative, understands salvation as being possible only through Jesus Christ. Within inclusivism there are multiple perspectives concerning the fate of those who have not made an explicit profession of faith in Jesus before they die. That diversity has existed throughout church history. Justin Martyr in the second century and C.S. Lewis in the twentieth century both taught that though God saves people only because of the work of Christ, a person may be saved even if they do not know about Christ so long as they have an “implicit faith” that results from God’s grace being active in their life by the Holy Spirit. They both taught that “implicit” faith then becomes “explicit” when God provides the circumstances that allow the person to understand who Christ is and how God, by grace, has provided for their salvation through Christ.

Postmortem evangelism

Another viewpoint (within the camp of inclusivism) involves belief in what is referred to as postmortem evangelization. This viewpoint asserts that people who die unevangelized can still receive God’s salvation following death. This perspective was espoused in the late second century by Clement of Alexandria and made popular in our day by theologian Gabriel Fackre (born 1926). Theologian Donald Bloesch (born 1928) also taught that if someone has not had any opportunity in this life to know Christ and put their trust in him, God will give them that opportunity when they appear before Christ following death.

Universalism

Some Christians hold to a viewpoint known as universalism. It teaches that (in one way or another) everyone necessarily will be saved, regardless of whether they are good or bad, have repented or not, or have put their faith in Jesus as Savior or not. This deterministic perspective says that, in the end, all souls (whether human, angelic or demonic) will be saved by God’s grace, making the response of the individual to God of no consequence. This viewpoint apparently arose with the Christian leader Origen in the second century and various versions have been espoused since then. Some (but not all) versions of universalism repudiate Jesus as Savior and regard one’s response to God’s free gift as irrelevant. The idea that one can repudiate grace, reject the Savior, yet still enter into salvation is repugnant to most Christians. GCI does not consider such versions of universalism as biblical.

What does GCI believe?

There are many other viewpoints held by Christians concerning evangelism and the related topic of the how and when of salvation. Some believe God will give all people multiple “chances” before death sufficient to enable them to have at least an implicit faith in Christ. Others believe God will ultimately save the vast majority of humans, though they do not try to explain the how or when. What does GCI believe? As with all doctrinal matters, our commitment is to begin with the truth revealed in Holy Scripture. There we find that God has reconciled all humanity to himself through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Concerning that work of reconciliation, Jesus, dying on the cross, declared “It is finished!”

Thus we know from biblical revelation that whatever happens to people in the end, it will not be due to any deficiency in the motive, mind and purpose of God. Our Triune God has done everything possible to save every person from the terrible and horrific condition known as “hell.” The Father has given us his one and only Son to be our representative and substitute, standing in for us as our High Priest. The Holy Spirit now works to draw each person so that they may share in all the benefits held for them in Christ. This is what we know and believe. But there is much we do not know and we must be careful not to draw conclusions (not make “logical inferences”) beyond what we are given to know for sure.

For example we must not presume upon the grace of God by dogmatically declaring a universalistic perspective that God, in saving all people, will violate the deliberate choice of some who willfully and persistently reject his love, turning away from him and repudiating his Spirit. While it is hard to believe that anyone would make a choice like that, if we are to be faithful to Scripture (with its numerous warnings against resisting the Word and Spirit), we must acknowledge that some may, in the end, reject God and his love. The important thing to remember here is that such a rejection is their choice—it is not their destiny. As C. S. Lewis shrewdly observed, “The doors of hell are locked from the inside.” In other words, hell is where you have to eternally resist the love and grace of God. Even though we cannot say for certain that all humans will ultimately accept God’s grace, we can hope that will be the case. And that hope aligns with what God desires, that none perish but all reach repentance. Certainly we can and ought to hope for no less and we should join with the Spirit as he works to lead people to repentance.

As we’ve shared many times, the love of God and the wrath of God are not symmetrical opposites; they are not opposed to one another. God is against everything that is against his good purposes to reconcile and redeem his beloved creation. In other words, God opposes anything that opposes his good, loving purposes. God would not be loving if he did not do so. God hates sin because it is resistance against his love and good purposes for humanity. His wrath is thus an aspect of his love—God resists our resistance. In his grace, motivated by his love, God not only forgives us, he also disciplines and transforms us.

We must not put a limit on God’s grace. Yes, there is the real possibility that some will choose to eternally resist God’s loving and forgiving grace, but that will not be because God has changed his mind about them—his mind has been made up in Jesus Christ. I love the way our good friend Gary Deddo explains this reality:

We are living, as Paul says, living up into Christ, because we really belong to him. We belong first, and then we believe that we belong, and then, as we’re believing we’re belonging, we’re going to be living up into it. The Holy Spirit is the power within us enabling us to live more and more fully and freely as the children—the reconciled children of God that we really are. We’re living into a reality, we’re not creating a new reality—that’s been done in Christ—we’re living up into the reality. Although there are those who are resisting the reality, nobody is going to change it. We either affirm the reality or live in denial of the reality—that’s the nature of our choice. Sometimes we think our choice is to create an alternative reality. No, that would make us God. We’re not. Our only choice, and the choice that God gives and enables us by his Spirit to make, is to live in the reality that God has established and created for us, out of his goodness, holiness, mercy and grace. (Quoted from “Those Who Never Heard the Gospel” at www.gci.org/yi/deddo27)

Looking through the lens of Jesus

Because salvation, being personal and relational, involves God and persons in relationship, in thinking about God’s judgment we must not assume or impose limitations on God’s desire for relationship. The purpose of God’s judgment is always to save—it is for relationship. Through his judgment God sorts out what needs to be eliminated (condemned) so that a person can experience relationship (union and communion) with him. Thus we believe that God judges so that the sin and evil is condemned, but the sinner is saved and forgiven. He separates us from sin “as far as the east is from the west.” Like the scapegoat of ancient Israel, God sends our sin away into the wilderness so that we might live a new life in Christ.

God’s judgment sanctifies, burns away, purifies in Christ to save the person being judged. God’s judgment is thus a sorting or sifting—a separation of what is right from what is wrong, what is against you and what is for you, what leads to life and what doesn’t. To understand both the nature of salvation and of judgment, we must read Scripture, not through the lens of our own experience, but through the lens of the person and work of Jesus our holy, loving Savior and Judge. With that in mind, consider these questions and their obvious answers:

• Is God limited in his grace? NO!
• Is he handcuffed (stymied) by time and space? NO!
• Does God have to work within physical constraints like humans do? NO!
• Is he limited by our lack of consciousness? NO!
• Is he the Lord of time? YES!
• Can he squeeze into our time as many opportunities as he wants to open us to grace by his Spirit? CERTAINLY!

Knowing that we are limited and that God is not, we must not project our limitations upon a Father who perfectly and completely knows our hearts. We can count on him to be faithful, even if we do not have a final theory as to exactly how his faithfulness and grace will be exemplified in the life of each person both in this life and the next. We do know this: in the end no one will say, “God, if you had only been a little more gracious… so-and-so would have received your salvation.” We will all find God’s grace to be more than sufficient.

The good news is that the free gift of salvation for all humans relies entirely on Jesus’ acceptance of us—not on our acceptance of him. Because “all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved,” there is no reason for us not to receive his gift of eternal life and live by his Word and in the Spirit who the Father sends to us so that, today, we might share fully in the life of Christ. There is thus every reason for Christians to do the good work of evangelism—to participate actively in what the Holy Spirit is doing to lead people to repentance and faith.

Loving the knowledge that Jesus both accepts and qualifies us,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Of all the resources I’ve used in studying theology, the most complex one, no doubt, is Church Dogmatics (CD)—Karl Barth’s opus magnum, which takes up nearly two feet of my bookshelf. A few have joked with me that they are waiting for the Reader’s Digest version!

Reading CD is a rather daunting undertaking. Barth’s sentences are long, complex and densely-packed. Moreover, to understand what he says on a given topic, you must recall related concepts that he has addressed in the earlier volumes, and then recognize that he is qualifying and clarifying as he proceeds from one volume of CD to the next. As a result, Barth is often misunderstood.

Despite these challenges, I find many of Barth’s insights in CD (and in his other writings) to be truly astounding. I’m particularly fascinated with his perspective on evil, which, as I will explain in this letter, he views as a paradox. By doing so, Barth avoids the unfortunate dualistic approach to evil that is characteristic of many books on theology.

Barth’s dialectical method

In CD and his other writings, Barth approached theology knowing that God is not a creature, and thus cannot be understood in terms of creaturely experience and created realities. Nevertheless, God wanting us to know him, revealed himself to us in human form, and spoke to us with human language. But because human language has limits, speaking faithfully about God will sometimes require that we say two different (even opposing) things at the same time in order to accurately account for God’s transcendent reality. This is so because neither statement alone would be sufficient to convey the full truth. Pointing to the truth of God would, in such instances, require holding two distinct claims despite the tension between them. This approach to theology, for which Barth is well known, is called the “dialectical method.”

Examples of seemingly irreconcilable statements held together (in tension) by the dialectical method include the statements “humans are in God’s image” alongside “all humanity fell from its created state of glory.” Another pair of statements is that, in Jesus, “we are masters of all things,” yet, as fallen creatures, “we are slaves to all things.” Barth understood that there is no way to perfectly resolve these rational tensions without turning God into a creature and thus distorting the biblical witness to the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Barth uses the dialectical method to uphold both statements (affirmations) despite the apparent tensions between them.

Evil—much ado about nothing

Using the dialectical method to examine the topic of evil, Barth finds that evil must be understood as both not something and not nothing. Accordingly, he refers to evil as “nothingness” (Das Nichtige in German). He goes on to describe evil as a force that threatens to corrupt and destroy God’s good creation. Nevertheless, he also sees concern about evil as (to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare) “much ado about nothing.” On the one hand, evil (nothingness) is “that which God does not will,” but on the other hand (and here comes the dialectical tension) Jesus Christ overcame evil as something that truly needed to be undone. Therefore, what Jesus overcame must have real existence of some sort, though its existence, when compared to the will of God, is a bare (shadowy, ephemeral) one, so that, in the end, evil cannot and will not exist at all.

Barth is thus proclaiming that to think biblically about evil, we must understand that because it exists in a way that is wholly in contradiction to God’s eternal, set will, and because it has been decisively conquered by Jesus, it is correctly understood only as “nothingness.” Barth is not playing word-games here—he’s saying that evil is almost nothing and can only lead to being absolutely nothing. To make his point, he must stretch human language to its limits. In doing so, he helps us understand evil, in the light of Christ, for what it actually is—“nothingness” (that which is next to nothing).

Barth explains that this nothingness is utterly distinct from both Creator and creation, representing the inexplicable work of the adversary with whom no compromise is possible. So (and stay with me now to the end of a long sentence), we are left with the nothingness being something that is all but absolutely nothing, and, for a time, this nothingness brings corruption and chaos to the good order of creation, resisting as it does the coming kingdom of God. Wait a minute—nothingness bringing corruption and chaos to something? Yes, though hard to grasp, let this statement sink in. God, who created something out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) did not create the nothingness. Therefore, he is not the creator of evil. However, he is evil’s conqueror.

Evil (nothingness) moves the something of God’s good creation in the opposite direction to what God wills for it. Barth comments:

Any roads leading away from it (the Glory of God’s Eternity) can lead only to utter nothingness, and therefore cannot be roads at all. Since movement away from it is movement into the utter (or absolute) nothingness, there can be no such movement. (CD II.1, p. 629)

Nothingness, Barth continues, is “irrational” and thus “inexplicable” because it is “absolutely without norm or standard.” Evil cannot be explained (rationalized)—there is no good reason for it. There is no “why” to it that can be answered by giving it a good reason or purpose. If a good answer could be provided as to why evil exists, then we would have made evil far less evil and in fact a contributor to some good. We would, with such an answer, be justifying evil.

But evil has no justification. And were it justifiable, because it was needed to contribute to some greater good (i.e. if evil were somehow necessary), then there would be no need for Jesus Christ, because evil would simply justify itself as being needed to contribute to what is good. But that cannot be, for evil itself is completely unjustified—it is what ought not be, and, indeed, has no good reason to be. Evil is what Jesus Christ has overcome.

Jesus—the way out of nothingness

In understanding evil this way, Barth affirms the biblical claim that all people (sinners all) “have become the victims and servants of nothingness, sharing its nature and producing and extending it.” While we all experience evil (nothingness) in our temporal lives, the good news is that we don’t have to suffer forever since God is sovereign over eternity. God has provided a way for us out of the bonds of nothingness, and that way is Jesus Christ, whose humanity begins the new creation.

In Jesus, evil, sin and death are overcome. In Jesus, nothingness meets its reality, and so becomes absolutely nothing. God, in Christ and by the Spirit, limits and conquers the negative aspects of this nothingness that can and have threatened the significance of the existence of the world and the human race within it. Again, to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare (here words spoken by King Lear), “Nothing will come of nothing.”

In Christ, God has given an absolute and uncompromising “No!” to nothingness as an uninvited, unwanted intruder into his good creation. While God did not create nothingness (which was at work in the chaos from the beginning), he will vanquish and conquer it completely. That is a big reason the gospel is good news.

In spite of the difficulty and complexity involved in reading CD, it is rewarding to do so when persistently pursued. I illustrate this by relating a comment from my dear friend, Grace Communion Seminary Professor Dr. John McKenna. He once told me that when he read and understood Barth’s picture of redemption, for the first time in his life (through all the pain, sin and heartache of his past) he felt that God truly loved him—he no longer feared the nothingness. He said it was as if someone had laid hands upon him and healed him. I love that illustration, because I believe the true and miraculous path to our healing comes from realizing that Jesus Christ is the only means of freeing humanity from evil—from the grip of nothingness.

We are reminded daily that we live in a world of injustice, cruelty, pain and suffering—the picture of this present world presented in Scripture. However, the reality is that Jesus has promised to take all this pain and suffering away, leading to a new heaven and new earth at his return. In our modern times, the only philosophical problem of evil that could ever trouble a thinking Christian is some kind of confirmation of a total absence of sin and evil in the world. This is because, paradoxically, the presence of evil in the world proves the validity of Christianity’s claim that there is evil (things that simply ought not to be but somehow do exist), and Christianity’s affirmation that we all need to be rescued from evil but cannot do so ourselves. However, there is real hope because evil has been conquered and a time is coming when God (as he has promised) will wipe away all tears, and there shall be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain. That which ought not be, will, in the end, not be. In short, evil has no future!

Loving Jesus and his promises,
Joseph Tkach