Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Fred Sanders, professor of theology at Biola University, wrote a humorous blog post in 2009 that assigned alternate meanings to the word GRACE used as an acronym to stand for different Christian groups and perspectives. Though it’s a bit esoteric (and sometimes off-center), I’ve quoted below part of his post, hoping to bring a smile to your face and then to make a point.

What does GRACE stand for?

• Existentialist: Genuine, Real, Authentic Christian Existence
• Catholic Mysticism: Gazing Raptly At Consecrated Eucharist
• Emergent church: Generational Resentment Against Conservative Evangelicals
• Arminians: God Respecting Autonomy Conditionally Elects
• Theonomist: Gospel Requires Absolutely Crushing Enemies
• Pentecostal: Glossolalia Received After Conversion Experience
• Evidentialist: General Revelation And Convincing Explanations
• Charismatic: Gombala Ramazoody Alleluia Chombalahombala Essanahanashanahana
• Cessationist: Generally Renouncing All Charismatic Experiences
• Socialist: Government Redistribution Allows Communal Economics
• Presuppositional Apologetic: Gospel Repentance Accomplished, Circularity Ensues
• Feminist theology: Gender Revolution Anticipates Church Evolution
• Open Theist: God reconsiders, And Cooperates Exquisitely
• Eastern Orthodoxy: Greek, Russian, Antiochene Cultural Expectations
• Anglo-Catholic: Getting Ritualistic After Cranmer’s Execution
• Roman Catholicism: Getting Right Archbishop Catholicizes Everything
• Fundamentalist: Gotta Really Agressively Confront Ecumaniacs
• Calvinists: God Rejects And Conversely Elects
• Dispensationalists: Getting Raptured After Charting Endtimes

This list makes me chuckle, though neither Sanders nor I mean any disrespect. We may not agree with all these groups and perspectives on every point of doctrine and practice, but all authentic Christians agree we are saved by grace and called to share this life-changing gospel with all people everywhere.

As a church, GCI proclaims that Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension is good news for all. We provide congregations where people are welcomed into fellowship and helped to grow in our Lord’s grace and knowledge through worship and sharing in Jesus’ ongoing works of service, in the Spirit, to the world.

That is what we are about—what we stand for, and I thank God that, more and more, we are known for what we are for, rather than (like the cartoon) what we are against.

As our name (Grace Communion International) indicates, we are for sharing God’s love for all people all over the world, and bringing them into communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We desire people everywhere to grow in right, loving relationship with the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. Rather than to be known for what we oppose, we aspire to be known for what we are for—actively sharing God’s grace, forgiveness, inclusion, hope, love, faithfulness, communion and mercy. This is our aspiration as a denomination, as congregations and as individuals.

In all things, we seek to be for what God is for. What is that? In John 3:16 we learn that God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son. Then in John 3:17 we learn that God did so not to condemn the world, but to save it. God, in Christ, is for us (all of us!)—that is the powerful lesson we rehearsed in the recent Advent/Christmas season. God’s desire is that we live in loving relationship with him and with each other. In this understanding we do not presume that we have all knowledge or have obtained perfection, but like Paul, we press forward, motivated by our “upward call” in Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV).

Of course, being for certain things means God is against whatever opposes those things. And we should follow suit, just as we are shown in Scripture. However, we ought not switch priorities—God is against what opposes his purposes in order to protect and bring about what he is for. He rescues and redeems us from sin and evil (which he is against) in order to accomplish what he is for, namely, making us his glorified children who share in Jesus Christ’s own sonship and communion with the Father by the Spirit. Were God not for something, there would be no reason for him to be against anything. This is the trajectory of Paul’s thought in Romans 5 where he acknowledges the fall, our sin, and the need for forgiveness and reconciliation. But then he uses the phrase much more (four times for emphasis) to show that we are saved for something: “Much more,” he writes, by receiving “the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness,” we will “reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). Karl Barth makes a similar point in Church Dogmatics:

Divine grace is primary and the sin of man secondary, and…the primary factor is more powerful than the secondary…. We cannot contradict the order which [God] establishes. We are forbidden to take sin more seriously than grace, or even as seriously as grace. (The Doctrine of Creation, part 2, vol. 3, 41)

It is my continual prayer that as a church we be known for being a safe place where people find love, hope, recovery and healing from bad doctrine, church abuse and infirmed teaching and counseling. I pray we be known as a church that fulfills John 13:35—known for our love for one another. I also pray we be known for joyful participation in the work of God—the work Jesus defined this way: “The work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).

What are we for? We are for God, who is for his people, just as we see and hear in Jesus. Our work is to introduce people to Jesus, helping them trust him, receive his forgiveness and share in his own faith, love, hope and joy. We are for following Jesus, the head of the church (Colossians 1:18), as he through the Spirit and the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17) leads us to participate with him in fulfilling the Father’s mission.

We are for living and sharing the gospel, giving birth to all kinds of churches in all kinds of places for all kinds of people. That is our motto, our mission/vision, and our passion. I pray it is our constant focus.

May we be known for what we are for,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A friend of mine was telling me about the first time he and his wife saw their new home. Viewing it online, they realized it was empty, so they decided to drive by for a closer look. To their chagrin, they could only peek inside—the windows were partially blocked by curtains and blinds. It wasn’t until a realtor let them inside that they got the full picture. Some of what they found was what they expected, but some was not what they expected at all. Their experience reminds me of the struggle we Christians, given our finite minds, often have understanding (“seeing”) such profound concepts as infinity, eternity and time. Trying to understand is like trying to see every nook and cranny of the inside of a house by looking through the front door keyhole. There is much to see, but the view is obstructed. Though we seek to understand, it’s a struggle—a collision of the finite with the infinite.

Barth on God, time and the Incarnation

As we read about these concepts, though we recognize the words, we’re not always sure what we’ve just read. A number of you have told me this has been your experience in reading theologian Karl Barth (I relate!). At times when reading Barth’s Church Dogmatics I’ve written more than a page of notes on a couple of his paragraphs, nevertheless, I wonder if I’ve understood what he wrote. It certainly takes work and patience to grasp Barth, but I find it well worth the effort—it’s like digging through rock in search of gold. Sometimes you come across amazing nuggets without realizing what you’ve found. But then you have that “aha moment”—it’s like someone has turned on the lights in a dark tunnel and you’re now able to see the gold right there in your hand.

One of the nuggets in Barth’s writing is his teaching that the Incarnation is the proper starting point for all true doctrine. Since the pre-incarnate Son of God is the Old Testament’s Creator and Lord, and the incarnate Son of God (Jesus) is the New Testament’s Savior, it makes sense that everything truly does begin and end with Jesus Christ—he is the “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 22:13). Along those lines, Barth wrote this:

Whenever Holy Scripture speaks of God as eternal, it stresses his freedom. It takes him emphatically out of the realm of man and men, away from all history and all nature. It sets him at the beginning and end of all being and on high above it and unfathomably beneath it. (Church Dogmatics, vol. II.1, page 609)

This statement takes some pondering to mine the gold it contains, so let’s ponder together. Barth is linking God’s eternality with his freedom, making the point that for God to be truly God, he must be truly free—he must not be dependent on anything, and that includes time itself. This makes sense, for were God constrained by time, he would have to do things, allow things, or orchestrate things within a particular period or epoch of time. Were that the case, God would not be truly God—he would cease, for example, to be omnipotent. Barth is helping us understand that time cannot be God’s equal, nor a constraint upon him, nor a boundary that hems him in.

The idea of God being constrained by time arises not from Scripture but from paganism, including the Greek mythology concerning Kronos, who is one of the pantheon of gods known as the Titans. This myth does not align with the biblical revelation that God, who is eternal, created everything and there isn’t anything that exists that he did not create, time included. The Bible reveals that time has no power over God—there is nothing that has power over him, nor can anything exist prior to him. There cannot be anything that exists eternally with the same freedom including time itself. Either God has divine freedom and is the creator of time, or God is subservient to it and therefore not truly God. By definition, God is self-existent—as theologians say, he has aseity. God is wholly other—dependent on nothing, existing himself, before he created time. God exists in divine timelessness. Or, we can say, he has his own kind of time—time that is uncreated and eternal. The uncreated Father has and makes time for the uncreated Son (eternally!), and the Son has and makes time (eternally!) for the Father, all in the Holy Spirit. Now that’s a nugget that takes time to ponder!

The Incarnation in relation to time

With that thought in mind, let’s consider now the Incarnation in relation to time. The apostle Paul wrote this: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4 ESV). In the phrase, “When the fullness of time had come,” Paul says more than we may have noticed. This phrase does not mean that God was waiting around for a specific moment in time to act. Barth helps us understand by noting that eternity is something constant (immutable) while time is transient (mutable). Time was created and flows forward and is changing—moving from the present into the past in anticipation of the future. God, who inhabits eternity, is not subject to change like that. Nevertheless, in the fullness of time, eternity entered time.

The apostle John made a similar point in writing this: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This profound statement tells us that God has revealed himself within time and space without ceasing to be eternal. God, who inhabits eternity, takes time into himself and, in his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, takes on temporality. Just as the Incarnation means divinity has taken on humanity, it means that eternity subsumes time—it includes within it temporal time. In Jesus, God has made time for us, taken time for us. God has redeemed our time by graciously bringing it into fellowship and communion with his own time—his eternity.

Barth argued that neither time or eternity can be understood independently from the Incarnation. This reality fits hand-in-glove with the paradox of Jesus being both fully human and fully divine. Leaning too far in either direction leads to the heretical errors of Ebionitism (which diminishes Jesus’ divinity) and Docetism (which diminishes Jesus’ humanity). God is both temporal and eternal—temporal because eternity has subsumed temporality, and eternal because time has no power over him. There is a huge deposit of gold to ponder here!

The Incarnation reveals that, by grace, eternity includes time and does not exclude it. In the person of Jesus, the eternal entered time without ceasing to be eternal, raising us temporal beings through Jesus to participation in God’s eternity. In other words, Jesus’ coming in the flesh changes time for all time. We are in Christ and he is in the Father, and the Father is in him, and we are included in their eternity. Note Paul’s words:

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

Rejoicing in glorious realities

Yes, you and I live in time, yet because of Jesus, we also live in eternity. This is an amazing nugget—a profound truth we struggle to grasp, but struggle we must, though it’s like peeking into a home through a crack in the curtains. Once we enter the home, we’ll see much more than we have ever dared to expect. In the meantime let’s hold fast to the nuggets we have—the precious knowledge that, already, we are alive with Christ; already, we have been raised to new life with him; and, already, we have been seated with him in the heavenly realms. He has shared with us his eternal life while we remain creatures, his created children. As the apostle Paul put it, “What is sown [created] is perishable [mortal, subject to death], what is raised is imperishable [not subject to death]…” (1 Corinthians 15:42 NRSV).

What we grasp now about these glorious realities is just a foretaste—there is much more to see and to comprehend. In the meantime we celebrate the profound, joyous truth that through the Incarnation Jesus has entered time and became one of us in order to take us out of time and bring us into his eternity. When we are glorified and we see our Lord face-to-face, our minds will be enabled to grasp more fully what we now see “through a glass darkly”—our glorious, eternal union and communion with the triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit for all eternity. God hasten that day!

Rejoicing in the Incarnation,
Joseph Tkach

PS: In the United States, January 18 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For some insights about Dr. King’s important contributions, see my January letter to donors at http://www.gci.org/letter/1601.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Happy New Year! I hope you and your family were able to be together during the recent holiday season, which in the U.S. traditionally begins with Thanksgiving and extends through Christmas and New Year’s Day. In accordance with the historic, orthodox Christian worship calendar, the season begins for most Christians in late November with the four Sundays of Advent, followed by Christmas Day, the Twelve Days of Christmas, and Epiphany. Advent celebrates Jesus’ comings, including his first coming (Incarnation and birth) and his second coming (bodily return in glory). Christmas reminds us that Jesus’ Incarnation and birth started everything anew. Epiphany, which occurs on January 6 (and typically is celebrated the prior Sunday), celebrates the revelation of Jesus to the world. This pattern of worship begins the liturgical year with a wonderful reminder that Jesus is at the center of everything God has done and is doing for the salvation of the world. In this letter, I will focus on celebrating Epiphany.

The word epiphany means to “show,” “make known,” or “reveal.” T.F. Torrance beautifully summarizes its biblical significance:

The New Testament constantly thinks of the Parousia [meaning “arrival” or “revealing”] in terms of epiphany, for the relation between the today and the eschaton [referring to the climax of history] is much more a tension between the hidden and the manifest, the veiled and the unveiled, than between dates in calendar time. What is still in the future is the full unveiling of a reality, but the reality itself is fully present here and now. Epiphany reminds us that with the birth of Jesus, God became God with us (Immanuel). With this advent, the Kingdom is now present to us in the person of its King—unveiled (revealed) to us personally, as we await, in hope, the full unveiling (revealing) yet to come when Jesus returns bodily in the fullness of his glory, ushering in the fullness of his Kingdom in a new heaven and new earth. (Incarnation, the Person and Life of Christ, p. 316)

On Epiphany we rejoice in the unveiling of God with us in the person of Jesus. That revealing occurred in the past (Jesus’ first coming), continues in the present (Jesus coming to us through the indwelling Spirit), and will culminate in the yet-future return of Jesus in glory. Jesus, God unveiled to us, come!

On Epiphany, Christians typically commemorate two important events in Jesus’ first coming: the visit of the Magi to pay homage to the infant Jesus (typically celebrated by Christians in the West) and Jesus’ baptism (typically celebrated by Christians in the East). Through his baptism, Jesus was revealed to be God’s unique “beloved Son” (Matthew 3:16-17 ESV).

Through the Magi’s visit (Matthew 2:1-2), Jesus was revealed to be Lord and King of all humanity (Jews and Gentiles alike). The Magi were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as King, and thus through them, the incarnate Christ was revealed to the wider world. Their act of worship (Matthew 2:10-11) corresponded to Simeon’s prophetic statement that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32). This was one of the earliest indications that Jesus’ vicarious life embraces all people, nations and races.

Commemorating these events on Epiphany reminds us of the mission of the church. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to participate in what our Lord is doing, by the Spirit, in all the world. We are called to share in his work to reveal himself and his salvation—a salvation that he has made available to all humanity.

Epiphany reminds us that in our union with Christ, we can enjoy communion with him as we participate with him in his continuing mediation and ministry for us and the whole world. This includes what he is doing to reveal himself to be who he truly is: the Light of the world. As we think about our calling, Epiphany reveals to us that we are not thrown back upon our own resources and efforts in this participation, but that all things are in and under Jesus, the Lord and Savior of all. In that we trust and rely, and because of that we celebrate!

Looking forward to another year of life in and with Christ,
Joseph Tkach

PS. For additional information about Epiphany, see the recent Surprising God blog post at http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2015/12/advent-and-epiphany.html.

Our prayer for you and yours is that 2016 will be a year of joy-filled participation in the life and love of our Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The GCI Weekly Update team is taking this week off. Our next issue will be posted on January 7, 2016. To read the latest full issue, click here. To review the recently posted five-part series from Joseph Tkach on the topic of Christmas, click on these links:

1. Looking to Advent and Christmas
2. A Christmas Carol
3. Christmas: a message of hope
4. Celebrating Jesus’ birthday
5. Christmas: celebrating pure innocence

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

One of the joys of parenting is doing something that makes your child laugh, then hearing them say, Do it again! I fondly remember several occasions when that happened to me (I’m sure many of you dads and granddads will relate). I also remember Tammy—always the protective mom—not being particularly fond of what I was doing, yet having a hard time saying so as she laughed right along with the kids!

Perhaps you recall the first time you experienced a little child’s laughter. There is a captivating pureness there that makes you smile. I recall watching a video of a laughing infant that went viral a couple of years ago. Every news media I know of broadcast it due to its trans-cultural accessibility. Watch it at http://youtu.be/RP4abiHdQpc and I’ll bet your heart will be warmed by the pure innocence of that child’s laughter.

Some of life’s greatest moments come when beholding the pure innocence of a child. Of course, the greatest of all such moments occurred over 2,000 years ago when angels and shepherds viewed the baby Jesus—the eternal Son of God become flesh, lying in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. Because Jesus is Immanuel (God with us), we rightfully celebrate his birth every day, but especially at Christmas—the day billions of people are reminded that Christmas is about Jesus, whether they believe him to be the Savior of the world or not. Celebrating his first coming is every bit as important as celebrating his promised second coming—for a number of reasons, not the least of which is there will be no second coming without the first.

As I’m sure you’ve gathered from my series here on the topic of Christmas, I’m a huge fan of celebrating Jesus’ incarnation and birth. I don’t think we can say enough about that blessed event and all it signifies. Note the prophet’s words: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV). This sign points to Christ’s divinity (he came from outside this world) and his humanity (he came as a newborn baby). Jesus was (and still is) both divine and human—as fully God as is the Father, and as fully human as are you and I.

That Jesus was born in this way also is a sign to us that our Triune God understands our lowly state and shares fully our life with all its limitations and suffering. Our Christian worldview helps us understand that there is more to life than what we experience in our mortal bodies. There is an afterlife, and Jesus promised he would go ahead to prepare a place for us to dwell with him forever. Knowing this truth helps us celebrate Christmas with the assurance that our departed loved ones aren’t separated from us forever. Assured that the Son of God united himself to us through the Incarnation, and thus shares our humanity forever, we are comforted to know that our loved ones are with him when they die. Of course, we suffer the loss of their companionship, but knowing that Jesus has conquered death on our behalf helps us look beyond the sting and tears of our loss to the joy that is signified by Christmas.

Like us, Jesus experienced the pain of losing loved ones, yet he was comforted knowing that his heavenly Father was aware of each and every one of those deaths and of the sorrow such loss brings. As we can, he found comfort in the words of the Psalmist: “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” (Psalm 56:8 ESV). The NIV translates it this way: “Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll—are they not in your record?” The point is that God sees; he knows and he cares.

That caring is not from a distance. Through the Incarnation God became one of us, assuming our entire human nature from the very beginning to the very end—from the moment of conception to the moment of death, with nothing left out between. In his humanity, the Son of God deeply understands what we are going through and promises to eventually end all pain and suffering. Note the words of the prophet: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8). John makes a similar promise: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

I delight in these reassuring promises, remembering that in the fullness of the kingdom of God there will be no more reason for tears—it will be a time of perfect peace. All this will come to pass because the Son of God became the son of man. And so we celebrate Christmas—rejoicing in the Incarnation and joining the angels in celebrating the birth of Jesus, the pure and innocent One who brings the world eternal peace, joy and love.

I wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas. Our home office will be closed next week so we can spend extra time with family. The next issue of GCI Weekly Update will be published on January 6, the day of Epiphany, which celebrates the revelation of Christ to the world. See you next year!

Resting in and celebrating the pure innocence of Jesus,
Joseph Tkach

PS: To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At Christmas we celebrate God’s love for all humanity (John 3:16) as seen in the Incarnation—the Word of God become flesh (John 1:14), and in the birth of Immanuel (God with us)—the most significant birth of all times (Matthew 1:23). Even so, some well-meaning Christians insist that Jesus’ birthday should not be celebrated. I’ve not addressed their arguments for a few years, so I’ll do so here as I continue a series on the topic of Christmas.

Some Christians say we should not celebrate any birthdays because the Bible casts such celebrations in a negative light. As evidence, they typically cite Pharaoh’s birthday celebration (Genesis 40:20) and Herod’s (Matthew 14:6-11). Though murderous acts accompanied both, that does not “prove” that birthday celebrations, in themselves, are wrong. Had you been related to Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer (Genesis 40:21) you would have rejoiced! Some also claim that in Scripture, birthday celebrations are always associated with paganism. But that argument does not stand up when we note how the Bible exalts the birth of Jesus. Here is part of Luke’s account:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:8-20 ESV)

In this grand celebration of Jesus’ birth we find worship, singing, prayer, praise and exuberant joy. I admit that it took me a few years to see Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth as essential to sorting out the “birthday debate,” and to conclude that the birth of Jesus was a time of great celebration, and still is. Previously I had evaluated Jesus’ birth on the basis of a few other births mentioned in the Bible. But what I came to see is that Jesus’ birth, which is fundamental to all reality, sheds light on and thus gives meaning to all human births and thus is truly worthy of being celebrated.

Another argument often given against celebrating the birth of Jesus is that Jesus told his followers to remember his death, not his birth. While it is true that Jesus told them to remember his death (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24)—and we do each time we receive communion—this argument is based on faulty reasoning. Jesus was not saying that his death was more memorable than his birth, nor was he telling his followers to remember his death at the exclusion of remembering his birth. The simple truth is that we would not have Jesus’ death to remember had he not first been born. We should also note that early Christians viewed the Incarnation as a miraculous means by which the Atonement in the death of Jesus occurred. Also (and perhaps most significantly) they understood the Incarnation and Atonement as one redemptive work. Thomas F. Torrance comments:

In [Jesus] the Incarnation and Atonement are one and inseparable, for atoning reconciliation falls within the incarnate constitution of his Person as Mediator, and it is in that ground and from that source that atoning reconciliation embraces all mankind and is freely available to every person. (The Mediation of Christ, 1992, p. 63)

Jesus had to come in the flesh in order to be the Atonement, and so to argue that the Bible’s emphasis on Jesus’ death indicates that celebrating his birth is wrong is an example of jumping to a conclusion that does not follow. When Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that in partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” he is commenting on the symbolism of communion, not setting a policy concerning what should not be celebrated. To use Paul’s statement as a rationale for not celebrating Christmas is a non sequitur—an inference or conclusion that does not follow logically from the evidence that preceded it. Such faulty reasoning is a gross misuse of Scripture.

Those who say we should not celebrate Christmas also often argue that we lack a biblical command for doing so. This line of reasoning is a form of hyper-literalism in which one reasons that if something is not specifically endorsed by the Bible it is therefore forbidden. While it’s good to look to the Bible as a trustworthy authority concerning all that it actually addresses, we must realize that the Bible does not address everything. What it does address are the fundamentals of life, with a focus on right relationships with God and with others.

Were it true that we must only do what the Bible specifically commands, that would mean that the Bible must speak to every detail of Christian life and worship. But the Bible does not do that—it doesn’t need to. For example, the Bible doesn’t give instruction concerning how to celebrate memorial occasions like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries. Nor does it specify how to order our worship services. There are many practices that have been adopted by orthodox Christians that are not specifically commanded in the Bible, yet are fully consistent with the teachings of Scripture and the Spirit of Christ.

Arguing from the absence of an explicit command to a moral obligation involves defects in both logic and biblical interpretation. When we interpret Scripture in a hyper-literalistic, legalistic way, we miss the spirit and intent of the Bible. When we focus on what Scripture does not say, its actual instruction and lessons can be overlooked. The end result of such failed logic would be to conclude that just about everything done in Christian worship is wrong because it is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible.

The Bible’s purpose is not to give details on every possible subject, but to witness to Jesus. Note what Jesus said to a group of Jewish leaders: “You search the Scriptures diligently because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40). So while I cannot point to an explicit command in Scripture to celebrate Christmas, I can point to Luke 2, which gives us scriptural precedent for celebrating Jesus’ birth with great joy. In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth we see these things:

• God sending angels to announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds—a message that is “good news of great joy” and a “sign” of great consequence (Luke 2:10-12).
• The shepherds excitedly rushing to verify what they had been told (Luke 2:15-20).
• A group of wise men (Magi) coming “from the east,” following a guiding “star,” and bearing “gifts” to celebrate the birth of Jesus, “the king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:1-12).

These celebrations of Jesus’ birth were marked with majestic flourishes (Luke 2:13-14). Not only was God pleased with these celebrations, he initiated them! These biblical examples serve as invitations to us to join in the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas. Just as we celebrate the Atonement (Jesus’ death for us), we also celebrate the Incarnation (Jesus’ becoming flesh for us and with us). Through both we celebrate our inclusion in Jesus’ life and love brought about through his incarnation, birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. As Christians we remember and celebrate Jesus’ first coming, his second coming, and everything in between.

Tammy and I wish you and yours a joyous Christmas season and celebration,
Joseph Tkach

PS: To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 5.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Recently I began a series here on the topic of Christmas. This annual celebration of Jesus’ birth is an important reminder of the hope we have because God became flesh. In adding our humanity to his divinity, the Son of God became Immanuel—God with us, as one of us. And so shall he ever be.

The events last week in San Bernardino, California, were a shocking reminder of how much we need the hope only God provides. In a mass shooting just a few miles from our GCI home office, two terrorists murdered 14 people and wounded over 20 more. Many leaders, including U.S. President Obama, extended sympathy and called for prayer. As Karl Barth is credited with saying, “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” But the New York Daily News thinks otherwise. In its December 3 edition (pictured at left) the newspaper mocked the idea of prayer, implying that it is a naive substitute for concrete action to “fix” the problem of terrorism.

I won’t take time to deconstruct that ludicrous assertion, other than to note that it ignores the profound reality that God has a plan to bring evil to a conclusive end. Christmas powerfully highlights a vital step in that unfolding plan.

God’s plan to conquer evil

Before beginning his work of creation, God knew that humanity would go astray. So he appointed a moment in history—what the apostle Paul refers to as the fullness of time—when the Word of God would become flesh and a new creation would commence with the unfolding of the kingdom of God. We now live in the time of that unfolding, between Jesus’ birth (his “first coming”) and his promised return in glory (his “second coming”). During that time, though the kingdom is present, it is veiled, and evil continues, causing much suffering and tears.

In his book, The Apocalypse Today: Sermons on Revelation (1960), Thomas F. Torrance, alluding to Luke 17:20-25, puts it this way:

We must think of the kingdom of God as having entered our world in the life and death of Jesus and as veiled in history. It is concealed behind the forms and fashions of this sinful world, so that we are unable to see it directly or immediately. The kingdom of God does not come with observation—not yet. Look out upon the history of these two thousand years culminating in two world wars of unheard-of magnitude and disaster. It is impossible to say, “Lo, here is the kingdom of God! Lo, there!” You cannot trace the lines of the pattern of the kingdom of God by inspecting the course of history. But in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day you can see, in spite of all that declares against it, that the kingdom of God has already broken into our midst and is already at work amongst us. (p. 13)

Because the Son of God became the Son of Man, the kingdom of God is present among us and at work. Because that is so, as Torrance notes, the Apocalypse (meaning “revealing”) has, in one sense, already occurred. Already, history has been invaded and conquered by the Lamb of God. Torrance elaborates:

Apocalypse means the tearing aside of the veil of sense and time to reveal the decisive conquest of organic evil by the incarnate Son of God. Apocalypse means the unveiling of the new creation as yet hidden from our eyes behind the ugly shape of sinful history. There is to be a new creation which is the out-working of the Cross in the teeth of all the principalities and powers of darkness. In the advent presence of Christ there is to be a new heaven and new earth. No doubt we are unable by mere outward inspection to trace the lineaments of the kingdom of God in history, but it is nevertheless a fact that even now God governs and orders the course of the world. When Christ himself comes, as come again he will, we shall see with our eyes that which we see now only by faith. (pp. 12-13)

When the Prince of Peace returns to earth bodily, everything will undergo a final, conclusive change. But until that time, we experience the tensions and conflicts of sin. Though we no longer are of the world, we remain in the world, and as a result we suffer as Christ suffered, even while we experience the hope and joy of being a citizen of his already-present kingdom. As Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” With these gospel truths clearly in mind, our celebration of Christmas has profound meaning.

When should we celebrate?

Speaking of celebrating Christmas, some say December 25 is not the right time. But let me comment on the idea of “right time.” Recently I joined in celebrating a friend’s birthday. Because of schedule conflicts, the party was held several days after the actual birth date. I know many couples who have celebrated wedding anniversaries months before or after the actual date. In my own family, we’ve celebrated significant dates both early and late. But this timing has never taken away from the significance of the event itself or detracted from the joy of the celebration.

It’s not uncommon to celebrate the birth of famous people on a day other than the actual birth date. Though born on April 21, the Queen of England’s birthday is celebrated on June 17. In America, we celebrate the births of presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington on February 18, though Lincoln was born on the 12th and Washington on the 22nd. Though Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, we celebrate his birth around the 21st.

There’s an interesting symmetry in not knowing the precise dates of Jesus’ first or second comings. Certainly it’s not necessary to know the exact day he was born in order to celebrate Jesus’ birth with great joy on December 25 (as is done in the Western Christian church). However, I want to note that there is substantial evidence that Jesus was born in the winter, and very possibly on December 25. Dr. Harold W. Hoehner (Dallas Theological Seminary professor and expert on biblical chronology) wrote this:

It is clear that Christ was born before Herod the Great’s death and after the census. In looking at the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke one would need to conclude that Christ was born of Mary within a year or two of Herod’s death. In looking to some of the other chronological notations in the gospels, the evidence led to the conclusion that Christ was born in the winter of 5/4 B.C. Although the exact date of Christ’s birth cannot be known, either December, 5 B.C. or January, 4 B.C. is most reasonable. (Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1981, p. 27; for a longer quote, click here)

The idea that Jesus was born on December 25 dates back to as early as Hippolytus (A.D. 165-235). Luke 2:1-7 mentions a tax census ordered by Caesar Augustus. It’s likely that the census records were then stored in the civic archives in Rome. Cyril of Jerusalem (A.D. 348-386) requested that those records be reviewed and he reported the results: Jesus was born on December 25. Unfortunately, the records no longer exist, so we are unable to confirm that claim. In A.D. 386, Archbishop John Chrysostom also declared that Jesus was born on December 25 (though he offered no corroborating evidence). As a result of Chrysostom’s declaration, December 25 became the official date in the Western Christian church for celebrating Jesus’ birth (the Eastern church celebrates the birth on January 6, also in winter).

An objection often raised against celebrating Jesus’ birth in winter is the claim that in Palestine, sheep were usually taken into enclosures from November through March and thus would not have been out in the fields at night (as noted in Luke 2:8). But this argument is not as conclusive as it sounds, as we have noted in an article on our website at http://www.gci.org/jesus/whenborn.

We celebrate the event, not the day

Because we can’t know with certainty exactly when Jesus was born, many speculations have arisen. My personal favorite is that he was born on September 11 in 3 B.C., which was a new moon and Rosh Ha-Shanah (Jewish New Year). But such speculation is irrelevant, for a celebration is not the reality, but a sign that points to the reality in which we believe. The celebration (sign) of Jesus’ birth points to the stunning reality of the revelation in time and space (history) of the eternal Son of God in the person (flesh and blood) of Jesus of Nazareth. O, come let us adore him!

No matter what day Jesus was born, it was just the “right time.” Note Paul’s statement:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4 ESV)

With the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, God’s glorious plan of redemption began to unfold in time and space (history). In accordance with that plan, Jesus was born as a whole, complete human. It is the event of Jesus’ birth (the reality) that we celebrate—not the day. After all, we are Christians not astrologers!

That the Son of God became flesh (the Incarnation), and through his birth came into the world, is an event that not only fulfilled prophecy and the old covenant—it was the “event of all events” in determining our eternity. Regardless of the actual day of Jesus’ birth, we in Grace Communion International join the rest of Christianity in celebrating this great event each year. We do so on December 25 in accordance with the Western Christian worship calendar.

Looking forward to celebrating Christmas,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. For links to GCI articles on the topic of Christmas, go to http://www.gci.org/christmas/articles.

To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 1, 2, 4, 5.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A few years ago, Tammy and I attended the play A Christmas Carol based on the novella with that title by Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote the book in 1843, largely to expose corruption in the British government, which favored the wealthy and oppressed the underclass with laws that often sent the poor (including Dickens’ father) to debtors’ prison.

You’re probably familiar with the book’s main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Drawing on the life of a man he had known, Dickens portrayed Scrooge as an outrageously selfish man who runs a “counting house” (accountant’s office). Acting on fears held since early childhood, Scrooge became obsessed with wealth, costing him the love of his fiancée and sending him into a downward spiral of selfish loneliness. The name Scrooge has become part of our language for someone who is selfish, miserly and unkind. Here’s how Dickens describes him:

The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice…. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.

In Dickens’ story, which begins on Christmas Eve, it appears there is no limit to Ebenezer Scrooge’s selfishness. He has a clerk, Bob Cratchit, a very poor man with a large family. Bob’s young son, Tiny Tim, is crippled from birth, and in Scrooge’s mind, should not be taking food and heat from others. When Bob, who is forced to work in a cold office, attempts to stoke the fire, Scrooge denies him access to the coal.

That afternoon, Scrooge’s nephew Fred invites his uncle to a Christmas party. Scrooge refuses the invitation in the rudest terms. When two men come into the work place asking for a charitable donation, Scrooge throws them out. And when people wish him “Merry Christmas,” he responds with the now infamous exclamation, “Bah humbug!”

No question about it—Ebenezer Scrooge hated Christmas! But then his attitude changed.

After returning home from work on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is confronted by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, an equally greedy person who claims he has come to Scrooge to spare him from the fate coming his way. He says Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. The first is the “Ghost of Christmas Past” who takes Scrooge back over his life showing him significant events that made him what he is today. The second spirit, the “Ghost of Christmas Present,” takes Scrooge to see Bob Cratchit’s family enjoying Christmas despite their lack of material possessions, then to nephew Fred’s party, and then to a few other Christmas events where Ebenezer starts to see a different side of Christmas. The third spirit, “The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,” takes Scrooge to various groups of people who are talking about Ebenezer’s death.

As a result of these visions, Scrooge repents of his self-righteous, cynical, deplorable worldview and mistreatment of others. He sees himself with clarity and sees the love of the Cratchit family he has long mistreated. He notes how well they love despite how badly he treats his employee, Bob, and he is especially touched by Tiny Tim, who toasts to Scrooge’s health even as his own fails him. The story ends with Scrooge, who having experienced a complete change of heart, wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, gives a big raise to Bob Cratchit, donates to various charities and changes the way he views life.

While I don’t usually write about things like ghosts and spirits of Christmas, A Christmas Carol strikes me emotionally for several reasons. As most of you know, for much of my life I did not celebrate Christmas. Perhaps some of you will relate. Not only had I bought into the absurd idea that pagan celebrations of the winter solstice made Christmas a pagan holiday, I also believed Christmas could not be the actual day of Jesus’ birth. As a result, I refused to wish others “Merry Christmas” and generally had a “Bah Humbug” approach to all things related to Christmas. I was more like Ebenezer Scrooge during the Christmas season than I care to admit. I thank God for changing my perspective.

To the many Old Testament prophecies pointing to the birth of the Messiah, the New Testament Gospels add details about the actual birth, telling about angels making proclamations, heavenly hosts singing praises, shepherds bowing in worship, and wise men from the East giving gifts—all because the Son of God had become the Son of Man!

There is certainly no New Testament justification for having a “Bah Humbug” approach to the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We celebrate because the Light of the Cosmos came to a world of darkness and brought us into his light. We celebrate because, through the Incarnation, God became one of us so we could live for eternity as his beloved children. For all these reasons, during the Christmas season we celebrate the birth of Jesus with joy, enthusiasm and love toward others.

Like Ebenezer Scrooge who rejoiced in his deliverance at the end of A Christmas Carol, I rejoice knowing I’ve been delivered from the bondage of nonsensical arguments and joy-killing legalism—a bondage that, sadly, continues to hold some people in its vice-like grip. I pray you experience the joy of your deliverance daily, and particularly at Christmastime.

Loving and celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. Tammy, Stephanie, Joe and I wish you and your family a wonderful Advent and Christmas. May God continually remind you just how much you are loved and may your response be one of continual praise and thanks to him.

To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 1, 3, 4, 5.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Many people are fascinated by signs and symbols that convey hidden meanings and secret messages. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I enjoy deciphering such messages (including the meanings of those often-baffling acronyms and abbreviations you see on personalized license plates!).

Throughout history, people have used signs and symbols to convey messages understood by some and hidden to others. An example is the use by first century Christians of the ichthys (fish) symbol to secretly convey their allegiance to Christ. Because many of them were being persecuted, even martyred, they would hold their meetings in catacombs and other secret locations. To guide them to these places of meeting, ichthys symbols were painted on walls to mark the route. Doing so would not arouse suspicion because Christians were not the first to use the ichthys symbol—pagans used it to represent their gods and goddesses.

Despite its association with paganism (more about the “pagan roots” issue below), the fish symbol was widely used by early Christians. This likely was because Jesus often referred to fish in his teaching. On one occasion, he noted he would make his disciples “fishers of men.” On other occasions he performed miracles involving fish—from having Peter pull a coin out of a fish’s mouth, to filling the disciples’ nets with a huge catch of fish, to taking two fish and multiplying them to feed thousands of people. In these and other ways, Jesus used the symbol of fish to tell his story (the gospel), despite the fact (certainly known to him) that pagans were using the fish symbol to tell their own (pagan) stories.

As the incarnate Son of God, who created all that is, Jesus was not limited by the pagan world’s misuse of his good creation. Because he felt perfectly comfortable using their signs and symbols to tell his story, so did the early Christians. For example, (see the picture at left), they turned the word ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ in Greek) into an anagram where each letter in the word stood for the first letter of each word in the phrase Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter (Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior).

Sadly, some sincere, though misinformed Christians, work hard to avoid those things they perceive as having “pagan roots.” I know some who avoid clothing with a paisley print, believing it originated in the Zoroastrian pantheistic religion of Persia. Others refuse to wear wedding rings believing they are of pagan origin. Others go so far as to reject Christmas and Easter, believing those celebrations originated in paganism (and that, “once pagan; always pagan”). Holding this misguided viewpoint, they miss out on the deep meaning these central, historic Christian celebrations convey about the goodness and faithfulness of God, revealed to us in the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

God has used signs and symbols throughout history. For example, he gave ancient Israel the Sabbath as a sign to point them to himself as their source of true rest (salvation). God knew they would not fully grasp this meaning (as cogently explained in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4). Many years after giving the Law through Moses (including the Sabbath), God gave a new sign intended for all people—the birth of his incarnate Son, Jesus. Note Luke’s account:

And this will be a sign for you: “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:12-14 ESV).

On one occasion I was quoting this verse to explain the importance of celebrating Jesus’ birth to a person burdened down by the superstitious belief that birthday celebrations are pagan. He said this: “This verse in Luke only justifies one celebration of Jesus’ first coming, not celebrations thereafter.” I replied that Jesus’ birth is an event that changed all time, and, therefore, is for all time and all people.

The birth of Jesus is a powerful, enduring sign that encapsulates the entirety of the Christ event: his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension for the salvation of all humankind. Like all signs, our Lord’s birth points backward (reminding us of what our triune God promised and accomplished in the past), and forward (pointing to what God, in Jesus, by the Spirit, will yet accomplish). Luke’s account continues with a part of the gospel story often told during Epiphany, which follows Christmas:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25-35 ESV).

As Christians, most of us reading this do not have to rely on secret signs and symbols to conceal our places of assembly. That’s a blessing, and our prayers are with those who still face this hardship. But no matter the circumstances, all Christians know that Jesus was raised from the dead, and our heavenly Father is drawing all people to himself in Jesus and through the Spirit. Therefore we all have much to celebrate—and so we shall, during the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons. I wish you and yours joyous celebrations as we begin a new annual worship cycle in accordance with the historic (western) Christian calendar (for more about that cycle, go to https://update.gci.org/2015/11/annual-worship-cycle-using-the-lectionary/).

Looking forward to our celebrations of Advent and Christmas,
Joseph Tkach

PS: To all who gather this week in the United States (and abroad) to celebrate Thanksgiving, I send my best wishes for a joyous holiday. We truly do have much for which to thank our generous God, including our nation’s spiritual heritage.

To read the other letters in my five-part series on Christmas, click on a number: 2, 3, 4, 5.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last Friday, it took just eight or nine gunmen to terrorize Paris and alarm the entire Western world, fueling debate about global terrorism and the growing refugee crisis. Though evil is ever-present in our world, and seems to grow more dramatic by the day, we have hope knowing that the day is coming when Jesus will have put down all remnants of evil. I pray that day comes soon, and I’m sure you do too. I also thank God that, as reported to me by Jean Philippe and Marie Angelique, none of our members in France were harmed. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured and all who mourn the death of their loved ones.

When terrible things like the Paris attacks occur, I remind myself that the fullness of God’s kingdom is yet to come. I also remind myself that we are blessed to experience God’s kingdom now in our relationship with Christ, by the Spirit, under the grace of God. But I’m also aware that we live as aliens in a tainted world where the kingdom’s fullness is not yet seen. As the apostle Paul tells us, we live in the present evil age while we hope for the age that is yet to come (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:21).

It can be perplexing, even discouraging to know that before we fully experience that new age, we must continue through this time of evil with the pain it brings. But we are encouraged knowing that events like those in Paris are not outside God’s love for us. Though we face events we don’t understand, we have faith and hope knowing God is fully present and is suffering with us. We know this because he proved his willingness to suffer from evil and bear its pain on our behalf. Yes, we grieve (and we pray), but not as those who are without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

The problem of evil

Philosophers and theologians have wrestled with the problem of evil for centuries, struggling to define its nature and character, as well as to explain why evil continues to exist. A variety of explanations have emerged. Buddhists say evil isn’t something that exists; it’s an illusion (maya). Some atheists say evil is the natural result of a universe without design or a designer. Here is what atheist Richard Dawkins wrote:

In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, and other people are going to get lucky; and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music. (Out of Eden, p. 133)

This atheistic explanation is not persuasive, especially since most of us have had enough bad things happen in our lives that we are convinced that evil is real and ought not be. Although evil is regular (and thus “ordinary”), it’s not necessary nor, in that sense, natural. The proclamation of naturalism that, “What is, is,” does not serve as an explanation of why we sense that what is, ought not be.

The Stoics taught that evil is the corruption of reason and should simply be endured. They advocated indifference to pain, pleasure, grief, and joy. This stiff “grin-and-bear-it” approach to life may sound virtuous, but it quickly becomes empty when an innocent child is kidnapped or you are falsely accused of doing evil. Ignoring evil is not a way of recognizing the evil of evil, and actually dealing with evil is no small task. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.”

Evil exists because God permits and gives humanity the possibility of choice. How we choose to use our wills is horrendous at times, as some misuse their wills in striving for evil. We see this every time there is a terrorist attack, including the one last week in Paris. God gives us the power to choose, to act. We can use our wills to do some good or to do some evil. But there is a strict limit on what we can do. What we cannot do is absolute good or absolute evil. Both our good acts and our evil acts are partial, provisional and temporary. We cannot and do not act as only God can act. We do not define reality, or good and evil for that matter. We act within limits, although those limits always seem to be too unrestrictive when great evils occur. But the fact that we cannot enact absolute good or absolute evil does not mean that there isn’t an absolute good that can and will conquer all evil, which is, in the end, not absolute, but relative to the goodness and power of God. Fortunately we know God in Jesus, who is absolute good, and who conquered evil absolutely so that evil has no future.

Despite this understanding, we still ask, Why doesn’t God stop (absolutely) all evil now? A good number of theologians and philosophers have answered this way: Try to imagine a world where God intervened to prevent carelessness and irresponsible behavior from occurring. There would be no criminal activity, no accidents, and no natural disasters. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Yes, until we realize that such a world would eliminate human choice and will. Whenever God saw something bad start to occur, he would intervene and suspend or modify our wills. This would lead to a world without moral meaning, for every time an evil action began to raise its ugly head, human willing would be overcome by external force and the deliberation to discern and choose the good would become morally meaningless. In such a world there would be no practical difference between a good and an evil action. In other words, we would not be living as human persons who could mirror their creator God in choosing and willing the good. We would, in effect, become non-moral beings, like animals or robots.

So what do we do with evil? A common Christian explanation is to combat and conquer it ourselves with whatever means are at hand. But this “fight fire with fire” approach poses a major problem—it can be a stumbling block to belief in God. It both grants too much to evil (as evil as evil is) and not enough to what God has done, is doing and will do through his and our doing good. What Paul tells us (in Romans 12:21) is that as God’s children, rather than being “overcome by evil” we are to “overcome evil with good.”

It is not uncommon for those struck by tragedy to question their faith, or even abandon it when facing the pain that evil brings. In those situations it can seem that evil is as real or more real than God and his goodness. If we attempt to combat evil and conquer it simply by sheer force of our own strength, “fighting fire with fire,” we get lost in our own efforts and can quickly spiral down a path of unbelief—believing that evil has the same or greater status as good. We also can be tempted to believe that good cannot overcome evil, not even God’s good! Conversely, when we focus on God’s sovereignty as displayed in Jesus Christ during a time of evil—in the midst of pain and grief—we can experience his comfort in the truth that he is with us in the midst of our suffering, and that evil has no future.

The trust that yields hope

Of course, when we face suffering as the result of evil, it can seem to us that God is at a distance, standing back from the evil that confronts us, or otherwise is uninvolved in our situation. But the opposite is true—God is always with us. As Phillip Yancey wrote in Disappointment with God, “All feelings of disappointment with God trace back to a breakdown in that relationship.” That breakdown always occurs on the human side as we are challenged to have faith in God—to trust that he is good and can and has overcome evil. That trust in God gives us hope and in hope we can act here and now on the basis of the truth concerning the ever-present God who accompanies us in our suffering.

To show his willingness to join us in our suffering, the eternal Son of God came in the flesh as Jesus and made his dwelling with us. And though he was rejected by many, Jesus made atonement for all through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. What Jesus has done for us shows clearly that God does care for us and is with us now in our suffering, and one day, in triumph, will bring in the fullness of his kingdom where there will be no more evil and the suffering it causes. God’s desire is to be in a loving relationship with each one of us—living in us, experiencing our suffering and our joys with us, all the while changing us from the inside out. We can meet and know Jesus in suffering and in hope.

Along with his mission to change us from the inside out, Jesus works to turn the world inside out. Yes, there is evil in this present age, but we live here not in fear and despair but with hope and confidence knowing that “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Most assuredly, one article like this cannot answer everything about evil and suffering. But I hope it brings you some comfort as we are reminded that, on a day and in an hour that no human knows, Jesus will bring an end to the actual nonsense that ought not be.

As we await that blessed hope, let’s join together in praying for the time when there will be no more terrorism, no more cancer victims, no more drive-by shootings, no more tears and sorrow. Right now, life is not fair, but God is, as we clearly see in the whole life of Jesus. He does not allow anything he cannot redeem. Fair and loving, he has made just and fair provision for all through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. In Jesus we see that God takes no pleasure in our suffering and has acted decisively to bring it to an end. We may not yet see this end clearly now, but we most certainly will see it and experience it fully in eternity.

Be encouraged dear sisters and brothers, God is faithful. He will finish what he has started.

Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus,
Joseph Tkach