Jesus and Gates- Mixed Metaphors?

"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.  The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.    (John 10:1-4 NRSV)

I mentioned Jesus as the gate in the last post. In John Chapter 10, Jesus has quite a bit to say about gates. If you feel so inclined you can read John 10v1-18. It is an intriguing passage, partly because Jesus seems to mix his metaphors regarding gates.

I have been reading R.T. Kendall's superb book, 'Totally Forgiving God'. If you can get past the possibly provocative title, this is a very insightful book. I have three of his books, one I found less than entirely helpful at the time, another one about Joseph, and this one, which is the best. We all have an angle of insight into the multi-faceted glory of God's nature, and R.T.'s angle is only an angle. But there is depth of insight and experience here.

One of the things he says is that Jesus often did not explain what he said too clearly! He did not seem at all anxious to avoid being misunderstood. He clearly still is misunderstood even by those who love him because we squabble so much about theology! He was confident that those truly and persistently seeking truth would find it, led and illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, back to John 10. Later in this passage, Jesus clearly states that he is both the gate and the shepherd of the sheep.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.    (John 10:7 NRSV)

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.    (John 10:11 NRSV)

A question arises though. Look carefully at verses 1-5 and especially verse 2.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

In verse 7 Jesus describes himself as the gate. So the gate he is. He is the way into the Kingdom. He alone is the way to know the Father who presides over the Kingdom. All this is straightforward. However, notice that the passage we are focussing on, John 10:1-18, is divided at verse 6.

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.    (John 10:6 NRSV)

In other words, verses 1-5 were a little tricky for the audience. It is fascinating to me that Jesus put something out to the people and then registered that they did not get it. So, at the start of verse 7, he starts again. Here is Jesus displaying the fullness of his humanity. He is working on communication with an audience in 'real time'. God likes people and has fun (as well as other emotions) communicating with us.

Unlike me (!), Jesus did not just plow on with his sermon on this occasion at least. I believe Jesus has subtly shifted his metaphor, his figure of speech, because they were giving him blank looks first time. After verse 6, the gate is clearly Jesus himself. But before verse 6? Look at verse 2 again.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

This time, the gate is the means by which the shepherd enters, not the shepherd himself. Read it carefully and it is hard to avoid the logic of my statement.

This of course begs a question; what does the gate mean in verse 2, if not the shepherd himself?  

I believe the metaphor which makes most sense here is the one of incarnation. Jesus of course entered the sheepfold through the gate of human birth, into Israel 2000 years ago.

We live in a world where many spiritual beings are masquerading as deliverers, helpers and healers. Satan himself may appear as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11v14. Many self-appointed spiritual authorities claim to have had foundational revelations from angels, including Mohamed and Joseph Smith, the originators of Islam and Mormonism respectively.  

Now the Bible contains an abundance of revelations given by angels, but the foundational revelation of God to man, and the foundational mediation between God and man, happened by means of incarnation. God himself became a human being. This had been planned within the Godhead from before the foundation of the world, see Revelation 13v8.

Initially God respected the precedence of Israel in his relations with men and Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, Judea. However, through the pouring out of his Spirit, indwelling his disciples, he reached the rest of the world as Jesus indicates here.

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.    (John 10:16 NRSV)

In my view then, in verse 10 follows on from the metaphor of verse 2. The gate of incarnation is contrasted with the illegitimate intrusion of Satan the thief. Satan is a disembodied spirit, along with the fallen angels. They seek to influence mankind without having actually been members of the human race.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they (the sheep) may have life, and have it abundantly.    (John 10:10 NRSV)

Only the Incarnate Son, the Son of man, Jesus the Christ, was able to bring legitimate influence with God and with man and initiate our transfer from the power of darkness and our entry into his Kingdom (Colossians 1v13).

To summarize we can say for certain that Jesus is the gate by which men may enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and also that the reason he is able and worthy to be this gate is because he humbled himself and became a man and suffered for our sins.

Jesus Christ is indeed fully God and yet fully man.

The truths of the incarnation are deep, complete and wonderful for us.

The Fall and the Image of God

We live in a paradox. We see wonderful things but marred things.

We are made in the image of God. We bear a measure of His faculties; His breadth of emotion, His sophistication of thought, His capacity for planning, decision-making, creativity.

Yet these very amazing capacities have been dulled, corrupted and diminished by the Fall. In fact, they were never activated into their full potential because in Adam we did not eat of the Tree of Life. Our humanity was to remain a shadow of God's intent for us until we had passed a test of obedience in Adam. But we did not pass the test. Instead we failed to trust God and keep His Word. Our primary sin was to fail to heed God. Secondarily, we opened a door to Satan. The sum total result we call the Fall, which is recorded in Genesis Chapter 3. However, almost immediately the Redeemer was promised. The Christ would come from the seed of now fallen woman! Regarding Satan in the form of the serpent, God says:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."    (Gen 3:15 NRSV)

This promise (a negative one for Satan, to whom it was addressed, of course) tells us that the Messiah, as offspring of the woman, will fatally strike the power of Satan.

The Incarnate Deity, Jesus Christ, is, was, and will remain both man and God. He is now in a 'resurrection model' body, but still a human body. He alone was and is the doorway or gate to our full potential as men and women. He is the gate to present spiritual regeneration, and to future bodily regeneration.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.    (1 Cor 15:20-22 KJV)

We will put on the full, physical, 'HD' version of our humanity at the resurrection. However the spiritual realities are ours now:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.    (2 Cor 5:17 KJV)

Jesus is the gate by which we enter the Kingdom, whether initially by spiritual regeneration, or finally and physically by bodily regeneration. The second will certainly follow for those who have received the first.

Promise and Seal 

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.    (Eph 1:14 NRSV)

Redemption of what?

......we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.    (Rom 8:23 NIV)

Again, our bodies. In other words, restoration of our bodies to God's original fully intended, heavenly design.

But for now...

Before the resurrection, and since the Fall, our condition is not so good...

........until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."    (Gen 3:19 NIV)

Notice that man, 'adam', was taken from the earth, meaning here 'the soil'. The Hebrew for 'soil', incidentally, in Genesis 1v25, is 'adamah'. In the beginning, man could have gone two ways; to decay, as he did, or to glorification, if he had cleaved to the Word God gave him, and had kept Satan 'firewalled' out of his God-given domain. The cosmic tragedy is told in Genesis 3v1-8.

We see that man was formed from the earth, but the curse that returned him to the earth was not pronounced until after the Fall.
 
Man's Spirtual Context through the Ages

The Fall marks the transition between two spiritual contexts for mankind. Man has been, or will be, subject to four spiritual contexts. The first two are outside of Christ. The second two are only available in Christ. Briefly:

Before the fall, man was innocent of sin but not invulnerable to it.

After the Fall, man was guilty of sin and unable not to sin.

In Christ in this age, we are declared innocent by faith but are still bodily vulnerable to sin.

In Christ at the Resurrection, we will be innocent of sin again, and in fact, unable to sin. This will be because our bodily nature and environment will fully reflect the nature of God. God is not even tempted by sin. It does not occur to Him to sin.

No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.    (James 1:13 NRSV) 

Shouting Across a Chasm

God has put us in a world where things run very differently form the way they run in heaven. We are called to live by faith that the precepts of heaven will work in a world where the governing principles and beliefs appear very different. We have a phrase for someone who can make things work using the precepts of this world; 'wordly wise'. However God is looking for something else. As the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and 6 makes clear, Jesus wants us to function in a way that is alien to this world.

Our hearts have been born of the Spirit of God if we have been born again. Our hearts belong to heaven. We are not wholly comfortable with this world. This is to be expected. Paul calls us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Col 3v2). We are asked to pray 'Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven'.

We are told to ask, seek, knock. We are calling across a chasm. God can hear though. We are asking for heaven to be exhibited on earth. We are looking for two worlds increasingly growing apart to be reconciled. We are calling for heaven to be manifest on earth. We may do so mostly selfishly, looking for the provision and security of heaven to be shown in our own lives. We may do so less selfishly, asking that poverty and oppression end for others; for the justice of heaven to be manifest on the earth. Either way is faith, but I am confident that those who rule and reign over most in the age to come will be those who used their faith most selflessly in the present age. They are the ones I would want to have high positions in heaven.

Why does God leave us in a world with frequently hostile ideologies and principles? Partly to show us they do not really work. Peace and fulfillment elude humanity. Dreams prove evasive, hollow and deceptive. Partly to develop a longing for heavenly precepts and peace which will cement our citizenship in heaven when they are fulfilled. He wants to strongly align our hearts with heaven even in the presence of strongly opposing practices and philosophies. It is our faith in the God of heaven which enables us to live a life not conformed to this world. That faith is more precious than pure gold in his sight. 1 Peter 1v7 Romans 12v2

Wickedness or Weakness

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.    (Mat 5:6 NRSV)

Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."    (Mark 14:38 NRSV)

Those whose inner desire is for righteousness, will be fulfilled. They will inherit the Kingdom. We are talking here about true righteousness. God's standards, achieved by God's means.

God knows that we are weak and fearful a lot of the time. However, he does not confuse our weakness with wickedness of the heart.

There are many who, when intimidated, will act against their best conscience. They do not want to, and if the external pressure was removed, they would act righteously. This was true of Abraham in the matter of Sarah his wife when he feared that Pharoah would desire her. He anticipated trouble and told Sarah to tell a lie to keep them out of trouble. He repeated the same tactic again with Abimelech king of Gerar. My mother grew up in Nazi Germany and tells of times when she was told to be quiet about dissenting opinions held within her household for her own good. She obeyed the advice.

God knows those whose hearts are essentially given over to his righteousness, longing for his appearing. They may display moral weakness and compromise, but God sees that they are essentially 'men after his own heart' like David.

Do not allow the Devil and your own thoughts to condemn you concerning failures which do not fully reflect your heart.

For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.    (Psa 35:7 NRSV)


They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn.    (Psa 35:12 NRSV)

There are those who delight in wickedness and cruelty for it's own sake, even when there is no evil being done or being threatened. These people cannot be trusted with heaven because they will misbehave even when there is no reason to. They are originators of evil, rather than complicit with evil. They are wicked.

Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered; and who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you cease plundering, you will be plundered; When you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will will deal treacherously with you.    (Isa 33:1 KJV)

David exhibited behaviour which was wicked when he committed adultery and arranged murder. However God chooses to forgive him. He expresses hot displeasure at what David did, and says that discord will be sown in David's family. However God does not take his Spirit, his salvation or his promises away. David had a heart after him. Since the fall man has had a body, 'the flesh', which is inclined to sin. I do not believe it has to sin, because Jesus walked in a body of flesh and was tempted. He suffered human weaknesses but did not succumb to them (Hebrews 4v15). The New Birth happens when we want God and do not want to sin anymore; at least not in our heart of hearts. Progress in the Christian life happens when we resist sin in the flesh. If we sin after the new birth, there is forgiveness when we confess our sin (1 John 1v9).

An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.    (Prov 17:11 KJV)


An evil man seeks only rebellion. He is motivated by rebellion against God in the deepest place of his heart. He is, like Satan, an originator of evil rather than one who is oppressed or tempted by another and responds with compromise and therefore sin. Such a one will reap an eternal environment of evil people. No rest.

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.    (Isa 19:4 KJV)

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.    (Isa 45:7 KJV)
  
This last verse is intriguing. Ultimately God takes responsibility for the existence of evil because he set in motion a universe in which it was and is possible for evil to develop. However he is never the originator of evil.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:    (James 1:13 KJV)

He permits evil to overtake evildoers as a discipline and as a warning against the pursuit of evil. He allows evil to infringe on the lives of the righteous to draw them closer to him and to show forth his glory in us to a lost world, assuming we handle it correctly.

God does not hold us responsible, in terms of our eternal destiny, simply for evil deeds committed. He has taken the punishment for these himself. However, he does hold us responsible if we refuse to take his remedy for evil within us. The remedy, of course, is faith in the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

Ultimately therefore evil is rooted in rebellion against God. This focuses down for us now, after the fall, on our acceptance or otherwise of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

What looks like extreme wickedness, such as the case of David in 2 Samuel 11, does not result in David being judged a wicked man. Ultimately, because he has a heart after God, seen in his subsequent contrition and repentance, God sees David as weak rather than wicked. Conversely, there are those whose sin looks less severe, but who have a heart to boundless sin if they thought they could get away with it. They look to have a minor weakness but God can see they are actually wicked.

Someone once said that there are those who wrestle with God hoping to lose, and those who wrestle with God hoping to win. In other words, there are those who see sinful rebellion in themselves and don't want it, and there are those who actually love it and are unrepentant. 

Wonder- Revelation 4 and 5

When I was a child in the UK I used to get a weekly thin magazine called 'World of Wonder'. Within its covers were articles on diverse noteworthy subjects. Everything from architecture through science to outstanding personalities from history. It did instill in me a sense of wonder and curiosity. As time goes on though, this world can get more wearisome as we get familiar with its ways. Things can lose their shine and freshness. It is exciting to watch young children approach life with this innocence and amazement. Two days' ago, I made a flying model plane from polystyrene and cardboard. Esther, our youngest daughter was so excited. When it flew, she shouted 'you are the best daddy ever!' We then made 6 more in kit form and took them into the squatter camp; the kids there loved them too.

For us all, an encounter with God can give our hearts hints of heaven and give us fresh eyes to appreciate the good things about this mortal life. It can moderate and mollify the frustrations of this life by putting this life in perspective.

If you, like me, are prone to being a world-weary cynic, we can approach Bible passages about heaven with jaundiced or tainted eyes. I have only recently been really impacted by Revelation chapters 4 and 5, helped along by some of the material available from Mike Bickle on this subject.

Formerly I read them from a viewpoint a bit like the inhabitants of Duloc in the movie 'Shrek'. The ruler, Lord Farquart, had servants hold up signs telling them how to respond at public events. The signs said things like, 'laughter', 'gasp', 'awe', etc. Similarly, the courtiers of an earthly ruler might brief visitors on correct protocol in the presence of the ruler.   

However now I see that the living creatures, elders and others around the throne of God do not need to be told how to react and respond. They are simply, and continually, lost in the wonder of who God is. That childhood wonder has returned, only probably better than ever. Wonder, as well as love, has surrounded and engulfed their consciousness.

There are facets to God and our future heavenly existence which are, it seems, not fully describable from within our current experience. Our experience here is limited by our mortal bodies and their earthly environment.

At the resurrection, there will be aspects and dimensions of sense, emotion and intellect which God has ordained to await those who look forward to His coming. Not only that, He will be awaiting us, waiting to serve us at table! All regret, pain, frustration and dashed hope relating to this mortal life will dissolve due to the new perspective of eternity.

Let's read this passage asking God to breathe into us the life of heaven as we go. Revelation Chapters 4 and 5

Also    1 Cor 12v4,      1 Cor 2v9,        Luke 12v37

Polishing to a Point

Imagine our knowledge of God as a sharply polished point, a point worked on by tools onto a rod of, say, steel. A scribe, an engraving tool. The tool serves to write on peoples' hearts. Indeed the knowledge of God has power to change our hearts for the better.

Imagine we are working on that point from three different angles. If you are mathematically inclined that means you turn your steel rod through 120 degrees and work at polishing it again.

The sharper the point, the more effective the scribing tool will be.

Remember the scribing tool represents our knowledge of God.

So what are the three directions from which we sharpen the point? What are the three areas which we need to reconcile in order to relate to God successfully? I would suggest these three:

The Righteousness of God; his idea of right behaviour, which we must accept, because he is not going to change it. His righteousness represents the ultimate and eternal demands of God on us, because without holiness we will not see the Lord. God's righteousness is not relative and it is not cultural, His demands are absolute, He is a holy God.

Sacrifice, the path by which our failings and failure to live right are covered until we learn to live right.

Empowerment, the ability and energy to live right.

These themes run right through scripture.

The person of Jesus and his life have completely answered these three issues. The Gospel means everything is resolved; the point is sharp.

Jesus taught the righteousness of God in a very exacting way. The physical act of sin in transgressing the Ten Commandments was outlawed under Moses; Jesus makes it clear that God is after more. He is purity of heart, and that is what he is looking for in us. Reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and 6 makes this difference between action and intent clear.

Likewise, the Book of Hebrews makes it clear that the Old Covenant of Sinai gives an inadequate, temporary sacrificial system which leaves an abiding consciousness of sin. Jesus, however, is a completely effective sacrifice for all sin.

Romans 8v9 and 1 Corinthians 15v45 makes it clear that Jesus, when he ascended, was One with the Life -Giving Spirt. The very nature, power and ability of God Himself is available to us to fulfill His requirements, His righteousness. 

The Law, on the other hand, only takes us part of the way down each of these three roads, righteousness, sacrifice and empowerment.The point is blunt. The scribe cannot write effectively on the human heart.

As explained above, the Law tends to deal with the externals of righteousness. It cannot get to the deep underlying problems of the heart. Jesus highlighted underlying conditions in his teaching; the things that make a heart worthy or unworthy of eternal life in heaven.

Likewise, Jesus offered up, as both High Priest and Sacrifice, a completely effective atonement for all sin for all time, past, present and future. The Law was only a temporary covering, not a remission, for sins for those who kept the rigid and costly levitical sacrificial system.

In terms of empowerment, the Law is weakest. It does not actually help you to live right. it is here that the New Covenant is the most wonderful, because it empowers us with God Himself, as the Holy Spirit.

We need to be aware of and thankful regarding these differences, and how fortunate we are that we are under the New Covenant of Grace! Righteousness, sacrifice and power are effective and abundantly and freely available.

 

Contact or Contract?

That extra 'R' stands for religion. I mean the extra 'R' in the word 'contract' that is not in the word 'contact'.

If you read my last post, you will know that it is not my belief that God was wholeheartedly in the Law. The Law is religion. Yes, the best religion, because there is some glory in it and it tells us a lot about God. However Paul tells us in Galatians and Hebrews and many other places in the New Testament about the limitations of the Law.

Surely God wanted to save me and you passionately and wholeheartedly. Surely he wanted to save us completely?

If I think he is half-hearted then I will be too, I guarantee. 

But God is not like that. His throne is surrounded by beings who are in constant awe and amazement. They are enthralled, in love. If you have any sense, you will not feel that for too long towards someone who is half-hearted towards you. That is human nature. It is also sensible.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.    (Heb 12:2 KJV)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;    (1 John 1:1 KJV)

Jesus endured the cross for the joy (read 'enjoyment') of knowing us! God thinks human beings are a supremely good idea, worth going to extreme lengths over to recover our friendship.

For our part, we can have contact with God. John had physical contact with God the Man. We can have spiritual contact with him, which is probably even better. One day we will have physical contact too. One day he will wait on us and serve us, who have been looking forward to his appearance.

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.    (Luke 12:37 KJV)

If we contact God, we are connected with his resources. Emotional, financial, physical, spirtual, mental, everything.

Add the 'r' and we get contract. The Law was contract.

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:   (Deu 28:1 KJV)

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.    (Deu 28:2 KJV)

........there follows a list of blessings covering just about all areas of life 

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:    (Deu 28:15 KJV)

........there follows a list of curses covering just about all areas of life 

Paul calls Deuteronomy 28:15 'the Curse of the Law'.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:    (Gal 3:13 KJV)

We have been rescued from this tit-for-tat contractual relationship with God where failure to keep the rules rigorously results in harsh and broad-based punishment.

Instead, we encounter God as Father. This is possible because of what Jesus did to remove the valid legal basis for our punishment. We will then be able to experience the tender fatherhood of God, rather than seeing him as an angry slave-master, constantly saddened by our shortcomings and misdemeanors. We need to be fully conscious of the total effectiveness of the blood of Christ. Remember that this was a radical concept, even for Jews, when Jesus started preaching it. God as Father! Well, a good father treats his children as individuals, he is sensitive to their state of mind and mood. He does not exasperate them by expecting more than they can give. (Perhaps he might to teach them a lesson if they re being mean and demanding to others!)  He will discipline them but not out of temper, to release his own frustrations, and not to get even. He will discipline them so they learn for their own good. He will be harsh only if harsh is the only way forward. Law has no such sensitivity, even good law. It is proceedural, contractual, impersonal.

God had much more in mind when he made us.