As I am on the record as being quite a fan of Windows Vista (SP1) and being in the company of and in  friendship with many Mac users, I felt compelled to write.  I have long feared my Mac friends tend towards conformity and in the extreme I fear many stoop into odd forms of Idolatry. In light of this troubling technological sojourn I have found a profound mind which has given voice to my feelings.

The eminent linguist, philosopher and critic Umberto Eco has a very insightful comparison in the ancient Mac vs. PC debates of yore.  Though his writing was more to the DOS/WIN era vs. MAC I find the echos of Eco's thoughts quite relevant today. What is his thesis?  Mac is much more like Roman Catholicism and the PC much more like Protestantism.  Oh yes...now before my Mac using, uber cool Protestant friends tear thy garments go on over to read Eco's essay - The Holy War Mac vs. DOS.

I find the comparison quite revealing and interesting...

• Protestants have long cobbled together their faith with an independent spirit, willing to read Scripture, write doctrine and even go against the standard rule of religious orthodoxy of the day.  With a PC you can choose your hardware manufacturer, choose the software you run on it, choose all sorts of peripherals and configurations you would like.  For instance, my laptop has several crazy things on it that you can't get on a Mac - you just have to take what they give you.  I have a fingerprint login, SD card drive, VGA and HDMI ports to hook up to video - no dongle even...all built in!
  
• Catholics offer a highly controlled doctrine and envrionment...there is one view of the church, it comes down from the Vatican and the Holy Father turns the ship.  Much like Apple computers...you must trust that Steve Jobs is the most awesomest ever and always gives us what we need.  So with the MAC you get a wonderful, high church experience with beauty and transcedence "given" to you from One Infinite Loop (the Mac Vatican).

Of course all is lost today in the spin and noise.  Mac's are cool - PCs are stodgy, nerdy people who are just not hip.  Just watch the switcher ads - Mac...young, cool with it.  PC is...well, a lovable nerd...great advertising which gives great laughs...but far from the truth. 

Only Mac people can feel "unique, rebellious and special" for using laptops that are sold in preconfigured bundles with little to no individual custimization. It is a profound social phenomena the uniqueness of Mac users.  I think perhaps the blog "Stuff White People Like" describes this phenemona best.  I'll give Christian Lander the last words here today:

...Apple products tell the world you are creative and unique. They are an exclusive product line only used by every white college student, designer, writer, English teacher, and hipster on the planet...

...Apple products also come with stickers. Some people put them on their computer, some people put them on windows, but to take it to the pinnacle of whiteness, you need to put the Apple sticker in the rear window of your Prius, Jetta, BMW, Subaru 4WD Station Wagon or Audi. You then need to drive to a local coffee shop (Starbucks will do in a pinch) and set up your apple for the world to see. Thankfully, the Apple logo on the back will light up! So even in a dark place, people can see how unique and creative you (and the five other people doing the exact same thing) truly are!

Oh you just have to love Stuff White People Like...You can read the entire post in context here: Stuff White People Like #40 - Apple Products.  Carry on my Mac brothers - you are cooler than me and Mac's are a fine computer - just like Steve Jobs wants it.  He always knows best!

(PS - this is humor for all the especially zealous Mac religious devotees who might be very angry with me - it is meant to promote laughter, not flame mail in the comments...but if you must, give it back to me below.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!)

Philosophical Musings

• William Lane Craig answers a question, asked on separate equations by an atheist and a believer, about the nastiness and "uncivil tone that predominates among popular level atheists today." A very interesting read that can be found here.
• Interesting new work is being done by philosophy professor Bradley Monton of the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Dr. Monton is not a theist (he refers to himself as an atheist) but still finds some of the arguments for intelligent design interesting if not persuasive.  This manuscript looks very interesting.
  

Theological Reflection

• An Eastern orthodox theologian's reflection on God and evil (HT - Ben Vastine)

Technology

• Apparently there has been a steep and recent decline in the percentage of women majoring in computer science in Universities.   The Times has an interesting article about the phenomena entitled What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science? The title I find a bit odd as it seems to assume something or someone is "driving" people out. I agreed with the sentiment expressed by Ellen Spertus - “Women choosing not to go into computer science is fine,” she said, “if there aren’t artificial barriers keeping them out.”

Just for Fun

• How did the financial crisis happen? Now this may be a little simplistic and not take into account all factors...but I found it quite amusing. A visual guide to the financial crisis.
  

I read this quote in a forum digest I received last night.  A pastor on the west coast shared a quote from a man named John Newton who died in the early 19th century. He is well known for his hymn Amazing Grace and his investment in the life of men such as William Wilberforce. This quote reminded me of some central truth...

Everything is necessary that he sends. Nothing can be necessary that he withholds

It is a great assurance for the follower of Christ that all that lands in our life, through out lives and comes to our lives has been deemed a necessary part of our transformation.  It is hard to live out the calling in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I find it hard to thank God for things which are difficult and painful...even devastating. Yet over the years our family has tried to practical say thank you to God for even the hard things.  Around the dinner table our family has found an engaging way to catch up with one another, engage our hearts and follow the teaching of Scripture together.  We call it our "family prayer."

First, someone is a note taker – at first it was always me (Dad) but now my oldest daughter takes the roll at times as well.  We list all the family members’ names and make two columns by each name.  One space is to write down something positive we are thankful for that happened in our day.  Something that made you happy, felt like a blessing, made you laugh, smile and feel pretty good about God and life.  The other column is for something negative, painful, disappointing…something we typically would not be saying “Thank you God may I have another” about.  So we go around the table and share at least one positive deal and one negative deal.  We even write stuff down for our two year old, even though he doesn’t have much to say about it at this point. After we finish one of us will weave together and pray a family prayer actually thanking God for ALL OF THIS. “God, thanks for the good, the bad, the ugly.  We know these specific things you brought into our lives for your purposes. We thank you that even the hard stuff can work for good in our lives because we are called by you as your children.” 

Again, we don’t do this every night but we do it regularly, at least once a week.  We are teaching our kids, and reminding ourselves of some great truths.  First, God is sovereign over good and evil and works all things together for good for those who love him (Romans 8:28).  Second, it reminds us that the bad stuff in life many times shapes us into the image of Jesus as much as the good stuff (usually more).  Finally, it unites our family in trust of God and lets us know each others hearts a bit.  In fact, I love to hear what pains my kids as it brings my heart to a state of compassion for them.   Foster an attitude of honesty, even when what pains or disappoints them is you.  I have actually had my girls say “Daddy you not being here for dinner much this week makes me sad.”  Hello! What a gift from God, from my daughters to remind me of what is valuable in life.   Family prayer is one of our favorite practices in our home and very simple to lead as parents.

Some would see the world as a chaotic stew of random events of human produced triumphs and failures. I tend to see the world as a purposeful arena where God brings about his purposes. In my life, through failures and difficulties, he seems to work the most.  Maybe I am just too hard headed to learn any other way.

...but not like this

Uhh...not sure what to say. There is some real sadness in all this...an example of worshiping creation rather than Creator. Bring me to this rock that has this incredible life? Steward the rocks and the trees and care for our resources...but worship not a rock...unless it is the rock.

(HT - David)

For those of you who know me realize that I maintain a keen interest in both science and technology as well as related philosophical issues surrounding both.  This morning I wanted to comment a bit on both Love and Hate as it is the subject of some recent research regarding the brain and brain scanning technology in particular.  Of such technology I am both a lova and a hata...let me explain.

On October 29th, Reuters UK reported the following story - Thin line between love and hate? Science knows why. The article shows how reductionism tells us little or nothing useful for our lives.  The article recounts some research of the brain activity of people who are looking at images of people they hate.  The subjects brains were active in an area similarly active when you have that loving feeling. Here is a quick excerpt that summarizes the research.

Brain scans of people shown images of individuals they hated revealed a pattern of brain activity that partly occurs in areas also activated by romantic love, Semir Zeki and John Paul Romaya of University College London reported on Wednesday.

"This linkage may account for why love and hate are so closely linked to each other in life," the researchers wrote in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One.

I found this article to profoundly communicate nothing that is actually useful to human beings.  The subject of brain scanning is interesting because it demonstrates what parts of our brains are active when we experience certain thoughts, emotions, etc.  Now, if you were to simply watch brain activity over time you would know absolutely nothing about the human condition.  What this sort of research relies upon is real world configurations and information from human persons.  If you just watched electrical activity in the cortex, you would not know jack unless a person said - "I'm really angry right now."  With such feedback, or stimuli (showing you pictures that really hack you off) the researcher sees the resultant brain state and then makes a ridiculous error in reductionism.  Just a side note, the philosophy of naturalistic reductionism has been covered here before so I'll just refer you to that little ditty, but what I want to get at today is that there is much more to love, hate than brain chemistry.   

The scientist looking only at brain chemistry eliminates all human elements to his subject by making an identity statement between the brain state and that which is described by the human being.  If someone is praying and a certain brain circuit is firing the reductionist thinker says "That is God" - of course the "That" is nothing but biochemical reactions and surely not "God."  Similarly we think that a brain circuit = hate or love for that matter.  This is a profoundly hollow view of human experience. 

In fact, resultant brain states give no real useful information to a human person. For someone to know that their brain chemistry corresponds to certain emotions gives them zero help in understanding, controlling, guiding, shaping their own minds and souls.  For instance, the reductionist view sees the human person only as a material being which is subject to cause and effect relationships in matter.  Love or hate just are responses to external stimuli like seeing pictures of people you despise.  What are you going to do about it? When you think about it, this view eliminates the existence of a separate "YOU" altogether. You are your brain and that is it.  Contrary to this view, the mind has demonstrated a perplexing ability to act upon its material substrata.  This is true in our self-conscious reflective experience and fleshed out in recent studies in neuroplasticity which show that the mind can actually change the brain's physical make up by mere thinking.  Furthermore, as a theist I might add, it is also interesting that the mind of God influences our thoughts and brains as well.

Back to the reductionist view. I remember in college I had a professor in a class on information transmission who made what I found to be a very obtuse statement.  He said something like "What is love - it is nothing, nothing but I/O" - in other words "love" was not real, but rather a material phenomenon of sensory inputs and glandular outputs. I remember thinking - there is more to love and life than that.  Now, philosophically I believe that the soul is inextricably joined with the body; so I reject a harsh dualism in favor of a more holistic one.  So it seems to me that the mind plays out in the medium of the brain/body and their exists a correlative power that minds may have over "brain matter" and a reciprocal power that the body has on the mind.

By simply saying that brain patterns = SOME MOOD, EMOTION does really nothing for me.  It is fascinating technology to be able to watch neuron behavior - I do love that. It is great science in and of itself.  Yet to say that hate/love/prayer/joy/compassion IS JUST a brain state is profoundly ridiculous based on an assumed philosophical leap into the darkness of naturalistic faith.  It has so little information to actually help anyone with the way they live (save the case where someone may need to temporarily and artificially alter brain states through drug therapy to stabilize a person). I for one find there is much more we can say about love and hate but this requires us to venture into the world of objective values, ethical truths and human agents which can reflect and act upon them.  This sort of thing my friends, you simply will not find in your own brain, but they are indeed found in the mind and character of God.

Mark Driscoll posted a non political, political commentary a few days ago.  If you are more Christian left or more Christian right...or maybe just more Christian purple and don't want to take colors...this is worth the time to read. It points to Jesus as the source of our longings for a savior and king.

In God We Do Not Trust

Also, if you are a Christian conservative...I have a question for you.  It seems your Facebook updates, blogs, etc. focused quite a bit on "How God is still sovereign" and "God sets up rulers" etc.  I'm cool with that and understand why you say that in your disappointment.  But I do have a question - if McCain would have won would your reaction and quotation of our holy texts have been the same?  Just asking.  The truth of those texts is truth no matter who won, but it has bothered me a bit that some quote them when they think things went "bad" politically, but probably would have been dancing in the street in their guy won.  Maybe I am wrong.

Anyway, I am a pastor with both Red, Blue and Purple in our small church plant - so this is as close as I am going to get to political banter.  I like Mark's article because he points out something real in the hearts of all of us when engaging political hopes and dreams.  We are looking for a king who will defeat all our enemies and we are looking for a savior who will rescue us from the sins of our own hands.  I know of only one.  The color that mattered most to him was red, and not because he was a republican, but because with his blood he ransomed men for God from every tribe, tongue, people and nation (Revelation 5:9,10).  Truly, his Kingdom and rule shall have no end (Isaiah 9:1-7).

Finally, rejoice with those who rejoice about this election...not for certain policies that you may or may not agree with, but for the wonderful fact that America, with freedom, and overwhelming support elected our first African American president. You don't have to agree with our new President elect and you certainly should not worship him (slow down Oprah) but you should be thankful for the progress of race relations and bigotry in our lands.

OK, that is as political as the POCBlog will ever get.

Proverbial wisdom says that you can always build a better mousetrap...I think I found proof that this is indeed true.

Poor little mice...their brains are just to small to know what hit them. One more reason to believe that their is a vast distance between man and beast. Those with soft hearts towards mice, Kleenex available here.

To visually represent the broad story of the good news Jesus last week I started scribbling before going to speak at Rutgers Cru. One of the core values/identities of Jacob's Well is that we desire to be a gospel centered people.  That our lives, our community, our flow as people would be found in the story of a redeeming God pursuing people and bringing them back into relationship with himself and all things. The centrality of Jesus life, teaching, death on a cross for sin and resurrection for our justification (declared forgiven before God) should be the core reality that we live.  This story of redemption is one of the great clues to the fabric of reality in the universe. 

Anyway, I wanted to represent this story visually in a way that shows both the darkness and glory of the cross of Christ, that honors the full historical and futurical sweep of redemption and to show mad love to the visual learners.  Because I think it is sad that people make them read and don't provide enough pictures.  So here's to you Mr. downcast visual learner guy, this pics for you...

To be honest this diagram sort of happened while scribbling and then I "saw" after the fact some cool things which could be communicated using this.  Anyway, I'll explain as we traverse through the diagram.  It reads left to right, no offense to the right to left readers...

To see a slightly larger version of this diagram, you can click here

Creation

We begin by drawing a dot which represents the beginning of all space and time.  The Scriptures teach and scientific reasoning accords that the universe began to exist in the finite past.  God spoke the world, the stars, galaxies, plants, animals, all the elements into existence.  As the crown of creation he creates men and women in his image and likeness to rule creation with him as his stewards.  The creation was in rhythm and God and people were in harmony and order.

Fall

The next line is drawn downward and dark.  The Old Testament teaches us that the first human beings, in direct contradiction to their creator, disobeyed him and reaped the consequences on the world and the human race.  The Christian teaching of the fall of humanity is established in the Old Testament in the first three chapters of Genesis.  As a result of our rebellion, God brought a state of decay upon creation and human beings.  The results are devastating.  Each person sins against God by nature and by choice.  We are guilty before our creator for our rebellion and as a result of sin, all people die, though we act like we will live forever. The consequence of human sin has translated into a world which is not a paradise, but rather a war zone full of disease, human atrocities, natural disasters, and our separation from God and each other.   Yet God did this in hope, (Romans 8:18-30) for his plan was just beginning.  Though we had sinned, in love God set about to forgive and restore.  He would win back a people from the curse and vindicate his name which had been dishonored by the very creatures he had created.

Covenant

Even though things had grown dark, the promise of God redeeming the world was given just after the sin of the first human beings. A promise was made that the offspring from a woman would one day crush the head of the serpent and restore the broken world.  This blue dotted line is the line of redemption that God began to weave into creation.  Even though at times it seems a bit dark in this world, God is constantly at work in the course of redemption. The plan included many people and nations, many hundreds of years and a complex matrix of events and signposts.  His plan would find its fullness when God himself, incarnate as the second Adam, the person of Jesus of Nazareth, would pay the final price for sin and bring us back into relationship with God.   This drama unfolded throughout the Old Testament and was ultimately fulfilled in the New Testament.  It unfolds on various continents, centered in the Promised Land, through various covenants by which God invited people back into relationship with himself.  This was all extended by grace, a free gift from God who offers peace to those who now live at war (either passively or aggressively...or passive aggressively) with him.

As God worked to redeem a people throughout history, he did so by making promises, or establishing covenants with people.  Seeing the whole of redemptive history, particularly the Old Testament, through the grid of the unfolding of the covenants is very helpful.

History marched forward under the direction of God until the arrival of what the Scriptures describe as the fullness of time.  Of this time, the book of Galatians tells us a beautiful truth:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Yes, the fullness of time had come.  God the Father had sent God the Son into the world as a fulfillment of all of God's covenant promises over the ages.  His coming was foretold by prophets, his work unfolded in the covenants, and his love would fulfill the hearts of his people.  And a cross was waiting for him.

The Cross - The Paradoxical Jewel of our Faith

It was a fortuitous event of providence that I drew lines "UP" for the work of God in promising to save his people and a line "DOWN" to indicate the fall.  For both arrive at a cross, both the brightest moment and the darkest hour of history.  For in the one event God the Son saves the world and at the same time, the Roman government murders him.  Acts 2:22-24 shows this complexity of the crucifixion of Jesus:

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

This simultaneous paradox is the crown jewel of our faith and the lines will soon form a diamond, the most precious of jems. The Kingdom of Jesus came with the crucified King and now continues through all the people that he saves and redeems.

Redemption

From the darkness of Jesus' abandonment and execution comes his resurection whereby life is proclaimed to forever conquer death.  Our own lives that are stained with sin and separation from God can be transformed when we hear the gospel message.  When we hear of the love of God expressed towards sinners through Jesus' death on the cross we are called to repent (change our minds and turn away from) of our sin and receive his forgiveness by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9). The gospel teaches us that Jesus died a death that we deserve, his death for sin.  Additionally, he lived the life we cannot live, a life without sin.  By placing our trust/faith in him we receive forgiveness and pardon from God for our sins and are counted righteous before God in him. In Jesus we are brought back into relationship with God and given eternal life as the gift of a gracious and loving God. We are then transferred from a dark path into the path of redemption and mission in the world. We intersect with eternity on Jesus' mission which is manifesting and ultimately bringing into fullness the Kingdom of God.

Mission

Jesus is constantly on mission in the world to seek and save the lost and manifest his rule and reign on the earth through his people.  We join this two fold mission by proclaiming good news so that people, sinful people like ourselves, experience the saving power of Jesus as he saves people and places them in his church.  The church then represents and manifests a different Kingdom than the Kingdoms of the earth serving as a display of God as a counter cultural community of hope and love.   Redeemed people on mission in the world...heading towards an ultimate and final consummation of the Kingdom awaits.

Kingdom 

[Quick TheoNote: The diagram here represents a person's existential connection to the Kingdom, not when the Kingdom begins "in time" - the appropriate temporal "beginning of the Kingdom" would be during the incarnation.  See Mark 1:14,15 - "The Kingdom is at hand" - the diagram here shows how the mission of Jesus through the church connects people to the Kingdom - this happens when someone is redeemed and transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Jesus (See Colossians 1).  I am also using "simple" eschatology and making no comment on those issues...only that the Kingdom comes with Jesus and people are connected to it through his mission and the redeeming work of the cross.]

The final destination for the people of God is the coming fullness of the Kingom of Heaven, the kingdom where the rule and reign of Jesus is full and final.  All sin and evil will ultimately be eradicated and we will live eternally in a realm sans disease, war and death.  It will be a reality where God wipes away all tears and his presence will illuminate existence fully for all time. The feeling we have in this age of things not being quite right will surprisingly be lifted and the souls of men will finally be at peace.  All those who repent and believe and follow the resurected Jesus will live forever with him, those who refused to believe, chose themselves as their own god, who did not trust and follow him will remain in their sins outside of his Kingdom forever.

This view has a few things which I find commendable. First, it has the cross of Jesus central to the gospel.  Second it has redemption occupying the scope of all history not simply a few moments.  Third, it acknowledges the church's role as an in-breaking of the Kingdom into this present reality with good works and doing justice manifesting that reality.  Finally, it keeps the short gospel, Jesus died in the place of sinners as their substitute, to save us from sin, death and hell as the central message the church proclaims. At the same time that message is proclaim from the church who live as servants to the world, fellow sinners and sojourners on the road to the heavenly city...a Kingdom which will be realized fully by God and not human beings.

All is made possible by the cross of Christ, the diamond of our faith.  Whereby God is seen most clearly by suffering and giving his life for those he loves and saves.  This diamond, much like an engagement ring, declares God's promised love for his people, which will end on a great wedding day where Jesus the bridegroom, and his bride the church, will party together to enter into eternal communion at the end of this age.

Thoughts?

Over the past several years I have been thinking through how the term gospel is used in the Bible.  It has a narrow form and a broad meaning in the Scriptures.  The narrow, and very true form, is represented by texts such as 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 which reads:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

This is clearly the gospel of the church that followed Jesus on his mission into this world after his resurection.  However, the gospel has a broad form that requires much more context of understanding that a mere few sentences, points or laws.  One rather jarring passage in the New Testament that points to the broader story in Scripture being called "the gospel" is found in Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia. Now don't misunderstand me, the gospel Paul preached, and the Galatians are reminded not to abandon, is the apostolic preaching summed up in 1 Corinthians 15.  Yet in Galatians three we find a wonderful indication that this gospel has a much more looming history (and future) than some acknowledge:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

So in some very true and profound way Abraham had the gospel preached to him in the Abrahamic covenant; the promise God made to Abraham that in him, all the nations should be blessed. So the gospel holds as its pinnacle jewel, the death, burial and resurection of Jesus for sinners.  This jewel is the center of the gospel and the center of history; but the good news has a much broader historical and futurical (future history) scope.

In communicating this story many have taken the tact to present the gospel in a narrative form. Something which does not talk very long to communicate. Here is my simple attempt...if you read it aloud you will find that it does not take very long at all:

I would summarize the gospel as the story of the one Creator God, making all things, space, time, matter, energy in order to display his nature to his creatures.  God created human beings in his own image and likeness to know him, love him, and reflect his character in the world to one another for their joy and his glory.  Our first parents then gave God the proverbial Heisman, choosing to live life their way rather than God’s way.  They turned away from God and his provision for them, disobeying his commandments and thereby bringing fracture in their relationship with God, one another, and creation.  God in his grace set about to redeem a people back to himself and has pursued us throughout history to this end.  He promised in the very early days to send a human being, a seed of a woman to bring people back to God, reconciling them to himself and all things (Gen 3:15).  Throughout history he communicated with us and connected with us through prophets, men called to speak God’s message to humanity.  He made covenants with his people that would culminate the in his sending of his own Son to the earth.  He would be a Jewish person, the offspring of Abraham (Gen 12, 15).  He would fulfill God’s commandments perfectly satisfying the demands of the law completely and live without sin (Heb 4.15).  He would be a king to his people (2 Sam 7) guiding them into a life of love, joy and peace.  He would teach us the truth, show us perfected humanity, and ultimately die to pay the penalty for our own rebellion and sin.  This person, Jesus, gave his life for us in what Martin Luther called the great exchange.  Our sin was placed on him as he took our deserved judgment and punishment by dying on a cross.  We then receive his righteousness, a favor and good name before God the Father (2 Corinthians 5.16-21).  We are thereby forgiven, brought back into relationship with God, our guilt is removed, God’s wrath no longer is upon us, and we now become his followers and agents of reconciliation in the world.  We receive all of this by his grace; none of it is earned by our works or actions.  God will someday bring his kingdom in fullness where Jesus will completely and finally bring an end to all evil and usher in an eternal age of life and peace for all who follow him.  Those who persist in rebellion against God will face his justice for all which was done in this life.  

Of course more could be said than I have here, but the essence of the broader gospel story is there.  As a guy who did not come to faith until I was almost 20, seeing the big picture of God's work in the gospel has been very helpful to me understanding what God has done, has promised, is doing and will do in the eschatology.

In my next post here I will share a little diagram we came up with last week when speaking to college students and our little church here in New Jersey.  I hope it may give you great appreciation for the gospel and a compassion to connect God's story with others who may be interested in the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15).