Justification Through New Creation by Frank D. Macchia
Wow...it has been quite some time since I have given reports on my recent reading. But do not let that cause dismay - I have indeed been reading--just not reporting on it! Since my last update, my reading has included The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright, Resurrection: Theological and Scientific Assessments, ed. by Ted Peters, Robert John Russell and Michael Welker, The Justice of God by James Dunn, What is Christianity? by Adolf von Harnack, and a plethora of literature on the book of Deuteronomy and the topic of the fear of the Lord in Hebrew religion (see the paper that came from this research trajectory). My academic reading is currently falling along the lines of the resurrection, justification and the book of Psalms (not necessarily as a single topic, but if need be, sure!) The above mentioned article by Frank Macchia was one of the more fascinating and stimulating reads I’ve had in some time. For a while I have been pondering the relationship between our status as justified believers and our participation in the eschatological age through our being in the Messiah. Macchia describes the need to have more than simply a forensic model of understanding the atonement, in other words the courtroom language where we stand guilty before God and he must punish us but Jesus stands in the way and we are acquitted. Such language on its own is insufficient for describing the full Biblical picture of the work of God in Christ for us. For example, “Where in this doctrine of forensic justification is the God of love? Where is the biblical sense of justice that is not fundamentally punitive but redemptive?” Where does the Spirit play a role in this picture? What function then does the resurrection play? He goes on to answer all these questions by framing justification not functioning primarily in context to a legal trial, but through the inauguration of the eschatological age through the resurrection of Jesus. Justification is ultimately the justice (the making right of all things) that God will effect in the age to come. However, in the Messiah and by faith, we have participation in that justice now. The reality of all things being made right, between God and humans, between humans and humans, between humans and creation and within an individual self has begun to dawn on those who are in the Messiah and our status as people of the New Creation is the vehicle through which we stand right before God now. This is not because God “imagines” that we are morally impeccable though in reality we are not, but because our faith in the promise of God and the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah gives us the downpayment of and the guarantee of the fulfillment of all things in actuality being made right, righteous, whole and just when God is all in all.
This article by Macchia was outstanding and articulated well a lot of things that I had been pondering about for months. It has provided me with many new avenues of thought. This new view of the cross and resurrection functioning together eschatologically for our justification has been quite invigorating to me and is impacting me profoundly. It changes the way I understand myself before God and is energizing my prayer life. It will certainly be a train of thought I pursue in much subsequent thinking, meditating, discussing, studying, research and writing.
Saturday, March 3, 2007