Who's In Charge?

God created humans in his image and invited them to participate in creation and gave them authority over that creation.

It was good.

But then something went wrong.

Humans decided to seize that authority for themselves rather than share in it.  What we might term "the Fall" begins with a corruption of that authority.

When that authority organizes into social political structures and institutions it becomes what Paul says in Ephesians are rulers, powers, and authorities that we wrestle with.  Walter Wink terms this "the domination system". These political systems from Babel to Egypt to Babylon to Rome bring with them horrible injustice and slavery.

So authority that was good becomes a horror.

Jesus claimed that all authority has been given to him.

What does true divine granted human authority and power look like?

It looks like becoming a slave on behalf of another.  It looks like giving yourself over completely even to the point of death for another.  It looks like becoming last rather than first.  It looks like self giving sacrificial love.

So authority isn't the problem; it's actually the solution.  It just looks completely different than we think.

Redemption stretches further then our internal human hearts.  It goes all the way to the top... to who's in charge.

Evil will self destruct

I'm finishing up my commentary series by NT Wright on the New Testament.  It's been a wonderful journey and I will post about that in further detail when I am finished.

Currently I'm in the last commentary series on Revelation.  It has always been a very controversial book and I am not too fond of it.  As always with NT Wright he has some very interesting things to say and helpful perspectives.

Reading through all the seals and then trumpets and all of the plagues is a bit overwhelming.  There are so many interpretations of these symbols.  Wright in particular recognizes that.

His interpretation and viewpoint is that God must allow evil out in the open to do it's worst to finally deal with it. That's what the symbols represent. 

"This is Gods way of letting evil do it's worst, so that it may eventually fall under its own weight"

So I think that NT Wright's premise is that God in destroying evil allows evil to destroy itself.  Evils self-destructive nature turns on itself.  This seems consistent with other passages about God in his wrath "giving us over" to our own self-destruction.

This is an interesting way of looking at these difficult passages in Revelation.  

I like it.

I'm going to think about it.

I love NT Wright!

More later...