(These are pieced
together exerpts from a paper written for 'Pentecostal Perspectives On
Justice, The Church, and Society Class.)
"The struggle for justice began long ago in a garden that now resides in antiquity. A man gave in to temptation from a snake, a woman ate a fruit, and humanity was removed from the garden. Separation from God began. The struggle for justice is as old as time itself, and it is helped along by the broken nature of our humanity that was altered in the garden. We had been made in the image of God, created by His very hand, and it was His breath that brought us life.
The garden represented all that was good and right. In the garden there was hope. There was hope in the future, in our creativity, and in the endless possibilities that lay before us. In the garden was peace. There was no war, nor injustice, or prejudice. There was found harmony with God and each other. In the garden was relationship. There was relationship with man and woman, relationship with man and nature, relationship with man and God. It was good, and it was right. All of this was lost after the fall. Since that time, God has been working to bring about the redemption and restoration of man. Our search for justice is our search for redemption. It is a search for a hope to make things right; to return back to the time of the garden.
The tragedy of the Garden was that man was now in bondage to sin. Sin is separation from God. Sin works against the nature God intended, and works against all that is good and right for humanity. Since the Garden man has fallen in to terrible disarray. Men have ruled over other men unjustly. Men have sold other men for profit. Women have been raped and sold for pleasure. Children have worked long hours for little to no wages. Sin has worked in to the very core of our nature and has brought us far from the beauty of the Garden
God’s love for humanity and his hatred for injustice caused him to send His Son Jesus to bring about our ultimate redemption. In His desire for relationship with us, Christ died on a Cross to restore what we had lost in the garden so long ago. Jesus stated in Luke 4:18 his purpose best when he said “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” . Christ came to bring our redemption from sin and to set men free. He came to set us free, not just beyond death, but here and now.
In order to know social justice, we must know the heart and nature of God. We understand God to be the embodiment of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes a beautiful explanation of love. He describes it as being not boastful, not envious or keeping any record of wrongs. The nature of God is patient, kind, and does not dishonor others. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:6,7, NIV) This is the nature of God. Scripture teaches us that we had made in his likeness- his image. We were meant to reflect these attributes as well. The Bible goes on to teach that God is Father, Son and Spirit. We will focus on the Spirit for a moment. We read in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit, the product of his nature, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, selflessness, and so much more. If this is the nature of God, and this is who we were intended to be, then the work of social justice works to restore these qualities. Salvation works to accomplish this.
If salvation brings redemption, then do not our acts of love, kindness, and goodness begin to display the full redemptive work of God through social justice? If faith without works is dead, then do our works of justice become faith that has come alive, that therefore reveals the nature of God to a world that is dead in sin? Justice works to bring the dead back to life. When we fight to restore families, we bring goodness. When we give a cup of water, we show love. When we fight to end war, we bring peace. When we act against slavery we bring hope. When we do not boast, show pride, or elevate ourselves, we work against the power schemes that have kept men in bondage. “Turning the face of the church outward, giving its resources away, blessing the community, unleashing the gifts of laypeople to serve – this is what our living God desires for his church.” (Lewis 2001, 115)
Christ was the “good news” sent to earth. But what was this good news? Was it just being kept from the flames of Hell? Was there more to this plan of salvation? Jesus said he came so that we would have life, and more abundantly. He went on to teach that salvation was to be transformative and would work to reverse the curse of sin on humanity. And it did just that.
We know that fulfillment of all things came through his Son Jesus and he brought with him the Kingdom of God to earth. While we come to understand that the Kingdom of God is present, and actively present at that, it is not a full complete coming of the Kingdom. There exists an element of the “not yet” that still is yet to come. This culmination will be at the end of the age with the arrival of the ‘not yet’ upon Christ’s return, and with it will come the full reality of God’s justice and judgment upon evil. We see Kingdom of God working against accepted norms of society, even present within the Church. Christ went so far as to say to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. He came to bring a dramatically different way of living. The Kingdom of God became present to be the change agent of a world corrupted by sin. It actually works against all that is destructive to humanity. This Kingdom invades the ordinary life and brings transformation.
God has called the church to act. We work to elevate the human condition. We have the endless possibility of transforming our world. By doing this, we are not only helping our fellow man, but we are doing as unto Christ. We work to advance the kingdom of God here and now. The church must act in powerful tangible ways that bring about long term change, not just band aid solutions.
The beauty of Pentecostalism is the natural marriage that can exist between justice and Pentecostalism. The movement thrives on the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives. There is a great appeal to the Pentecostal movement that can empower our movement to justice.
God’s heartbeat is justice. God’s purpose is redemption. Salvation works to bring redemption and elevate humanity to a level of dignity God intended. The end of all things will find us not in a Garden, but in a holy city. And really it isn’t an ending, but a restoration of all things. It will be the beginning of all things made new. We will find ourselves in a city where the God of Justice has set things right and made us whole. It will be His ultimate act of mercy.
"The struggle for justice began long ago in a garden that now resides in antiquity. A man gave in to temptation from a snake, a woman ate a fruit, and humanity was removed from the garden. Separation from God began. The struggle for justice is as old as time itself, and it is helped along by the broken nature of our humanity that was altered in the garden. We had been made in the image of God, created by His very hand, and it was His breath that brought us life.
The garden represented all that was good and right. In the garden there was hope. There was hope in the future, in our creativity, and in the endless possibilities that lay before us. In the garden was peace. There was no war, nor injustice, or prejudice. There was found harmony with God and each other. In the garden was relationship. There was relationship with man and woman, relationship with man and nature, relationship with man and God. It was good, and it was right. All of this was lost after the fall. Since that time, God has been working to bring about the redemption and restoration of man. Our search for justice is our search for redemption. It is a search for a hope to make things right; to return back to the time of the garden.
The tragedy of the Garden was that man was now in bondage to sin. Sin is separation from God. Sin works against the nature God intended, and works against all that is good and right for humanity. Since the Garden man has fallen in to terrible disarray. Men have ruled over other men unjustly. Men have sold other men for profit. Women have been raped and sold for pleasure. Children have worked long hours for little to no wages. Sin has worked in to the very core of our nature and has brought us far from the beauty of the Garden
God’s love for humanity and his hatred for injustice caused him to send His Son Jesus to bring about our ultimate redemption. In His desire for relationship with us, Christ died on a Cross to restore what we had lost in the garden so long ago. Jesus stated in Luke 4:18 his purpose best when he said “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” . Christ came to bring our redemption from sin and to set men free. He came to set us free, not just beyond death, but here and now.
In order to know social justice, we must know the heart and nature of God. We understand God to be the embodiment of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes a beautiful explanation of love. He describes it as being not boastful, not envious or keeping any record of wrongs. The nature of God is patient, kind, and does not dishonor others. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:6,7, NIV) This is the nature of God. Scripture teaches us that we had made in his likeness- his image. We were meant to reflect these attributes as well. The Bible goes on to teach that God is Father, Son and Spirit. We will focus on the Spirit for a moment. We read in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit, the product of his nature, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, selflessness, and so much more. If this is the nature of God, and this is who we were intended to be, then the work of social justice works to restore these qualities. Salvation works to accomplish this.
If salvation brings redemption, then do not our acts of love, kindness, and goodness begin to display the full redemptive work of God through social justice? If faith without works is dead, then do our works of justice become faith that has come alive, that therefore reveals the nature of God to a world that is dead in sin? Justice works to bring the dead back to life. When we fight to restore families, we bring goodness. When we give a cup of water, we show love. When we fight to end war, we bring peace. When we act against slavery we bring hope. When we do not boast, show pride, or elevate ourselves, we work against the power schemes that have kept men in bondage. “Turning the face of the church outward, giving its resources away, blessing the community, unleashing the gifts of laypeople to serve – this is what our living God desires for his church.” (Lewis 2001, 115)
Christ was the “good news” sent to earth. But what was this good news? Was it just being kept from the flames of Hell? Was there more to this plan of salvation? Jesus said he came so that we would have life, and more abundantly. He went on to teach that salvation was to be transformative and would work to reverse the curse of sin on humanity. And it did just that.
We know that fulfillment of all things came through his Son Jesus and he brought with him the Kingdom of God to earth. While we come to understand that the Kingdom of God is present, and actively present at that, it is not a full complete coming of the Kingdom. There exists an element of the “not yet” that still is yet to come. This culmination will be at the end of the age with the arrival of the ‘not yet’ upon Christ’s return, and with it will come the full reality of God’s justice and judgment upon evil. We see Kingdom of God working against accepted norms of society, even present within the Church. Christ went so far as to say to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. He came to bring a dramatically different way of living. The Kingdom of God became present to be the change agent of a world corrupted by sin. It actually works against all that is destructive to humanity. This Kingdom invades the ordinary life and brings transformation.
God has called the church to act. We work to elevate the human condition. We have the endless possibility of transforming our world. By doing this, we are not only helping our fellow man, but we are doing as unto Christ. We work to advance the kingdom of God here and now. The church must act in powerful tangible ways that bring about long term change, not just band aid solutions.
The beauty of Pentecostalism is the natural marriage that can exist between justice and Pentecostalism. The movement thrives on the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives. There is a great appeal to the Pentecostal movement that can empower our movement to justice.
God’s heartbeat is justice. God’s purpose is redemption. Salvation works to bring redemption and elevate humanity to a level of dignity God intended. The end of all things will find us not in a Garden, but in a holy city. And really it isn’t an ending, but a restoration of all things. It will be the beginning of all things made new. We will find ourselves in a city where the God of Justice has set things right and made us whole. It will be His ultimate act of mercy.
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