Journey with Jesus #9

New Testament – Cosmos 05/07/09

Cosmos is a Greek word meaning the universe, the totality of the created world order. Our universe is 13 billion light-years in distance, amazingly vast, and yet people can imagine beyond this. There is an infinite character to the way we think. There is an absolute space within us that has to do with our freedom and our minds. It is a cosmic part of us that needs to be filled and will not rest until it is.

Jesus takes this on. In Colossians 1:15-20 Paul inserts an early Christian hymn. This letter was written around 30-40 years after Jesus but the hymn is earlier. A cosmic Christ is presented- the visible and full image of God. He is the first born and initiator of all creation, comparable to the figure of Wisdom in the Old Testament. He is the goal for all things- visible and invisible. This worldview assumes the existence of invisible powers (dominions or rulers in the created realm). These were often associated with the basic elements or forces of the universe, like the zodiac. Paul in Colossians 2:8 looks down on these powers – if they do exist then they are under Christ’s control. Our contemporary universe is full of space; the Biblical universe is a dense one, filled up with creation. But the point is the same. In this hymn Christ fills the universe and the church – leading them all to a new life beyond death. The fullness of God fills him and the result is reconciliation for the whole cosmos.

1 Corinthians was written probably 22 years after Jesus’ death. In 15:3-7 Paul recounts the basic tradition of the resurrection that emerged in the first years of the Christian movement. This is the first written historical account of the resurrection. Biblical scholars estimate that Paul was converted within 2 to 3 years of Jesus death. Paul’s account edits out the women present in the Gospel narratives. Women would not have been culturally acceptable witnesses in Paul’s mind. Instead Jesus appears first to Cephas (Peter), then the twelve and then to five hundred brothers. Paul says that “last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me”.

In Galatians 1 :13-17 Paul gives a short account of his life. He describes how he used violence against the early church. He was a zealot seeking to destroy what was hostile to God. Christians threatened his world. It was not possible that a man condemned to die a disgraceful, criminal death, a man outside of the Law, could be the means of redemption. Yet on the road to Damascus something happened to transform him. God “was pleased to reveal his Son to me”. The word ‘reveal” is the Greek root of “apocalyse”. It is the opening up of the heavens to show the hidden reality. It implies an act of tremendous power – God is no longer holding back. Paul experiences a massive conversion. This conversion was so powerful that he does not question it or return to Jerusalem to discuss it. Rather he goes to a place apart, to Arabia, and then returns to Damascus. There is no doubt that Paul does not hesitate about the total reality of resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians Paul addresses Christians in Corinth who dismiss the importance of the bodily resurrection. They came from the Greek world in which separate spiritual experience and knowledge was valued more than transforming the world through love. For us today the focus has also moved away from the bodily resurrection. Instead the eyes of Christians are on getting to heaven. Death no longer has the heavy, final oppressiveness of the pagan experience. Like for the Corinthians, death for us has become thin and we see through it to the “other side,” to heaven. For Paul, however, the resurrection of the body is vital to the message of redemption. (1Cor 15:20-28). Death is thin because it looks to the light on this side, to resurrection!

Paul shared the Jewish understanding of resurrection as described in the book of Daniel (Dn12:1-2). Daniel was written close to the time of Jesus during a period of great persecution. “…Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The “many” here refers to all the dead. The resurrection is a one-time event for all peoples.
If all are not raised then no one can be. One person being raised is not part of the program. Therefore, because Jesus has been raised, we are all raised. He is the “first fruits” – it is inevitable then that the rest of the harvest will follow. Until that time, the dead rest in the earth. They continue to live in the memories of those still living, and in the legacy of their actions. They also rest in Jesus who remains in relationship of love with them, and they with him, preserving them until the day of resurrection. Because we are in relationship with Jesus, and he is in relationship with those who have died, then through him we can remain connected to the dead. The Biblical understanding of the resurrection is holistic and relational. We are all connected. The earth is groaning and waiting. Our choices and actions here in this world today are important. Resurrection will come when the earth is transformed by love. It is then, with God dwelling among us, that death will no longer have a place and the dead will rise.

In 1 Cor 15:35-54 Paul tries to give a picture of how we will be when the resurrection takes place. He uses the image of a seed. An image of continuity and change. The seed dies and decays but then springs forth new life. It is the same plant but its form is different. The self dies and changes, yet remains the same self. He uses examples of animals and heavenly bodies, the stars, to describe the existence of different kinds of bodies. Unlike the Greek idea of the spirit shedding the body to return to the heavenly realm, Paul talks instead of our bodies putting on immortality – like glorious clothes! Our bodies are not stripped from us – rather they are transformed