Chapter 8
The Way of the Lord - Three Roles
Listen
Read
The primary roles we play in God’s kingdom
Lesslie Newbigin, a British scholar, author, and missionary, worked for many years in India. In his book, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, He wrote,
The Gospel is not just the illustration (even the best illustration) of an idea. It’s the story of actions by which the human situation is irreversibly changed. [1]
He also recounted a conversation a Hindu scholar in India who was also a friend. His friend said,
I can’t understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as a book of religion, and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India. We don’t need any more! I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole of creation and the history of the human race. And therefore, a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history (emphasis mine). That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it. [2]
The Way of the Lord is about how to live as responsible actors in the world God created. Notice the word responsible. As an Image-bearer, it’s not enough to know who you should be, you also need to know what God holds you responsible for doing in your life. God has assigned His human Image-Bearers key roles with responsibilities in the world He has created, both in the present and in the future in the new heavens and new earth.[3]
Admittedly, this may sound strange at first. We have come to think of ourselves as alone in the universe. We are just one more animal fighting for survival on a planet that is overpopulated and polluted. Humans are small and inconsequential in the greater scheme of things, even if we have a larger brain case, opposable thumbs, use fire, and have a large vocabulary.
But the Bible describes humans differently. Humans are responsible actors in God’s universe, and we have been assigned distinct roles to play. Across the sweep of the biblical story from Genesis 1 to the book of Revelation, I would suggest at least three primary roles for human image-bearers:
● Human image-bearers are to be worshipers of God.
● Human image-bearers are to become disciples of Jesus.
● Human image-bearers are to be members of Jesus’ body.
Role 1: A Worshipper
As disciples of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, we are restored to our place in the presence of God and to our capacity to worship God in truth.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (Jn 4:21–25)
Your most important relationship in life is your relationship with the Creator. The crisis in Eden was aimed at this relationship and the essence of the temptation was to turn humans away from singular devotion to God to worship something else, something less than the Sovereign Creator.
In February 2023, a spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred at Asbury University in Kentucky. One affect was a rediscovery of our role as worshippers.
We were reminded that we are creatures who are made for worship and communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This worship and communion is our telos; it is the purpose for which we were made and the destiny before all who are joined in union with Christ. We are never more fully alive and whole than when we worship. What we were experiencing—this inexpressibly deep sense of peace and wholeness and holiness and belonging and love—is only the smallest of windows into the life for which we are made.[4]
This is where the war against God’s purposes continues to be fought today. Humans are pulled and pushed to worship the gods of our cultures.
In both Scripture and Christian theology, worship is a way of acknowledging and celebrating God above all things; it is a recognition of deity. We might honor or pay homage to kings and queens or other dignitaries, but worship is to be reserved for God and God alone.[5]
The gospel of the kingdom shows how Jesus brings humans back into a proper relationship with the God. Freed from the power and guilt of sin and the domination of the powers of darkness, we can finally fulfill our role as worshippers.
What does it mean to be a Worshiper?
The role of a worshiper means that we stand as His royal representatives, between heaven and the earth, bringing Him the praise of His creation and reflecting His glory to those who have yet to recognize Him and love Him.
Furthermore, those who are God’s worshipers resist the seduction of this world to join in the worship of the powers who oppose the creator. We take our stand, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, before the living God rather than bow before idols.
Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. (Daniel 3:14–18)
Finally, with the understanding of our role as worshippers comes the responsibility to see worship as comprehensive and as a priority in our corporate and personal lives. As John Wimber wrote,
We believe that we live to worship God and rescue men. We practice our worship throughout the week in a subservient attitude towards the purposes and person of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of our worship and we do so by singing songs, praying prayers, meditating on the scripture, congregating and building one another up in fellowship, as well as by healing the sick, casting out devils, ministering to the poor, the bereaved, the widowed, etc. Our worship expresses love upward towards God and outwards towards men.[6]
Role 2: A Disciple of Jesus
What does it mean for you to be a disciple of Jesus? It means living with a single-minded focus on following Him, learning from Him, and being trained by Him to be all you were created to be, now in this world and the New Heavens and New Earth that God has promised as the ultimate achievement of the gospel. Why be a disciple of Jesus? Jesus is your only means for being restored to who and what God created humans to be.
How is Jesus able to do this? To follow Jesus is to engage with the only one who knows what is wrong with the world, which includes you, and how to fix it. He is the only one with the wisdom, power, and love to restore you and the world. If the Bible really is the story of the Creator’s rescue of the world, then you need to recognize that Jesus is both the end and the beginning of that story.
Jesus is the end of the story in the Old Testament.
The biblical story of the crisis, the rebellion of God’s heavenly and earthy family, explains why the world is as messed up as we now find it to be. The story includes God’s promises to fix the crisis and restore the world to God’s original plan.
The gospels tell how Jesus brings the Old Testament part of the story to its conclusion. He atoned for sin when He submitted to death on the cross, thus resolving mankind’s alienation from their creator. The cross was God’s masterstroke to defeat the principalities and powers and set humans free. On the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin and death, the two tools the powers needed to hold humans in their unholy control.
Jesus is also the beginning of the story of the new creation.
Genesis chapter 6 describes how the fallen children of Adam and Eve reached the point that “every intention of the thoughts of [their hearts were] only evil continually.” God decided to start over with Abraham and Sarah. (See Genesis 6:5)
The New Testament tells how Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, succeeded where all the others had failed. Jesus, called the last Adam, is the new beginning for humanity and, eventually, the whole creation. (See 1 Corinthians 15:45) The Bible says Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers who teach us how we can live in a relationship with God and how to function in the power of the Holy Spirit as God’s image-bearers.
It is impossible to be restored to the life you were created to live as God’s image apart from Jesus.
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Role 3: A Member of Jesus’ Body
You have the role and responsibilities to be a member of Jesus’ body. The Gospel declares that the Sovereign Creator has launched the New Creation through Jesus and that He will surely fulfill His promise of New Heavens and the New Earth. His original goals for Eden and the earth will finally be achieved. The most important part of the New Creation is not the earth or heaven, but the human family of Image-bearers God created to live with Him in these realms.
God’s kingdom is a family business.
It’s important to recognize that the Bible’s main goal is to reveal who God is and what He is like. His method of getting things done in His creation has always been to share the work with His family. In the spiritual realm, He delegated work to spiritual beings He created to share the heavenly space with Himself. Using the same strategy, the Creator intended to work through His human Image-bearers to manage the physical realm.
It is not a surprise then when it comes to caring for the members of His earthly family, God chooses to share that responsibility with us. God’s’ ideal for human life is not, as our culture might suggest, that we be individuals standing or falling alone, subject to no one, dependent on no one, the masters of our fate, and self-sufficient in all ways. Rather, the Way of the Lord is for us to be interdependent and interconnected so that His love, life, and power can flow through each family member to the others. An important part of intentional discipleship to Jesus is sharing God’s love and power through the Holy Spirit to help each other.
The new humanity begun with Jesus is called the Body of Christ.
By using this metaphor, God shows us how our lives as human image-bearers are best lived by being interconnected and interdependent with other disciples of Jesus. (See I Corinthians 12: 12, 13; Ephesians 4: 11-)
As disciples of Jesus, we exchange our independent lives of rebellion and alienation to become members of God’s loving family. The new humanity of the new creation lives with God and each other, sharing God’s life-giving presence and power until we all grow into all He created us to be, that is, to become like Jesus. (See Ephesians 4:13)
Here are some questions for consideration and discussion.
The Hindu scholar quoted by Dr. Lesslie Newbigin said that the Bible was unique in all the literature of the world’s religions because it portrays humans as “responsible actors in history.” As a disciple of Jesus, what do you believe you are responsible for doing in our world, and what difference will it make if you do?
Of the three roles, worshipers, disciples, and members, which one do you feel the most need to learn and grow?
Chapter 8 Daily Scripture Readings
How to spend some quality time listening to what Jesus would like to say through the scriptures:
In preparation, acknowledge the Lord’s presence and love for you and settle yourself before Him (in your mind and heart).
Read the day’s text carefully; take your time.
Reflect on what you have been reading with a listening ear – what word, phrase, or sentence speaks to you from the text?
Now, talk to the LORD about what you hear from this text. What has Jesus stirred in your heart?
If you were with Him walking from one Galilean village to another, what would you say to Him about this?
Chapter 8 - Day One – Romans 8:1-11
Chapter 8 - Day Two – Romans 8:31-39
Chapter 8 - Day Three – Acts 1:6-11
Chapter 8 - Day Four – Luke 24:44-53
Chapter 8 - Day Five – Acts 2:1-11
__________________________
[1] Newbigin, Lesslie, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society: SPCK Classic (ed. SPCK, 2013)
[2] Newbigin, Lesslie, A Walk Through the Bible, Westminster Knox Press, P.3
[3] See https://bibleproject.com/articles/new-heaven-new-earth/
[4] Jason E. Vickers and Thomas H. McCall, Outpouring: A Theological Witness, p.19
[5] Vickers, McCall, ibid., p.28
[6] Derek Morphew, John Wimber’s Pastoral Letters, p. 9
There are two ways you can go deeper with this material, if you are finding this helpful.
First, read How to get the most from this book. I offer some suggestions about how to do more than skim the pages and move on with minimal impact.
Second, read How to use this book with a small group. This material was formed and proven in a small group setting that has been very effective at helping participants engage with Jesus at a much deeper and transformative level than is typical in our churches today.