Friday, July 30, 2010

Three Metephors Describing God's Relation To His Creation And His Ultimate Purposes For Us

These scripture references are from Dennis F. Kinlaw's "Let's Start With Jesus: A New Way of Doing Theology."  I am currently reviewing it on redemptivethoughts.com There are 3 metephors that describe God's relationship to His creation and His ultimate purposes for redeemed mankind.

The Royal/Legal Metephor

God as King: Ps 93:1-2, Ps. 95:1-5, Ps. 23 (God as shepherd King.  Israel attributed the this psalm to refer to David and this belief provides the background for Israel believing that the Messiah will come from David's linage.)

God as Judge: Ps. 96:10-11, 13 (God  as judge guarantees righteousness). Theme developed in the New Testament in proclaiming the Kingdom of God- John the Baptist, Jesus (the parables, "The Kingdom of God is like...), Paul (Acts 19:8, 28:23), Revelation ("...All of creation is pictured as standing before the throne of God.  In the center of that throne stands none other than Jesus, who is now recognized as Lord and Judge.  Every knee is bent to him in acknowledgment of his soverign lordship as all creation awaits his judgment.  Every creature faces its Creator Judge." (Kinlaw, p. 50)

The Familial Metephor

God as Father- Of Israel: Ex. 4:22-23 (indicates God's family will extend beyond Israel's borders), Dt. 32:6, Hosea 11:1-2, 4, 8.  Of David (Ps. 2:7 [Another scripture applied to David in OT times which provides background for the belief that the Messiah would be from David's line, see Mt. 21:9, Lk 19:38]), Of Solomon (2Sam 7:14.
To be in God's family requires a change of heart: Lev. 26:41, Dt. 10:16, 30:6, Jer. 4:4, 9:25-26, 31: 31-34, Ezk 36:24-28, Jn 3:5-8.
Jesus is God's Son- Jn 8:41, Jesus is the eternal Son- Jn. 8:58.
God as our Father- Eph. 3:14-15.

The Nuptial Metephor

God as Israel's husband and Israel's sin as adultey: Ex: 19:4 (Mt. Sinai not just a legal covenant but a marriage cov.), Song 2:16, Jer. 2:2-3, Ezk. 16, Hos. 1:2, Is. 54, 62:4-5 (In Hebrew, Hephzibah means "My delight is in her" and Beulah means "married." Beulah land is married land). Rev. 18:3,9. (Babylon's sin called adultery; this indicates God wants a covenant marriage with all peoples. Babylon's judgement described in marital terms- 18:23, cf. Jer. 7:34, 16:9, 25:10, 33: 10-11) Idolatry as prostitution- Ex 34:15, Lev. 17:7, 20:5, Dt. 31:16.
NT teaching- Mt 22:2, Mk. 2:19-20, Jn 3:37-30, Eph 5:22-33, Rev. 19:6-8, 9-10, 20:4, 11-15, 21:2, 9, 22:17

No comments: