God's Family Prescription

God inspires the authors of Scripture to use many metaphors to express the relationship He desires with humanity. Jesus is described as the Groom and the Church as His bride in Ephesians. Revelation includes a “marriage supper of the Lamb.” John describes baptism as “birth.” All of these metaphors are oriented toward family and in line with God’s identity as Father.

In order to understand these images we must understand what God is doing in the sweep of salvation history. Therefore, we must comprehend the concept of covenant. Covenants create family out of two disparate parties. From all eternity, God is a perfect Triune family - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The creation itself was imprinted with God's covenant identity. With a seventh day Sabbath, even time spoke of covenant (oath = sevening yourself).

After the fall of man, covenants were established with mankind to foster a renewed relationship between the two distinct parties. Covenants were established with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. Sadly, humanity was unable to keep these covenants. To remedy this hopeless situation, in the fullness of time, Jesus came - God in flesh - to offer humanity a covenant in which they could truly "live and move and have their being."

God's intent in this covenant was to incorporate humanity into His divine family - for us, as Peter put it, to share in His divine nature. With the failure of the Old Covenant, Jesus came to right the wrong. Jesus fulfills all of the requirements of the Old Covenant as he initiates the New. As the new Adam, Jesus undoes the curse by faithfully following God's plan. As the faithful first born son, Jesus fulfills the original priestly order. Like Noah and Moses, Jesus brings us through the water to a new life. As the spotless lamb, Jesus fulfills the statement of Abraham that "God will provide a lamb," and He also fulfills and reinterprets the Passover (1 Cor. 5:7-8). Like Melchizidek, He is a high priest who offers bread and wine. As the High Priest, Jesus also mediates the new covenant before the heavenly throne. Jesus institutes a thank offering (Eucharist)redefining the Hebrew Todah offering. As the atoning sacrificial Lamb Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement sacrifice. As the Son of David, Jesus becomes the eternal King of kings who sits on David's throne forever. Jesus, as "God made flesh" is the representative head of humanity, and only hope for mankind to enter into a family relationship with the Trinity.

The New Covenant, which unites us to God and each other physically and spiritually, is offered to us through the stuff of creation - through things like a real man, a real book, real water, and bread and wine. Note that Jesus became flesh. He shed real blood. He offered His disciples real bread and wine - stating that they were His body and blood. John quoted Jesus as saying, "unless you eat the flesh (sarx) of the son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. (John 6:53)" And to insure that there was no confusion, in John 6:55 Jesus said, "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born of water and the spirit in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:5). The early Fathers agreed that Jesus was speaking of this new birth in terms of water baptism. Peter said, "It is this water that now saves you...(1 Peter 3:21)."

As noted earlier, God desires spiritual union with us...but He offers His grace through physical means - that is that Jesus became flesh and died a real death on a real cross and was placed in a real tomb from which He was raised on the third day. The "Way" that leads to the Father is all about being united to Christ in His death and resurrection. The question is,"How are we united to Christ." God lays out the prescription for us...and it includes right belief and right action. Some say that all we need to do is believe the right things - a cognitive operation. James speaks directly to this making the point that even the demons believe (James 2:19). Surely they are not counted among God's family! Belief must be translated into obedience. Again, covenant language - "Obey my voice and I will be your God, and you will be my people..."

What is the way that we must follow - to obey His voice? God offers Jesus as the way. Romans 6:4-5 declares to us that unity with Christ comes through baptism into His death and being raised with Him in His resurrection. In this physical act of baptism, Paul says that we are "buried with Him," and "raised with Him." The physical and spiritual converge. This is God's prescription.

Further, in baptism we are "born" into the Kingdom of God - as Jesus instructed Nicodemus. The Church has long taught that she is, in effect,our spiritual mother. Through the ministry of the church - acting as One with Jesus, we are nurtured through the gestational process in the womb of the church. Then birth is given through the waters of baptism into the Family of God. Baptism (as birth) is the God prescribed sign of the covenant which brings the candidate under oath and puts the covenant into effect (Col 2:11-12). Covenant language is used here to describe the initiation into the covenant - like circumcision was in the covenant with Abraham. Baptism was held to be a one time act in which, according to several Scriptures, there is a connection with the remittance of sins (Acts 2:38, Ephesians 5:26, Titus 3:5).

But, what if we sin after baptism? God has made a covenantal provision for this. We are asked to "confess" and "examine" ourselves before we come to the Table (1 John 1:9, 1 Corinthians 11:28). Communion is God's ongoing prescription for covenant renewal (1 Cor. 10:16-17, John 6:53, etc.). Both of these acts are God's prescribed way for us to "participate" in the death and resurrection of Jesus - thereby faithfully following God's plan and obeying His voice. What's more, because we share "one loaf, we who are many, are one body" (1 Corinthians 10:17). According to Paul, unity with Christ and His people comes through the one loaf shared at His Table.

Human marriage is an amazing picture of covenant relationship. When Jesus came, he described Himself as the "bridegroom" and the ones who were united to him in baptism were called "espoused" (John 3:29, Mark 2:19-20, Matthew 22:1-14, 25:1-13, 1 Corinthians 6:15-17; particularly 2 Cor. 11:2). This is not merely a metaphor...but it is fulfilled reality. Like the temples were a shadow of the heavenly temple, marriage, in earthly terms, is a shadow of the reality of Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:32). The Wedding Supper of the Lamb is the culmination of a book full of liturgical imagery. Every marriage feast on earth...and much more importantly, every experience at the Table of the Lord foreshadows (prolepsis)the marriage supper of the Lamb - the ultimate marriage feast.

I believe the covenantal hermeneutic brings all of these earthly metaphors into focus as they are fulfilled in the New Covenant. We are born into the Church - the Church is the bride of Christ - born into the family and married into the family. God really desires to relate to us and His prescription makes us FAMILY.