I Have Never Heard That Preached...episode 7: A Freeing Salvation Metaphor
Was I taught an incomplete gospel?
Hey Fellow Faith Travellers
It’s nearing the end of our summer and we had an amazing week in a hidden part of the North Island (New Zealand). Devoid of humans but full of sea birds. It was weird to have 7 days with very little contact with other people and minimal internet time.
Boy, do our thoughts become loud when we turn of the noise of life.
While I was in paradise, contemplating life I came across this quote by Sarah Bessey…
“Your life was never meant to be a brand. It was always an exploration of love and life.”
It is so easy to be sucked into the notion that we need to promote ourselves, right?
Even without realising it we are tricked into only showing the best of our lives to others, building our brand. We think nobody is interested in our failures or imperfect parts. But in the age of AI where everything can be perfect, the world is craving vulnerability and raw humanness.
What a breath of fresh air!
What an invitation to just be who you were made to be. Yourself.
And to go a step further…to be yourself while you explore love and life.
The awesome thing is…. God IS love and Jesus IS life. Boom!
God’s creation (nature and humans) and God himself (Father, Son and Spirit) are calling out for us to explore, love and enjoy them.
That is life right there! Are you living it?
How is the end of your season (winter/summer) going for you? Love to hear how you have been enjoying this season. Click reply if you are receiving this as an email or comment in the comments area.
Onto this interesting and freeing salvation metaphor…
What metaphors were you taught early in your relationship with God?
The two salvation metaphors common in Western churches are:
…God as creditor who needs to be paid AND
…God as judge whose justice needs to be satisfied.
These two metaphors paint salvation as a transactional deal where if we pray the sinner’s prayer (confessing Jesus as the son of God who died for you), attend regular church services, get baptised etc then God clears the debt owing.
I don’t remember in detail the salvation metaphors used at my childhood church but I do remember the whole deal was dependent on confessing and asking Jesus into my heart.
What’s wrong with only having these two metaphors to describe salvation?
For one, there is a reliance on our efforts.
Two, there is no space or thought for the love of God.
There is a inference that our salvation is escaping FROM fiery punishment rather than our salvation is FOR a relationship of divine love with Father, Son and Spirit.
It helps to ponder the other metaphors of salvation described in the Bible….What? ….there are others? I never heard that preached before…
The Great Physician Metaphor
I don’t remember this metaphor at all growing up and I think if I knew God as caring doctor loving a sick world, my relationship with Him probably would have been sweeter.
With this metaphor, the human problem is one of sickness needing a doctor for healing and restoration NOT retributive punishment.
Jesus said …”It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17 NIV
I am currently reading this awesome book by Bradley Jersak…
This is what he says about The Great Physician Metaphor:
“In this case, sin is not seen as guilt to be punished or a debt to be forgiven (normally our dominant metaphor) but some sort of disease rooted in the suffering soul that needs to be healed, in this case, through fellowship with Jesus.” Bradley Jersak
He makes the case that the shame, fear or guilt from the “debt to be forgiven” or the “sin to be punished” metaphors don’t cure the disease in our suffering souls.
Shame, fear and guilt don’t restore our lives.
This healing metaphor of salvation is emphasised again when Jesus says “ Just as Moses lifted up the sake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” John 3:14-15 NIV.
Jesus was referring to the story in Numbers chapter 21 where the people encountered a plague of snakes. God provided a means of healing through a bronze snake on a pole and anyone who looked at it would be healed. Remind you of Jesus?
Let’s take time this week to ponder this Salvation Metaphor of Jesus being a doctor and physician who has healed all humans - past, present and future - of the sickness of sin.
As Brad Jersak says “ God’s heart is never to punish but to heal, so God provided the means for healing.”
There was a “once and for all” act of healing on the cross and then also our daily healing and transformation as we commune with Father, Son and Spirit.
Another breath of fresh air, right?
If something that is taught or said to you which brings death and despair - question it. Jesus said he brings life….breaths of fresh air. Look for that. Fresh. Air.
I am now thinking, instead of our “with-God-life” starting at the sinner’s prayer or some defining decision/moment, our “with-God-life” started before we were born. 1And the ‘born again’ metaphor is describing a process of becoming aware of …
…the divine dance of God, Jesus and Spirit,
…their love for and in me and
…aligning my life, thoughts, emotions and very being with them.
It’s a process of becoming but God has already finished the work.
It’s so difficult for our linear time based minds to grasp.
Well, that’s it for me. Love to hear from you so please click the comment button and share your thoughts on the 3 salvation metaphors above or any other salvation metaphors you have come across.
Ephesians 1:4 https://biblehub.com/ephesians/1-4.htm
Thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures! Love this metaphor of healing. In some ways we are broken beings in a broken world, and God steps in with His healing and restorative love, to set us on a new journey. A journey of gratitude and service.