Infra or Supralapsarianism: Which are you?

Steve Brown:
Infra or Supralapsarianism. Which are you? We’ll talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Matt Heard is the speaker, teacher, writer, pastor, coach, and the main guy behind ThriveFullyAlive.com

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hey Matt.

Matt Heard: Hey Steve.

Steve Brown:
Matt is coming in this week. He’s in from Colorado and Matt, if you don’t know Matt, you need to get to know him. You can do it at ThriveFullyAlive.com that’s ThriveFullyAlive.com Matt is an author, he is a teacher, he’s a speaker, he’s a preacher, and he’s a consultant. And knows more about the church than anybody I’ve ever met. And he’s one of the voices of Key Life. If you were listening, and some of you weren’t, you never listen to me, I spoke of the theological issue of supra and infralapsarianism. You don’t need to know what that is, but it has to do with creation and God’s involvement in it. And in fact, the gospel didn’t just begin 2,000 years ago. When did it begin, Matt?

Matt Heard: Good morning.

Steve Brown:
How are you this morning? I said good morning.

Matt Heard: I know you did. It began back in creation. It began when God started this beautiful work of creativity in which he called out of darkness into light and created us in his image. And yesterday we were talking a little bit about the gospel being plot as well as proposition. Well, that plot involves what started back in creation. So, when Jesus says in John 10:10.

The thief comes to steal and to kill and destroy.

That’s a direct reference back to the garden of saying the enemy came along and totally contradicted what God said when he said, you know what, if you follow me, if you obey, you will live, you’ll thrive. I’ll put it like that because I love that word and flourish. But if you disobey, you shall surely die. And obviously the enemy said the serpent comes along and said.

You shall not surely die.

And God was obviously speaking the truth and the serpent was obviously speaking a lie. But for us to deepen our gratitude for the gospel, it’s helpful to know that the gospel, yes, is more than proposition, it’s plot. And the plot has a lot to do with life and death. This whole notion of the gospel understanding when Jesus says.

I’ve come that you might have life and have it to the full.

He’s talking about a beautiful word, Zoe, a Greek word, you know, a lot of people know that the English word love, you’ve got several Greek words, you know, Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape, etcetera. And there’s a nuance to it. Well, the same is true with the English word life. There’s a Greek word Bios means biological life, heart beating, lung breathing. There’s Psychē, which is that consciousness. But then there’s Zoe, which is the life of God. So, understanding the beauty of the gospel starts with understanding what does it mean to be dead in our trespasses and sin. So, when the enemy, the serpent said, you shall not surely die. Adam and Eve took him up on it and did what we all have PhDs in, and that is, Hey, I’m going to figure out how to be fulfilled on my own. I don’t need God to be a normal, fulfilled human being. I can come up with it on my own. So they sinned. So, did they die at that moment?

Steve Brown:
No, but they were going to.

Matt Heard: Yeah. So, at that moment it’s a trick preacher question. You know, they died Zoe, but they didn’t I Bios or Psychē?

Steve Brown:
Yeah. You know, this is Thanksgiving week and as Matt and I have sat down and talked about this, we’ve decided that the one thing that doesn’t change in our lives, sometimes you’ll have a good Thanksgiving and sometimes you won’t because things are not going well or whatever, but there is a place where Christians can always be thankful because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so, we thought we would talk about the gospel. I love things like the Four Spiritual Laws, the Roman Road, the Evangelism Explosion presentation of the gospel. But it’s a lot more than that, it’s a lot bigger than, it is that, but it’s a lot bigger than that. And the story or the plot begins at Creation. And as you so beautifully described, that’s where this life where we can thrive, not just be saved, but thrive makes a difference.

Matt Heard: Yeah. And it’s thriving to God’s glory. You know, we’ve talked about that before. It’s not a, this happy, clappy self improvement, it’s just about me. No, it’s me flourishing, but doing so to the glory of God and in the process, I become overwhelmingly fulfilled as well. So, after the fall, we’re born dead in our trespasses and sins. Every human being, an image bearer, beautifully, wonderfully made, capable of great love and laughter and tenderness. Also capable of a lot of bad stuff, a lot of evil stuff. So, there’s the beauty of the arts and architecture, and then there’s the horror of the Holocaust and of people undermining one another. So, how do you explain that in terms of this whole notion of what God’s up to in the gospel? I think it’s a matter of life and death, meaning when we are born, we are born alive in terms of Bios Psychē. All of us are hearts beating, lungs breathing, we’re conscious, but we’re lacking something. We’re lacking the Zoe life that Jesus says, Hey, I’ve come to give.

The thief came to steal and kill and destroy. I’ve come to restore that, I’ve come that you might be alive again to the glory of God.

And he modeled it. I mean, the beauty of what Jesus did, is he came displaying what the Zoe life of God looks like.

Steve Brown:
And we’re going to be just like that at some point. And he’s working on that in our lives right now. No matter what’s going on in circumstances, this Thanksgiving week, you can rise up and thank him, bless him, glorify him, because you know that he’s given you this life that you described.

Matt Heard: Yeah. You know, John, I love John. I think he was, I call him a warrior poet. He was an artist, but you know, his buddies, Matthew, Mark, and Luke had already written their gospels. He’s an old man. As far as we know, he’s the only disciple that’s still living. He was persecuted, but he was not martyred. So, he’s on, in exile. Is this maybe in a cave on this island of Patmos? Who knows? But under this mysterious inspiration of the Spirit, he’s thinking about the three years he had with Jesus. So there’s the inspiration Spirit, but there’s also his human experience. And he’s got that parchment and a quill and he’s writing by candlelight, I like to imagine. And this ignorant, Galilean fishermen, starts with that amazing statement in John.

In the beginning was the Word.

In the beginning was the Logos. And the word was with God, that the Logos philosophers were talking about that for a couple hundred years before that there’s a unifying principle of the universe. But John’s turning it, turning them on their ear by saying the Logos became flesh as a person. But then he says. In him, in Jesus. And then he describes it, one word. So, you and I think of people that we know well, if I had to describe them in one word, that’d be hard to do. I mean with you, I know you, I know you well, but to describe you in one word. I don’t know that I could do that. So, but John does it with Jesus. So, he says, he could have said any number of things. In him was great teaching, in him was power, in him was miracles, but he says in him, John chapter 1, verse 4.

In him was Zoe. In him was life and that life is the light of all mankind.

So, he’s saying for the first time since Adam and Eve before the fall, there’s a human being who has the life of God. Now, identical to us? No, he’s fully God, at the same time he was the first human being to be fully alive since Adam and Eve before the fall. And he says, this is who I am, but let me tell you what my mission is. The thief back there at the beginning of this story came to steal and to kill and destroy. I’ve come to restore that Zoe that you are yearning for, and we’ll talk about that a little bit tomorrow in terms of how we’re born with that thirst. But for me, one thing that I’m deeply thankful for is Jesus. He modeled and enables life. This life, the one time he defines life, eternal life. It’s not heaven. He says in John 17:3.

And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God.

So, it’s eternal life. It’s about an intimacy with God that invades every aspect of our lives and letting that intimacy invade even a Thanksgiving week.

Steve Brown:
Oh man, on Thanksgiving remember him, remember the life that he gives, remember how this has been a part of the plan from the very beginning. And then when you gather around your Thanksgiving table, enjoy the Turkey and the friends and the family and remember and be glad. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve Brown and Matt Heard what a timely and encouraging series we’re in as we steadily draw closer to Thanksgiving. More from Steve and Matt tomorrow as we continue our conversation around being thankful for the gospel. Hope to see you then. So, if I were to ask you, how many people have left the church, what would be your guess? Hey, come on, think of a number. Did you say 40 million? Because that’s what the stats tell us, that’s the bad news. The good news? Well, the good news is what we discussed with authors Jim Davis and Michael Graham on Steve Brown Etc. and there’s much more good news than you might think. It was an eye-opening yet hopeful conversation with Jim and Michael, and I think you’re going to really enjoy hearing it. So, let us send it to you for free. Just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. If you’d like to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD about dechurching. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you support that work through your giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or now you can give safely and securely through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter, just text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.