(Rev. Jaehoon Lee) We are approaching the end of the book
(Chapter 9 - 11) Let's discuss the concluding sections from Chapter 9 to Chapter 11
Chapter 9 is titled 'Counting the Cost'
As discussed,
The salvation
done in Christ by the Triune God
works in us
by transforming bios, the biological life
to zoe, the eternal life
Those with this promise
believe in this transformation
and Lewis uses the term 'pretend' to be His children
It is as if children pretends to be adult to become one later
That is the promise that God has given us
(Counting the Cost?) What we must do is to accept and obey in faith
Lewis used this title to count for the things needed for this
For example, this chapter
quotes what Jesus taught us
'You therefore must be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect' [Mat. 5:48]
What does this Sermon on the Mount mean?
(Perfect: Integral) (Whole: Flawless) 'Perfect' and 'whole' are two different words
Whole is not what a human can be
God is the only whole being
We cannot be whole
We lack, we're corrupted in sin
We have so much to restore
Then what does it mean
for us to be 'perfect'?
Here's my example
A student
got a 'perfect score' in an exam
Let's say the subject was math
(Perfect ➔Knows everything(X)) This student does not yet know everything about math
(Perfect➔Result of full effort(O)) He got the perfect score with his full effort within the curriculum
Not whole, but perfect
And in our journey of faith,
the stage that we need to be in
in our daily lives
is to trust God
and be faithful to the promise
That is what God calls
as 'perfect'
What is the goal of our perfection?
It is becoming like Jesus Christ
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount says,
'For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?' [Mat. 5:46]
Love your enemy
How could we live out this verse?
Our corrupt nature cannot
But historically,
we know people who did this
Deacon Stephen demonstrated forgiveness toward those who were stoning him
Pastor Son Yang-won took in the person who killed his two sons,
loving and raising him as his adopted son
Before the Cross,
Jesus proclaimed forgiveness toward the soldiers
who were putting him to death
This heart of Christ
that loves the enemy
is poured onto us
And it is not impossible anymore
As we accept the promise with faith,
and accept and claim
that it will happen in us,
it is accomplished not by my own power,
but through the power of
the Holy Spirit working in us
That is perfection
Even if we are
now the children of God,
with the eternal life,
some children do not act like Father
and some understand Father
and act like Him
God's children are the same
Some may not be like Him,
while some may be more like Him
This verse urging us to be perfect
means that we should be His children
who are very like Father
'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden...' [Mat. 11:28]
But he does not leave us as we are
Lewis syas,
The misinterpretation of 'be perfect' here
is to think it means, 'I won’t help you,
and I won’t be with you
unless you become perfect'
He does not demand
legalistic perfection from us
So what does the verse mean?
'My only task is
to make you perfect'
'That is my work'
'What you do
is give yourself to me,
and follow me
with my work of
making you perfect'
That is the correct interpretation
Until we reach perfection with effort,
Christ will never rest
and He will not leave us to rest
Jesus welcomes everyone,
but he does not leave
those who come to Him
and works to make them
as someone like Christ
and as His children
George MacDonald was Lewis' spiritual mentor
He wrote something similar himself
Let me read it out,
because his text
overlaps in content with Lewis'
because his work inspired Lewis
Here is the quote
from MacDonald
'There is no father who would not rejoice
to see his little child take its first steps'
'But no father would be satisfied if,
when the child has grown up, it still
cannot walk confidently like a man'
He rejoices easily,
but He is not as often satisfied
With the first step,
the father is rejoicing
It's an easy thing
However, when the child grows up
and still can't walk on their own
or, as quoted, 'walk confidently like a man',
that will break the father's heart
No father will
be satisfied with it
Our goal is to satisfy God
Therefore, our goal is to be children
who are and act like God our Father
In that sense,
the verse demanding us to be perfect
is not an ideal,
or unattainable exaggeration
It is a blessing
that realizes the verse in our lives
Now in Chapter 10 and 11,
Lewis concludes his book
God’s transformation of humanity into His children
through His only Son, Jesus Christ,
is not simply about making this created being
(Human➔Jesus(Cross)➔NOT better human) a better or improved human,
(Human➔Jesus(Cross)➔NOT better human) but about creating an entirely
(Human➔Jesus(Cross)➔New human) new kind of human being
In 2 Corinthians, it says
'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation' [2 Cor. 5:17]
The phrase is 'new creation'
In the 'old' creation,
God created humans from the ground
and breathed in
the breath fo life
to make us living creatures
Now, those transformed
in Christ are
the new kinds of human
This is the new creation
From bios, the old creation,
now we are zoe, with eternal life
God's purpose is to transform us
to those in Jesus Christ
So the final chapter,
Chapter 11 is titled 'The New Men'
Lewis says,
'Becoming new men is not a matter of improvement, but of transformation'
He uses the word 'transformation'
So it's
a transformation, not improvement
It is not a difference
it is a whole new thing
This means that it is not a process of
continuous reproduction of the old life
passed from one human to another, to a new kind
It is a new kind of life, a dimension
that could not come from the old life at all
That is the new person in Christ
Who is the first new man?
It is Jesus Christ
Christ who resurrected from death
has become the first new man
Christ is the first man
of this new mankind
So there are two people in this population
Adam and Jesus Christ
The first Adam, the first man, and the second man, Jesus Christ
That's why Jesus is also referred to as the Second Adam
To believe in Jesus is to move from the body of Adam to that of Christ,
from the old self to the new self
The resurrected Jesus
became the first of this new humanity,
and in Him,
we become completely new beings
So C.S. Lewis says,
'Christ is the first example of this new humanity'
'But He is more than that'
'He is not just a new man, He is The New Man'
'The New Man'
is someone who gives life to all
who will transform with that life, in Christ
Christ is not
a new man,
because in Him,
in faith,
we will all be transformed
into new beings
That is Jesus Christ
This new life, zoe, is not a bodily inheritance
The new life is transmitted through infection in faith
Therefore, believing Jesus
is becoming a new man
It does not refer to a simple change
through moral and various efforts or through religion,
where the fallen humanity
in the first created Adam is improved
The old self is completely crucified, disappears,
(Adam➔The Cross➔The New Self) and is destroyed. It is transformed
into the new self, a new man, in Christ
This is what it means to believe in Jesus and be saved
That is the purpose of the Triune God,
the biological life of bios
transformed to the eternal life of zoe
This is the essence of Christianity,
or the Christian gospel
This is the transformation of Christians
in faith of Jesus Christ
Lewis states in 'Mere Christianity'
that 'Right and Wrong [is] a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe'
At the time when WWII was just beginning
and the standards of right and wrong were collapsing,
in the beginning of postmodernism,
C.S. Lewis discerned this
The era that denies the absolute standards
of right and wrong began from that time
Today, this era has reached its peak
The issue that C.S. Lewis discerned
is still occurring in our time
The standards of right and wrong are collapsing
Why are these standards important?
Because there is One
who has given humans
these standards
Humans are ought to live
in His standards
In His standards, we are corrupted,
beings who cannot be right or good,
as rebels who are against God
We are rebels
What do we do about it?
All rebels can do is to surrender
Surrendering to Jesus Christ,
who came to restore everything
The Triune God has now
worked through Jesus Christ on this earth
to restore the humans
who had rebelled against God
Now, the old self is destroyed on the cross,
and the hope of being transformed
into a new person remains for us
The hope of humanity
is to earn the eternal life in Jesus Christ,
becoming one as the new humanity,
to live as the people of the Kingdom of God
C.S. Lewis wanted to convey
the blessings
given in Jesus Christ to people
using very simple language,
without packaging it
in theological
or religious terms
Through C.S. Lewis’s 'Mere Christianity',
may we recognize
the issues of our time
and experience once again
the power of the Gospel in Jesus Christ,
in this blessed journey of reading
I bless all those who have joined me
in reading and reflecting on 'Mere Christianity'
I appreciate your attentive
listening and participation,
despite my humble explanations
Through CGNTV’s original content at Fondant,
I pray that we continue to grow deeper
in our knowledge of God and
in becoming more like Jesus Christ
Thank you
Book 4 Beyond Personality or the First Step in Understanding the Trinity
Chapter 9 Counting the Cost 1. Perfect vs. Whole 1) Whole (God): No lack or flaw 2) Perfect (Human): As intended
2. Perfection = Becoming more like Jesus
3. 'Be perfect'? The only way I can help you is to make you perfect
4. Human goal (spiritual purpose) To satisfy God and become children that resemble Him
Chapter 10 Nice People or New Men Chapter 11 New Men
1. Becoming God’s child Improving human nature (X) Becoming a new creation (O)
2. The New Man Old man ➔ New life (The Cross) ➔ Becoming more like Jesus (The New Man)
3. God’s purpose Adam (old man) ➔ Cross (atonement) ➔ New man (salvation)