Church as a System of Education, Part 3

The previous articles dealt with the whole issue of Church having to be established as a System of Education in the earth. I defined education not simply as a process of getting specialised training in a particular field of study or profession but as a process of formal instruction in a particular wisdom or knowledge system. We saw that the scripture is given for human development (2 Tim 3:16-17). Scripture is able to make us wise in the affairs of life (2 Tim 3:14-15).

We also looked at the example of the City of Athens and it’s Ephebic College. We saw how ancient civilisations built their citizens. We saw Moses being schooled inside of Egypt (Acts 7:22). The world system has obviously lost all of these systems and approaches to human and citizenship development, simply because all systems built through human strength will eventually collapse. The prophet says, ‘all men are like grass, and all their glory is like flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of God blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever’, Isa 40:6-8.

The glory of men or the majestic systems that humans build by their own strength & wisdom are likened to the flowers of the field that eventually fall after sometime. The prophet gives an explanation here of why the flowers fall – that this goes beyond natural-rational explanations. The flowers fall because the breath of God blows on them. So God has blown on the glorious civilisations and systems men. This is not only spiritual truth but it’s also a historical fact. Consider the glorious Zulu kingdom, Egypt, Rome etc. the list is endless.

We have a perspective from God in Genesis 11 – here God frustrated the building of the Tower of Babel by confusing - the language of builders. This prophetic reality is still behind the globalisation processes today – the language (perspectives and interests) of the builders of globalisation is confused so that they cannot produce a coherent and stable world system.

See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens”. The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire, Heb 12:25-29.

Hag 2:6 "For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;

Hag 2:7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts.

God is actively and progressively shaking the civilisations and systems of man by blowing on them. The breath of God represents His speaking (His Word). The word says that “the universe (age) was formed at the command of God”, Heb 11:3. The word “command” here is the word “rhema” which defines “the current speaking of God”. So when God speaks a word into the earth, there are reactions that take place beyond the sphere of church. When God speaks a word, political, economic and social systems get affected. It is up to the Church to see and interpret divine processes of its times. God changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning (Dan 2:21). God does not only effect changes in the political, socio-economic systems but He also gives an understanding of what is taking place. Daniel is proclaiming this in the context of the interpretation of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzer.

So therefore God is blowing by His breath (His Word). This breath is “shaking” or effecting decay in the systems of man and growth and development in the systems of the Kingdom of God (it’s a dual process). Note that the systems of man can also be church systems that are not built according to the design of God. And the systems of the kingdom of God can be business organisations that are built according to the design of God. That is, systems of Kingdom of God do not necessarily constitute everything called “church”. The voice of God is blowing on the flowers of the field. Humanity is slowly losing its glory. All systems of man built in rebellion to God’s Sovereignty and command are collapsing. The future of mortality is decay. Men are destroying their own systems because there is a deeper and a higher reality at play than just natural-rational processes.

In the midst of all of this we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (a system that can never collapse). This kingdom is a complete system of life, superior than the decaying systems of men. It is in this context that God is awakening church and positioning it as a “chief mountain exalted above the hills” (i.e. exalted above the systems of men, Isa 2:2-3). It is for this reason that God is saying to us that Church’s responsibility does not begin and end with religion. Church is not a religious institution but it is an institution of human development. We are now confronting definitions of church that came either from Satan through his servants or ignorant preachers, who did not know the “whole counsel” of God.

God is positioning Church as a Teacher of Nations

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Isa 2:2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.

Isa 2:3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Rev 12:5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

Both in Isaiah 2 and Revelation 12, we see God positioning the Church as a Teacher of Nations; a system that effects human development. The word “rule” used in Rev 12:5 is the word that means “to shepherd”. It’s the same word that is used to define the function of the pastor in a church community.

So therefore there is prophetic significance in the collapse of the systems of men or the systems of nations. The breath of God is effecting decay in the systems of man and development in the systems of the Kingdom of God. The Church must now engage in its God ordained developmental path in the area of becoming a system of education that effects human development unto perfection in Christ.

Christ is our Knowledge System

…in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:1-3).

I tell you this so that no one will deceive you by fine-sounding arguments…so then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him…see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (Col 2:4-8).

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18&19).

Becoming a system of education requires that we consider Christ as our knowledge system. Christ is the source and basis of our knowledge. We do not worship knowledge but Christ. We are not Gnostics and we do not subscribe to Gnosticism – that is, a mere worship of knowledge without proper connection to the One who is the source of knowledge.

Christ is the source and basis of our knowledge – not just “religious knowledge” but all knowledge. In the Kingdom of God, there are no different segments of knowledge but there is “one knowledge” – just as the word talks about “one Body, one Spirit, one Hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Eph 4:1-6. There is no scientific knowledge, economic knowledge, accounting knowledge etc. There is “one knowledge”. Christ is the Source of all true authentic knowledge revealed by God to men, whether through means of study, prayer, scientific discovery etc. knowledge is knowledge. It is for this reason that the Bible takes principles from Law, nature, science etc. in establishing the truths of God. Consider these scriptures concerning Christ:

Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Col 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Col 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

If earthly-visible things (i.e. matter) were made through Christ (as stated in the scriptures above) then the (authentic and accurate) principles and laws that define matter (as known, for example, in the scientific field) are first and foremost spiritual. The laws of human body and other elements of creation that man has researched are first and foremost spiritual before they are scientific. This is why Paul talks about the principles and laws of the human body to explain the principles of Christ in 1 Cor 12. The science of human body is not supreme but rather God conceived this science through the principles of Christ, hence it says “let us make man in our image, in our likeness” (Gen 1:26). The principles and laws that make creation hold together come directly from the nature of Christ (Rom 1:20, Col 1:16-17). The laws of the ecosystem are first and foremost spiritual. Such laws cannot therefore be in conflict with the Word of God, which is supreme over all knowledge systems of man.

Definitions

The word “knowledge” used in Col 2:3 is the Greek word “gnosis” and it means: “knowledge; science”. The word ‘gnosis’ is related to the word “Gnostic” or “Gnosticism”. This is the cultic movement that formed from the faith that leaders like Apostle John had to confront in 1 John 4. It’s important to state that the word “gnosis” is in itself pure and used often in the scripture by Paul to define “knowledge”.

Here is how the word “knowledge” is defined in other dictionaries:

Knowledge is the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by humankind.

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knowledge.

Knowledge is the body of truths or facts accumulated in the course of time. Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knowledge.

Here is how I define knowledge:

Knowledge is the body of truths, principles and definitions that shape human consciousness and understanding.

Knowledge has power to shape the very essence of human life. It provides lenses through which a human views the world.

The acquiring of knowledge is a process that involves the mind, heart and conscience. So therefore knowledge acquisition is a deeply spiritual process. We often talk of revelation in church. Revelation is real acquiring of knowledge through the illumination or enlightening of the conscience, heart and min by the Holy Spirit. You actually literally see and conceptualise truth.

Heb 8:10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

God here defines a process of impartation and acquisition of knowledge through the means of the Holy Spirit. Knowledge is at the centre of our spiritual development.

So Christ is our knowledge – He is the collection of truths, principles and definitions that shape the very essence of our being. To be “in Christ” is therefore not just a shallow-religious experience.

Christ is our Knowledge System (cont…)

Knowledge is the body of truths, principles and definitions that shape human consciousness and understanding – the Bible is a record of the knowledge of the Kingdom of God. Jesus spoke of “the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven…” (Matt 13:11).

I tell you this so that no one will deceive you by fine-sounding arguments…so then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him…see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (Col 2:4-8).

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18&19).

In Col 2:4-8 and 1 Pet 1:18&19, Paul puts Christ not simply against other religious systems but against the knowledge systems of man that seek to define the very essence of life. We are therefore warned not to simply move away from idolatry locked up in the traditions and cultural systems we have been redeemed from but to move away from the very knowledge systems & positions that these cultural systems advocate. There are definitions of life that are locked up in the traditions of man that we need to be able to discern and move away from. Such traditions may speak and define manhood, womanhood, family, marriage, parenting, business etc. All systems of man – it does not matter how complicated and advanced they look, are inherently deficient and faulty. Whether these come from the so-called “first worlds” or “third worlds”, it does not matter. “English traditions & culture” are inherently faulty. Zulu traditions & culture are inherently faulty. It is because of these traditions and cultural systems that the world is in a state it is in today. Peter warns that there are cultural definitions that get handed down to men through generational succession that we have to be aware of and move away from in order to step fully into our salvation in Christ – meaning that our salvation is not only an internal and character transformation but it’s also a systemic migration. We have been redeemed not simply from “sin” but also from cultural systems and definitions. No one must take us captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy.

The word “philosophy” used in Col 2:8 is the Greek word “philosophia” and it’s made up of two words, “philos” (to befriend someone or something, to love, to be fond of) and “sophia” (wisdom, insight etc.). The word therefore means: ‘the love of wisdom’. A philosopher is “one who loves wisdom”.

So when Paul says we must guard that no one deceives us by “shallow philosophy”, he is not simply referring to philosophy as in a field of study in University but he is referring to a knowledge system – any knowledge system that opposes Christ. The word actually also teaches that Christ is our wisdom (sophia), Col 2:3, 1 Cor 1:30 – Christ is our philosophy! So therefore the philosophy Paul is referring to can be definitions and principles coming from any tradition or cultural system, Zulu, English, Black, White etc.

…the Church of the Living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15).

As far as God is concerned, other civilisations and cultural systems can deviate from certain positions but not so the Church. We are defined as a pillar and foundation of the truth. We are the system from which correct, valid and authentic definitions of life come.

The breath of God is blowing, the flowers of the field are falling and a true civilisation is emerging in power, knowledge, glory and honour. This is what the prophets called “the desire of nations”.