Christianity’s vision of a good life

Summary of Lecture 1
 Right attitude: aware of one’s imperfections, willing to be
corrected, seek the truth
 Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
 The cosmological argument proves that God (understood
as the Creator of the Universe) exists.
 Jesus claimed to be God and He did miracles, lived a
perfect life of loving, healing and teaching others, and rose
from the dead to prove that He is God.
 The logical implications of Jesus being God:
 He can reveal what God is like (perfect, just, loving etc)
 He can give real meaning and purpose in life
 God created humans in His image: basis for equal worth
and dignity of all human beings
God loves us so much that He came to seek us
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3)

 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who
is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father,
has made Him known. (John 1:17-18)
 Questions from students: Why is God ‘He’ and
not ‘She’? Is Jesus God or the Son of God?
 Son of God: a metaphor for someone who had an intimate
relationship with God the Father.
 Used for angels (Job 1:6), Adam (Luke 3:38), Israel (Hosea 11:1),
Christians (Gal 3:26), Ephraim (Jer. 31:9) and king (2 Sam 7:14).
 Unlike these, Jesus was regarded as Creator and worshipped by
the earliest Christians => unique (“one and only”) Son of God
 God is a Spirit (John 4:24)=> God does not have a gender
 All gendered God-language is metaphor.‘The Father’ is a
metaphor for expressing care and authority
 How can Christ be God and God the
Father be God if there is only one God?

 The word ‘is’ has more than one meaning.

 Can mean equivalence ('=')
 Can also mean predication.
 E.g. the rose is red: this does not mean that rose=red
 Rather, the rose has the property of being red.
 Jesus is God does not mean that Jesus=one being of
God
 It means ‘Jesus is a Person who has property of being
divine i.e. He is eternal, Creator, perfect, etc.
How can Christ be God and God the Father
be God if there is only one God?

 The Trinity: Three Persons (the Father, the Son and

the Holy Spirit) within One Being
 A being is an entity, something that exists.
 A person is a centre of consciousness with
capacities for moral agency, rationality, language, and
self-consciousness.
 The Trinity: one divine spiritual Being with three
centres of consciousness, each of which has the
property of being a Person and having all the
essential divine properties (Craig and Moreland
2003)
The meaning of the word ‘God’
 The word ‘God’ can be used to denote the
One Being which includes the three Persons
(the Father, the Son and the Spirit).

 The word ‘God’ can also be used to denote

any Person (e.g. God the Father) who has the
property of being divine i.e. being the Creator,
all-knowing, all-powerful, etc.
 God as revealed by Jesus and the Bible
 The only true God (John 17:3)
 Triune (Matthew 28:19)
 Necessary existence (Exodus 3:14)
 Aseity (Independent existence; Acts 17:24-25)
 Eternal (Psalms 90:1-2)
 Omnipotent (Genesis 18:14)
 Omniscient (Psalm 147:5)
 Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7)
 Perfect goodness (Matthew 5:48)
 Beauty (Psalm 27:4)
 Holy (Isaiah 6:1-5)
 Just (Romans 2:5-6)
 Loving (1 John 4:8)
 Creator (Romans 1:20)
 Sovereign (Psalm 83:18)
Logical implications of the nature of God
 Since God is good and the source of all goodness, to turn
away from Him would be evil
 Since God is perfectly just He will punish evil moral law
 God “will repay each person according to what they have
done (Romans 2:6)
 Since God is merciful He will offer forgiveness to people
 Since God is the source of forgiveness, to reject Him
would be to reject forgiveness and to choose to be
punished
 The Christian Vision of a good life

 The three stages of a good life

 Justification
 Sanctification
 Glorification
 Resources for dealing with suffering, failure, and death.
Christianity’s vision of a good life
Emmanuel: God with us
God (Genesis 1:26) humans
God Sin: Humans
choosing to turn away from God

 ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom.
3:23)
 Fall short of the greatest commandments: “Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.” “Love your neighbor
as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
 Hypocrisy, lying, pride, self-righteous, lust, greed,
envy, hatred, malice, unloving, unforgiving,
slanderous, treacherous
God Sin Humans
The logical consequence of unresolved sin: Hell

 ‘Everything that causes sin and all who do

evil…There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth…’(Matthew 13:40-42)
 The
central message of Christianity: The
Gospel = Good News
“For God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have
eternal life. (John 3:16)
The logical consequence of perfect justice and
love
 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
 The logical sacrifice: only someone who was truly divine and
truly human can save us by bearing the punishment our sins
deserved
 Jesus is the only one in history who died for the sins of
humanity to offer forgiveness
Isaiah 53 prophecy (written hundreds of years
before Jesus)
 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are
healed.
 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has
turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He
was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to
the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas,and then to
the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred
of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom
are still living, though some have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians
15:3-6)
 => He can gives us eternal life
What must I do?
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that He will
forgive your sins. (Acts 3:19)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved.
(Romans 10:9)
 Q from student: How can we know that we
have reached a good enough standard to enter
heaven?
 We can never be good enough, we are saved by grace
 Saved by Grace: a unique and logical teaching of Christianity
 --not ‘Be a good person first and then God will save you’
 --But ‘God saves you first and transforms you to become good’
 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so
that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new. (2
Corinthians 5:17)
Sanctification: become more like Jesus

 The source of life transforming power: the Holy Spirit

 Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-
control. (Galatians 6:22-23)
 The Bible and prayer
 “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,Your will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation,but deliver us from the evil one.”
(Matthew 6: 9-13)
 Importance of church
 But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to
the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in
the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for
each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if
one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor
12:24-26)
 And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)
Find out God ‘s calling for your life:
What shall I do with my life?
What does God want me to do?
(Mary Poplin)

Consider your

 Strength
 Interests
 Desire
 Grief
 Opportunity
 Problems overcome
 Relationship to God
 Not following the culture
 Resources for dealing with temptations,
stress, suffering, failure, disappointments

 Prayer: God is there. He loves you.

 TheBible: meditate on verses concerning

temptations, stress, etc

 The Church
‘Why Does God allow suffering?’
The absence of suffering is not the highest good
It is more worthy to be a person who suffers than a piece of stone
which doesn’t suffer.
 Throughout history, many thinkers from east and west have realized
that suffering can bring benefits.
 “ 天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，
空乏其身，行指乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。”--
Mencius
 “No pain, no gain”
 A meaningful life can be extremely satisfying even in the midst of
hardship
 To experience God is the greatest good
 Some Benefits of Suffering
 Patience (2 Cor. 1:6; James 5:10; Rev. 1:9)
 Courage (1 Thess. 2:2; Rev. 2:10)
 Perseverance/Endurance (Rom. 5:3; 1 Cor. 4:12; 1
Thess. 1:4; 2 Tim. 2:3; 2 Tim. 4:5; Heb. 10:32,36;
12:7; James 1:2-4,12; 1 Peter 4:19; Rev. 1:9,
2:3,10,13)
 Thankfulness (1 Thess. 5:18)
 Learn to forgive others (Matt. 5:39-45; 2 Tim. 4:16)
 Closer bonding with others; For the benefit of
others (1 Cor. 12:25-26; 2 Cor. 1:3-7; 8:2-4; Eph.
3:13; Phil. 1:14; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 3:2-4; 2 Tim.
2:8-10; Heb. 13:3)
 Closer relationship to Jesus (Ps 73; Rom. 8:17;
Phil. 3:10; Heb. 11:26, 35; 12:2-3; 13:13; 1 Peter
4:1; Rev. 21:4)
Q. Why do some innocent children suffer from
diseases when there born?
John 9:1-3
The goal of human life is not happiness per se, but
the knowledge of God--which in the end will bring
true and everlasting human fulfillment.
Many evils occur in life which may be utterly
pointless with respect to the goal of producing
human happiness; but they may not be pointless
with respect to producing a deeper knowledge of
God.. Of course, whether God’s purpose is
achieved through our suffering will
depend on our response Do we respond with
anger and bitterness toward God, or do we turn
to Him in faith for strength to endure?’—
Philosopher William Lane Craig
 Connection Building Theodicy (CBT)
 Collins: Many people have a great desire to contribute
positively to the world and only feel satisfied with their
lives if they have made significant contributions;
 They gain great satisfaction from having contributed,
even to the extent of thinking that their life was
worthwhile even if they endured more suffering than
happiness.
 Often this sense of value goes beyond the value of the
contribution itself, but crucially involves a perceived
value of having been the means by which the
contribution occurred;
 Thus, for instance, if God directly provided for the
welfare of others, this value would be lost.
Q: Why did God do miracles sometimes (e.g.
resurrecting Jesus) but not all the time?
The Connection Building Theodicy
 ‘We can glimpse a good reason for God to create a
universe containing ECAs [embodied conscious
agents] that are vulnerable to each other and to the
environment: specifically, such vulnerable ECAs can
affect each other for good or ill in deep ways.
Besides being an intrinsic good… this ability to affect
one another’s welfare allows for the possibility of
eternal bonds of appreciation, contribution, and
intimacy, which… are of great value.’(Collins 2013).
 Explain why our parents’ sin can affect us
 Explain why Adam’s sin can affect us
 Explain why it is impt to be connected with a church
Negative connections
 An unavoidable by-product
 Can be redeemed through the victim forgiving the victimizer.
Forgiveness creates a new positive connection of forgiveness,
such as the person forgiven greatly appreciating being released
from the negative connections and guilt that they bear as the
result of their moral wrongdoing;
 Even the person doing the forgiving will greatly benefit through
the act of forgiving.
 Even if the connections are not formed in one’s earthly life, they
can be formed in the afterlife -- e.g., in the afterlife one could
form connections based on shared joy or achievement.
 CBT helps resolve a conflict many feel between the
apparent cruelty of the world, which seems indifferent to
humans and other sentient beings, and the moral
imperative to value and love others.
 The CBT sees this apparent indifference itself as giving
humans the space and opportunity to virtuously respond
to other’s needs, and thus develop eternal, positive
connections.
 Consequently, the apparent indifference and unloving
character of the world becomes a necessary condition for
the realization of certain forms of love.
CBC journalist Brian Stewart
 …I've found there is no movement, or force,
closer to the raw truth of war, famines, crises and
the vast human predicament, than organized
Christianity in action.
 … I'm often asked if I lost belief in God
covering events like Ethiopia, then called "the
worst hell on earth." Actually, like others
before me, it was precisely in such hells that I
rediscovered religion. I saw so many countless
acts of human love and charity, total respect
for the most forsaken, for all life.

 Resources for dealing with death

 No existence, no meaning
 Life is ultimately meaningless if death ends all
 => Hopeless
Glorification and HOPE
 Hope has two aspects: desires and expectations
 A person working for 10 dollars vs another person doing the
same job for 10 million dollars will behave very differently!
 Humans are future-orientated …don’t tell me what happens
after death doesn't matter!
(Tim Keller at HKU)
 Love strives to live forever—Plato
 In loving and being loved we make a world worth living
in.
 Those who have truly experienced love would not
want it to end.
 The basis of Hope: The resurrection of
Jesus
God turns darkness into light, suffering
into blessing, death into life.
 Even though the problem of evil is the
greatest objection to the existence of God,
at the end of the day God is the only
solution to the problem of evil.
 If God does not exist, then we are locked
without hope in a world filled with
gratuitous and unredeemed suffering.
Philosopher William Lane Craig
 But there are good evidences to think that God does
exist, and He has revealed Himself in history through
Jesus.
 The death of Jesus has borne the sins of humanity, and
His resurrection has overcome death.
 He is the ultimate solution to the problem of evil and
suffering.
Professor Paul Williams, historian
and philosopher of Buddhism
The Unexpected Way (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2002)

‘The evidence for resurrection being the most likely

explanation of what happened at the first Easter is very
strong. Most people do not realize quite how
extraordinarily strong the evidence is.' (p.20)
Such a plausible case of resurrection from the dead by a
great spiritual teacher—the only such case—when
combined with the historical survival of Christianity and
the palpable goodness and wisdom of many Christians, is
enough for me at least to take the leap and accept
Christianity (p.135)
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will
dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every
tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death;
there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the
first things have passed away.”（Revelations 21：3-4）

 The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy. –C.S Lewis
Some Christians will suffer loss
‘each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show
it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will
test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which
he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any
man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.’ 1 Cor 3:13-15
 The promise of glory
‘is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the
work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really
chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find
approval, shall please God’ –CS Lewis
‘the satisfaction of having pleased those whom I rightly
loved.’– CS Lewis
‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew
25:19-21)
Conclusion: Christianity’s vision of a good life
 Emmanuel: God with us
 Jesus said “ I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” --
John 10:10
 Ultimate Truth
 Objective goodness and subjective satisfaction
 Love
 Happiness
 Dignity
 Beauty
 Grace
 Forgiveness
 Power
 Purpose
 Hope
 Glory
 and so much more.
 An Easter Song on Life Worth Living
‘Because He lives’
 God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives
 Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives