For my opening post here at my new blog, Mirifica Commutatio, I thought it would only be fitting to christen it with a thought from one of my favorite theologians; Thomas F. Torrance. And to open this blog up with a word on prayer, and its centrality to what it means to be participants in God’s life through Christ as a result of the mirifica commutatio ‘wonderful exchange’. Because we are participants in God’s life through Christ’s vicarious life pro nobis (for us); we are able to find our voices thoroughly grounded in the intercessory voice of our Faithful High Priest (cf. Heb. 7.25), Jesus Christ. Our voice is a real voice and Spirit spirated echo of Jesus’ voice at the right hand of the throne of the Father, and it is through this voice that the gap between heaven and earth is filled with the glory of God’s pleroma (fullness, plenitude); and Jesus’ taught prayer of ‘thy will be done on earth as it is heaven’ is brought to fruition through the incense of the saints prayer mingled with His by the Spirit that the telos (purpose) of all of creation (including our lives as we participate in the Kingly rule over it with the Son of God) is being brought to consummate reality as it reaches its ultimate climax and regeneration (cf. Rom. 8.16ff) in the revealing of the sons of God at the time of the yet proleptic (future) coming of Christ; our hope! It is in this vein that T. F. Torrance’s word on prayer provides even more clarity, let’s read:
Prayer is the link between world history and the intercession of Christ in heaven
So far as the church in history and on earth is concerned, therefore, the great connecting link between world history and the heavenly session of Christ is to be found in prayer and intercession. That is why when the New Testament speaks about the relations of church and state it regularly directs the church to prayer as its most important service, for it is in prayer that through the Spirit the heavenly intercessions of humanity and the people of God are locked with Christ in the great apocalyptic struggle with the forces of darkness. Because he who rules from the throne of God is the lamb who has been slain, but is alive for evermore and holds the keys of death and hell, the church’s engagement in prayer is already a participation in the final victory of the kingdom of Christ. Thus the life, mission, and worship of the church on earth and in history are, as it were, in counterpoint to the victorious paeans of the hosts above who surround the throne of the lamb and worship and glorify God. (Thomas F. Torrance, Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ, 297)
What a wonderful thought. Unfortunately, prayer is often bantered around in almost clichΓ© like terms amongst Christians; especially us Western Christians who have it so good, all of our creature comforts being met (relatively speaking). With the perspective provided above, shouldn’t prayer be seen in ways that really are at the height and nexus of what it means to rule and reign with Christ? Instead of viewing politicians, medical doctors, scientists, Wall Street, CEOs, et alia as the gatekeepers of society and cultures; shouldn’t we, as Christians (cf. I Cor. 6.1ff) understand our place as participants in God’s life in Christ as both Priests of God (cf. Rom. 15.16; I Pet. 2.9), and Kings of God in Christ (cf. I Cor. 3.21-23)? That we rule over this creation, in Christ, through joining our voices with His by the Spirit (cf. Rom. 8.26); and so participate in effecting the reign of Christ over both death and life and all of creation (cf. Col. 1.13ff) by simply Praying!
What a wonderful thought! All of the above is the result of one thing, Mirifica Commutatio!
Nice first post.
That prayer, “thy will be done on earth as it is heaven” is so powerful yet so familiar we fail to appreciate what it really means. If God’s will is truly done on the earth in the same way that it is done on earth then indeed the kingdom of God is realized and spread throughout the earth.
I have to say the color scheme is not good for reading. Black text on dark gray is hard to read.
Done on earth as it is done in heaven….
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the feedback! I agree with you on the color scheme; it makes my eyes go buggy, somewhat too. I’ll try and find a theme that I think works better.
It is really amazing to contemplate the reality of the “Lord’s prayer;” beyond the wrote recitation and formality of it; i.e. to really contemplate that God’s activity is actually taking place. I think sometimes this seems so abstract as to be ethereal, but given the concreteness of God’s life in Christ’s humanity; His will on earth as it is in heaven is anything but abstract or domestic for that matter.
Jon, is this more readable for you? The theme colors.
Yes, much better for reading. The key to readability on screens is contrast. The studies indicate dark text on a lighter background is more readable than white text and there is an optimal contrast. http://www.wdvl.com/Graphics/Color/color2.html
Thanks Jon, I think I may lighten the blue up a little more even.
Thinking of Jesus’ prayer, it seems to lay the determinism of many aside. If God is already determining my every thought and act then there would be no need to pray for His will to be done on the Earth as it is in heaven since His will is done in every act and deed of men.
Controversial thinker Greg Boyd has done some interesting work on warfare theodicy in his two books, “God at War” and “Satan and the Problem of Evil”.
http://www.gregboyd.org/books/satan-the-problem-of-evil-constructing-a-trinitarian-warfare-theodicy/
It seems to me that this prayer fits in with that realization that many powers are opposing God and we need to pray that God’s will be done in order to realize and manifest the triumph of Jesus on the cross. It is a finished work, but God has tasked the church with carrying forward the message and bearing witness to the life of Christ in His body. The amazing thing is that God elicits our participation through prayer and obedience to accomplish His will on the earth. This fits in with our participation with Christ is His humanity as we have our place and role to fulfill in it. As Paul says, Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christβs afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Col. 1:24
Jon,
I would agree, Greg Boyd is controversial, and Open Theist; which means I don’t pay hardly any attention to him π .
But it seems to me that questions of determinancy and prayer take on a fesh hue when taken out of its usual Aristotelian logico-deductive and causal framework. In other words when placed within a soteriological/Trinitarian perspective, participation in God’s life through Christst by the Spirit presents a dynmaic and freedom that can only really be understood when it starts in God’s life and freedome for us. How contingency works within this framework needs to be thought throw the analogy of faith and the relation of God’s consubstantial life realized in the hypostatic union of God and man in Jesus Christ. How God shapes contingency in that framework can really only be understood through apocalyptic terms wherein He is understood to be constantly breaking in upon His creation ordering it towards its ultimate telos for Christ (Col 1).