God, Theology, and Karl Barth

I know, I know, some may be a bit shocked to find Karl Barth here, but I wanted to share a couple of quotes from pages 25 and 26 of his The Humanity of God. Barth says:

"Theology is in reality not only the doctrine of God, but the doctrine of God and man. . . . [It stresses] the fact that man's relation to God is based on God's dealings with man, and not conversely."

"When the Christian gospel was changed into a statement, a religion, about Christian self-awareness, the God was lost sight of who in His sovereignty confronts man, calling him into acount, and dealing with him as Lord. This loss also blurred the sight horizontally."

Barth seems to be saying that when we do real theology, we must concern ourselves not just with Christian self-esteem or self understanding/identity, but rather we must focus on the reality of God's invasion of our very lives, even his untimely (or is it "timely"?) interventions in the everyday mundane existence of humanity.

Theology is a moot point if God is studied in isolation from his workings with humanity.

When we change Christian thought or preaching into some kind of boost to the individual Christian's self-esteem, we have really lost sight of true Christianity or theology. Theology has little to do with me. It has everything to do with God and his attempts to work with humans, for humans, and in humans. He is not just the model of all that is good, he is the Author, Creator, and Initiator of all that is good, perfect, just, and holy. What have I created lately that can compare to that?

Theology makes no sense without Christology, without salvation, without the God of the universe joining his creation as one of them, so that by living among humans he may redeem every aspect of humanity.

Jesus became sin so that we may be the righteousness of God.

Jesus took on the likeness of sinful flesh so that he might condemn sin in the flesh.

God deals with us by becoming one of us. He does for us what we can't do for ourselves. What we could not accomplish in our sinfulness, God accomplishes in the likeness of sinful flesh. The prize we lost he came to regain.

If we lose sight of that, our vision becomes blurred and we forget that we are a part of a larger story--God's Story.

I am not the star, he is.

It is not my dealings with God that produce good theology or even life itself. Rather, it is God's dealings with fallen humans that produce so much good and greatness.

God in Christ became one of us, so that he might win us and win for us the prize we lost by our own sin. Christ descended to our level, then re-ascends to God with his prize intact. His prize is a redeemed humanity, a reconciliation between what was lost and the One who loved it enough to go find it and purchase it at his own expense.

God's humanity in Christ thus creates a bond between the divine and human, between man and God that not only gives hope, but a possibility for a good future.

All that is good here in this fallen world is a direct result of God's goodness and dealings with us.

We did not create it, we did not cause it to happen, we cannot make it better.

God is the author and star.

His dealings with us produce more grace, more light, more truth.

Maybe we should let him do his job.

Thanks for reading!