no longer living

". . .Genesis 1:26-27 stands at the pinnacle of the biblical creation narrative that, unlike the myths of other ancient peoples, posits a God who creates the world in freedom as a reality external to himself and then places humankind within creation as a creaturely image of the Creator. Genesis 1:26-27, therefore, functions not so much as an ontological declaration about human nature as a prologue to all that follows in the biblical narrative. Viewed from this perspective, the first creation narrative is intended to indicate that God has endowed humankind as a whole with a vocation: to live as God's representative within creation, that is, to be that image through whom God's presence and self-manifestation may be found." *

Gaining much popularity in certain circles is "the exchanged life" theology, which is one particular approach to understanding grace and atonement from a Christian perspective. As a way of moving past the legalism of various religious systems, the exchanged life approach offers fresh air in much of the ecclesiastical presentations of grace. Although the adherents of this perspective do not claim that this is a new idea (nor are they the first to describe it), many believers today do not realize the full implications of the atonement and thus find the exchanged life perspective new and inviting.

The fundamental position of the exchanged life promotes the oft-underemphasized notion that when an individual comes to faith in Christ their status as a person is no longer valid, for we become one with Christ's status - participants in his life, death and resurrection (see Galatians 2:20). Thus, we are no longer called to performance in order to merit God's grace or affection. While this is a good and valid viewpoint, there is a bit of foundational work that helps us understand our place in God's kingdom.

As the opening quotation by Grenz points out, humanity from the beginning was placed within creation with God's own image in order to be his representative on earth. This means that the imago Dei that is stamped upon each person comes with a responsibility to work on his behalf - something intended as humanity's role from the beginning. Paul was on to something when he declared that we were created to do good works. But, that is not the entire story. . .Jesus adds more to our role within creation as we are now adopted into his sonship as coheirs with Christ.

"In Romans 8:29, Paul presents the idea of the new humanity in Christocentric language reminiscent of Genesis 1:26-27. According to the apostle, God's intention is that those who are in Christ participate in Christ's destiny and thereby replicate his glorious image. The language of the text is eschatological. Paul declares that his readers will be caught up in the Christ event and become copies of God's Son. The climax of the verse comes in the declaration, 'that he might be the firstborn,' which expresses the Christological intent of God's foreordination, namely, the preeminence of Christ among those who participate in the eschatological reality." *

Not only are we created with the imago Dei marked upon us, making us God's representatives within creation, but now - thanks to the work of Christ - we are recreated with the imago Christi which brings us to the place where we are one with Christ in his Sonship. I've heard the pop-phrase that we "might be Jesus" to someone today. . .this blows that imagery out of the water. We are in reality Jesus to the world. At every moment.

So, the exchanged life is off to a good start. Perhaps there is more to this than anyone first imagined. The life, death and resurrection of Christ was for much more than fire insurance. And it empowers us to more noble tasks of service than telling our wallets to produce more money, pursuing divine healing for every stomachache, condemning others from street corners, or mistreating fellow believers for personal gain.

Really. . .what would Jesus do?




*Stanley J. Grenz, "Jesus as the Imago Dei: Image-of-God Christology and the Non-Linear Linearity of Theology" in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society vol. 47, no. 4 (December 2004): 622.