Peacemakers are God's Children

People are confused about whether Donald Trump believes in Jesus or not. He said that he thinks he would go to heaven because he is arbitrating peace between Russia and Ukraine. There are two points here: 1. Going to Heaven. 2. The Means for it. The second part seems problematic to many Christ-followers if they don't read between the lines. Trump is talking about peacemakers being God's children. That is, God's children manifesting their faithfulness to him by arbitrating peace between hostile people, communities, or nations. 

It is like James arguing that Abraham's faith in God did not manifest in his talk, but in his actions. "Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together. His faith was made complete by what he did (James 2:21-22 NIV)." Abraham gave his son to God willingly. Faith and actions work together to make faithfulness complete. Likewise, Trump is talking about his faith being reflected in his reciprocal faithfulness to God by his action of 'peacemaking.' 

If Abraham's faith in action or reciprocal faithfulness to God's covenant qualifies him for the coming age, why do we suspect Trump's faith reflected in his faithfulness to God? Let's unpack this more.

1. Going to Heaven or Heaven on Earth

We are made for life after life-after-death with Christ on earth in the coming age after God renews the creation. So, we going to heaven is not the end. Heaven is coming down to earth. Even so, if we die before Jesus returns, we would be "in him" still in some form, which could be referred to as heaven because Jesus is already in heaven. In this sense, President Trump can certainly go to heaven. The first part of his statement is clear.

All God's children are citizens of heaven. Even so, we wait for a Savior from heaven to come down to earth again. Right now, our savior Jesus is seated at God's right hand in a resurrected, immortal, physical human body. He would save us from this body of death and give us immortal physical bodies so that we could live with him on the future earth forever. That is the end we look forward to and eagerly await.

2. The Means to Go to Heaven

The second aspect of Trump's statement seems controversial, but it is not so. Many Christians still think that God has declared them righteous in his presence in the sense of a criminal being set free in a courtroom setting. That's why they continue to press on in their belief of being justified by faith as if God has paid for their sins, and so they are now saved and in Christ. It is only partly true. Besides, the underlying understanding itself is flawed. We are not saved for heaven to go as independent souls after death into heaven.

Rather, we are saved from condemnation (exile from God's presence and the resultant death) through Jesus' cross and resurrection. The cross and resurrection of Jesus rectify our relationship or right covenantal standing with God. Then, his Spirit, poured into us, transforms us into his Temples or living stones of a corporate Temple called Christ's body (of believers). So, it is not a courtroom setting where a criminal is acquitted.

Instead, it is a familial or relational setting where a prodigal son returns to his father's house. That's the main difference between these two understandings of the Good News. The son who returns is a full member and in a renewed relationship with his family. In this right relationship with God, we have to do our part as God's loyal children. It is in the mutual faithfulness between us and God that we realise our true vocation as human beings.

God first created us in his image of love, for God is love. He intended for us to reflect his nature of love into his created world, like angled mirrors, as his Royal Priests. We are God's light to the world. We know Adam failed, Israel failed, and God exiled them from his presence. Jesus came to restore God's presence within people and to bring them back into the originally intended human vocation.

Through his cross-resurrection event, Jesus has laid the foundation for the renewal of his whole creation. It was a pilot project, and God has started his work of new creation through Jesus' resurrection. Jesus is the first of this kind, and eventually we all will be like him. We would reign with him as servant kings in the coming age, stewarding the renewed creation lovingly.

In the interim, Jesus Christ has given us his Holy Spirit, who would educate us regarding the matters and behaviour of the age to come. God returns to exiled Israel and humanity through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit returns his presence into people, and equips them to reciprocate God's faithfulness. I think Trump's assertion to bring peace between warring nations as a sign of his faithful relationship with God must be understood in this respect.

I believe Trump already believes in the Bible and the gospel: Jesus died for us, rose again, and will return to be with us. We are now God's children having a right relationship with God. Here, Trump is talking about our reciprocal faithfulness to God in the covenant or familial relationship (Read Matthew 25 and James on Abraham's faith). Paul also highlights this aspect of our faithful actions, justifying our faith in Jesus and faithfulness to God repeatedly (Romans 1-8).

In sum, we are saved from condemnation (exile and death) to fulfil our original human vocation on earth. It is a vocation of loving others and faithfully stewarding God's creation on his behalf as his children and Royal Priests. Donald Trump is doing his part in his relationship with God as a peacemaker between nations as a child of God and a Royal Priest. To quote a direct verse from the Bible, "Blessed or delightful (μακαριοι) are the peacemakers for they shall be called God's children." (Matt 5:9)