called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

sum41111 · Sep 9, 2015

Hello,

Could anybody help me to explain the meaning of the highlighted part? expecially using the prep"in", does "in" mean "inside" here?

Thanks!

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

SoothingDave · Sep 9, 2015

United with Christ. In union with Christ. As a member of the spiritual Body of Christ.

Tdol · Sep 10, 2015

Isn't it finding heaven through Jesus?

Skrej · Sep 10, 2015

Here 'in' means something more like 'into', as being brought home (heaven), into Christ's arms.

Heaven is the reward for following Christ.

mawes12 · Sep 10, 2015

Doesn't "heavenward" mean "upward"?

Matthew Wai · Sep 10, 2015

Is 'within Christ' possible? Within Christ, followers can go to heaven as the prize.

mawes12 said:
Doesn't "heavenward" mean "upward"?

I think it means 'towards heaven', but I am not a teacher.

mawes12 · Sep 10, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
I think it means 'towards heaven', but I am not a teacher.

I think you are right and it means the same because Heaven is up and I saw "-wards" is an adverb suffix and I think it goes after some nouns.

Raymott · Sep 10, 2015

It could also mean "soaked in the blood of Jesus" or any other metaphor that accords with Christian doctrine.

Matthew Wai · Sep 10, 2015

Raymott said:
"soaked in the blood of Jesus"

I have been hearing (in Chinese) for decades that his blood can cleanse believers of their sins (I hope I have translated correctly), but I have never heard the Chinese equivalent of 'soak' used in such a context.

Tdol said:
Isn't it finding heaven through Jesus?

I think it should be 'going to' instead of 'finding', but I am not a teacher.

Raymott · Sep 11, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
I have been hearing (in Chinese) for decades that his blood can cleanse believers of their sins (I hope I have translated correctly), but I have never heard the Chinese equivalent of 'soak' used in such a context.

There's almost 50,000 google hits for "soaked in the blood of Jesus."; 42,000 for "drenched in ...", and only 2 for "saturated by the blood of Jesus."
You're merely pointing out a fact about translation - that you can't always translate a phrase word by word, especially if the direct translation of one of the words has different connotations in the second language.

Skrej · Sep 11, 2015

Another common one is 'washed in the blood' - it's even the title of a common church hymn, although you'll note it refers to Christ as the Lamb (of God).

Tdol · Sep 11, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
I think it should be 'going to' instead of 'finding', but I am not a teacher.

Going to heaven is the ultimate goal, but I think you have to find it here first through believing, but I am not a Christian.

Matthew Wai · Sep 12, 2015

Skrej said:
'washed in the blood'

I think 'washed' denotes that sins will be removed, but I am not a teacher.
Does 'soaked' below denote the same?

Raymott said:
"soaked in the blood of Jesus"

It sounds weird to me if it is translated into my native language word for word.

mawes12 · Sep 13, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
Does 'soaked' below denote the same?

It sounds weird to me if it is translated into my native language word for word.

To me "soak" means the same as "put".

Rover_KE · Sep 13, 2015

mawes12 said:
To me "soak" means the same as "put".

Once again, mawes, are you sure English is one of your native languages?

Skrej · Sep 14, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
I think 'washed' denotes that sins will be removed, but I am not a teacher.
Does 'soaked' below denote the same?

It sounds weird to me if it is translated into my native language word for word.

The metaphor is that Christ's blood is a cleansing agent, regardless if you're washed or soaked. We just use those terms because they convey a sense of complete immersion. You don't want a verb that suggests minimal or incomplete immersion, because the ideal is to totally cleanse all your sin, not just part of it.

Similarly, baptizing metaphorically washes away one's sins.

mawes12 · Sep 14, 2015

Rover_KE said:
Once again, mawes, are you sure English is one of your native languages?

How do you soak something in something? Or should it say "cover"? Why do you say that?

Raymott · Sep 14, 2015

Matthew Wai said:
I think 'washed' denotes that sins will be removed, but I am not a teacher.
Does 'soaked' below denote the same?

I think this is an evangelical term. I was raised a Catholic, and we used to drink his blood at Mass - literally, as we were told, but we didn't use the 'soaking' imagery.
I'd guess this began as a metaphor. Christ's blood is redemptive because it was by his blood sacrifice that we were saved. Being soaked in Christ's blood is a metaphor for being wholly soaked in redemption - but I am not a theologian.

mawes12 · Sep 14, 2015

Piscean said:
mawes, if I soak some soiled clothes in soapy water, I put them in a bowl of soapy water and leave them there for several hours to let them soak. The fact that 'putting' is involved does not mean that 'soak' means 'put'.

I could also put the clothes in an empty bowl and pour soapy water over them.

If I want to bake some potatoes, I put them in the oven for an hour. We cannot say that 'put' means 'bake'.

you're waiting for the water to get put in the clothes. The water is being put in the clothes. Am I right?

"bake" to me is the same as "heat" or "heat up".

mawes12 · Sep 14, 2015

Piscean said:
You have not expressed the idea naturally.

The word in the context in which I used it refers to one way of cooking. Of course this involves heating, but 'bake' is not the same as 'heat'.

Comments such as the ones you are making in this thread do give some of us cause to doubt that you really are a native speaker of English.

Think what you want. It seems like you talk for everybody. What is the natural way you will say it?

called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

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