Resurrection and new creation

I have a friend/mentor who has his PhD in theology who cautions me that, while Moltmann says some things that are gold, there is a panentheist lurking in his core. I haven't really found that yet . . . Also, he says that Moltmann is not embraced in many denominations other than UCC. That would make sense if he's a panentheist, but I haven't seen any of that in the first half of "The Crucified God."

Speaking of, I read a quote in there that I must share. It almost brought tears to my eyes, and it's given me new hope and focus in life. Now that I've ruined the quote by placing on it ginormously (Ha! I said it!) high expectations, here goes:

"The dispute over the resurrection of Jesus is concerned with the question of righteousness in history. Does it belong to the nomos which finally gives each man his deserts, or does it belong to the law of grace as it was manifest by Jesus and in the resurrection of the crucified Christ? The message of the new righteousness which eschatological faith brings into the world says that in fact the executioners will not finally triumph over their victims. It also says that in the end the victims will not triumph over their executioners. The one will triumph who first died for the victims and then also for the executioners, and in so doing revealed a new righteousness which breaks through the vicious circles of hate and vengeance and which from the lost victims and executioners creates a new mankind with a new humanity. Only where righteousness becomes creative and creates right both for the lawless and for those outside the law, only where creative love changes what is hateful and deserving of hate, only where the new man is born who is neither oppressed nor oppresses others, can one speak of the true revolution of righteousness and of the righteousness of God" (178).

I particularly love his exposition on how the "old" "righteousness" led to victims saying, "It's about time I'm vindicated. Kill the executioner!" In the new creation, it's all about creativity in love figuring out how to serve one another. (See previous posts about my radical pacifism.) We all come to the Savior with equal amounts of nothing to offer. Even if I get murdered, I don't stand before Jesus saying, "Hey, look, free pass? I was murdered." No, we all rely on the same magnanimous grace.

The idea that oppression disappears in the new creation also sparked a thought. Perhaps because Jesus willingly gave himself to all humanity, he ruled out the possibility of his being oppressed. If that's the case, we get to stand up for justice for the oppressed, all the while offering ourselves to all with no regard for our rights. Oppression disappears. This sort of activity alternately confuses and pisses off the oppressor. If we are martyred for witnessing to Christ, we get our life back at the resurrection.