Cosmology or Therapy?
What is the point of Christianity? Exactly what aspect of life does the Gospel address? Because of the narcissistic bent of the modern world, it has been our tendency to define the Gospel in purely therapeutic terms—to look at the Gospel merely through the lens of what’s-in-it-for-me-now. But does this do justice to the message given to us in Scripture? Any thoughtful person would have to say “no”. A cursory reading of the New Testament finds examples to the contrary. There is Jesus claiming all authority in heaven and earth. The Apostle Paul speaks of the Lordship of Jesus over all things visible and invisible. And John writes about the return of Jesus ushering in a new heavens and a new earth. This cannot be merely private and individualistic, but public and universal.
Listen to how social commentator Ken Myers puts it:
Christianity is more cosmology than therapy. It tells us things about the world of space and time, of history and power, of beauty and justice, of concrete love and embodied action. Christianity offers an account of human nature and of how human life is to be well-lived. And many of the things it tells us about the shape and nature of creation are directly at odds with accepted wisdom of modern Western culture.
The Gospel is not merely personal and private. According to a biblical perspective, Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.
Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
~Revelation 21 NIV
