The Kingdom Perspective

 

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One of the concerns of many contemporary Christian thinkers is the dumbing-down of truth.  Nowhere is this clamoring for the lowest common denominator more alarming than in the realm of theology. 

Listen to T. S. Elliot:  “The refinement or crudity of theological and philosophical thinking is itself, of course, one of the measures of the state of our culture; and the tendency in some quarters to reduce theology to such principles as a child can understand or a Socinian [i.e. a Unitarian] accept, is itself indicative of cultural debility.” (T. S. Eliot, “Notes toward the Definition of Culture”)

For centuries theology was considered the Queen of the Sciences—the glue that held all the other disciplines of knowledge together. Today, however, theology is often disdained and can hardly find a place at the table.  What is most alarming is not that we see this attitude in the society at large—one would expect to see it there. Rather it is seeing its prevalence in many churches. Many argue: “Let’s not get bogged down in theological debate. Let’s just love Jesus together.” However, if we are to love Jesus, we need to know who He is. And this, I’m afraid, is a theological question.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

~Matthew 16 (NASB)

 

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You no doubt have heard the expression: Let your conscience be your guide. However, can your conscience always be trusted as a reliable guide of what God is telling you?

Indeed, the conscience is a vehicle by which God tells us something of Himself, but it is only as good as the information that has been programmed into it. It does tell us that justice is real, that there is an ultimate Judge before whom we must stand. Just as our conscience is continually judging our attitudes and actions, so someday our lives will be judged before God.

However, we should be very careful not to extrapolate too far from here; our conscience is not necessarily always accurate. All clocks give evidence to the existence of time; yet not all clocks accurately tell what time it is. The accuracy depends on whether they have been set properly and whether or not their mechanisms are in proper working order. In other words, not all clocks can take a licking and keep on ticking. So too our conscience. If abused, it will produce inaccurate judgments.

How about your conscience? Is it set properly, according to the law of God?

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

~Romans 2:14-16 NASB

 

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Many people are asking the question, “Is God still speaking nowadays?” Many who wonder about this are looking for an audible voice, a major miraculous sign in which God could “prove” Himself? In light of this, it is interesting that Jesus repeatedly condemned such clamoring for a sign, saying, “A wicked and perverse generation seeks for [such] a sign”. At first, this statement of Jesus seems harsh. Isn’t the seeking of a sign just a genuine request for assurance that we believe and obey the right thing? Then, what’s the reason for Jesus’ strong rebuke?

Well, there is a basic problem with such a request. It assumes that we always act properly on what we know to be true. In other words, “Just tell me what is true and right and I’ll act upon it.” But nothing could be further from the truth. For example, we certainly know that we should put others first and treat others the way we like to be treated. But do we really do this? If we are honest, the answer is no. Some of us may even be flattering ourselves: “Well, at least I do it better than most people I know.” But even such flattery, far from acquitting us, actually increases our condemnation, showing our insistence to judge ourselves better than others.

You see, our problem in knowing God’s voice is not primarily in His providing proof, but in our acting on what he has already made clear. It is not in His proving that He has spoken, but in our proving that we are truly listening.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

~Matthew 12:38-42 NASB

 

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Some time ago, I was talking to a guy who has a degree in sub-nuclear physics. He was explaining to me the complexity of design in the universe at that level. He said that after studying it for some time, he was driven to acknowledge that we live in a universe that has an intelligent designer. In other words, there must be a God.

Such a conclusion is not surprising when you consider the biblical understanding of the world. All that is has come into existence by the intention and design of an orderly God. Genesis tells us that this God spoke and the world came into order. The book of Hebrews tells us that he continues to speak, upholding the universe by the word of his power. According to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians: Christ “is before all things and in him all things hold together.”

Any scientists out there? Here’s my advice. Diligently continue to investigate and ponder the mysteries of the creation. God delights when people admire his work.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth…

~Genesis 1:1 NASB

The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty…

~Isaiah 24:5-6 NASB

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard…

~Colossians 1:19-23 NASB

 

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The “big story” of history can be summed up in three words:  Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction.  In the beginning God constructed the world to display his beauty.  Then along came sin. We rebelled against God’s beauty, inaugurating an age of destruction and falleness.  But, thank God, this isn’t the end of the story.  God is now reconstructing the world in and through one man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen to this description by Neil Plantinga, president of Calvin Theological Seminary:  “We are now fallen creatures in a fallen world. The Christian gospel tells us that all hell has broken loose in this sorry world but also that, in Christ, all heaven has come to do battle.  Christ the warrior has come to defeat worldly power, to move the world over onto a new foundation, and equip a people—informed, devout, educated, pious, determined people—to follow him.” 

What a great description Plantinga gives us of the church! 

Now to me here’s the amazing thing:  The Bible tells us that such a reconstruction effort is not only possible but guaranteed.  According to the prophets a new heaven and a new earth will be a reality. Wow! Praise be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

~Colossians 1:16-18 NASB

 

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Central to the message of Jesus is repentance.  It is not only the subject of His first recorded sermon (“Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand’), but also the punch line of the Apostle Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost (“Repent and be baptized…for the forgiveness of your sin”). So, what is repentance? Listen to this thought-provoking statement from the late author C.S. Lewis:

“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track, and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of a hole.  This process of surrender, this movement full astern, is what Christians call repentance.” 

Indeed, Lewis has it right.

The message of Jesus doesn’t just call for us to do a little better with our lives, but it produces in us a completely new life.  So let me ask you a question. When you think of living the Christian life do you envision a life of self-improvement or completely starting over?  In the Gospel, God is both calling us and producing in us a new life.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

~Jesus in Mark 8:34-36 NASB

 

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Do you want to live as a Christian?  Then expect to be “unorthodox” relative to the world around you. For sure, at points the Gospel will run alongside society, but at other points expect it to cut across the grain.  You see, no culture has a corner on truth; all cultures must be judged by truth at some point.  

This fact can be seen in the way that the Gospel processes the tension between pessimism and hope in our culture. Listen to popular novelist John Updike as he talks about the realism of the Gospel versus naïve sentimentality.  In the Gospel “we are freed from certain secular illusions and monochromatic tyrannies of hopeful thought. The bad news can be told full out, for it is not the only news.”

Later, he continues: “To be Christian in this day and age, as in the time of imperial Rome, is to be unorthodox, and [people] should look elsewhere for the consolations of conventional sentiment and the popular…religion of optimism.”

Indeed, the Gospel allows us to get real—to face both the disappointing depravity we see in ourselves and the eternal hope we find in Christ. A truly Christian perspective should allow us to face reality and not hide from it, to take the good new along with the bad.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

~Romans 12:2-3 NASB

 

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You know you’ve come across the genuine article of Christianity when you find people that are genuinely committed to each other in spite of otherwise divisive differences.

Listen to biblical scholar Don Carson of Trinity Divinity School: “What binds us [as Christians]…is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together because they have all been loved by Jesus himself.” 

The Gospel produces something that the world cannot. The world naturally congregates according to the principle of “birds of the same feather flock together”.  However, in the gospel a genuine universal humanity is created, so that birds of remarkably different feathers begin to flock together. 

Does your faith in Christ make you want to love other Christians, regardless of how different they are from you?  Such love is not only unusual but also the mark of a person captivated by the Gospel.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

~Galatians 3:26-29