Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew's Gospel) and the Kingdom of God (Luke's Gospel). The Lord taught us the parables of the Kingdom. He preached repentance, for the Kingdom was at hand. He was the King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It can be argued that the Kingdom was and is where Jesus ruled and reigned, where His authority, power and victory are established.
His Kingdom has been misunderstood, for some identified it with the Church, or Christendom, where the influence of the Church held sway.
The correct understanding would be to say the the Kingdom of Heaven/God takes its point of departure from God, whereas the Church takes its point of departure from Christians, followers of Christ, and is therefore flawed. The Church is an imperfect human institution, although as ecclesia it is the fellowship of those called out to be God's people. Is it a hospital for sinners rather than a gymnasium or club for the spiritually elite?
Jesus did not come preaching family values, not as we currently understand them and certainly not as some experience them in tensions, conflict, disagreements, divorce, broken homes, unhealthy relationships, squabbles and frayed exchanges. They can be units of support, comfort, consolation, and caring, but how often do they come with a spiritual dimension?
When Jesus preached there was conviction, authority and truth that penetrated the heart and mind.
Woke and pseudo theologies have presented us with a god without wrath, men without sin, and a kingdom without judgment, so that there is no need for Christ on the cross to save us. According to this form of religion, there is no hell or any prospect of a perilous separation from God, no weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, no place of regret and grief for past iniquities, no punishment of the wicked. People are left to follow the broad way and rely on their own good and bad works, what they considered to be best, good intentions. Human religion does not call for repentance, to turn away from evil, wickedness and the sin that separates us from God.
The New Testament reveals that salvation is by grace through the divine gift of faith, and this leads to good works which God has prepared for us. Please see Ephesians 2: 8-10. This is the wonderful message of the Gospel, the Good News, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to deliver us from a lost eternity, so that we are able to come to eternal life. This eternal life has the quality of eternity, the abundant life that God intended us to live. In Christ Jesus there is the certain hope of a glorious future, and the reality of an abundant life now.
No comments:
Post a Comment