| (Copyright 2023) by David C. Grabbe (Charlotte, North Carolina) |
|---|
 The first chapter of Mark records that after John the Baptist was imprisoned, “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15). The word gospel means “good news,” but conflicting ideas exist about what the good news is. Most who call themselves Christians consider the good news simply to be that Jesus died for the sins of humanity, which is definitely good news. But the good news that Jesus brought was about the Kingdom of God, as it says (see Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 16:16). It was about the dominion of God, both present and future. Matthew 9:36 includes a helpful detail in the context of Christ’s preaching of the gospel: “But when [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” Simply put, the people of Judea and Galilee were in a wretched state. They were exhausted, discouraged, and despondent. Similarly, in Luke’s account of the inauguration of Christ’s ministry, He quotes from Isaiah about His being anointed “to preach the gospel to the poor; . . . to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:16-19). Jesus preached to a downtrodden people. Ample evidence exists that much of what was troubling the people were the leaders, the lawyers, the ones loading them with burdens they could not bear. The people suffered largely because of the mismanagement of the various power structures that held sway over them and against which they were powerless. The gospel of the Kingdom of God, then, is good news because it is a message of divine governance, where the governed finally have righteous leadership. Revelation 11:15-18 shows the fulfillment of the gospel: Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.” The first-century people of Judea and Galilee are not the only ones who have become wearied and discouraged because of failed governments. Corruption has characterized human government from the beginning. Mankind’s fundamental problem is that he will not even govern himself within the limits of God’s standards, let alone govern others in righteousness. The records of the Bible and secular history both show humanity’s inability to solve its problems because they originate in the human heart, which is out of alignment with the heart of the Creator. The carnal heart is incurably sick (Jeremiah 17:9). The gospel teaches that the real solutions must and will come from above because humanity simply cannot produce good and just societies that last for any length of time. The Olivet Prophecy reveals that humanity’s mismanagement will get so corrupt that, if God allowed matters to run their course, no flesh will be saved alive (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20). But for the sake of His elect, He has already determined to cut short the days at the end and intervene by taking His great power and reigning. He will claim rule over all the kingdoms and nations of this world, much to their anger and great dismay. Only when Jesus establishes His Kingdom on earth and judges from Jerusalem will the world finally experience peace and prosperity. Implications for Us This good news is the essence of the gospel Jesus brought, but what are the implications for us right now? Our worldview and response to the prevailing culture will change when we truly believe the gospel and its practical ramifications. Notice how the apostle Peter describes the church: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (I Peter 2:9) Peter refers to the church by several descriptors, including “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation.” Consider the latter for a moment. God’s holy nation stands in contrast to the nations of our birth. As called children of God, we are not entirely removed from our birth nations, even as Paul refers to Judah as “my nation” (Acts 24:17; 28:19; see Acts 26:4; Galatians 1:14). But the spiritual, holy nation carries far more significance than our physical nations. The holy nation stands in a privileged state before the Most High God, and He bestows far greater favor on His spiritual nation than on the physical nations that oppose Him. Though He sends rain on the just and the unjust, He also acts to benefit those who are in Christ in ways that He does not act for those in the world. The heavenly citizenship we have because God conveyed us into Christ’s Kingdom is one of the most precious gifts that He has given. If we truly value it, we will prioritize the holy nation and its peace far above our opinions of what is happening in our birth nations. However, because we still have connections to our physical nations, we have concerns about their well-being and direction. Thus, Paul says we should make supplications, prayers, and intercessions for kings and all who are in authority (I Timothy 2:1-2). Admittedly, our human nature may resist his advice, depending on who is in power. But the reason for those prayers, the apostle says, is so that “we [the holy nation] may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” We can combine his instruction with the reality to which God opened Solomon’s eyes: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1). Although God has not yet established His Kingdom on earth, He is still sovereign, and He intervenes to direct events according to His purpose. We should pray for the authorities because God can work through them to provide us with a peaceful environment. Interestingly, Paul does not say to pray about who will be in authority but that we pray for whoever is in authority. God can easily direct any king’s heart to do things for His holy nation. God stirred the heart of Cyrus, a pagan king, to command the exiled Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple (II Chronicles 36:22; Ezra 1:1). His sovereign dominion includes even the most carnal of those in authority. But His focus is the apple of His eye, and He wants us to bring our concerns to Him in prayers of faith and not draw back in fear of what men can do. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego feared God more than the Babylonian government, and God responded to their faith by standing with them in the furnace, defying the heat and even the smoke. Daniel feared God more than the laws of Medo-Persia, and God responded to his faith by closing the mouths of the lions until they could devour the schemers. The machinations of mere men mean less than nothing to Him. Instead, He wants to see whether we trust Him. Ambassadors for Christ Before Cyrus, God raised another pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar, to chasten His people, yet He also humbled him when his pride reached a tipping point. God says He did that “in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men” (Daniel 4:17). In another striking example of God’s power over human hearts, He transformed the worst human persecutor of the early church—Saul of Tarsus—into the church’s most prominent advocate and supporter. Is anything too hard for God? God also inspired Solomon to write that “when a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). This proverb teaches us to pay more attention to our own ways than to the actions of those who oppose our way of life because God determines how and even if their opposition affects us. Solomon supplies more wisdom in dealing with human governments in Proverbs 24:21-22: “My son, fear the LORD and the king; do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?” The Bible is full of stories of kings, some good but most evil, which again speaks to the need for a divine Kingdom not corrupted by the human heart’s sickness. Yet God’s Word also shows that, even under the worst leaders, the righteous wait on God because they know those leaders could not be in their positions without His permission. He said as much when He humbled Nebuchadnezzar. And because the righteous trust in God’s sovereignty, they understand that trying to change the leader is tantamount to attempting to overrule God. This does not preclude evaluating the leader’s actions. Indeed, we must assess them to recognize when we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). But Proverbs 24:21 warns against associating with those who agitate against the established order God has seen fit to allow at least, if not directly install. Nobody steals elections from Him. It is doubtful that any of us will take to the streets, yet we can give the appearance of associating with “those given to change” through what we post, like, tweet or re-tweet, and share. It is easy to give the impression online that we are among those given to a change in government. However, we are called as ambassadors—representatives—for Jesus Christ, the King who will end all factions when the Father says it is time. When we believe the gospel of the Kingdom, we endure the politics of physical nations but do not get caught up in them because they are not where our hope or confidence lies. So, we may cry for the beloved country, and rightfully so, even as Jesus lamented over Jerusalem. But He mourned because of her moral state and rejection of God, not because the Pharisees had more power than the Sadducees or vice versa. He was and is above factions. Similarly, the crisis in this nation is moral, developed over generations of turning from God. The spirit of this world has infected all politicians. Some may offer better Band Aids™ than others, but any real solution must come from above. That is what the gospel of the Kingdom teaches. We know this intellectually, but sometimes we forget that the “R” after somebody’s name does not stand for “Righteous.” Instead, it means that he or she has identified with a political faction. However, Galatians 5:20 calls factions and party spirit “works of the flesh.” Similarly, American conservatism is not the same as biblical morality. There may be an overlap, and we can be grateful that some are trying to conserve what this nation has stood for. Yet American conservatism, as preferable as it may be to the alternatives in various areas, cannot save us. Only the words and way of God lead to life. An ideology of sound principles mixed with humanism will ultimately fail. Spiritual strength comes from meditating on the genuine truth of God rather than a human derivative that may well ensnare us in the world’s party spirit. In dealing with the spiritually immature church members in Corinth, Paul highlights their practice of identifying with and rallying behind spiritual leaders. He writes: . . . for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (I Corinthians 3:3-4) If Paul identifies this as carnality when it is done regarding godly men—apostles in the church—how much more carnal is it to side with one carnal leader (or candidate) against another? Our identity comes from belonging to and following Jesus Christ, not picking sides in the factions of the day. A Royal Priesthood During the recent election, many commentators opined that it was the most important election of our generation. Others said the same thing about the previous election. And the one before that. They will surely make the same pronouncement about the next one. Every few years, the country is roiled by elections corrupted by deception, selfish ambition, and pragmatism on all sides because that is what carnal human nature does. This is precisely why God must intervene. While the human government we are under consists of cyclical turmoil and transitions, Christians, Peter writes, are a royal priesthood under Jesus Christ, who is High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:3 gives the defining description of Melchizedek as having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but He remains a priest continually. In other words, the order of Melchizedek means the High Priest is eternal. No new High Priest will ever be necessary. There will be no transitions or turmoil, only eternal stability. Think about how different that is. A new human high priest might enact different policies or carry out his duties differently, so people always wondered what might change. In later generations, the high priesthood was for sale, giving rise to factionalism and political maneuvers within the religious sphere. Different groups wanted to get their guy installed as high priest so things would improve for them. First-century Judea had power struggles for religious office, just as we see today in politics. But none of that is relevant to the eternal, unchanging Melchizedek priesthood. The One at the top never dies, so there are no transitions. His character is perfect and unchanging, so His rulership is supremely stable, unlike the table tennis matches of elections. Peter states that a purpose of our royal priesthood is to “proclaim the praises of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Our words and lives should point to the One who called us from the wranglings of men and their failed attempts to govern and into an understanding of God’s way that transcends anything men can devise. God will shake the kingdoms of this world (Isaiah 2:19-21; 13:13; Haggai 2:6-7, 21), but we are inheriting a Kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:27-28). However, our allegiance to that Kingdom requires letting go of this world’s deficient solutions and placing our hope and confidence only in the true King because we believe in His sovereign dominion, both now and in the future. ———————————————————————————————————– See David C. Grabbe’s other articles at: Grabbe, David C. – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Church of the Great God https://www.cgg.org/ ———————————————————————————————————– |
Views: 6
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: