Tags
jesus is life, kingdom of god, kingdoms, pecuniary interests, political spirit, religious spirit
Jesus came to give life in extravagant quantities. As life in itself Jesus contrasted Himself with the Robber who kills, steals and destroys. Jesus is The Life Multiplier and lover of your soul. Jesus is the complete expression of God’s love for the world.
Everything about Jesus is life-giving. An individual who lives from Jesus will live because of Him. So will a family, a city and a nation. The Kingdom of God is those for whom Jesus is their life. The kingdoms of this world consist of those who seek life in other places, other things, other people, other institutions that are not Jesus. All of these, even when they claim to represent Jesus, suck the life from individuals and society. Christ’s church is the manifestation of Himself in people. Churches that form part of the kingdoms of this world consist of those who attempt to manufacture a Christ from their own efforts.
If the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 the collapse of capitalism began in 2008 and is proceeding apace. Systems that rely on greed and a lust for power cannot maintain themselves forever. At heart the kingdoms of this world are malevolent and life-denying. Not only must one man die for the people to ‘save our place and our nation’ but the many must be sacrificed for the few so that the few can live in the wealth and power to which they have become accustomed.
Both the left and the right represent the world system. They want a chunk of it for themselves. If they are not struggling to get more privileges they are militating to maintain the power and control they have. Christians who define themselves by their pecuniary interests or the interests of their class do not have the mind-set of the Kingdom of God. They are filled with a spirit however – the political spirit who is most frequently allied with the religious spirit.
There is a one letter difference between life and lie. The systems of this world are innately life-denying. When it comes to the crunch vested interests will oppose life and liberty in all its forms when ‘life’ threatens their interests. This is why Jesus was crucified. This is why Caiaphas declared, ‘One man must die for the people’ John 11.47-50. But this leader of the Sanhedrin was thinking not of the well-being of people in general. As a representative of the father of lies he instinctively promoted the lie that anything that is genuinely life-giving is a threat to the quality of our lives. Caiaphas was speaking of the privilege and hegemony his class occupied as rulers of their nation.
God’s people need to be more discerning than they are. Morality is not confined to sexuality, homosexuality, abortion and drugs. Morality also has to do with justice, equality, truth and liberty. Morality is concerned with how power is exercised and what politicians will do to retain their grasp on power. Much of the financial crisis in Europe has occurred because, in order to retain their hold on government, politicians have spent beyond their means. In the United States the economy is in trouble, not only because of the greed of banks, but because the privileged believe themselves too privileged to pay their way. This kind of morality forms the bases of how societies exist, how they flourish or how they disintegrate.
It is not uncommon for Christians to speak well of Christ, even as they are embedded and committed to the system of this world. It is from this system that they get their identity, status and daily bread, even as they are ignorant of the true bread of life and the regeneration of society that comes when we actually EAT HIM and begin to build a new creation that comes to be known as the Kingdom of God. The current political – economic systems of the world produce slaves – slavery that is disguised as good houses, high paying jobs and the belief that consumption produces happiness. What is not so generally known, and even ignored, is that our standard of living can be built on the low wages of the poor, either in our country or the countries of the third world.
We were made to live in God. We can do this today as our heart, followed by our being consumes Jesus and makes Him our life. We are made complete in Him, not just eternally as in going to heaven. We as families and societies are made whole and nourished in Jesus, so that Christ as our life on a societal scale becomes the new and living way of LIVING, the new creation which is the Kingdom of God.
‘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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’ Rev 21.1-4 NIV.
