Pilate only has one concern as he questions Jesus - was he a threat to the Roman Empire? Would he be in trouble from Caesar if this man lived? So Pilate asks directly ?Are you a king?? Jesus? answers that his kingdom is not of this world.
Pilate must have breathed a sigh of relief - this man was not worried about this world but the world of God. And that is how many have viewed the rule of Christ ever since. Jesus is king of heaven and the after life. Believe in him, keep out of trouble and inherit eternal life. We have largely understood Jesus to have said that his kingdom is not for this world. What a total mistake.
Jesus is king of heaven and earth. His mandate and authority on earth has come from heaven and God. As king of the earth, Jesus is concerned about injustice, poverty, disease, corruption, immorality, war and death. He died for the sins of the world and lives for the life of the world. He reigns as the king of the earth, the one who is the ultimate hope of this planet. Are you on his side in this life on earth?
Friday, 27 November 2009
The end is nigh?
The message that the world as we know it will come to an end sounds alien in our ears. How the world was is how it ever shall be seems more realistic to our way of thinking.
If creation is a contentious topic in our scientific worldview, how much more is ?eschatology?? Of course both are closely related. If we have little room in our thought that God started, ordered and sustains this world, then we will have less that he will finish things. However, if we fully acknowledge God as the author and creator of this physical world, then it is logical and consistent that God is the finisher and perfector of this world.
Jesus describes the end as his own return to this world. It is surprising, sudden and yet we are to see signs of the end. Fear and foreboding are described as well as signs in the skies above. Whether we are the generation that witness this event, we certainly live in ?interesting times? and so we will do well to recall Jesus? words to us - ?stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.?
If creation is a contentious topic in our scientific worldview, how much more is ?eschatology?? Of course both are closely related. If we have little room in our thought that God started, ordered and sustains this world, then we will have less that he will finish things. However, if we fully acknowledge God as the author and creator of this physical world, then it is logical and consistent that God is the finisher and perfector of this world.
Jesus describes the end as his own return to this world. It is surprising, sudden and yet we are to see signs of the end. Fear and foreboding are described as well as signs in the skies above. Whether we are the generation that witness this event, we certainly live in ?interesting times? and so we will do well to recall Jesus? words to us - ?stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.?
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