Christ's Kingdom is Spreading

In Romans 4:13 the Apostle Paul interprets a key event which happened in the book of Genesis when he says "For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith." [emphasis mine] Therefore God's covenant promises to Abraham were not limited to one single spot of land over in the Middle East but the entire world! I would go so far as to say the entire universe or the created realm was promised to Abraham and his Offspring.

And who is Abraham's Offspring anyway? It is none other than Christ himself. Paul explains this clearly in Galatians 3:16 "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ." So Jesus is not only the Offspring of Abraham, which would make Him the True Israel but He is also the New Adam, the New Moses and the New Temple. In other words, there has been a whole New Creation afoot and it has been spreading sense the time of Jesus! The coming of the Son of God into the world as the long promised Messiah and the ascension of the Son of Man to be seated at the right hand of the Father not only fulfilled the promises made to Abraham but also inaugurated the Kingdom of God and the eternal covenant.

Christ's Kingdom is ruled and reigned by Him from His glorious throne in heaven. It is the impetus for His kingdom on earth. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him. Jesus taught us to pray like this: "your Kingdom come...your will be done..., where? "on earth as it is in heaven!" The driving force or the stimulus of the transformation of this lowly place or earthly kingdom is the heavenly kingdom in other words the New Jerusalem or Zion. In principle, the Kingdom is already here and has been here for 2000 years but the application of redemption is not just for individuals but has implications for the entire world; Christ came to be the Savior of the world! His Kingdom is spreading and cannot be stopped. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it!

N.T. Wright and the Meaning of the Gospels

I listened to a couple lectures from N.T. Wright yesterday and this morning which he recently delivered at Wheaton College's 2010 theology conference.

In the talk, Wright poses a question: What are the Gospels all about? What's the primary thrust of their message about Jesus? This is not a trick question. He thinks many in the church have gotten it wrong for a number of years. He thinks many believe the Gospels are the written record which supports the deity of Christ, verified by His resurrection from the dead. Although, most emphatically true, Christ is God in the flesh, Wright believes the writers of the four Gospels had an even larger thing in mind.

Wright believes the Gospels are primarily about the inauguration of the Kingdom through the Cross. This is my paraphrase but he said, historically the church pendulum has swung in error from one extreme to another.

1. Kingdom---where the gospel becomes altogether "social" and misses the point of the cross, or

2. Cross--Where the kingdom becomes pietistic and "other-worldly,' and ignores the earthly ministry of Jesus, or at best, presents Jesus' earthly ministry as a prelude only to the cross. Most folks in my circle of Christianity seems to fall into the latter trap.

Wright says in order to understand the Gospels one must understand they are primarily about Jesus being Israel's Messiah inaugurating His Kingdom through the Cross. These points may seem ultra-nuanced but they have great and practical ramifications.