Category: Kingdom Progress

Kingdom History: 1000 A.D.

If you had been living in Europe at the end of of the first millennium, would you have thought it was the end of the world?  Would you have been reading the equivalent of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and looking to the sky for Jesus’ return?

Christendom had been on the decline for some time.  Pagan Vikings continually raided what is today northern Europe and England.  Pagan Magyars (from modern-day Hungary) were encroaching on Christendom’s eastern borders, and Muslim Moors, who controlled most of Spain, were encroaching in the south.  What’s more, history was nearing the end of the first millennium A.D.  There were wars and rumors and of wars, comets were seen in the sky and there were other natural phenomena which people interpreted as bad omens.  There was much talk of the Apocalypse, the end of the world.

Then, within the span of forty years, everything changed.  The Vikings (Scandinavia) were converted to Christianity, following the conversions of Olaf of Trygvesson (991 A.D.), Svein Forkbeard (1014 A.D.) and Canute the Mighty (1014 A.D.).  The conversion of other pagan leaders solidified this glorious turn of history:  Harald Bluetooth of Denmark in 974 A.D., Vladimir I of Russia in 988 A.D., Boleslav the Brave (modern day Poland) in 996 A.D., Thorgeir of Iceland in 1000 A.D. and Leif Eriksson in 1000 A.D. The pagan Magyars were tamed when a Christian leader named Vajk (St. Stephen) was crowned king in 1000 A.D. and began facilitating the spread of Christianity through modern-day Hungary.  Spain was reclaimed when Sancho the Great defeated the Moors in 1002 A.D.

History is fluid.  The kingdom of God remains.  With the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, there will be talk of the end being near, as there has been for the last 2,000 years every time a temporary retreat of Christianity is coupled with a natural disaster or two.   Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye will sell more books, but the world will continue.  The world will continue because it must continue until the kingdom of God has covered the earth.  So, when things look bad in the world, when it seems Christianity is on the decline, if it means anything, it means the end is likely farther away than you think, not nearer.  GS

How The Destruction of Jerusalem Advanced the Kingdom of God

The opposition from the first century Jewish community was the biggest hindrance to the spread of the Gospel in Judea.  They constantly opposed and persecuted Jesus, and after Jesus’ death and resurrection, His followers as well.   The Jews stoned Stephen, beheaded James the brother of John and killed James, the head of the Church in Jerusalem and the advance of the kingdom of God. 

 Jesus had previously warned His disciples that judgment was coming on Israel.  Jesus told his disciples that the axe had already been laid the root of the tree (Matt. 3:10) and that within a generation the temple would be destroyed. (Matt. 24).  As a warning to the judgment to come, Jesus also told His disciples that when they saw Jerusalem surrounded, they were to leave the city immediately. (Luke 21:20-21). 

Within a generation, just over thirty years later, the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and began a 3½ year struggle against the city that would culminate in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  In the year AD 70 the Roman general Titus had a siege wall built around Jerusalem cutting off all supplies to Jerusalem and then destroyed the city.  Jesus had predicted this would happen as a judgment on Israel for rejecting Him. (Luke 19:41-44). 

After the Christians saw Jerusalem surrounded, they left the city (just as Jesus had commanded) and avoided the massacre that followed.  Prior to the sacking of Jerusalem, the Jews had been the biggest hindrance to the spread of the gospel in Judea.  After God executed His judgment, Christianity began to take hold and spread as many of the Christians who left settled in other areas or returned to Jerusalem where they found the Jewish opposition to the gospel had largely been eradicated.  

Philip Schaff describes the effect of the destruction of Jerusalem as follows: “The destruction of Jerusalem, therefore, marks that momentous crisis at which the Christian church as a whole burst forth forever from the chrysalis of Judaism, awoke to a sense of its maturity, and in government and worship at once took its independent stand before the world.” (Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 1, Chapter VI, Section 39). 

Judgment is a tool to be wielded exclusively by the hand of God, but it’s wise for Christians to be aware of when it’s occurring because it often provides an opportunity for the advancement of the kingdom of God.  GS

Tiberius Caesar on King Jesus

Tiberius Caesar was Roman Emperor from AD 14-37, that is, during the earthly ministry of Jesus.  The Roman governor of Judea from AD 26-36 was Pontius Pilate, who reported directly to Tiberius.  Given the miracles attributed to Jesus, it’s reasonable to assume Pilate spoke to Tiberius regarding Jesus.  And in fact that’s what Eusebius reports.

Eusebius, the first great Church historian, writing in the early fourth century, states that Pilate, in accordance with the custom of rulers of nations to report unusual occurrences to the emperor, transmitted to Tiberius an account of the circumstances concerning Jesus’ miracles and resurrection, a report that was already spreading throughout Palestine.  Tiberius, apparently persuaded by Pilate’s report, submitted the matter to the Senate with the request Jesus be recognized as a god.  However, the Senate had not investigated the matter fully and rejected the request.

Pilate’s report must have had some effect on Tiberius though because he did not encourage persecution of Christians during his reign and actually threatened the death of those who did accuse and persecute Christians.  As a result, the kingdom of God advanced more freely than it might have otherwise under a more hostile ruler.

None of this is to suggest that Tiberius was a Christian. To the contrary, he was a perv who kept a harem of boys to use as objects of his sexual perversions.  When he finally died, even the Romans rejoiced.  What it does show, assuming Eusebius’s report is correct–and there is no persuasive reason to believe it is not–is that the evidence for Jesus’ miracles and resurrection was compelling enough to find its way to the most powerful earthly ruler of the day.  GS

How Your Job is Integral to the Kingdom

“I just wish I didn’t have to work so much so I could have more time for ministry.” It’s a noble thought, but for most people, i.e., those not called into the full-time ministry, it is misguided. If you are not called to the full-time ministry you need to understand how your job is integral to the kingdom of God.

Your job is not justified merely by how many people you reach for Jesus. Your job is integral to the kingdom of God for a more fundamental but perhaps less obvious reason than that.

The kingdom of God, like most earthly kingdoms, is concerned about two things: 1) managing territory already under its jurisdiction; and 2) expanding its borders. In discussing the kingdom of God it’s easy to skip over the first and focus only on the second. In fact, I suspect most Christians have never considered the importance of managing earthly territory for the kingdom of God. We tend to justify everything in light of heaven. Continue reading “How Your Job is Integral to the Kingdom”

Kingdom History: 1453-1455

For 1,000 years Constantinople was the capital of Christianity. It was the repository for Christian treasures, tradition and literature, including the Scripture. Then, in 1453, the Muslim Turks captured Constantinople, ending a millennium of Christian rule. Many Christians thought it a sign of the end of the world. How could it be anything other than that?

At the same time, halfway across Europe in a city named Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg was perfecting his new invention, the printing press. And in 1455, he would produce the first Bible by means of a printing press, the so-called Gutenberg Bible. The printing press, certainly one of the most important inventions in the history of mankind, would eventually make books, particularly the Bible, affordable for the common man. As a result, the printing press was the sina qua non of the Reformation.

God is the Great Auteur of history. The sacking of Constantinople by the Muslims left Christians inconsolable. They wondered how their God could permit such a travesty, and yet, the Lord had something greater in mind, the decentralization of Christianity through the propogation of the Word of God, which would eventually advance the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. The Lord knew the kingdom of God does not need a centralized earthly administration because its King administrates in the hearts of man.