A Simple Question

Which is more powerful, the effect of the Fall of Man or the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

It’s an important question.  Many Christians talk like they believe the former is more powerful.  They say a Christian can never really live in victory over sin this side of heaven.

They say the world will get worse over time as sinful man prevails even over the leavening work of the Gospel.  They say the Gospel will not succeed on the earth until Jesus physically returns to impose His rule on mankind.  Although they would never say it like this, they believe God is a loser in history.

I don’t see how that can be.  If you are a Christian, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.  (Romans 8:11) The same Spirit that defeated death can defeat sin.  The same Spirit that changed you can change the world.

So, which is more powerful?  It’s a simple question. GS

On Miracles

The Apostle Paul said the kingdom of God was not a matter of talk but power. (I Cor. 4:20).  In other words, the Kingdom is not merely a theological proposition but a realm in which the power of God is manifested.

I firmly believe in miracles, and I’m not talking about the I-lost-my-keys-prayed-and-found-them type.  I’m talking about healings from incurable diseases, people being instanteously set free from drug addictions and the like.  I believe in such things because of what I’ve witnessed, the testimony of others who have witnessed miracles and the testimony of the Bible.

As a trial attorney, I don’t think it arrogant of me to suggest I know something about evidence.  I also like to believe I’m a rational person.  It’s surprising to me then that Christians are so often accused of believing in miracles because of their dogma, while materialists’ disbelief is asserted as being based on reason.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As G.K. Chesterton has noted, Christians believe in miracles because of the testimony of persons who have witnessed them throughout history.  Materialists disbelieve in miracles because their materialist dogma prohibits it.

Ask a materialist why he disbelieves the testimony of persons who have witnessed miracles and he will say those persons are not credible.  Ask why he believes those persons are not credible and he will answer, “Because miracles are not possible.”  His objection to miracles does not spring from evidence, or the lack of it, but from his a priori belief against them.  Chesterton said it like this, “It is we Christians who accept all actual evidence–it is you rationalists who refuse actual evidence being constrained to do so by your creed.”

I’m glad I’ve thrown my lot in with those who are open-minded. GS

The Territory Of The Kingdom, Part IV

As I end this series of posts on the territory of the kingdom of God, I thought it a good idea to address a possible objection that may arise as one begins to think about the kingdom of God in this way.  One might say this talk of the kingdom of God having territorial distinction in the natural is purely theoretical and unlike earthly kingdoms because one cannot see the territorial lines of the kingdom of God. 

However, one cannot see the territorial boundaries of an earthly kingdom unless they are marked with a sign.  One can see the geography, the actual terrain, but one cannot necessarily tell where the kingdom begins or ends by merely looking at the territory.  Maps help, but only because the person who draws the map knows the location of the territorial boundaries of the kingdom.  In fact, when one thinks of a nation’s territorial boundaries one usually sees a map in one’s mind’s eye. 

But just because one cannot draw a map of a nation’s territory does not mean the nation does not have a territorial boundary.  It would only mean that the person drawing the map did not know where the boundaries of the nation lay. It’s the same with the kingdom of God.  We can know that many places are kingdom territory because we can see that those in authority in that place exercise that delegated authority in accordance with the laws of the kingdom.  We can see a household under the authority of a Christian who lives in obedience to King Jesus.  That we cannot see into every heart or every place does not mean that the kingdom of God does not have a geographical presence and territory. It only means we are not good mapmakers.

Such is the earthly territory of the kingdom of God on earth.  Like the earthly territorial distinctions, they are sometimes fluctuating and are not always well defined, but they exist.  GS

The Territory Of The Kingdom, Part III

Here’s something interesting about the territory of the kingdom of God: it can be mobile. This shouldn’t be that surprising.  The territory of earthly kingdoms can be mobile. 

When ambassadors from one nation journey to a foreign country they carry with them the jurisdiction of their kingdom.  They enjoy immunity from prosecution of the foreign power’s laws because they represent the sovereign power of their own kingdom.  Embassies in foreign countries are considered the territory of the foreign ambassador’s nation, as are airplanes and ships under their nation’s flag, regardless of where those planes or ships are, and even if they are mobile. 

Similarly, the territoy of the kingdom of God is mobile as well as fixed.  As citizens of the kingdom of God move physically, so does the territory of the kingdom.  When a Christian goes from his home to the grocery store, he takes the territorial boundaries of the kingdom with him.  

Jesus taught this very concept of the mobility of the Kingdom when He sent out the Seventy.  Jesus told them to minister to the people in the cities He was sending them, but regardless of whether the people accepted them or not to tell the people of the city, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”  (Luke 10:9).  If the city did not accept them, they were to shake the dust off of their feet as a protest and leave.  When they left the kingdom left with them. 

Every citizen of the kingdom of God today takes the kingdom with them wherever they go if they are obedient to Jesus.  Stated another way Kingdom citizens are ambassadors of Christ the King.  (2 Cor. 5:20).  GS

The Territory Of The Kingdom, Part II

So, how can one know what earthly territory is the territory of the kingdom of God?  Talk to any theologically trained person (in other words, not a lawyer like me) and he or she will tell you that the kingdom of God is “the rule of God.”  Consequently, Kingdom territory is territory where Jesus rules and reigns through His earthly representatives.  That is not to say Jesus is not sovereign over all creation.  He is.  But earthly territory He has given to man to manage. (Psalm 115:16).

I explained in another post how Jesus rules and reigns through delegated authority, that is, through people in positions of authority who exercise that authority in accordance with His will.  The earthly territory that falls under the authority of such people is kingdom territory.

Let me give you some examples.  Say a citizen of the kingdom of God operates her business out of obedience to King Jesus, her office then becomes kingdom territory because she is the authority in that place and is acting in accordance with the will of King Jesus.  If the head of a household is a Christian and exercises his authority in obedience to King Jesus, that house and the earth on which it sits becomes kingdom territory.  If a school teacher is a citizen of the kingdom of God and is acting in obedience to Jesus in that classroom, that classroom becomes kingdom territory. 

In each of these examples, it doesn’t matter whether there are others within the physical territory who are not citizens of the kingdom of God.  That doesn’t change the character of the territory any more than an alien residing in the United States of America affects the sovereignty of the American government. 

Once you understand that the kingdom of God has a territorial footprint on the earth, some of Jesus’ Kingdom parables begin to make more sense.  How is it that the “birds of the air,” i.e. non-Christians will be able to nest in the branches of the kingdom of God?  (Matt. 13:31-32)  How is it that Jesus can talk about the angels coming and taking the unrighteous out of His kingdom? (Matt. 13:41).  The answer is that non-Christians can live within the earthly territorial confines of the kingdom of God during their life on earth, but they won’t inherit the Kingdom when they die. (I Cor. 6:9-10).  GS