Last week we referred to the kingdom of God as a ship, the “ship of the kingdom,” because the diagram of its authority structure looks like a sailboat. God the Father, at the top of the diagram, delegated the kingdom to Jesus at His ascension, prophesied in Daniel 7, Psalm 2 and Psalm 110, and pictured in the diagram by the first vertical line. We saw last week that Jesus immediately (four verses later in Daniel 7) then delegated that rule to His people…
After His ascension to heaven, Jesus was seated on His throne at His Father’s right hand to begin His rule over His recently-received kingdom of God. In His first act as King, He delegated the kingdom to His people on the earth, thereby establishing the principle of delegated authority as its modus operandi. In theological terms, this rule is called Christ’s “session.” The word means “the sitting together of a court, council, or legislature for official business.” Generally it refers to ruling, judging, or mandating,…
We concluded last week’s posting with Jesus’ ascent to heaven after the completion of the task assigned to Him here on the earth by His Father. His work on earth as the God-man is now over: “It is finished!” He cried from the cross. In Daniel 7:13, after arriving in heaven, He prophetically reports to His Father, the Ancient of Days, seated on His throne: “Mission accomplished, Father. Your people are redeemed and the kingdom usurper has been dethroned!” In the previous verses in…
We have seen in these postings that God created Adam and Eve specifically to rule for Him, to be His “gods” (rulers) on the earth, exercising His delegated authority and power (Genesis 1:26). They were to establish, in experience, the “kingdom of God,” God’s rule, exercised by His children, functioning with His law as its standard. This included ruling, not only over all God’s physical creation, but also over Satan, the rebellious angel who had evidently established the earth as the focal point of…
Congratulations! It takes tremendous courage to open a mailing with this title. I want to use last week’s posting as a springboard to explore what I consider an absolutely essential truth for earnest Christians to grasp, not just with their minds but experientially in their hearts. It was shocking to me when I accidentally discovered Jesus hiding among the bookshelves in a public school library in the person of the librarian. In like manner, everyone who read the posting about the incident last week…
Bring a substitute teacher in any middle school class in the public schools is an adventure. The English class where I was recently subbing was scheduled to spend the last period of the day in the library researching, checking out books and reading. I was thrilled because the responsibility to wrestle with rebellious teenagers to maintain order in the classroom, during what is often the most difficult period of the day to do so, would pass from me to the librarian. I had had…
To many Christians, the concept of “discussing theology” creates an image of aged, crotchety academics arguing over arcane, irrelevant points of biblical doctrine that have no practical value whatsoever. The very word causes eyes to glaze over, brains to click off, and watches to be checked. This is a pity, because theology is nothing more than asking and then seeking answers from the Bible to the most important question we can ever ask: “What is God like?” Therefore, we are all theologians, because we…
Last week, we saw that God created us for a specific purpose. Was it to “have fellowship with Him” because He was lonely and wanted “someone to love who would love Him back,” like a widow or widower might purchase a pet dog to keep her/him company? Don’t you feel sorry for poor God? No, God created man with a three-fold, eternal purpose for living (working for Him to build His “family business”)—one overarching objective and two essential, supporting ones—in order for His eternal…
Is your “endgame” here on the earth to get saved from Hell yourself and then go to Heaven, taking as many people with you as possible in the process? That was my original view of Christianity growing up. In my church I learned that the highest calling in life was a vocation that allowed you to spend full time doing that—the “professional” ministry, i.e., being a pastor or a missionary. While I was in college, I experienced Jesus Christ for the first time, and,…
The beginning of a New Year is considered by most of us to be a perfect time to “make a fresh start;” “ begin again;” or “turn over a new leaf.” I am sure making those resolutions can be valuable and very profitable experiences, and there is nothing intrinsically unchristian about those ideas. However, some time ago I found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable with the whole idea of New Year’s resolutions. As I thought about it, I figured out why. Obviously, no one is…