Proverbs 17.24
“The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
We are examining worldview. A worldview is a belief system about reality — what is good, what is important, what is sacred, what is real. The values and behaviors of a culture stem directly from its worldview.
Today’s question: What worldview is directing the Christian community in our generation?
If you have been reading this devotional for awhile, you know that one of my great concerns is that the professing church has drifted into a salvation-focused gospel rather than a kingdom-focused gospel. Salvation, of course, is deeply and eternally important, but salvation is not the goal of the Christian life; it is just the beginning of it.
Through Christ, we are heirs of the kingdom of God. A strategic look at scripture reveals that from the beginning, God created mankind to be the earthly stewards of his kingdom. It is essential we understand this. God’s kingdom is his authority. It is his rule, lordship, and sovereignty. It is the reality that God is creator and king of all things. The centrality of the kingdom of God is evident by the fact that when Jesus announced his ministry, he proclaimed the good news that the time had arrived for God to re-establish his kingdom on planet earth.
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1.14-15)
Many tend to think the gospel is primarily the message of salvation, when in reality the gospel is the good news that the kingdom of God has come in the person and ministry of Jesus. Obviously, salvation is an integral and essential element of the gospel, but it is only a part. The central focus of the gospel is the kingdom of God.
Jesus did not bring the kingdom to save us; rather, he saved us so that we can serve the kingdom. Salvation is for a purpose. Jesus came to live in us and through us so that we are able to serve as heirs and agents of his kingdom. We were saved to reflect his character and represent his kingdom in everything we do. We were saved to make a difference in the world.
Christians—individually and corporately as the church—are to live and work in a manner that makes God and his kingdom known to a watching world. As a supernatural community of redeemed and transformed people, the church is called to be the living example of the presence of the kingdom. We are called to be the earthly embodiment of the love and lordship of Jesus Christ.
To help you see this great truth, here is a big picture view of how the kingdom plays a central role in God’s purpose and plan. It can be summarized in four key actions:
- Creation: The kingdom is established and life is given.
- Fall: The kingdom is rejected and life is lost.
- Redemption: The kingdom is re-established and life is restored.
- Transformation: The kingdom is at work in and through the Christian community. Christians live life and do work as agents of the kingdom of God.
The challenge is that the church has traditionally focused on the fall and redemption, but has largely ignored creation and transformation.
One of the consequences of the neglect of creation and transformation is that the Christian community embraces being redeemed from the fall, but we are not nearly as committed to being stewards of creation and agents of change. Not surprisingly, managing creation and being agents of transformation require hard work, whereas receiving redemption is mostly a matter of “faith.” But when removed from the context of the whole plan, receiving redemption can become very self-oriented and out of alignment with authentic biblical faith.
It is critically important to understand that the gospel is more than redemption. We must not get stuck on salvation. We must not tell a half-gospel. We must not be directed by a half-story. We must not follow an abridged version. We must be faithful to declare and live out the whole story of God’s plan for planet earth.
Christ’s death and resurrection not only save us from something, but also restore us to something. In Christ, God redeems us from sin, restores his image in us, and calls us to be agents of the work of his kingdom in the midst of a fallen and broken world. Being saved is not the goal of the Christian life. Rather, being saved is the beginning of our participation in God’s work of restoration and transformation in our lives and in the world until Jesus returns.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2.8-10)
