The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript:

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Though ancient Christians practiced the strictest sexual ethic of their day, they were anything but judgmental towards those ravaged by the effects of sexual sin. The followers of Jesus were distinguished by the grace they extended to those exploited by the sexual confusion and callousness of Roman culture. The church was seen as a place of healing. Not a trophy case for saints, but a hospital for sinners!

Now, why was this the case? Well, classical Christianity teaches us that sin is not just bad things we do. Rather, it is also a deep dysfunction that causes destruction in both soul and society. When we participate in sexual sin, it tears at the very fabric of human nature. When someone commits sin against us, it’s as if they are pulling on a thread in our soul’s fabric, causing us to unravel. Anyone who has been the victim of such sin can testify to its lasting negative impact.

Now, arguably, the ancient world was not much different than our own, rife with both perpetrators and victims of sexual sin—people whose lives were unraveling. Into that world came the radically restorative message of Jesus. Jesus’s main mission was not to condemn but to mend that which sin had destroyed—to make us whole.

It is for this reason that the church became a place of healing. This was true not only because of the healthy sexual ethic it practiced (truth), but also because it so welcomed the victims of a bad sexual ethic (grace). It didn’t require wholeness; it created it. The church was a hospital and like its Chief Physician (the Lord Jesus), it was full of both grace and truth.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’”

~John 8:1-11 (ESV)

Some sources to consider:

The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History by Rodney Stark (Princeton University Press 2020).

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably

Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider (Baker Academic 2016).

Transcript:

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

You know the expression: Be careful what you ask for? Well, this is certainly true spiritually speaking. Sometimes what you want is the very opposite of what you need. Indeed, what you want can often destroy you.

One of the clearest Bible passages on God’s judgment is found in Romans 1.

The section begins with the statement: “The wrath of God (i.e. the righteous judgment of God) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).

Now, we learn from this that God is judging the world right now and that He’s directing that judgment at us, especially when we hide from and twist the truth to fit our own desires—what we want.

Later in the argument Paul explains how exactly God executes this judgment. Does God do it by keeping us from what we want? No, quite the opposite. He does it by giving us what we want. Three times Paul uses some version of the expression, “Therefore God gave them over to the desires of their heart” (1:24, 26, 28). God’s judgment is most furiously just when He gives us what we are asking for.

Now, certainly, this tells us that sin is its own judgment. Every time we take a step toward sin, we are moving toward our own demise. The end goal of sin is our death, eternally and otherwise (Romans 6:23; James 1:14-15). So, if God wants to condemn us, all He need do is let us sink deeper into ourselves and our own foolish desires.

So, my friends, be careful what you ask for.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

~Romans 1:18-32 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Your ultimate hope will drive what you obsess about. Said another way, wherever you find your greatest sense of belonging will determine what you think is ultimately valuable. “Home” is always where the heart is.

Paul calls this our “citizenship”, and it effects how we think of ourselves, especially in our public engagement. Although the Bible tells us that we are indeed citizens of this world, with all the rights and responsibilities thereof, our ultimate “citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:21). Such a hope functions like an anchor in the stormy world of politics. It doesn’t keep us from the public square; it keeps us steady in the public square. While everyone else may be getting sucked up in the vortex of divisions and partisan politics, we are able to operate with both shrewdness and gentleness. It gives us the strength from which we can both obey God, love our neighbor, and testify to the truth.

Thus, at the end of the day, we must be formed not by the kingdom of this world but by the kingdom of heaven. Since we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are thus called to be ambassadors in this world. The most political act you will do this week is not campaigning for an election or voting. Rather, it is gathering with God’s people and calling on the King of Heaven—asking that His kingdom come and that His will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!"

~ Psalm 99:1-5 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Over the past hundred years or so, Christians in the West have tended to view the Christian life as steps in a process. Like a manufacturing process, Christians are “developed” step-by-step.

Now, there are some aspects of this paradigm that can be helpful, as it recognizes the fact that living the Christian life is indeed a process. It is a “walk” that involves living our lives day-by-day before the face of God. However, it fails in at least one critical point. It usually places believing the gospel as merely the first step in that process.

So, for example, it goes something like this…
The first step is to believe the gospel.
The second step is to understand the basics of the Christian life.
The third step is to follow Jesus as a disciple.
The fourth step is to… etc., etc.

Now, here’s the problem. This way of thinking puts believing Jesus as merely the first step. However, that’s not how the Bible speaks of it. Believing the gospel is an ongoing aspect of living the Christian life.

Believing in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection informs and transforms every moment of my life. The gospel is not just the first step, but the interpretive grid and power for every step.

As Zambian pastor Conrad Mbewe puts it:
“Christians never graduate from the gospel.” ~Conrad Mbewe, pastor in Lusaka, Zambia

The moment we get beyond the gospel is the moment we get beyond Jesus. And a Christianity without Christ’s saving and sanctifying work is no Christianity at all.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

~ 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The gospel is good news for sinners. This is both its attraction and its irritation.

If I think of myself as a pretty good guy who only needs a little self-improvement here or there, then I am going to be offended at the notion that the Son of God had to die on a bloody cross to take away my sin. I can accept the notion of Jesus as my self-help guru. However, I cannot stomach the notion that my sin is so bad it caused the suffering and death of God Himself. I am going to chafe at the idea that, as Jesus put it, I “must be born again” and I must “deny [my] self and take up the cross daily”. Why does a person who is basically good need to take such drastic measures?

However, if, on the other hand, Jesus is the savior of the helpless sinners (Romans 5:6)—if sin is so pervasive and overpowering that “without Him [I] can do nothing” (John 15)—then the suffering and death of the Son of God on the cross for me is going to be the best and sweetest news I’ve ever heard.

Listen to the beautiful words of author, poet and hip-hop artist Jackie Hill Perry:

“Jesus had the guilty in mind when He hung high and stretched out wide.... He, bare-bodied and face set on joy, became as a slaughtered lamb underneath the wrath of God... Didn't He know that wrath was mine? It even had my name on it. But He knew... Without asking my permission, a good God had come to my rescue.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

~ Romans 5:6-11 (NASB)

References:
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been by Jackie Hill Perry (B&H Books: 2018).

Thank you for listening to and supporting The Kingdom Perspective! The Kingdom Perspective is a ministry of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. To hear more episodes you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts. To donate or to find out more about the ministry and resources offered by Christ Redeemer Church visit www.christredeemerchurch.org.

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Fear is very powerful and controlling. Bad fear, that is fear not rooted in the fear of God, will constrain you and keep you from growing as a person. It will stunt your spiritual, emotional and relational development.

Now, one of the most powerful controlling emotions is that of shame, and it is very much related to fear. When we are tempted towards shame, we are being driven by a particular kind of fear—a fear of relational connection, or maybe better said, disconnection. Shame says, “I am fearful of being vulnerable, because I don’t want to be seen as inadequate. I don’t want to be uncovered in the nakedness of my soul. I’m fearful of being rejected and despised.”

We all experience this sense of shame at times. The Bible suggests that this fear is deeply rooted in our human psyche, precisely because it is deeply rooted in the history of the human race. When our first parents Adam and Eve sinned, their initial experience was that of fear and shame.

Listen to Genesis 3. Adam says to God: “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).

Now, here’s the good news. Adam would have never had this conversation with God, were it not for God pursuing Adam in his shame. Adam had swallowed the lie of sin and shame. But God’s pursued Adam, still. And in this we see the foreshadowing of the gospel of Jesus. In the gospel, God’s comes after us. In our shame we do not seek God; but in His grace He seeks us. Jesus put it this way, “The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

~ Genesis 3:1-13 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The problem with the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it brings us both the worst news we could ever receive and the best.

First the bad news. The apostle Paul sums it up this way: We are dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1). By “dead” he does not mean that we are inactive. No. Rather, in the context he means that we are born into a human race that is cut off from the life of God. Therefore, our manner of life is an offense to God. We follow the path of the devil, pleasing ourselves and not God (Ephesians 2:2-3). We are “by nature deserving of [God’s] wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Now, what could possibly be worse than to be told you are on the wrong side of ultimate and eternal justice? This is the unbelievably bad news.

But, the gospel doesn’t stop there.

Secondly, the gospel then tells us unbelievably good news. Allow me to quote from Ephesians 2. No one has ever said it better:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV)

This is an amazing truth! But the gospel doesn’t stop there. It is not enough for God to spare us from eternal judgment. He then pours out upon us His own eternal riches. Listen:

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, [Why? In order to remind us forever of our failure? No!] in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

My friend, the problem with the gospel of Jesus is not that it is too negative. The problem is that it is too good to be true. But it is true!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, 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 so that we would walk in them.”
~ Ephesians 2:1-9 (NASB)

Transcript:

Hello! This is Pastor Don from Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

All things begin and end with God, which means that we do not really know which end is up until we see all things is the light of His being. For instance, we do not know what goodness is until we have understood that God is good.

Historic Christianity does not teach that God is good because He meets the standard of goodness (Of course does!). Rather, God is not good merely because He meets the standard of goodness, but because He IS the standard of goodness. He’s the standard of all goodness, precisely because He is the source of all goodness. God IS good.

This only makes sense, because if God is God, then He is the creator/source of all things. All the goodness of creation (all our true understanding of even the idea of goodness) is derivative from and therefore contingent/dependent upon Him.

Listen to the 17th century Westminster Confession’s summary of this biblical truth:
“God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He has made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and has most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleases. In His sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to Him contingent, or uncertain. He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. To Him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.” (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Paragraph 2)

You see, God does not measure up to some standard of goodness outside of Himself. He IS the standard of goodness.

Something to think (deeply) about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.”
~ Psalm 145:1-21 (NASB95)

Transcript:

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

In the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet details God’s judgment against the remnant of Jerusalem. In preparation for the judgment God sends a man dressed in linen to mark those that will be spared from the pending judgment. God commands him: “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” (Ezekiel 9:4).

Now, did you catch that? God divides the people between those that “sigh and groan over all the abominations” of the city and those that do not. Then, the judgement of God sweeps through the city slaughtering those who do not mourn over the sin of the city.

We learn something here of the fundamental difference between the righteous and the unrighteous.
The righteous weep over injustice. The unrighteous do not.
The righteous mourn over their sin and the sin of others. The unrighteous do not.
The righteous have a tender conscience towards sin and evil, while the unrighteous are hardened cynics.

The heart of the righteous breaks over the sins of the city, both individual and societal.
But the unrighteous only care for themselves and their own immediate gratification.

Now, there is no shortage of sin and evil in our hearts and in our world. And so, to have the posture described here of the righteous (i.e. sighing and groaning over sin) sounds like a rather miserable life.

However, remember it was Jesus who taught us: “Blessed [i.e. happy; fulfilled] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

Do you mourn over the sin of your city, your nation and your world? Do you mourn over the sins of your own heart?

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’”
~ Matthew 5:1-4 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

There is a huge societal debate right now on the very concept of goodness and morality. What is the basis of goodness? What makes something right or wrong? Is there even such a thing as an objective, moral “right” or “wrong”?

A number of years ago, I heard of the president of an elite New England university commenting in a public meeting regarding the need to “get back to teaching morality and ethics in our colleges and universities.” The audible, knee-jerk retort of one student was telling: “Whose morality?” he shouted.

As soon as you mention, moral goodness, you have to ask the question of perspective. “Good” according to whom? Morality from whose perspective? Is it this group or that group? This power block or that power block? Whose viewpoint gets to decide.

I am not knocking this response because it highlights one of the critical problems with human beings invoking absolute or objective morality: We are all short-sighted and driven by self-interests, and so it can be dangerous when we begin demanding morality without reflecting on our own limitations and personal interests.

The Bible would agree. Without the God who speaks and engages with His creation, it is ridiculous to speak of “objective moral goodness”. All we are left with is warring political interests.

But if there is a God who is:

·      the source of all reality,

whose character is the standard of all goodness,

who sees the ends of all actions, whether they be good or evil,

and speaks His good truth into His creation, so that we may know it and live by it…

…then that changes everything.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

~ John 7:14-24 (ESV)