Kingdom Salvation
April 6, 2013
The
question is more legitimate than many Christians wish to admit. So what if
Part of the problem is that many Christians tend to only proclaim half of the reality of the Cross and Resurrection by limiting the power of the Cross to atonement for sin.
Atonement
in Christian theology simply means that humanity is reconciled with God through
the blood of the Cross and united with God in the power of the resurrection.
The weight of our sin was so great, only God’s Son could bear the burden of
that sin once and for all and by willingly sacrificing himself to the brutality
of the Cross, we have been forgiven, redeemed, and restored before God. In the
subsequent victory over death celebrated at Easter, we are granted eternal life
though
Although
our eternal salvation in
Perhaps
two of the most relevant passages of scriptures pointing to a solid Kingdom
theology are the 4th chapter of
This
marks the challenge for many Christians and the point where so many would-be
Christians shrug their shoulders and reject the faith. Salvation that is
nothing more than a promised ticket into heaven means nothing when we are not
living that heavenly blessing in our world right now. This is why, in
Beyond our heavenly blessing, the Easter miracle is about living our faith right here, right now, and for the rest of our natural, earthly life. More importantly, it is about doing everything in our prayer and power to bring about that blessing in our world.
When we live in fear or perpetuate hatred, we discount the Easter blessing. When we justify inequality and tolerate injustice, we violate the faith of the Resurrection. When we deny the humanity of others and satisfy our own desires from the thankless sweat of God’s children, we invalidate the very faith we profess. What kind of Kingdom do we really want?
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