The BARRIER: The Kingdom of Light
David
--------------------
Onto the battered landscape of human history walked an ordinary-looking
Man with an extraordinary message:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those
who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke
4:18-19)
>From the day He severed Himself from the fallen religious system of His
day,[9] He spoke of nothing but the gospel of the kingdom.[10] He
filled His disciples and all who would listen with the vision of a new
social order based on love - the direct opposite of the self-interest
that fuels the domain of darkness. For by love He did not mean merely
an emotion, but rather the deliberate activation of one's will to
seek the welfare of another without regard for one's own benefit or
loss.[11] He did not envision occasional heroic deeds of love adorning
the typical routines of life in this world. He lived and died to bring
about a whole society of people who take no thought for themselves,[12]
but spend their lives every day serving one another. That is what He
meant by seeking first the kingdom of God.
The Master had absolutely no expectation of this new social order
filling the earth in this age. He did not commission His disciples to
make the world a better place by infiltrating the world's society,
industry, or government.[13] On the contrary, He called them to come
out of that fallen system,[14] even at the cost of their family
ties,[15] in order to follow Him. Together they would form a "city"
set on a hill; together they would be a light to the world around
them.[16] Their "cities" (communities) would be islands of refuge
in the midst of a world in bondage to the evil one[17] - a foretaste
of the fullness of Messiah's kingdom that will fill the whole earth
in the next age when the evil one is bound.[18]
However, that foretaste of the coming kingdom could not come about
until the Messiah had died as a ransom for all[19] and risen from the
dead and ascended to His Father in heaven. Then His Spirit could be
released to fill the waiting disciples and empower them to do
everything the Master had taught them about the kingdom of God.[20] It
is no accident that the very first thing that happened when the Holy
Spirit was poured out upon them was that they spoke the gospel of the
kingdom with boldness, and three thousand men responded to the call to
"be saved from this perverse generation" by utterly forsaking their
old lives to live a common life together.[21] It was the normal and
only fitting response to the good news of the One who had died to
ransom them from the clutches of the evil one and his dark domain.
Their common life of love and unity was the witness of the kingdom[22]
- the evidence that He was actually ruling in their midst.[23]
(Coming next: The Barrier between the Kingdoms)
[9] Matthew 3:1-15
[10] References in the Gospels for "gospel of the kingdom" and
"kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" are too numerous to
cite, which makes it all the more striking that today's fallen
religious system avoids the topic entirely.
[11] Luke 9:23-24
[12] Matthew 6:31-33
[13] 2 Timothy 2:4
[14] John 15:19; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
[15] Matthew 10:34-39; Mark 10:29-30
[16] Matthew 5:14-16 The Master was addressing His disciples
collectively, not as independent individuals. The word "you" in
Matthew 5:14 is plural, while the words "light" and "city" are
singular.
[17] Philippians 2:15
[18] Revelation 20:1-3
[19] 1 Timothy 2:6
[20] Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:3; John 14:26; 7:37-39
[21] Acts 2:40-47
[22] Matthew 24:14
[23] Even today, wherever He is truly being made Lord, the same common
life will prove it.
[24] Matthew 10:34-39
[25] John 7:17; Hebrews 5:9; Acts 5:32
[26] Luke 6:24
[27] Matthew 11:23-24
[28] Matthew 7:13-14
[29] John 12:25-26
(excerpted from "The Barrier" at:
http://www.thelitmustest.org/the-barrier.html