Elect Exiles

Tags

Gospel, Identity, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God

The book of 1 Peter is a letter, and so it quite naturally begins with a greeting.  It says who it’s from (the apostle Peter), who it’s to (the scattered churches of Asia Minor), and offers a blessing.  But summarizing it like that misses the profoundly theological statement about identity that Peter communicates even in his opening lines.

For Peter introduces himself in a way that draws attention to Jesus Christ.  He uses the nickname Jesus gave him (Peter), and identifies himself as an apostle of Christ–that is, someone who speaks not for himself, but for Christ Jesus his Lord.  Peter’s identity is found in Jesus.

Then, when he turns to his addressees, he puts their identity in theological perspective too.  They are ‘elect exiles’ or ‘chosen foreigners’, strangers in the world because they are citizens of God’s kingdom.  And this chosen identity is elaborated in a trinitarian description of salvation, that “have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood” (1 Pet. 1:2, NIV).  Their identity is formed by God’s saving work for and in them.

In a world so confused about identity, in a culture that wears a thousand masks to hide its face, Christians must be firmly rooted in their God-defined identity.  We are ‘elect exiles,’ strangers in the world, sent to proclaim the kingdom of He who has overcome the world.

Advertisements

The Kingdom of God

Tags

Gospel, Kingdom of God

In Luke 9, we read about what may be called the ‘little commission,’ the sending of the disciples to preach before the death and resurrection of Christ and the Great Commission that followed.  “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Lk. 9:1-2, NIV).

The kingdom of God.  That’s one way of describing the gospel message.  The good news is that God reigns and that His kingdom is here, now, for those who come to Christ in faith.  Any who will repent and receive Christ may cross from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and life.  This is the grace and glory of the gospel.

The kingdom is not fully present yet; this world is still afflicted by demons and diseases.  But the one day God’s rule will be complete, and there will be no more sin or pain or death.  The kingdom will come into fullness when Christ returns, to call the dead to life and bring the new heavens and new earth.  Kingdom life now is a foretaste of the life to come, the blessing of peace in the midst of chaos, the hint of what life will be when all is peace and Christ is all in all.

So we pray, Maranatha: our Lord, come.

He Saw the Light

Tags

Acts, Christ, Gospel, Paul

The story of Paul’s conversion has such tremendous power as a direct intervention of God that so suddenly turned a man from zealous persecutor to fervent missionary.  There’s nothing wishy-washy about Paul.  At first he’s convinced that Christians are a blasphemous sect that must be stamped out, and he gets authorization to go hunting them; he has a passionate drive to wipe out the Church.

Then, suddenly, he’s preaching the gospel.  There’s hardly any time in between.  Once Paul becomes convinced that Jesus really is the Christ, he unabashedly begins to proclaim this truth.  His knowledge is now in the service of the Lord, and so potent are his expositions of the truth that in one city after another the Jews seek his death (Acts 9:23-30).

What stands at the crux of this rapid transition from persecutor to preacher?  He saw the light–a light from Heaven, and heard the voice of the Lord calling him to account.  His persecution of Christians was, in fact, persecution of Christ.  Let the enemies of the Church take notice: they are enemies of the Church’s Lord, it is He they persecute, and His triumph is assured.

But Christ met Paul not only with blinding power and conviction, but with unfathomable grace.  Paul became captive to the Lord of the gospel, to his everlasting joy.

We are not given that same visible and audible encounter with the risen Lord, but the same mercy reaches out to us.  Like Paul, we too may see the light and be captured by the gospel and the Lord of the gospel…to our everlasting joy.