Transcript:

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

What is the most political thing you will do this week?

Christian theologian Oliver O’Donovan points out that the act of public worship is a political act. Have you ever thought of it that way?

What is the outrageously bold political act that we do every Sunday? Well, we gather publicly and declare our allegiance to King Jesus—that He is both Christ (the anointed King) and Lord of heaven…and earth! The kings, congresses, and courts of this world do not ultimately determine our fate. Jesus does. Furthermore, we declare that He is coming back to judge the living and the dead—that the citizens of planet earth and its rulers are all ultimately accountable to but one King—a King who was brutally executed for us on a bloody Roman cross, a frightful symbol of state authority and power in the Ancient World.

Now, how this has escaped our notice can only be explained by how severely we have neutered the historic gospel. Our contemporary notion of Jesus is way too innocuous, way too harmless. He has become merely a “personal savior” endowed only with as much power that we allot Him in our compartmentalized world. But such a Jesus is not the true Jesus. The true Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.

And when we fix our eyes on this Jesus, it undercuts the angsty hopelessness that plagues us in these modern times. As we see the kingdoms of this world tremble and even crumble, we remember that the real king was already “crucified, dead and buried for us…. He rose again from the dead…and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”1

No one and no thing can escape the reach of King Jesus.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

~ John 18:33-38 (NASB)

1 Excerpts from the Apostles Creeds.