Your Kingdom Come

-
In my previous post, I mentioned that in order for us to live a fulfilling life, we need to align ourselves with God's purpose for the world.

This brings us to the question: "What is God's purpose for the world?"

I believe that God's purpose is revealed in the words and works of Jesus Christ.

Many of us have grown up to believe that Jesus was born and lived on Earth so that our sins could be forgiven and we could go to heaven when our worldly bodies die.

However, while forgiveness and hope for life after death is important, the Gospels focus less on these 2 purposes than we might imagine.

Jesus did not come to earth on an evacuation mission to get us into heaven, but to bring God's kingdom to earth. 

- Brian Mclaren

Mclaren notes that our "evacuation theology" would require a very different prayer from the one that Jesus gave us. He claims that if forgiveness and going to heaven were Jesus' main purposes for us then the Lord's Prayer should have perhaps looked something like this:
Image Source: Joshua Earle

"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. May we go to heaven after we die. May we leave here and go to Your kingdom in heaven which is unlike earth because there Your will is done."

But Jesus taught us a different prayer, a prayer which says: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Christianity is not about merely surviving or 'getting through' this world so that we can get to heaven one day. Jesus came to earth so that we can all experience God's kingdom now, not only at some point in the distant future.

Jesus' purpose therefore (and ultimately God's purpose) is for us to know and share in the reality of God's reign among us now.

If we live our lives with this understanding, our purpose is aligned with God's purpose for the world and our lives become much more meaningful and fulfilling.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Ceremony that Divided the Church

-
Image
Note: A shorter version of this article was first published with the Jesuit Institute of South Africa. Last week Friday, my family sat down to watch the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The French always have a knack for the theatrics and this year was no different. The performances throughout the long ceremony were mesmerizing and provocative. We went to bed that night feeling tired but excited for the Olympic Games that were officially starting the following day. Little did I know that not everyone shared my enthusiasm. The Outrage I woke up the following morning and decided to browse social media (when is this ever a good idea?). My feed was filled with people sharing their outrage at a particular scene of the Olympics’ opening ceremony. A still picture of the ceremony was being shared alongside a picture of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting which admittedly showed a slight resemblance to the original. According to the outraged folk (including some morally
Read more

The Laws of Leviticus

-
Image
The second and third passages of scripture that are used to condemn homosexuality and clobber LGBTQ+ people come from the often-read book of Leviticus (sarcasm alert). Before digging into these verses, let’s quote them here: “Don’t lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:22 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” - Leviticus 20:13 These strong words in the Bible have armed anti-gay protesters with enough content to fill their picket signs with hatred and violence. “Homosexuality is an Abomination” and “God hates fags” and “To death with the gays” are all signs that make regular appearances at Pride parades throughout the world, unfortunately often held up by so-called Christians. Regardless of someone’s belief about homosexuality, I will never understand how some Christians see this as a Christ-like response
Read more

Leap of Faith

-
Image
I recently did the Lake Eland Extreme Zip-line with some of my friends from Pietermaritzburg. The zip-line is 1 100 meters long and reaches max speeds of up to 160km's per hour. All that is keeping you from falling hundreds of meters to an inevitable death is 2 cables and a harness that my hysterical brain was telling me would not have been out of place as a car's seat-belt. We arrived early and waited for half an hour as we contemplated our life choices up to this point. Eventually we were all kitted up and ready to go. While I wouldn't say that I have Acrophobia - an extreme fear of heights - as I looked out over the gorge that we would be flying through, breaking the national speed-limit in the process, it is fair to say that my stomach started churning and my legs turned to jelly. It was at this point that I'm sure many of us were trying to think of any reasonable excuse that would get us out of this jump without seeming like a coward. One of the thin
Read more