The Weekly Perspective
by Burke Shade, Associate Pastor
In Vespers this week Pastor Joe meditated briefly on the meaning of “Thy kingdom come” from the Lord’s Prayer, noting that it is our prayer that we pray, and that it is a prayer that we are asking the king to take hold of his domain—king/dom—in a way that he hasn’t yet done. He also mentioned that the request “thy kingdom come” was not the gospel per se (it does involve the forgiveness of sins, etc), and also mentioned that the place of the kingdom is probably here on earth in the future and not in some kind of heaven (see Revelation 21-22).
But if “thy kingdom come” is NOT the gospel, per se, then what is? Most Christians think the gospel is that Jesus came to save sinners and say that prayer on the back of the tract and you’re sprung out of hell forever! A subset of those actually believe you have to believe in Jesus and love him and live for him.
But is salvation from sins the gospel of the bible? Is that the Good News that Jesus preaches when he shows up on lake Galilee? Is salvation by faith even new at that point (what did Paul teach about Abraham in Romans?) The actual proclamation of Jesus was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus says, “give up your old ways, for the kingdom of heaven is here. And how is it here? In my coming, in my appearance.” In other words, the Gospel of the New Testament, what is really new, is “Jesus is Lord.” In his appearance, the kingdom is present and he is the Lord of it because he is calling you, demanding of you, to turn from your old unbelieving ways and join him in his kingdom. The message he proclaims to everyone is “follow me” because “I am the I am,” because “I am the door,” because “I am the life of the world,” because “I am the bread of life,” because “I am the light of the world,” because “I am the Son of God, because “I am the Son of David,”etc. (to be continued)