Out of the Wild: Continuing the Occupation

After Christ’s victory on the cross, the Apostles remembered the teaching of Jesus and described the new vocation that God’s people were to have. Once men and women placed their hope in the salvation Christ won at the cross, they learned about the type of person they were to be.

The ultimate job of restoring creation to its state of shalom can be accomplished by God alone. Only He could win our salvation, and only He can usher in the final victory of His Kingdom. Yet, we are to live and work in such a way as to see His Kingdom spread in the here and now.

God’s Holy Spirit equips His people, His Church, to spread the Good News to a lost and dying world. As more people come to a genuine faith in Christ, people will be transformed. They will come out of the wild, and the wild world in which we live will become an ordered, albeit imperfect foretaste of what is to come.

War Fought with Love

When Christ came to die for humanity, He came to die for a people who were still sinners, a people bitterly opposed to His good Kingdom. He defeated His enemies by laying down His life and making the way for them to become friends. He won by laying down His life, and His Kingdom moves forward through us when we follow His lead.

Philippians 2:5-11 provides an excellent description of the life we are to emulate. Christians are to live lives of impeccable character that reveals a difference, a difference that points toward a higher Kingdom that what a wild world has to offer. Christians are to be known by their love, and we are commanded to extend that love even to our enemies.

When Christ commanded His followers to make disciples of all nations, He did so because He loved the whole world. The impetus for believers to obey the command to go to the world arose from the fact that His heart was for the world. In love, He made a way to reconcile people to Himself, and we are to proclaim that Good News of reconciliation until He comes.

What Christians Are to Do

How exactly are Christians to play their part introducing the world to the Kingdom? It’s rather simple: serve people at their point of need; and share the gospel message of God’s reconciliation. For the men or women who wonder what God’s will is for their lives, this is it–serve and share.

The great news for Christians is that this can be accomplished through: business, sports, music, charity work, vocational ministry, academia, politics, trash collection, programming, engineering, and every other job or vocation you can imagine. Whatever a person does, he or she can do it as unto the Lord by serving others and sharing the Good News.

Of course, no matter how hard Christians try, they will never win the world on their own. They follow the commands only imperfectly, and ultimately, Christ alone has power to overcome the world.

And Christians wait for a second coming.

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |Part 6 | Part 7