Christianity the Upside-Down Faith
Posted: Sunday, August 02, 2009
by Joel Kontinen
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/
Christianity in unique. It differs from all other religions because of its radical, life-changing message. It is not just an ideology among others. While many religions have codes of conduct, the faith Jesus Christ established transforms a person who believes in Him. As the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
However, people are often satisfied with the status quo and will resist change. When the apostles Paul and Silas preached the gospel in the Greek city of Thessalonika in the first century, their adversaries claimed:
These who have turned the world upside down have come here too ... these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king-Jesus (Acts 17: 6-7).
Instead of focusing on man, Christianity focuses on the resurrected Son of God who said that His kingdom was "not of this world" (John 18:36).
This kingdom is an enigma. In 1978 Donald B. Kraybill published a book entitled The Upside-Down Kingdom. Characteristic of this kingdom is a tension between already and not yet. While the kingdom already exists within those who have accepted the claims of the King, it has yet to be realised physically in this world.
Perhaps for this reason Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
The time is coming when this kingdom will be set up on planet Earth. The ancient Hebrew prophesies will be fulfilled: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11: 6).
In other words, when this Upside-Down Kingdom will be finally realised, "there will be peace in the valley" and we will "study war no more".
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Thanks, Will. Yes indeed, Christianity is much more than theory. It works!I've written quite a bit about Christianity on my blog which you can assess by clicking on the link above.Blessings,Joel
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