Eschatology |
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Those who live by the sword… - 15 May 2009
The MPs’ expenses scandal rumbles on, and prompts a couple of reflections.
First, the idea of secret things being exposed should not be terribly surprising. After all, Scripture teaches that on the Last Day everything will be exposed before the eyes of all. The Last Judgment is not a chance for God to figure out what to do, but rather for him to expose our deeds (and thoughts and words) publicly, so as to vindicate his righteousness by announcing and presenting evidence for the verdict he will by then have passed over each and every one of us (remember Jn 3:18 – God’s verdict entails condemnation or justification now). Blanchard: ‘The primary purpose of the Day of Judgement is to display to the entire universe the glory of God’s character’. Of the many biblical texts that could be cited, consider 1 Corinthians 3:13 for starters: ‘each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it’. (cf. 1 Cor 4:5; Heb 4:13; etc.)
So, the exposure of these particular acts of dishonesty (if, in fact, they were dishonest) is merely a foretaste of the eschatological revelation of all things. If some MPs are feeling a little uncomfortable now, how much more should every unbeliever be sweating as the days tick away toward the Lord’s return.
Note also that the the Lord has brought to light these misdeeds (again, assuming they were, in fact, misdeeds) through what (it has been claimed) are the sinful actions of other people. Apparently whoever leaked the figures (may have?) committed (or, at least, so it is alleged by some) an offence.
No surprise here either. The Lord makes a habit of bringing one ungodly bunch of crooks down to earth by raising up another crowd of no-goods against them. Think of Babylon and Persia. Or Proverbs 17:11: ‘An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.’
Disciple what? - 12 March 2009
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is often read (rightly) as a charge to get on with evangelism. But there’s more to it than that. Here’s what it says:
And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (matheteusate panta ta ethne), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:18-20)
The Greek text of Matthew 28:19 (matheteusate panta ta ethne) should be translated, ‘disciple all the nations’, with ‘all the nations’ as the object of the verb. And it means exactly what it says.
Think about that for a moment.
If our Lord had wanted his followers merely to disciple people from every nation, there would have been at least three different ways of saying it, but Jesus chose none of them.
(FWIW, they are ek with the genitive [cf. Galatians 2:15; Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 11:9], en with the dative [cf. Acts 10:35], or apo with the genitive [cf. Acts 2:5; 15:19]).
As it stands, however, Matthew 28:19 is quite clear: the nations are to be discipled, as anticipated by the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Genesis 22:18).
This obviously entails that people within the nations are to be discipled, but it envisages more than this. Nations, as nations, will learn to conduct themselves in all their affairs (legal, political, economic, social, etc.) in obedience to the Lord.
John Owen got the hang of it:
The great promise of Christ is, that in these latter days of the world he will lay the nations in a subserviency to him, the kingdoms of the world shall become his; that is, act as kingdoms and governments no longer against him, but for him. (Owen, ‘Christ’s Kingdom and the Magistrate’s Power’, Works 8:390)
That is what is meant, properly speaking, by ‘A Christian Nation’.