The Gospel of the Kingdom

My whole life, I've heard about the Gospel of Salvation. Jesus came and died to save you from your sins. My first reaction: Great!! Hallelujah!! My second reaction:...now what? Now that I've been saved from my sins, what do I do with my life? Wait to die so I can go to Heaven? Don't get me wrong - From what I've read in the Bible, it sounds like a wonderful place, and I can't wait to go there. However, is that the point?? Yay, I'm clean, and I have a ticket out of here; so, I can live any way I want because it doesn't matter - I'm goin' to Heaven, and there's nothing that can keep me out of there now, 'cause I'm "saved."

Ok, so call me a cynic. But I am serious. Why would God want to save us - sinful, dirty, putrid, blind - when He has the angels to worship Him and the universe to command? What in the world does He want to have to do with us?? What is the reason?

So, those have been my thoughts. And the answer to them has been coming slowly, but surely. The answer, in short-hand, is the "Gospel of the KINGDOM." What's that? The Gospel of the Kingdom is God's plan for us and the world. It encompasses the Salvation Gospel, and expands it in almost every way. We aren't just saved because He has pity on us (yes, that is part of it, but not all); He has given us the opportunity to restore a relationship with Him that we as a race lost in the Garden of Eden.

One of the first questions in the Westminster (shorter?) catechism runs something like this: "What is the purpose of man?" Answer: "To love God and enjoy Him forever." Now, granted, I never memorized the catechism, so I may have got that not quite right. But, I think I got the gist of it. "To love God and enjoy Him forever." Sounds good to me! Wait a second, though. Isn't that what the angels do? What else do the Seraphim do besides sing "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts"? They are worshipping Him; why eternally worship a Being they don't love?. God's presence is absolute joy - since they're always in His presence, they're forever enjoying Him.

Hmm. Why again did God create us? What exactly is our purpose? I doubt that God made man solely with those two purposes, because He already had all the worshippers and enjoyers He needed. Why create more?

"Let Us make Man in Our image." A couple years ago, someone pointed out to me that that is spoken in first person plural. Interesting. A Triune God (acknowledged as a trinity [or, at least, more than One], even in the first book of the TORAH), desired to create a being that reflected His image. I would say the angels were like an image of God: they are immortal, perfect beings that have great power and beauty and wills of their own. So, in what other ways would God want to reflect His image? He made man in His image - not physically, since He is not restricted to a body. Aha. A man has three sides to his person. He has a body (his physical being), a spirit (that which responds to God's voice), and a soul (his mind, will and emotions). In a sense, he is a triune creature...a reflection of the Image of his Creator.

I don't remember C.S. Lewis' words exactly, but he essentially said that the difference between angels and men is the difference between a sculpture and a child - one is sculpted, while the other is begotten. The angels were created by God as a reflection of His glory and perfection - they are masterpieces of His creation. As is mankind; however, man (unlike any other creature recorded) was the ONLY creation that God made with His own hands, and into which God breathed His own breath, His Life. I do not know how He made the angels, because that isn't specified; but of all the earthly/physical beings, man is set apart by being hand-made, and God-inspired. If I'm not mistaken, the word "inspiration" literally means "God-breathed." The inspired Scripture, etc.

This gets back to the question, why did God create man? I do not claim to have the whole answer. I don't even know if what I believe is all true. But, I have listened to many a teacher, and read several books, asked questions, and searched for myself, and I have a possible partial reason for our being. I did not originate it; the thoughts and beliefs I am writing are things I have gleaned from others and put together, like a puzzle.

There is something between family that cannot be fabricated elsewhere - a connection that is not duplicable. God had all these glorious attendants, yet He is never pictured as loving them as His own. Now, if there is something I missed, point it out to me, and I'll gladly admit my error. He wanted (I won't say "need", because since when did an omnipotent God need anything?) to have relationship with somebody.

So, He created Man. A physical person, made for the physical world He just fashioned. A spiritual person, made to communicate directly with his Father. An intelligent person, made to rationalize and make decisions and choose to love his Maker of his own accord.

But something went wrong. There was this Cherub named Lucifer...

I've heard a lot about Heaven being the "Promised Land" - that Earth, being so sinful, will be destroyed and we're going to go live in the perfect place, Heaven. And I'm coming to the conclusion that that's false. I can't wait to go to heaven when I die, but I'm fairly certain that it isn't the end goal. Think about this: Sin did not originate on Earth. Sin first took place in the heart of a glorious Angel, who resided in Heaven. He brought the sin to Earth when he fell, but it didn't start here! Had Eve never touched the Fruit, would Earth still be slated for destruction? I hardly think so.

So, what is the Gospel of the Kingdom? It states that God created mankind to have relationship with Him. We, being humans, are separated from Him through our sin. His Holy Son came and offered a way to Redemption. We are constantly being refined in the Fires, and He is purifying us throughout this life. Our main, #1 responsibility as Christians is to maintain that relationship with Him (through obedience to Him and abiding in Him) and draw others into it. In His Name and through His Power and Authority, we are to take back this world - which HE created perfectly and gave to us, and WE gave away to the Prince of the power of the air - we are to take it back for Him. We each have a specific purpose and plan for our lives, and by knowing God (not just knowing about Him), we will learn and fulfill His design.

And thus the saga begins. I pray God will use this journal as a tool for His Glory.

I don't think I know what I'm getting into!

~Chelsea