At present, I am involved in a study about Jesus, as revealed through the lens of the book, Simply Jesus, written by N.T. Wright, a Biblical scholar of the Church of England. Although Dr. Wright is my favorite scholar, I do take a different approach to the things I find in his book that so inspires me. For example, in my previous study, Jesus Rules Today, I paused on Dr. Wright’s statement: “Jesus’ Kingdom project picks up the crucial factor in God’s creation project. God intended to rule the world through human beings,”[1] and expanded the idea from the perspective of the Garden of Eden. Dr. Wright didn’t do that, so he may not endorse all of what I claim in that study. Some folks may consider that I’ve gone too far on certain matters, so one should not believe that Dr. Wright would agree with everything I claim about his wonderful book, in this study or any other I’ve written in this series. What I write expresses my point of view, and one should not assume Dr. Wright would agree with me.
That said, Dr. Wright does say that it has always been God’s plan to rule the earth through mankind (Genesis 2:27). Therefore, and in my own personal opinion, looking for a future Second Coming of Christ to make all things right isn’t Biblical. God never intended to rule the Earth directly, which according to many Christians would be Jesus literally sitting on a throne in Jerusalem. That’s a Jewish hope, vis-à-vis the Messiah should rule from Jerusalem; it’s not a Christian hope, from a Biblical perspective. God’s will is and always has been to rule the earth through men.
Men err. Men not only make mistakes; they can be and often are in rebellion against God, even when they believe they’re serving him. Keep in mind that the Apocalypse tells us that, when Jesus took the reins of government over the Earth, the kings of the earth became angry (Revelation 11:15, 18). Therefore, it isn’t Biblical to conclude that, just because Jesus reigns, all men would be in submission to him. Moreover, since violence isn’t the manner in which Jesus rules, vis-à-vis violence, oppression and force are methods men use to govern other men (Matthew 20:25-28), we cannot demand that all men would begin to obey Jesus, simply because he is the King of Earth. Jesus’ ways and desires are different from ours, or what we would naturally expect God to be like (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Genesis 3 doesn’t represent the first time man sinned; remember Adam lied to his wife. God never told him that touching the tree would bring death (Genesis 2:17; cp. 3:2-3). God never expected perfection from mankind. He created man not another God. What Genesis 3 represents is man’s rebellion against God. Man wanted to know good and evil from a perspective of deciding for himself, what was good or not so good for him. Genesis 3 represents man pushing God out of his method of knowing things (cp. Romans 1:28). As a result, men “make bombs as well as music… torture chambers as well as hospitals… deserts as well as gardens.” Although we are capable of doing great and wonderful works, we are equally able to create the most evil and disastrous works, proving our efforts, though sometimes wonderful, are done without God. Nevertheless, the prime directive of the Bible is that man should be God’s image (Genesis 1:27), vis-à-vis he should be reflecting “the sovereign rule of God back into the world.”
They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
So, what would it look like, what should it look like, if God/Christ was ruling this world through men? What it should NOT look like is God “blasting a way through all opposition.” Instead, the Lord plants seeds (the word of God; Mark 4:14) through preaching (1Corinthians 1:21),[2] and his Kingdom grows, as the word takes effect (Matthew 13:3-8). Indeed, for some the word means nothing (Matthew 13:4), to others it’s desirable but not precious (Matthew 13:5-7), but to some folks the word of God is life-changing (Matthew 13:8). Therefore, the idea of the Reign of Christ being through men ranges from the unaffected (Matthew 13:4) to the folks who submit to his rule and image that rule back into the world through their own efforts to be like God (Genesis 1:27; WWJD; cp. 1Corinthians 1:18).
This idea of God reigning through men didn’t fit the game-plan of the original disciples (Acts 1:6). They still believed Jesus should physically reign from Jerusalem. Nevertheless, they simply had no idea about what it means for God to reign over the Earth (Acts 1:7-8). Jesus’ reply wasn’t an exact denial of their question, but he did point to its fulfillment. Yes, Jesus is taking the reins of authority over the Earth, but that happens in conjunction with their preaching (Acts 1:8). Jesus reigns, YES! However, he reigns through men; it is men, who, by their preaching Christ, enlarge the Kingdom of God. The power of God is expressed through men as they preach the Gospel (1Corinthians 1:18).
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[1] N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus, chapter 15; page 212.
[2] The foundation was laid by Jesus (Luke 8:1), but training his disciples to continue his works (Luke 9:6), and preaching continued to be the impetus of the building up of God’s Kingdom (Romans 16:25).
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