For God So Loved The World

I asked KC to make a guest appearance on the ol' blog, to put things in a way that I cannot. I have been feeling the need for some "meat" and what better place to find it than from my strong man? He went away working and wrote this up for me. Thanks Hub.

For God So Loved the World part 1 of 3

The majority of Evangelicals today define what it means to be a Christian simply in terms of their own personal salvation. Many understand this salvation as some “thing” that they have attained or received personally from Christ. We think of Christ as the “agent” who provides us with our “fire insurance” or “get-out-of-Hell-free card”. The wonderful thing about this insurance is that it’s free and all one had to do to get “it” was say a prayer, raise a hand, or throw a pinecone into a fire. From this point on the rest of the Christian life is simply a process of renewing and maintaining this insurance. Some feel like they need to get new “insurance” each week so when the pastor gives an altar call, each week, they raise their hand or come forward to get a new card. Others like to renew “it” each year at summer camp or on their short term mission trip. For those really “spiritual Christians” who don’t lose their insurance card all they need to do is simply keep their salvation where it’s at, and for most, they think it’s right in their back pocket. Everything at this point becomes a means of keeping it there. Things like prayer, reading their bible, fellowship, Christian service (ministry), and even going to church, are all spiritual disciplines which help the individual grow in their personal relationship with Jesus and therefore keep their salvation in tact. In other words all of life and all the world is centered on the individual and their salvation.

Yet, this becomes difficult for many to maintain because out in the real world of parents, in-laws, wives and husbands, children, coaches, teammates, co-workers, politics, economics, war, and Wal-Mart, things don’t seem to be to spiritual, like; nagging, arguing, eight hour days in the shop, sex, dirty diapers, Obama or McCain, four dollars a gallon, thousands killed, and eight year olds working twelve hour a day shifts. How can all this help me in my personal relationship with Jesus? Many think that the real world has nothing to do with their personal relationship with Jesus. And this is why their relationship with Jesus doesn’t impact the real world, the world that God created and called good, in fact, very good. This is the same world that fell into sin because of our first parents’ disobedience. This is the same world that God, our Father, would not let go to decay and corruption and therefore sent his Son because He loves the World, to save it. This is the same world of eating, sleeping, politics, and war. This is the “world” that Christ came to save. This is the “world” that God is filling with his life. This is not a world that God saves by abandoning it. Yet, this is what happens when Christians escape the real world for their own personal-spiritual one. God is recreating this world and this process began in a dramatic way when the first fruits of this creation came bursting forth in all its ripeness. In the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, God painfully said no to a world that stood condemned. But, when God raised his Son he emphatically said yes to a new creation, one that began two thousand years ago and will be completed when the King has made all his enemies his footstool.