Kingdom dynamics

The concept of heavenly citizenship

Part 1

Abreham G.

Phil 1: 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves (live, walk, behave as citizens) in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. (the one in parenthesis is my literal translation)

3:17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Paul's letter to the Philippians is an emotional, friendly, and encouraging letter. Reading through the entire Epistle brings us closer to Paul's heart and inner feelings about the gospel.

For a moment, imagine yourself traveling in a time machine back to the days of Paul. Passing through a two milenia of world history, all of a sudden you find yourself in the bustling city of Rome crowded with all sorts of people. 

Few miles from the crowded downtown, Paul is sharing a room with a Roman soldier, who was assigned to keep an eye on him. Often times Paul is chained to this fellow. His privacy is terribly eroded, but he never complains. He considers his house arrest as an opportunity to speak about Jesus. And it happens that many of the royal guards are becoming believers.

As usual Paul was having a conversation with his guard, when Epaphroditus, a fellow believer from Philippi, a city eight hundred miles east of Rome, showed up at the door. I can imagine the excitement of Epaphroditus. He loves Paul. And when the elders of his church looked for a volunteer to travel to Rome to help Paul, he did not blink his eyes. He knows that his journey to Rome is not only to deliver the money his church sent to Paul, but to attend to his needs at every capacity. Shortly after, Timothy arrived from town carrying food lasting for a couple of days.

Epaphroditus has brought some good and some bad news. The good news – the Philippians have continued their fellowship with Paul in the work of the gospel. They have proved themselves to be faithful partners, taking the gospel to every corner of their city. They are experiencing hostility from their neighbors for their newly found faith in a Christ, who, according to the popular culture, was a renegade executed by Pilate in Jerusalem. The bad news – they are being troubled by the infighting, notably between Euodia and Syntyche.

Paul knew that the infighting will tamper with the testimony of the church among the gentiles. God's program for the inhabitants of the city will also be endangered. He still remembers the vision he had in Troas that led to his trip to Philippi. In his second missionary journey, while passing through Asia (modern day Turkey), God's Spirit forbade him to preach the gospel there. He later realized that God was preparing him for a new task in Europe. One night in the coastal town of Troas, Paul had a vision. He saw a man standing on the other side of the Aegean sea calling out for help. This was how the good news of Jesus Christ came into the city of Philippi, the first European city where Paul's mission to Europe was officially launched. How can he forget such a dramatic event?

He wished he were in Philippi. But he can't. What about his chains? He is tied up with the soldier. He wanted to send Timothy, but felt that he needs him in Rome because he does not yet know the outcome of his trial. Finally, after much prayer and reflection, he decided to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi with an emotional, friendly and encouraging letter.

This is how we have got the epistle to the Philippians. Can you imagine what was burning in Paul's heart? He was burdened with God's program of salvation for humanity.

My intention in this and subsequent articles is not to comment on the whole epistle. Rather I prefer to discuss it thematically (theologically). In this I mean focusing on the didactic (teaching) contribution of of the letter. We will ask ourselves this question, “how does Paul's letter to the Philippians reveal God to us?” I would leave it for you to find out. But I want to make a minor contribution in your quest for a fuller understanding of God's revelation in the epistle.

The theme I chose for this article is “the concept of heavenly citizenship”. This theme comes from Phil 1:27 and 3:17, two verses where Paul explicitly speaks about heavenly citizenship. Heavenly citizenship is a concept that relates to both our identity and activity as God's people. The two are interrelated. Our identity informs our activity, and our activity reveals our identity.

To be continued . . .

Kingdom dynamics

The parables of the seed and the weed

Mt 13:1-30 and 36-43

Abreham G. Bedasso

INTRODUCTION

Definition and description

God's kingdom means God's rule or reign. It is about God's will finding fulfillment in the world. It is about God's ruling (his saving, redeeming and restoring) activity affecting the way we live. It is about God making everything right by punishing evil, and restoring justice in the world.

God's rule extends over everything and over every realm in the universe. God does not only rule in the heart. The notion that God's kingdom rules only in the human heart does not paint the whole picture. God reigns over every human affair whether spiritual, social, political, cultural, or economical. There is nothing in the entire universe that God does not rule.

Key concepts

1. The parables are analogies of the dynamics of God's kingdom. They illustrate how God's kingdom operates at the moment. They were taken from ordinary life experience of first century Jews in Israel.
2. God's kingdom is political in nature. The Book of Daniel makes it explicit. God's rule extends over everything. However it operates in different phases.
3. God's people are endowed with the privilege of understanding the mystery of God's kingdom. As a mystery it is hidden from plain sight and needs to be sought after. In Jesus days, even now, many failed to comprehend it.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

A brief historical observation highlights that among first century Jews there were different sects who understood God's rule in different ways.

The Sadducees, an elite class of priests and officials who controlled the temple and its activities, understood that God's rule was expressed through the presence of the temple. They were well- off in this life and thus did not want the people to hope for a kingdom and a king that would make everything right.

The Pharisees, a majority group, who claim to be purists, emphasized the reading, studying and observing of the Torah (the teachings or instructions of Moses). They believed that God's rule finds expression and fulfillment as people observe the Torah.

The Zealots believed that God's kingdom can only be set up when the land is rid of all foreign elements including the Romans. They wanted to set up God's rule through military action.

The Essenes, lived in isolation along the southern part of Israel in a fortress called Masada. They lived in community, and shared their means. They believed that they were the sons of light and that God was ruling among them. They prepared themselves for the final battle between the children of light and of darkness.

A RADICAL MESSAGE AND MESSENGER

Now came along the sea of Galilee a young Jew named Jesus who was preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand, and was even among the people (Luke 17:21). In light of the circumstances, for the Jews, Jesus' kingdom message and claims were radical. So the question is, in what way did God rule? Through the presence and activity of Jesus, the king. At the center of his activity was the preaching of the gospel, the powerful and dynamic instrument of God's rule.

Jesus taught that God's kingdom was in their midst and that his followers were to live as though they were in the kingdom. He declared that he is bringing good news to all people that God's rule has downed. He sent his disciples among the children of Israel to announce the news (Mt 10). His message and messengers were rejected. He condemned the impenitent cities (Mt 11). His authority and method was challenged (Mt 12). Hence in Mt 13 Jesus shows how God's kingdom operates in the world at the moment. There are many parables in the chapter yet the dominant parable that we find among the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is the parable of the seed (Mt 13:1-30, Mk 4:1-20 and Lk 8:4-15).

1. The parable of the seed – the gospel/God's word is God's seed in our lives.

God's kingdom is in God's word. In other words, God's word is God's kingdom in a receivable form. God's kingdom can be delivered and be received. How? Through the word. The creation account of Genesis 1 reveals that God made everything through his word. There was nothing except God. He created everything out of himself through the medium of his spoken word. God's word is God's seed. The word seed in the Greek New Testament is “to sperma” out of which we have the English equivalent of sperm or seed. God's word is not a religious opinion. It is not an alternative explanation of reality. It is God's power, energy, and substance that accomplishes everything he wants. Hence acceptance of God's word is acceptance of God's kingdom. On the other hand, rejecting God's word is rejecting God's kingdom. Wherever God's word finds root, we see God's kingdom in action. Therefore, let's welcome God's word as the only alternative we have of experiencing God's rule on earth at the moment.

2. The parable of the weeds – the disciples are God's seed in the world.

In the previous parable the ground on which the seed is sown was the heart of the hearers. In this parable however, the ground is the world itself and the seeds (to sperma) are the disciples of Christ.

The ground belongs to God. The world and everything in it is God's work. The idea of God ruling here on earth seems obsolete. The truth is, God in Christ will restore the world to himself. He won't leave it to rot in sin and destruction. How does God accomplish that at the moment? Through the good seed, the righteous seed, the God fearing seed.

Naturally, weeds cannot become good seeds, and the reverse is true as well. Nonetheless, in God's kingdom weeds can change into good seeds through the gospel. That is what kingdom dynamics is about. The church seems to lose this simple truth and mar herself in the struggle for power and influence. The lesson of history is filled with instances of atrocities committed in the name of spreading or defending God's kingdom. Christian folks tried to uproot the weeds through violence. The gospel is a powerful instrument, more powerful than any weapon we can imagine.

CONCLUSION

A people who receive God's seed in their heart need to show forth its power in the world. Let us be faithful to our call and stick to our mission. Let us saturate our homes, churches, and communities with God's word. Let us live like the good seeds of the kingdom.

“for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.” Isa 11:9