The rule of the Messiah does not come about by physical revolution (or even democratic voting). He breaks the nations not by dismantling them (for now, at least) but by reestablishing the truthful ideas and words they have denied (Revelation 19:15).
Without a humble recognition of how needy we are, we will have no interest in the gospel. Indeed, we will be angry. How dare this ignorant peasant from ancient Galilee tell us, “Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:24)?
If, as rationalists, we rule out the possibility of God revealing Himself, then we should get used to the idea of having no God at all. The only God that unaided human reason can believe in is a God who is little more than a question mark.
If Christ bought the church with His blood, it is not our church to do with as we wish; it is His church. May we never quit calling it what it is. The church of God. The church which He bought with His Son’s blood. The church that belongs to Christ.
After having refused His rule, the saved are those who have returned to their rightful King, sought His forgiveness, and sworn allegiance to Him from now on. Christ is truly their head — not just legally or theoretically, but in the way they live.
If we view God wrongly, we’re going to have wrong beliefs about the reality of sin and the question of our fellowship with God. The gospel will mean little if our concept of God is such that we see no need for what Christ made possible at the cross.
Jesus makes possible our reconciliation with God because he “gave himself as a ransom for all.” In other words, He paid the price for us to be released from our condemnation, dying in our place and thereby atoning for our sins (Romans 3:25,26).
In Christ, we begin to know God, and we have what might be considered a foretaste of eternal life — or a down payment on it (Ephesians 1:14) — but the fullness of that life is something that will be ours only in eternity (Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:3,4).
We may “know” that Jesus died for us, but in too many cases, the significance of what we know hasn’t really sunk in. The devil is perfectly content for us to “remember” Christ’s death as long as the true implications of that event never dawn on us.
If the gospel of Christ is true, we’re not in good spiritual health if we’re not in a right relationship with the God who is our Creator — and that requires the actual forgiveness of our sins through obedience to the message of salvation in Christ.
