Don’t Look Now, but Your Worldview May Have a Gap
By: Shafer Parker
At FBB we’re all about worldview. How could it be otherwise? The first course we ever taught is called The Worldview Course, and everything else we offer is presented as an outgrowth of that foundational study. We genuinely want to equip ambassadors for Christ for everyday conversations. But when was the last time your worldview conversation included a discussion about the kingdom of God?
“How does that relate to a Christian worldview,” you ask? Think of it this way. That God created the world is the inescapable beginning point, or foundation for all that follows. That is why our Worldview Course includes a chapter on evidence for design in the universe (as well as the logical necessity for a Designer) and then we include another chapter demonstrating the inherent contradictions of Darwinian evolution.
“Can you explain the Biblical telos, or ultimate purpose for creation, i.e., ‘that which is not itself a means to anything else, but to which all else is a means?’”
In defending creation, we are primarily looking back to the beginning of everything. And while that is a vitally necessary component of any worldview claiming to be Christian, nevertheless, it fails to address the future. It does not help us understand the end goal, or purpose God has in mind for His creation. In other words, it fails to address teleology. So, let me ask you, can you explain the Biblical telos, or ultimate purpose for creation, i.e., “that which is not itself a means to anything else, but to which all else is a means?”
Please do not think I’m talking about a particular approach to “end times.” That is a discussion for another day. I’m thinking about something more fundamental, which I will now put in the form of a question. Is God doing something today that can only find its ultimate purpose or fulfillment in the eternal state? I believe He is, and I also believe a proper understanding of this divine telos will inevitably encourage the hearts of God’s people to live for Jesus, while increasing the persuasive power of our worldview conversations.
“Christ is building His kingdom, and it is worth remembering that this kingdom will ultimately vanquish all the kingdoms of this world.”
As I said at the outset, I’m talking about the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven (i), also known as the kingdom of Christ. Christ is building His kingdom, and it is worth remembering that this kingdom will ultimately vanquish all the kingdoms of this world. When we’ve got past all the millenniums (pre, a, and post) and entered the eternal state, we will live in the realized kingdom that Christ established at his first coming and has been building ever since. I’m suggesting that this end goal, this telos is as important for a full-orbed worldview as anything we might have to say about creation, the problem of evil or anything else. For evangelistic purposes the world needs to know the hegemony of His kingdom is inevitable and that the wisest thing anyone can do is prepare for the day when it is accomplished. Otherwise, what is the point to the psalmist’s exhortation to “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled” (Psalm 2:12).
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Here are some basic Biblical facts about the kingdom.
An early description of the kingdom, its growth, and its dominion, is found in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as described in Daniel 2. According to Daniel’s description the king saw a statue that represented the four empires of the pre-Christian world—Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then he saw a stone “cut from a mountain by no human hand,” that struck and destroyed the statue and then “became a great mountain” that “filled the whole earth.” Nor or we required to guess what God had in mind. Daniel goes on to say this means “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,” and that will “break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end” (Dan. 2:44). By the way, His kingdom continues to break the kingdoms of this world.
In the New Testament Jesus uses the parable of the soils to illustrate that His kingdom will grow at different rates in various places (Matt. 13:18-23). (Unfortunately, many sermons on the soils focus exclusively on personal salvation, but Jesus had the kingdom in mind. His explanation begins with “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand, etc.” (Mat. 13:19).
In the parable of the mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32) Jesus makes clear that the kingdom will grow far beyond all expectations.
In the parable of the leaven, or yeast (Mat. 13:33) Jesus teaches that the kingdom will not cease to grow until it permeates all the world’s populations.
Isaiah hints that the king of the kingdom is Christ; He is the child who is born, the son who is given, upon whose shoulder shall be the government, and who will rule his “kingdom” from the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Matthew tells us that when Jesus began His ministry, He preached the “gospel of the kingdom,” (Mat. 4:23) which is the same as the gospel (see also Mark 1:14-15).
Nor is the kingdom, or the gospel of the kingdom, reserved for the Jews. As Paul said his last goodbyes to the elders from Ephesus in Acts 20, he reminded those Gentiles that during the extended period of his stay in their city he had “gone about proclaiming the kingdom” (Acts 20:25).
Have you ever wondered why the Bible calls believers “ambassadors for Christ?” (II Cor. 5:20) I suggest it is because we belong to a kingdom, and it is our task to represent the king.
Paul saw preaching the kingdom as the primary means of fulfilling the Great Commission. In Romans 1:5 he declares he is commissioned to “bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” Then he closes his epistle to the Romans by reminding these Christians who lived at the heart of the world’s greatest empire, that the mystery long hidden in the writings of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and others is now fully disclosed, namely, that it was always God’s plan to bring all the nations to “the obedience of faith,” i.e., into Christ’s kingdom. Thus, Paul ends his epistle as he begins it, with the full expectation that it is his, and our task to extend the kingdom to the whole world by the preaching of the gospel.
“When Jesus knew he had only 40 more days to get everything said, Luke tells us he focused on two things: proofs of his physical resurrection and “speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).”
Much more could be said about the kingdom, but I will leave you with two ideas.
(1) Never forget that after the resurrection, when Jesus knew he had only 40 more days to get everything said, Luke tells us he focused on two things: proofs of his physical resurrection and “speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). It occurs to me that when you know your time is limited, you concentrate on what matters most. And (2) it occurs to me that the concept of the kingdom, realized on earth and extended into eternity, is the only adequate replacement for what was lost in the fall. It ought to be our greatest glory to boast of what was established in history with Christ’s coming, what is now being accomplished on earth by the work of the Holy Spirit, and what will gloriously be revealed in the fulness of the New Heavens and the New Earth. It’s the only ending worthy of the creation by which everything began, and it ought to take its rightful place as the over-arching goal or telos of our worldview.
(i) Though some think otherwise, these two terms are demonstrably interchangeable in Scripture. Out of fear of breaking the third commandment (Ex. 20:7) Jewish writers often substituted a suitable word for deity. Thus, Yahweh becomes “Lord” throughout the Old Testament and God’s kingdom is referred to obliquely as “the kingdom of heaven.”