{"id":131,"date":"2021-01-19T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T16:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/176.32.230.18\/swordmagazine.net\/?p=131"},"modified":"2021-02-22T07:23:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T07:23:02","slug":"one-saviour-one-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/?p=131","title":{"rendered":"Editorial – One saviour , one focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In increasingly hostile times, Christians need clear answers to two questions. David Andrew<\/strong> considers the\u2018why\u2019 and \u2018how\u2019 of our existence\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus is essential warfare strategy. If the enemy can convince you to look in the wrong direction or to believe that something fake is real (or viceversa) then you lose the advantage, whether for defence or attack. Hundreds of full-scale dummy airfields were deployed in World War Two to encourage the Luftwaffe to waste their bombs or to send back false reports of our strength. Focus can be the distance between defeat and victory\u2026  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this sort of military metaphor is frowned on in many Christian circles today; it\u2019s just not \u2018nice\u2019. \u2018Surely,\u2019 the argument goes, \u2018we are supposed to love our enemies?\u2019 The answer, of course is \u2018yes\u2019, but don\u2019t let\u2019s miss the point: we can\u2019t obey Jesus\u2019 command unless we have enemies \u2013 and enemies usually signal some degree of conflict \u2013 and that\u2019s not \u2018nice\u2019 either\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If many UK Christians are still unaware that they are in a war zone, there\u2019s a wakeup call coming soon \u2013 and focus will be critical\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An elderly friend once joked how he was learning to face the deeper questions in life: \u201cFive minutes ago, I rose from my chair, walked along the hall and into our bedroom and suddenly found myself thinking \u2018now, WHY AM I HERE?\u2019\u201d! We can laugh, but as hostility to the Gospel and our God accelerates we need the answer to that question. Why are we here? Another question, equally serious, is \u2018How are we here?\u2019 We consider these questions below\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was clear about His reasons:\u201cI came not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me<\/em>\u201d(John 6:38). He had no agenda of His own:\u201cthe Son does nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing<\/em>\u201d(John 5:19). The apostles were clear why He came: \u201cChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners\u2026\u201d (1 Timothy 1:15)\u201c\u2026we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world<\/em>\u201d(1 John 4:14). \u201cThe reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil\u2019s work<\/em>\u201d(1 John 3:8), who \u201chas blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God<\/em>\u201d(2 Corinthians 4:4) i.e. not unbelieving because they are blind, but blind because they are unbelieving. This empowers the evil one to bring darkness between their minds and the glory of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apostles who were\u201ceyewitnesses of his majesty<\/em>\u201d (2 Peter 1:16) entitled Him \u201cthe image of the invisible God<\/em>\u201d (Colossians 1:15), the\u201cradiance of God\u2019s glory and the exact representation of his being<\/em>\u201d(Hebrews 1:3). When Jesus becomes visible, people can see God. Paul described this as\u201cthe life of Jesus \u2026 plainly seen in our mortal lives<\/em>\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:11 \u2013 Phillips). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Head\u2019, not headlines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Jesus is the Head of which the Church is His Body on earth, it follows that the Body, like the Head, should get its agenda from heaven, not from earth\u2019s headlines. We are on a mission from God. We have been commissioned by the Lord of the Church and have no business permitting the world\u2019s transient whims to set our agenda. This becomes clearer still if we consider that every disciple of Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. As it was the primary concern of the Son to reveal the glory of the Father, so the Spirit\u2019s priority is to bear witness to Jesus in and through the believer. If we have a different priority, we are not in step with the Spirit and are bound to preach a \u2018different gospel\u2019 \u2013 one in which Jesus is side-lined or entirely absent from view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is urgent in these fast-darkening times that the Church should rediscover \u201cthe glorious gospel of our blessed God\u201d \u2013 and why it is \u2018glorious\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While entire \u2018Christian\u2019 denominations are swept along by the world\u2019s anti-God agenda, and global diplomacy tries to prevent the proliferation (or use) of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), mankind fails to identify the deadliest WMD of all: SIN. It separates men and women from God, isolates them from each other, stores up divine wrath against them for when God\u2019s judgment finally falls on ungodliness and \u2013 if unrepented and unforgiven \u2013 guarantees their eternal punishment in Hell and irretrievable exclusion from God\u2019s presence. Sin is the \u201csting of death<\/em>\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:56). If sin doesn\u2019t qualify as a weapon of mass destruction, what does? Oswald Chambers said that\u201csin has made the basis of everything wild and not rational<\/em><\/strong>\u201d\u2013 what could be more irrational than hating the good news of God\u2019s mercy and befriending sin that enslaves men and women to the Destroyer \u2013 the Bible\u2019s name for Satan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glorious Gospel!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel is a weapon of mass construction. For those who believe its message, it\u2019s Jesus visible, God enjoyable, Grace immeasurable, Mercy unfathomable, Love indestructible, Hope unconquerable, Kingdom unstoppable\u2026 Trials become joy, enemies are loved, forgiveness becomes a way of life \u2013 such \u2018offensive\u2019 Good News! Addictions are cured, prayers are heard, wisdom is generously given, the weak are empowered and imagined strength is exposed as weakness. Religion shows empty, ritual meaningless. Relationship\u2026 is\u2026 everything:\u201c Our fellowship is with the Father and His Son<\/em>\u201d(1 John 1:3). We obey, not to impress God,but because we are impressed <\/strong>with God \u2013 His extravagant love, His justice fully satisfied in the One sacrifice of His Sinless Son, His freedom to justify the ungodly and still be just<\/strong><\/em>\u2013 because Jesus \u201cbore all our sins in his body on the tree<\/em>\u201d (1 Peter 2:24). Reconciled to God through His Son, believers are\u201cliving stones that God is building into his spiritual temple<\/em>.\u201d (1 Peter 2:5) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Gospel proclaims a Saviour who \u201ctasted death for everyone<\/em>\u201d(Hebrews 2:9) and defeated it. He is God the Son who takes\u201cno pleasure in the death of the wicked<\/em>\u201d(Ezekiel 18:23) and who came \u201cthat they may have life and have it abundantly<\/em>\u201d(John 10:10) \u2013 for what part of this should we apologise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why then\u2026?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very soon, we Christians are going to get lots of practice in loving the enemy, so it\u2019s time to answer the question \u2018WHY are we here?\u2019 \u2018Love your enemies\u2019 is not some warm, fuzzy, homespun philosophy to make us feel virtuous \u2013 indeed it has nothing whatever to do with our feelings. Jesus\u2019 command is addressed to our minds, not our emotions. It is a matter of obedience, not sentiment. To Jesus, the enemy was no vague hostility \u2018out there\u2019 in the world. His enemy always had a face. No, don\u2019t think scribes and Pharisees and Roman soldiers\u2026 go look in the mirror:\u201c\u2026while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son<\/em>\u201d(Romans 5:10). It came as a shock to me that God\u2019s love and mercy had reached me when I was Hisenemy. Jesus came to defeat sin and death on our behalf so that the likeness of God, lost in the Fall, could be restored to us. \u201cLove your enemies\u201d is the very heart of the Gospel because \u2013 perhaps more than any of Jesus\u2019 teachings \u2013 it expresses the heart and intention of God towards our race since the Fall:\u201c\u2026love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful<\/em>\u201d(Luke 6:35-36). There\u2019s the likeness restored! There\u2019s His binary, non-trans, non-gender confused, nonpolitically correct unchanging plan for mankind \u2013 male and female! Today\u2019s transient \u2018truth\u2019 is self-evidently nontruth, but \u201cthe word of the Lord stands forever\u201d. Don\u2019t take my word for it \u2013 wait and see! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then\u2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads naturally to our second question: \u201cHOW are we here?<\/em>\u201d  Only those of us who have spent the past year or so on another planet will be unaware of how organised and determined is the growing hostility to evangelical Christianity and the authority of the Bible. An executive agency of the UK Foreign Office recently produced an 11page report from an international forum which discussed the relationship between faith and the \u201chuman rights of LGBTI+ persons\u201d. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are seen as the primary obstructions to gay rights. The report calls for research funding to \u2018reinterpret\u2019 scripture to make it compatible with LGBTI ideology and teaching in Sunday Schools and seminaries. The report is especially prejudicial to evangelicals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear from this document that our own UK government\u2019s devotion to the LGBTI agenda labels us as \u2018the enemy\u2019 \u2013 but the Gospel gives us no permission to return the enmity.\u201cBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them\u2026 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God\u2026  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good<\/em>\u201d (Romans 12:14-21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how are we here? Jesus knew we would need the answer to this so He said:\u201cBehold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves<\/em>\u201d(Matthew 10:16). Veteran missionary to China, Arthur Matthews, writing about supposedly \u2018closed doors\u2019 for mission in dangerous countries, said: \u201cIt is time we sought God’s definition of a closed door and forget some of our own. When we hear the wolves howling, we think we have to rush for cover, lest we get hurt. Jesus saw things the other way. He said to his disciples, \u2018I send you as sheep into the midst of wolves.\u2019 We are not justified in arguing that a door is closed just because danger is threatening. Paul’s reasoning endorses the Savior’s remarks. He says, “Buy up the opportunity,because <\/strong>the days are evil.<\/em>” 1<\/strong> [Emphasis added] Recalling \u2018why\u2019 we are here makes sense of \u2018how\u2019 we are here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our enmity was no distraction to the outreach of God\u2019s grace to us who are now His children. In today\u2019s hostile climate it should be \u2018business as usual\u2019 as we seek to wield God\u2019s mighty weapon of hope in the midst of devil-blinded despair. Refusing distractions, controlling our fears, we must love our lost world\u2026 with sight of Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 <\/strong> Matthews, R. Arthur, Born for Battle  1978, OMF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In increasingly hostile times, Christians need clear answers to two questions. David Andrew considers the\u2018why\u2019 and \u2018how\u2019 of our existence\u2026 Focus is essential warfare strategy. If the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1028,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}