Sunday: The Two Emphases the Person and the Order
WEEK 29
SUNDAY
THE TWO EMPHASES THE PERSON AND THE ORDER
John 1:14-19
We have been studying the mighty affirmations of the Acts. It was the divine positive becoming incarnate in a group. It was life-affirming and world-affirming. It meant the individual was going to be made into the most wonderful image ever seen upon our planet: “It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2 RSV). “Like him”—what a destiny!
But the positive was just as positive about society, the total life. For this world was to be the scene of the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.
It was the fact that the kingdom of God was to come on earth that gave hope and faith about the world and its ultimate meaning and goal. The world was to be redeemed, not rejected. It was to end, not in illusion, but in illumination. If the cross had its head and arms above the earth, the basis of that cross was in the earth, and the earth was to partake of that redemption.
The kingdom of God is the all-embracing conception that gives cosmic and total meaning to life and redemption. In the Acts the kingdom and Jesus are the two emphases: one the Order and the other the Person. Note: “After they came to believe Philip, who preached the good news about God’s kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:12). Note the good news was not just Jesus, the Person, nor the kingdom, the Order—it was both. Paul had these two emphases also, “From morning until evening, he explained and testified concerning God’s kingdom and tried to convince them about Jesus” (28:23). And again: “Paul lived in his own rented quarters for two full years and welcomed everyone who came to see him. Unhindered and with complete confidence, he continued to preach God’s kingdom and to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ” (28:30-31). Now note “God’s kingdom . . . about the Lord Jesus”—the Order and the Person.
To preach the Order made religion social; to preach Jesus made religion personal—it was both social and personal.
O Jesus, we thank you that you inspire us anew to preach you and your message. For your message is the kingdom. Help us to get hold of both: you and the kingdom. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: The social and the personal shall become one in me, each a part of a living whole.