The Crucified Messiah

Institutional Christianity has a long and sordid history of mixing Church and State. The temptation to use political power to impose “right” beliefs and other agendas is too great. Advancing “Christianity” through the  political mechanisms  of this world  always  necessitates the use of the coercive power of the State, and this corrosive mixture inevitably corrupts the Church and destroys its witness.

Jesus is the Messiah whose reign began on the Cross, and who fulfilled his mission as the Suffering Servant of the LORD . The theme of fulfillment dominates the New Testament . In Jesus Christ , the promises of God are fulfilled, he is the Son of God sent to redeem Israel and rule the nations, but he does so paradoxically . Peter confirmed that he was the “ Messiah ” but failed to understand that he would undertake that role as the “ Servant of Yahweh ” who came to “ bear the sins of many .” His true identity was revealed through his self-sacrificial act on the Cross .

Jesus commanded his disciples to proclaim the Good News of salvation and his kingdom to every inhabited corner of the Earth . The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about reforming society or fixing governments. His message summons all men to repent and join an entirely new social order and political reality, the Kingdom of God . His “ Good News ” is contrary to the political philosophies of this present “ evil age .” Responding positively to his invitation is vital considering the approaching disappearance of the existing order from the Earth.

God has spoken His decisive and superior “ word ” in His son, and He did so “ upon the last of these days .” This refers to the end of the period epitomized by the Levitical code with its priesthood and repeated animal sacrifices, a system of worship centered in the Tabernacle and the later Jerusalem Temple. With the appointment of Jesus as the High Priest “ after the order of Melchizedek ,” a new and final era of salvation commenced.

The arrival of Jesus will be an event of great victory and utter finality. That day will include the resurrection and the New Creation . The return of Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament as a singular event, one of great finality. His “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ will be accompanied by celestial and terrestrial upheaval, the appearance of the New Creation, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the judgment and punishment of the ungodly, “ the gathering of his elect ,” and the end of Death.

Paul explains the Gospel in detail in his Letter to the Romans . He wrote to the Assembly in the city of Rome to deal with conflicts between Gentile and Jewish members, and to prepare the ground for taking the Gospel to the western provinces of the Empire. In doing so, he touched on key topics, including death, redemption, the Law, resurrection, and New Creation. Believers are justified through the Nazarene’s death, and they are saved and receive immortality through his resurrection.