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.

In 2 Timothy , Paul discusses the future resurrection of believers as he responds to denials of this “ sound teaching ” by deceivers who were disrupting the Assembly, denials he treats as little more than idle chatter . In doing so, he demonstrates that his later theology remains well within the Apostolic Tradition and the teachings of his earliest letters. From the beginning, belief in the coming resurrection was central to the doctrine of salvatio n taught by Jesus, his Apostles, and the early Church. This teaching was and remains  “ sound ”  because it is based on the past resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Jesus is the one who unveils the mysteries of God, and only he is qualified to reveal the “ unseen God .” In him, all the promises of God find their substance. He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and provides the correct understanding of Bible prophecy. The proclamation of “ Christ Crucified ” is the “ power and wisdom of God ,” and there is no knowledge of the Father apart from him.

Jesus declared, “ The Spirit makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life .” His statement echoes the principle that life and the Spirit of God are inextricably linked. The “ flesh ” is not inherently evil, but it has no lasting life apart from the Holy Spirit. This principle was demonstrated at the original creation, and now the same Spirit is essential for the bodily resurrection of believers and everlasting life in the age to come.