Jesus Cropped from the Picture

The Kingdom of God

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15.24-25).”

3. The Rescue. Jesus rescues a people to be his own bride. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1.13).”

In their well-meaning efforts to reduce the Story to an easy-to- communicate message, many traditions have minimized the first two aspects (Throne and Conquest), and focused almost exclusively on the third (Rescue), limiting a full understanding of Scripture. In some cases the Throne and Conquest are downplayed on purpose, because people are uncomfortable with those aspects of the Story. In either case, the Rescue (without the Throne and Conquest) has now become the heart of the Christian message in America. With the devil cropped out of the picture, the individual (the basketball) takes on greater importance than is intended, and the picture makes little sense. The picture is too small. Rather than focusing on the broad aspects of the Story (a King who regains his throne against an evil adversary), the emphasis has been on a Rescuer who saves the individual . While it is true that a Rescue is being made, there is too much emphasis on the individual, which blurs the Story. God’s plan “includes not only the reconciliation of people to God, but the reconciliation of ‘all things in heaven and on earth.’ The redemption of persons is at the center of God’s plan, but it is not the circumference of that plan.” 20

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