I often ask my students at Eastern [University], why did Jesus come
into the world? Why did he leave the glories of heaven and break into
history? What was he out to do? If he were to write out his mission
statement, how would it read? Good question! Everybody is writing out
mission statements. What would be his?
I get a lot of good answers. People tell me he came to bring a
revelation of God, he came to die on the cross to take the punishment
for our sins, he came that we might have joy, that his joy might be in
us. It goes on and on and on. But they seldom come up with what Jesus
really would have said. I do know what Jesus would have said and did
say. The first thing out of Jesus¡¯ mouth when he started his
ministry¡ªMatthew, Mark, Luke, check it out¡ªthe first thing he says is,
¡°I have come to declare the kingdom of God is at hand.¡± Jesus came
declaring the kingdom of God. All of his parables are about the
kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is like a man who does this or a
woman who does that. When he told his disciples how to pray he said,
¡°Pray for the kingdom. Pray: thy kingdom come, thy will be done on
Earth as it is in heaven.¡± Note: no pie in the sky when you die! He¡¯s
talking about a kingdom in this world. He wants to change this world
into the kind of world that it ought to be. That¡¯s why Jesus came, to
create transformed people who in turn will live in a transformed
world.
All very true. However, there is something more blatantly wrong in what he said … something specific!
What you said was a good summary of what the true Gospel promises!
The only transformation of this earth will be when Christ comes again and there will be a new earth. This earth we know today will pass and everyone after Adam was born unto sin and through the Mercy of God, His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ made the pure sacrifice for our sins so that we could become joint heirs with Him. There will continue to be a changing of ourselves in striving to become more like Christ and what Christ would want us to be but only when we die will we be totally transformed. Thats the way I see it.