Continuing from the previous post, Original Sin
Thus does Jesus divide the entire world between the merciful and the judgmental. There is way, Jesus says, to get out of Adam’s system of judgmentalism, but it only happens by resting on God’s mercy. God is the author of mercy, and this mercy comes from His own nature. Thus, if we are to learn mercy, we must rest in God’s nature. How is this done? After all, we are all stuck in a system of rules and judgmentalism? It happens through the work of Jesus.
1. Jesus taught us what the problem is
Jesus came to earth first to inform us of the problem. Every system, especially the system that was supposed to represent God, ended up becoming long lists of rules that ended up condemning everyone. Jesus wasn’t antinomian—He wasn’t trying to say that we should do away with rules as a principle. Rather, He said that every rule should be based on the principle of love—the principle of acting for the benefit of others and all. Jesus said that any rule that stands against love is a rule that is begging to be broken and that one cannot hold the ones who break such a rule cannot be held guilty. Jesus taught us that religious systems created by people who invent rules and claim they are God’s rules is demon-possessed and must be delivered. Or it must be scrapped to allow a new system to be created.
2. Jesus told us to repent
Jesus said “Repent for the kingdom of God is near.” But this repentance wasn’t primarily about the petty sins we commit against our religious system or against our own sense of ethics. Rather, Jesus clarified that we needed to repent of our lack of mercy, we needed to repent of imposing ourselves on others, we needed to repent of seeing other people as extensions of ourselves, ways to meet our own needs and desires. He also told us that if we did not repent, that we could not enter into God’s kingdom, where we could actually and finally have all of our needs met.
3. Jesus died to create a new system
We were then in a quandary. Jesus taught us that our natural desires—to force others to participate in our system of false morality—and the systems in which we lived—which create a lifestyle of morality for everyone to fit into—are false and lead us not just away from God’s kingdom, but to hell. How can we change everything we have been taught, and how can we live separately from the world in which we live?
Jesus told us not just what we are to do, but he created the means by which we could do so. Jesus died to create the kingdom of God. This death, first of all, showed the utter failure of the system of the world. Both the system created around worship of the one true God (the Jewish cult) and the ultimate system of human organization (the Roman government) condemned Jesus—the representation of God’s mercy— and sent him to death. Thus did God declare these systems—and every human system—inadequate for accomplishing God’s will on earth.
And thus did Jesus open up the way for a new kingdom, the kingdom ruled by God and His mercy. Jesus chose people who would live their lives like Jesus did—surrendering everything so they could be God’s representatives of mercy to the world. And those few people were the mustard seed from which God would grow a mighty tree. The new system of God wouldn’t be like the old system. It couldn’t ever be contained by human organizations or policies. Every time the kingdom gets locked up by rules and traditions, God breaks it and establishes a new system which is based on His love and mercy.
4. Jesus gives the Spirit to create new creatures
Finally, in picking people to represent His mercy, Jesus did one more essential thing. If the new kingdom of God is to be run by people who acted only for the benefit of others, then something had to be done about their hearts. Because the human heart is born selfish and it is trained in selfishness. So Jesus gives every one who enters into His kingdom a new heart by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works within our selfish hearts and helps us to see other people. He gives us hearts of mercy, of compassion and He gives us wisdom so that we can know not only what others’ need, but also how to meet that need.
This is the secret of how we know who is really a part of God’s people or not. Not whether they have prayed a certain prayer, belong to a certain church or whether they are sufficiently religious enough. Rather, we know who, among all of those who claim Jesus, are the ones who are truly a part of God’s kingdom. These are the ones who have hearts of mercy and reject judgmentalism. Those who open their hearts to the poor. Those who see the need instead of the sin. Those who work at loving people instead of hating them. Anyone can claim Jesus. Anyone can say they are a child of God. The ones of the true faith, however, are the ones who display that the Spirit of love and mercy is working within them, making them new creations of gentleness and compassion.
The kingdom of God is still growing. And many of our religious systems must still be broken. When our rules cast people out instead of trying to meet their needs… when our attitudes are about rejection instead of expressing hope for someone’s future… when we refuse to be flexible to assist those in need… then it is time for God’s revolution to occur again. It is time for our systems of religion to be broken and for Jesus’ Spirit of love and mercy to open up a new people. Perhaps this new people will emerge from within the old system. Perhaps the system is so broken that the new people can only grow from without this system. But Jesus’ mercy and love can only exist in opposition to the natural order of things.
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