3. Empowerment: Live my purpose + Take God’s presence everywhere I go
Talk 3 of 4 = From the Transformation series
We simultaneously live in “two worlds,” the kingdom of this earth and the Kingdom of God. One is always seen; the other often takes a bit of focus to see. Yet, as we study more you’ll notice that the Kingdom of God, though it may appear at first glance to be hidden, is certainly always visible, as well. (And, recall, repentance involves seeing things differently— perhaps in a way we’ve never seen life before.)
You are primarily a citizen of the Kingdom of God.
However, you’re also a citizen of earth— here to bless the people among whom you live. In other words, citizenship of the Kingdom and citizenship of the earth aren’t at (as many Christians suppose).
Sometimes, Christians look at the world in which we live and marvel at how different things are “here” than we feel they're supposed to be. If you've ever sensed this, you’re on the right track. The culture of the Kingdom is supposed to be different than the “kingdom of this world.”
The church is the group of people, the ecclesia, whom Jesus calls to live this unique culture of the Kingdom.
Ecclesia is the Greek word we translate as “church.”
It doesn’t mean “a building,” however. The word means “called out ones.”
This is different than how we generally use the word. When Jesus mentioned ecclesia, her referred to His people— not a place.
The word ecclesia was in common usage throughout Rome, and referred to a group of people, an assembly, who came together to help lead the culture, share ideas, and create strategy to infuse the priorities of the homeland throughout their local area.
Since we’re called to live among the culture, thereby infusing it with the values of the Kingdom, we should stop viewing things as “sacred vs secular.” Rather, we should evaluate facets of culture as “redeemed vs not-yet-redeemed.”
Jesus is in the process of reconciling everything to Himself (see Colossians 1:20), that is, of restoring all things (see Acts 3:21).
And, as His people, we become His change agents...
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