Freeman gives 10 answers to that very loaded question. I thought I'd consider each of his 10 answers, one at a time, taking a closer look.
The first answer was this:
First, live as though in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated into the world and the outcome of history has already been determined. (Quit worrying)
That's a good place to start for a couple of reasons. First, it's good to start with the Kingdom of God, because that is at the heart of the Gospel message. And second, which follows from the first, is that the Gospel gives us confidence in the outcome of history, as well as our own personal destiny.
When Jesus began his ministry announcing the coming of a king and a kingdom, this message was never left behind or replaced by another, like the early draft of a novel. All of the rest of his ministry and teaching, and in fact all of the letters of the New Testament, essentially ramify that opening salvo from Jesus: "The kingdom of God is at hand."
This is ground-truth for a Christian. Everything starts here, and everything follows from this. One way to see the Gospel is that it is the news that God has taken a major step (the major step) in redeeming all creation. Another way to say this is that in and through Jesus the reign of God has been inaugurated and will inevitably be brought to completion. King Jesus is at the center of this good news, the linchpin, but the periphery reaches to the limits of creation.
If repentance is the natural and right response to hearing and understanding this good news for the first time, confidence and joy should follow soon after. Forgiveness and welcome from God, won for you by Jesus, results in a new lease on life.
And it is in this light that we come to Freeman's first answer to the question, how should we live? We should live as if we believe it's true. "The kingdom of God has been inaugurated into the world, and the outcome of history has already been determined."
If Christians often don't seem to know this, well, that may be because they haven't been properly taught. So often the church seems to turn the Good News into the story about how Jesus will save us out of this world when we die: personal salvation instead of kingdom inauguration.
Much that is harmful follows from this mistaken focus. We have kept the Gospel me-centered, essentially turning Christians into a lot of thank-you-God-that-I-am-not-like-these-others type of Christians (for I am saved, and they're not), instead of Good-News-of-the-Kingdom types.
The reign of Jesus, a truly loving King, has begun. The ancient prayers, speaking of Jesus, often say that He "lives and reigns with you [God the Father] and the Holy Spirit." That's another way to state the Good News. And if we get this, all the imperatives of Paul's letters become soluble. Instead of moral commands, they become invitations to walk in a new reality and to take part in the ongoing reign and rule of the Lord Jesus by loving others as he loved.
All New Testament imperatives have this reign and rule as their backdrop. If you think that the Good News is only about your personal salvation, exhortations to not be anxious may briefly inspire you, but the peace of God will never truly take possession of your soul. But if you think that the Good News is the story about King Jesus, and your response is, quite naturally, to follow Him, to love Him and want to be like him, then the Christian life, instead of being one of waiting for God to sweep us away to heaven, becomes one of mission, or the answering of His call. We do not follow an unworthy king, but one to whom all creation will pay honor and glory someday. So we praise him, and get on with our work, knowing that he has given us all that we need for life and Godliness. Amen?
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