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Chapter Two: The Coming Of Jesus The Word Made Flesh
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Jesus, the Bread of Life, said in Matthew 4:4, “… Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” And in John 15:4, “… Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself … so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” And in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” And in John 14:21, “… He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” And in John 6:51, “… I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he shall live forever …” And in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” And in Matthew 7:23-27, “… Therefore every one who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.” And again in Matthew 24:35, “… Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away…”
It’s true that the context and culture in which Jesus the Man walked and talked was 2000 years ago. But considering that He warned us that all of our words and deeds are to be judged in the light of the words He spoke 2000 years ago, and considering He knew He was speaking into all future generations, we can be sure that His word and Spirit will help us with every decision that He brings us to.
Especially with such major questions as: What is my responsibility in times or war? Or, Is it proper for me to go to war? Or, Should I become a policeman and carry weapons?
The reason these questions become reasons for contention is because instead of getting answers from a relationship with the living God, people ask for advice from others. Also, because of the office of teaching in the Church, a lot of people are taught wrong doctrine. If people are teaching falsely about it, and writing books about it, it must be an important issue. And if it’s important to Jesus the Important, you can be sure He has a word for us about it.
What’s amazing is that some authors are writing books with 2, 3, even 4 theories about the ‘just war’ question. Another offers a ‘probable answer’ based on logical deduction. Why do they write about it if they don’t know the answer? What a public shame for a Christian! Does no one see that the king has no clothes on?
Again, the issue is not, “Was Jesus a pacifist?” Or, “Is Jesus a pacifist?” The answer to that question is quite plain. The issue is, “What does Jesus want me to do?” And maybe even, “What does Jesus want the church to do?” Since Jesus our Personal Savior is dealing with each one of us individually you might think it’s not necessary to ask what His will is for the Church. It’s kind of like when Peter asked Jesus the Good Pastor in John 21:20 about John the beloved disciple, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus the Determiner said, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” But for those who’ve been given the office of overseer, this is a very important question and heavy responsibility.
Someone said that Jesus never told the nations to lay down their arms. Obviously this person is deaf. However, during His ministry here on earth Jesus the Light said, in John 3:17-21, “… For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the World, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light is come into the World, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
So Jesus the Preacher didn’t come to condemn us all, or the World, for our sins but for our Sin. The root of all sins is the Sin of unbelief in Jesus the One Who Is. He came to expose to us the Light, His Light, die for our sins, raise from the dead, give us an opportunity at believing in Him, baptize us with the Holy Spirit, and to start the Church on its teaching and evangelizing mission.
When He returns, then He shall judge the earth and use whatever force He needs to use to save the human race and this planet. How do we know this? Obviously He told us. He left us here, but He didn’t leave us alone, see in John 16:7-11: “… But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the World concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the Ruler of this World has been judged…”
Here we see the focus of the ministry of the Holy Spirit: to bring conviction for our unbelief in Jesus the Living One, and our disobedience to Him. We will not lay down our arms until we realize we’ve been conquered. We will fear and obey and follow the one who has the gun and the carrot. By choosing the World’s weapons and methods we show whom we really fear and whose blessing we really are after. The division between Light and Darkness is quite plain now, clearer that at any time in history, clearer than in the Old Testament days, if you can’t see that, it’s because you are in the darkness.
In John 18:36 we hear Jesus the Revolutionary’s witness to Pilate, “… My kingdom is not of this World. If My kingdom were of this World, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” The church is not going to use the World’s weapons to fight Jesus the King of Kings’ wars, and the church is not going to fight the World’s wars either.
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