Christ and the World

What is the relationship of Jesus Christ and the world we live in?

The Church is formed, called and is shaped by the Spirit of Christ.  Church is God’s idea, God’s way to communicate Himself to the world; an extension of Himself, a nation of priests in the midst of a fallen world; a world deeply loved by God and in no way abandoned by God.

How should the church be in the world?  What should the Church do in the world?  For all her faults, the Church is the community through which Christ is presented to the world.  For all her shortcomings, due to a host of different reasons, God is shaping, crafting, something of exquisite beauty in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation.

So how can the Church facilitate, join in, engage with, partner, share in the nature of the relationship of Christ and the world?

1. That Christ is in and for the world in creation, the realm of the natural world, and through the incarnation.

2.  That Christ is against the world, standing against the forces of destruction and alienation, and exposing the ambiguity of sin.

3.  That Christ is beyond the world in redeeming death, through life-giving revelation, and as the world’s eternal hope.

All glory to Christ Jesus.