Today on a list serve that I participate in one of the men asked a question that is on many people’s minds:

“OK. Could someone explain to me what’s going on in Israel right now, please?”

He received the following two responses that I thought were particularly insightful:

“Hamas has been dropping bombs on Israel daily ever since the cease fire ended — and even before.

“The Jewish government has no intention of allowing its citizens to be subjected day in and day out to Hamas’ terrorism, so they decided to blow them off the face of the planet — which is a good temporary solution, but not a real solution at all.

“What is happening is that God is using Jews and Muslims to educate the dull, stupid, Christian West about the simple truth that one’s faith in God and understanding of who God is actually is the most important political idea a man can hold.

“The Muslims in particular are God’s discipline against the West for its Enlightenment, anti-Christian mentality.  God is showing the world that there will be no realization of the secular, democratic, capitalist dream.

“Outside of Christ is chaos.

“Something like that is what is happening in Israel.  The Jews and Muslims are bearing testimony to Jesus in spite of themselves.”

The other astute post highlighted another theologically important point that would help a good many Christians reorient their thinking not only about the Middle East, but also the comprehensive salvation wrought by Christ.

“You could also argue that this is what happens when people (Muslims and Jews) try to hold onto the OC [Old Covenant] land promises, whereas God’s focus is now the world (Rom. 4:13), not a tiny strip on the eastern shore or the Mediterranean Sea.”

Christ did not come merely to save a minority of humans from their sins so that they can go to heaven someday and be with him.   No!  That is not the gospel!

The good news, the Gospel that is to be declared to the world is that Jesus Christ our Lord was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).  By His resurrection and ascension He was seated at the right hand of the Father, and rules all things (Eph. 2:20-23; Acts 2:24-36).

What does our Lord Jesus rule, as the exalted Savior?  Psalm 2:7-8 (cf. Acts 13:33) tells us that by the resurrection the Father declared that He will give His Son the nations as His inheritance to rule. This reign is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that the nations would be blessed through him and His seed. Through Jesus Christ and Him alone will the nations find salvation and peace.

This is the Gospel – This is the hope of the nations: That Jesus will bring peace and salvation to the earth.  There is no other name under heaven by which a man or the nations of the world can be saved except Jesus Christ. And this salvation is not just spiritual, heavenly, other dimensional salvation – it includes a transformation of the world under the Lordship of Christ.  It is our prayer that the will of the Father in heaven would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

If this is true – Why do so many Christians today limit the salvation of God to he hearts of men, and the geographic reign of Christ to Israel/Palestine (and that limited to a millennial period in the future)?  Why the preoccupation with the Land of Israel when Christ is the sovereign ruler of all the earth?  Since all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him so that the nations of the world will be disciple through His people – Why the inordinate interest in Israel?

Because, like the Jews and Muslims that have rejected the Messiah, most Christians today hold on to the Old Covenant land promises as if Christ were irrelevant to the history of the world. The Great Commission imposes on the Church the duty to declare to the nations (i.e. the Jews, Muslims, all peoples, tribes, tongues and nations) that Jesus rules all of the earth and the only hope for peace is to be found in Jesus Christ.

May God give us the faith to believe the Gospel enough to preach it in its fullness – Then maybe, just maybe – There could be a real and enduring peace in the Middle East.

Tags: Islam, Israel, Messiah, muslims, Palestine, peace, Politics, Social Commentary, war