Tag Archives: Simply Jesus

Simply Jesus: Living in Act 5

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The last chapter in Simply Jesus examines the question – what does it mean to say that Jesus is King – and examines how Christians should seek to live in the 5th Act of human history.

The views presented here are a summary of what Wright presents in his book. Wright

Jesus is King over Heaven & Earth

In dealing with the question what does it mean to say that Jesus is King, Wright explains that Jesus is currently King over heaven and earth. Daniel 7 has been fulfilled at the Ascension and we are not to wait for Jesus to become King, though we are to anticipate His return. I would add that Matthew 28 would add support to this idea.

Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.(Matt 28:18 NET)

But for Wright that does not mean that Jesus rules over two separate worlds or realms. Heaven and earth are two overlapping and interlocking worlds. And Jesus has launched God’s kingdom on earth.

When we look at the world we might wonder how that could possibly be true. After all the world is such a mess. But, according to Wright, we are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle when we talk about the reign of Jesus and His kingdom: Continue reading →

Simply Jesus: Our Hero and King is Alive

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WrightThis post is part of the series  blogging through Simply Jesus.

In the last chapter the question was: Why did the Messiah have to die? In this chapter, Wright wrestles with the meaning of the Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming.

Wright sees all of these events as essential to God’s great restoration project in which He is ‘putting the world right‘.

The power that has tyrannized the old creation has been broke, defeated, overthrown. God’s kingdom is now launched, and launched in power and glory, on earth as in heaven.

In this chapter, Wright is challenging those Christians who look forward to going to heaven as a new place without focusing on living fully for Christ now.

To have this kind of view, Wright contends, is to miss out on what God is doing. Continue reading →

Simply Jesus: Why did Jesus have to die?

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It has been awhile since I posted on my readings through Simply Jesus. Part of that has been the fact that life has been full of other activities. And part of that is because in this chapter Wright addresses an incredibly important question (which I wanted to take time to explore).

Why did the Messiah have to die?

Wright spends much of chapter 13 exploring how God surprised everyone in combining the roles of Messiah, servant, and returning God into the same person – Jesus.

This combination was a small step exegetically, but a giant leap theologically … Nobody, so far as we know, had dreamed of combining these ideas in this way before.

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Jesus’s vocation to be Israel’s Messiah and his vocation to suffer and die belong intimately together.

Wright then explains that the reason Jesus had to die was to defeat the true enemy – Continue reading →