Christ's resurrection doesn't mean escaping from the world; it means mission to the world based on Jesus's lordship over the world.
Interpretation
The resurrection of Christ signifies a call to engage with the world rather than withdraw from it.
N. T. Wright's quote emphasizes that Christ's resurrection is not merely a promise of escape from worldly troubles but rather a directive to actively participate in the world under the authority of Jesus. This mission is grounded in recognizing His sovereignty, urging believers to engage in transformative actions that reflect their faith and commitment to His teachings.
In practice
Using this quote in a sermon to inspire community service and social responsibility.
The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating thet God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven." "The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.
True worship doesn't put on a show or make a fuss; true worship isn't forced, isn't half-hearted, doesn't keep looking at its watch, doesn't worry what the person in the next pew is doing. True worship is open to God, adoring God, waiting for God, trusting God even in the dark.
Most of the things that really matter require faith. How do I know that my wife loves me? How do I know that Mozarts Jupiter Symphony is sublime and beautiful? There are all sorts of things which come at a more lowly level than that - How do I know that two plus two equals four? There are different layers, different types of knowing.
To get overprotective about particular readings of the Bible is always in danger of idolatry.
Without God's Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God's kingdom. Without God's Spirit, the church simply can't be the church.
I'm not a universalist, and the way I talk about final loss is this: People worship idols - money, whatever. Their humanness gets reshaped around the idol - you become like what you worship. That's one of the basic spiritual laws.
When people get rich, they cut themselves off from the context that has earned them these riches - the context of the common men. They forget they are part of society.
Relaxing your hair is like being in prison. You're caged in. Your hair rules you. You didn't go running with Curt today because you don't want to sweat out this straightness. You're always battling to make your hair do what it wasn't meant to do.
I don't think there's such a thing as autobiographical fiction. If I say it happened, it happened, even if only in my mind.
I have sinned against my brother the ass.
America, how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
Emotions can certainly be misleading: they can fool you into believing stuff that is definitely, demonstrably untrue. Yet emotions are also our indispensable tool for navigating, for feeling our way through, the much larger domain of stuff that isn't susceptible to proof or disproof, that isn't checkable against the physical universe.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.