The Assembly of Christians
  • About
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Gospel
    • Affiliations
    • Distinctives
  • Learn
    • Sermons >
      • Sermon Video Uploads
    • Sunday School
    • Position Papers
  • Ministries
  • Missions
  • Members
  • Preschool
  • Giving

Why Didn’t The Gospel Go East?

6/1/2017

3 Comments

 
Once I was involved in a discussion with fellow Christians and I was told that the Gospel went out to the whole “known” world in the 1st century.  I had to ponder this statement geographically so when anybody looks at the maps in their Bible, it shows Paul’s missionary travels and his “church planting” involved lands and people that surround the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.  Then if you do a little reading about Church history, the “church” kept growing and moving kind of in a Northwestern direction.  So if Jerusalem was the starting point, the Great Commission went north and west.

So if in God’s providence the Gospel went north and west, to make the claim that it went to the whole “known” world is a misleading statement.  The Gospel essentially stayed within the Greek/Roman Empire which surrounded the Mediterranean Sea but why don’t we ever hear about the Gospel going east?  Where are the great Churches and bodies of Christ established in Arabia and the Parthian Empire? During the 1st century, these were “known” people of the world and some of these "eastern" people actually showed up for Pentecost in Acts 2  but Paul did not have any missionary journeys to this “known” world.   

What is interesting is that the Bible is not silent about these historic “eastern” people.  The Assyrian Empire, the Median Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, and the Parthian Empire were all involved with judging Old Covenant Israel.  I find it more interesting how God used the Roman Empire to push eastward these declared “enemies” of God’s people which brought stability to the region of Palestine for Jesus’ 1st coming.  Then in God’s providence, the Great Commission moved throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, but primarily north and west. 

And here is what is most interesting of all.  The Roman Empire came and went, it is gone.  The Gospel and Church continued to flourish and move north and west of Jerusalem, all the way across the ocean to the America’s, so what happened to what we now call the Middle East?  The Parthian Empire fell to the Sassanid Empire, and the Sassanid Empire fell to the Muslim Conquest, and the Muslim Conquest has produced the Islamic nations that currently occupy essentially the same land these historic Biblical empires occupied.  These historic “eastern” people to this very day are still the enemies of God’s people.  They have not been conquered or converted.  Their borders and rulers have moved around over the centuries but as a people, they are as committed to their ideology today, or shall I say idolatry, as they were thousands of years ago as revealed in the Old Testament.

Don’t you find it interesting that these people and their nations are not “Christian”?  Why haven’t they become like the United States or England?  They were such close neighbors to Palestine (Jerusalem).  Aren’t these people that are declared as enemies of the one true God in the Old Testament still the same enemies to the one true God in the New Testament? Yes, there is a remnant being saved in some churches dispersed among these nations but the ruling people in these nations are actively trying to exterminate these “infidels”.  We hear it all the time about the severe persecution these “eastern” churches are undergoing.  

In closing, let’s ponder this.  Do the Scriptures reveal a purpose for these Biblical enemies who have essentially remained the same throughout their history?  And not only are they occupying the land of their forefathers, but they are currently expanding their footprint throughout the entire world?   Scripture reveals that God had purpose for these enemies in the Old Covenant so does the Bible reveal God’s purpose for these enemies in the New Covenant?

​To God be the glory,
​Greg Kimmel
3 Comments
John
6/27/2017 09:38:55 pm


The bloody carnage of war and the overshadowing presence of terror and destruction have caused many to question the presence of God. Further, some Christians question whether, armed with vigilante justice, they should target and punish the enemies of God, or pray for their defeat.

There has always been a contentious and troubled history of Christians attempting to name and target "God's enemies." All too often, what are actually limited, but very significant differences between two groups are isolated as a single fundamental distinction between those groups (who may otherwise have much in common). With this distinction in hand, the groups are then placed in strict and uncompromising opposition to each other. This very narrow definition of "us" and "them" becomes described in highly charged moral terms that are used to convert real, but perhaps manageable differences into matters of ultimate significance, of life and death. It is undeniable that several differences between Christians and others do, in fact, have such ultimate significance. The problem arises when Christians are mistaken about those differences or when their own limited perspectives interpret those differences in ways that are more about their own self-interests than about God's interests. The propensity for human pride to promote only what "we" want and the admitted ambiguity of what God wants, complicate the question of defining God's enemies almost to the point of impossibly answering it with any integrity. The responsibility of thinking about what it means to be a Christian today and how we are to engage our (real and imagined) "enemies," however, remains.

Religion and Politics
In today's powder keg atmosphere where it appears many "enemies" abound, it is necessary to have a more adequate understanding of both Islam and of the current so-called "war on terror." Arguably, a Christian response to the current global situation would benefit greatly from a more careful historical perspective that examines the complexity of religion and politics in the encounter between Christians and Muslims. A Christian perspective would also probably benefit immensely from a more accurate and balanced understanding of the numerous factors involved in the current global situation, factors that are often overlooked or deliberately masked by religious and moral rhetoric on both "sides." For example, when one conflates all Muslims with terrorists or with "God's enemies," over-simplified generalizations result. Such generalizations run the risk of ignoring other factors at work in the present world order, and risk foreclosing on other possible ways of responding to the situation at hand.

Another step involves intentional reflection about how Christians are to engage their enemies, ethically. Biblical texts like the conquest stories in the book of Joshua, the war codes in the book of Deuteronomy, and the description of the eschatological battle in the book of Revelation, all seem to endorse war as an allowable, maybe even ideal, response. Other biblical texts, and arguably the example of Jesus himself, suggest other ways of acting toward those hostile to Christians.

The term "enemies" appears more than 200 times in the Old Testament, covering a range of situations and named enemies. Most texts, however, deal directly with threats to Israel's physical safety as a collective people (told from the perspective of Israelite authors, to be sure). All of these texts have important differences between them, and each of these texts needs to be read carefully in light of its immediate context. Still, one thread that is possible to trace through many of these texts on enemies is the belief that victory and defeat belong to God alone. Connected with that is the belief that obedience to God, or the lack thereof, is the most significant factor in securing Israel's safety among the nations (see Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 6:17-19, for example). Certainly, this formula has been read (and was likely written) as a way of making theological sense out of historical events, and offering larger moral interpretations for specific instances of hostility and violence between Israel and other peoples. Invoking God's support for one's own agenda is a tactic as old as it is questionable. Yet, alongside this aspect of the theology of enemies, is also the idea that God alone grants victory and defeat and declares justice between peoples. As such, human motives and desires become relative and are held in check by God's purposes.

In reading the Scriptures, some of the same texts that give detailed instructions for how Israel is to conduct war give reminders that from its origins, Israel was chosen and delivered from slavery by God (see Deuteronomy 7:7-26; 20:1-20). Thus, recognizing God's sovereignty in relation to one's enemies may modify the picture of how we are to relate to them. Many texts obviously and clearly support and condone and encourage acts of violence and war against people

Reply
Greg K.
7/4/2017 04:57:09 pm

Hi John, very thoughtful even scholarly response around the potential confusion surrounding the enemies of God. You reference numerous times Israel and the Old Testament which is the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was earthly, physical, bloody, deadly, and temporary. It is such a great picture of the issues that still exist today. You mention the example of Jesus, so what Jesus did was put to death the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant.

“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises [Heb 8:6 KJV].
“Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” [Heb 10:9 KJV].

The New Covenant is heavenly, spiritual, living, and eternal. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. Under the New Covenant, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ [2Co 10:3-5 KJV]. This war, this enemy is spiritual. What is tricky is that flesh and blood are the instruments of sin and Satan used to promote and propagate imaginations, high things, and thoughts that exalt their ideology and religion against the knowledge of Jesus Christ who is the only source of grace and truth. This exultation against the knowledge of Christ results in the mind, soul, and body being taken captive and fortresses of lies are being built like fortified castles.

The beloved saints of our Eastern churches are not promoting or propagating a physical flesh and blood war against the enemies of the Gospel. But as soon as they preach Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the way, the truth, and the life; nobody goes to the Father (who art in heaven) but by Jesus; heads will roll. If anybody thinks the Western church will always be exempt from head rolling (i.e. being killed for believing and following Jesus), they have already been taken captive.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. [Eph 6:10-13 KJV]

Reply
Rolf Thielen link
2/18/2020 02:38:56 am

Greg
Lovely article
What I'm noticing is that God is moving more West than the West now.
Germany has turned their back on God as has England. America is busy forsaking Christ.
Christianity is more ascendant in China today than America.
After that India the Levant
then the End.
What do think?
Blessings
Rolf


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8S8XOUAcJQ

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

sunday Morning

Bible Study for All Ages
9:15 am
Coffee and Fellowship
10:00 am
Sunday Morning Worship
10:30 am


A Reformed Baptist Church
Picture

Location

Assembly of Christians
3619 Sterns Rd
Lambertville, MI 48144
(734) 856-6420 or ​(419) 367-2712

Give online:
Donate

    CONTACT US

Submit

  • About
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Gospel
    • Affiliations
    • Distinctives
  • Learn
    • Sermons >
      • Sermon Video Uploads
    • Sunday School
    • Position Papers
  • Ministries
  • Missions
  • Members
  • Preschool
  • Giving