Is Jesus Political? - A Dive Into Kingdom Talk

A month or two ago, I announced on Facebook that I was done talking politics. I hated the extremes everyone took and the divide it causes. A week before this, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts on academia studies of the Bible. This topic came up and what was said had me questioning everything. Let me explain by painting the picture.

First, as most things I write, we will get into "strange" territory because, well, I love the weird. And to our modern eyes and ears, the biblical worldview is weird! It always involves the supernatural. If you cut that out, you don't have a good grasp on what's going on.

Let's get the most obvious thing out of the way here. Whenever the biblical authors talk about God or the supernatural, we notice it's always within the context of a kingdom setting, courts, rulers, servants, etc. Why is this? Well, the answer goes all the way back to Genesis.

The problem of describing God and what He does is we're confined to our own dimensions to talk about the other side. So authors utilize courtroom and kingdom settings to describe Heaven and God. Why? Because that's how God shows Himself as operating. He is the Most High King. He is the creator of all things. Thus, He Is King.

In Eden, He is also ruler, father and friend. In other passages, Eden is described as a temple and throne room, Mount Zion. Eden is described as a mountain. You will notice in studies that in the ancient world, this is where the gods lived. The sea, the mountains, the farthest reaches that man cannot go. Also, they lived in luxury, in garden places. I believe this is in Isaiah.

Throughout the Bible, humanity loyal to Yahweh is depicted as servants but also family. Now ask yourself this. If being with God is consistently represented by royal and kingdom words, what does this make us who are loyal to Him? See where this is going?

Now, if you've seen any of my writings before, you know what I'm going to link to next. All the numerous passages that reference spiritual beings and cosmic geography. This is deeply political in nature as it involves kingdoms and rulers, established laws God governs both realms with, the human and spiritual. In levitical law, we get the sacrifices not because of sin but something else. We miss this in church. We always associate levitical sacrifices as something done to cleanse us. But if you look at the text, it's NOT. It's done to purify sacred space. Why? Because we who are sinful pollute the presence of holy places. God Himself is holy, set apart, perfect. We, as human, are corrupt, blemished. In the laws of sacrifice, the blood is not applied to humans but the holy place. This is all Kingdom talk, laws of purification to be able to fellowship with the King.

In other places, we are given cosmic rulership language throughout the Bible. In Ephesians 6, Paul goes on and on about this as spiritual warfare. Everything he mentions has a geographic term associated with it. The spirits we fight against all have a single common denominator. That is, geography. In Daniel, the angel who appears to him has fought the prince of persia and greece. What does that even mean unless these princes are spiritual rulers that legitimately rule the nations?

Where does one get this notion? Easy. The tower of Babel in Gen 11 and Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 82 and so on. It's spiritual rulership over the nations God disinherits. When Jesus says to His disciples that all authority has now been given to Him...wasn't it already His? Why does Satan even tempt Jesus in the wilderness with the strange words of "I will give you this..." How can Satan give Jesus anything if he doesn't already own it? Ever ask yourself that question? Now tie the two together with the old testament and realize the truth. Satan was saying he would legitimately give over the rightful rule of the nations. This is absolutely political that goes all the way back to Genesis. Paul knew this easy and talks about it all the time in his letters. Just pay close attention to how he describes things. In 1 Corinthians, when he tries to persuade Christians to stop fighting with each other and going to court, he throws this off handed comment out there that most people avoid talking about. They have no idea what it means. But now you do. He says, "don't you know that you will judge angels?" Another way the words can be translated is "rule over." This cannot be understood unless you understand what God has done in salvation. It's something we totally miss and disregard.

First, lets look at the wording of "Christian" for a second. When the Bible addresses spiritual rulers in the Old Testament, the grammar is very specific as it consistently says "Sons of God." The context is ALWAYS supernatural. You cannot escape it and these beings are powerful. These are not angels we see elsewhere. The wording doesn't allow it. Humans, at no point in time in the Old Testament, are given this status. It's just not there.

However, and this is what people don't talk about, the New Testament authors reverse this very wording. Now, Christians alone are given the title "Sons and Daughters of God." It's the adoption language of salvation. It's the same exact wording from the old testament but placed exclusively on Christians.

Why does this matter? Because it is directly related to status and title. In Revelation, Jesus is holding his scepter and in that moment, he says he will give rulership over the nations. Who does He give that rulership to? Those He calls brothers and sisters. Who are they? Christians. WE become the replacement of the Old Testament "Sons of God" because that title is what they have in the Old Testament. These are the gods the nations of the world are loyal to. As God says in Psalms, they disobeyed God's command and incited worship of humans, making themselves out to be gods, stealing God's authority as their own. This is why God pronounces death to them.

Paul consistently links this to spiritual warfare because this is ultimately what we fight against without ever knowing it. These are spiritual rulers Jesus displaces when He dies and resurrects. This is what the cross actually does. It's not simply giving us access to God. That temple curtain was ripped not just as a symbol of our connection to Him but His authority over all the world He disowns in Genesis 11. He takes back his legitimate rulership of this world.

However, the "sons of God", the spirits who have ruled for thousands of years, do not go without a fight. They don't want to give up their role and fight. This is what Ephesians is all about. This is what Romans is all about. This is the New Testament narrative of Acts. This is why we get the mention of Jesus being handed the keys to life and death. If He already had it, we wouldn't need these verses. His death and being risen from the dead now legitimately gives Him the right to be Lord of the dead as well. Now all authority is placed on Him and in Revelations, Jesus gives authority over to us as brothers and sisters to rule. That's what the text says plainly.

So what does this have to do with now? Everything!

Our status as Christians are very political, very kindgdom oriented. Just look at how we are called ambassadors for Christ. In the world of Kings and courts, what status does princes and princesses have? More importantly, where does their loyalty reside? Their King, right? Their status has legitimate power. So it does for Christians.

In our modern western view of the world, we are so one dimensional. We deny God His rank all the time, our influence constantly on science and what we can see and observe. We rarely think in terms of the supernatural and yet that is what Paul consistently warns us about. He tells us not to forget we are in a war every day with spirits. We are always on the battlefield. That enemy is not just one who is Satan but the spiritual rulers and powers in the unseen realm. This is REAL. It's not a metaphor for trying to act good.

Now, ask yourself this. If Paul considers spiritual warfare us against spiritual rulers, who are the rulers over? If the spiritual rulers have ruled nations over thousands of years, they weren't about to give that up when Jesus dethroned them. This is why Paul continually says this is what we fight. It's cosmic geography he addresses in Ephesians.

Now ask this question. Is there any nation other than Israel who God ruled as His own without a spiritual ruler? If you answer the USA, you're wrong. Here's the thing to ponder. This world is corrupt and although Jesus is Lord, it's not yet time for Him to claim rulership in mass. That is the second coming when the fullness of the gentiles is complete, whatever that means. This is what Jesus said to His disciples. When that day comes, Israel will have a reawakening, Jesus returns and the judgement of the cosmic spiritual rulers will take place. But not before it's time.

So right now, we still live under the influence of spiritual rulers who have always influenced the nations of the world. Our status as adopted royalty according to God Himself, demands loyalty. That is part of our status as Christians. We owe our allegiance to Jesus. This means, any other loyalty in the political realm is wrong. If we align our total loyalty to a single nation (knowing that there is a spiritual ruler who wants God's rule destroyed), we are then being disloyal. A Christian's loyalty is legitimately aligned with Jesus's kingdom, that is very real, and very political. Demanding we blindly say we are loyal to a nation as a Christian... It begs the question. Who then are you following? Because the true rulers of nations are the spiritual powers of Ephesians 6. Swearing loyalty to a nation then, in my eyes at least, is a dangerous thing. My loyalty is already sworn to another country, a kingdom that doesn't align with earthly designs.

We are told to be set apart, that we are aliens of this world now because its rulership are enemies of our King. This is why Paul calls Christians, ambassadors. We are servants and delegates to the nations representing Jesus. Is this not political language? These are the words Paul uses all the time. We do not belong to this world nor its rulers. We are royalty, a thing absolutely hateful to the spirits. They know we replace them in the kingdom to come as they die. They will do anything to make us forget this truth because it's like salt in the wound, poking at what they have lost.

It's also the heart of spiritual warfare. It's us building Jesus Kingdom while their's diminishes. It's called the great commission, you know, that thing Jesus talked about before He ascended. This is what the spirits fear more than anything else. They don't care that you go to church. What they fear is you speaking the truth of the gospel and reckognizing our true identity. If more of us knew our status and title, our future, the way God sees us, then perhaps we wouldn't be so hard pressed to find our identity elsewhere. That status God adopts us into is eternal with such significance and awe, our place higher than angels, that such thing, such a love from God for us, anything else in this world has little meaning or value.

This is how Paul looks at his suffering as the missionary to the world, shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned. When he mentions the race he is in which is life, his eyes are fixed on eternity, that new life that isn't sitting in a cloud strumming harps or an eternity singing hymns. That's not a Christian's destiny.

I have this sense that a lot of Christians in the west do not know or understand that loyalty is a big part of the Christian life. When we say that we believe in Jesus and what He's done for us, is that it? Or do we take Him at His word when he gives the sermon on the mount? Following Jesus isn't a comfy road. It means we deny ourselves. You only deny yourself if you are loyal because you promised something. That is the heart of salvation. We align ourselves with Jesus, not the world. And in so doing, become the enemy of the world because its rulers are cosmic enemies.

To align ourselves with a nation then (understand that in the Bible, the nations were always against Israel because their rulers were spirits), we need to ask a hard question. Why do we say a country like the USA is Christian? It's not and never has been. It's something that makes no sense biblically. God chose once to call a country His own because He supernaturally chose Abraham and Sara's family. It's the only time God made this choice. We cannot say this of any other nation in all of history. We need to stop calling the USA a Christian nation or that we are Christian nationals because that in itself is an oxymoron.

Christians fighting with each other over political issues and saying this or that needs to stop. It's wrong and evil. We DO NOT belong here! This world as a whole is allied with spiritual rulers that want us dead. This is very much like Corinthians again. Stop the arguing and recognize you're being manipulated by spiritual powers that use human rulers to divide. The church is suppose to be united, not divided. We are to love and have compassion for people because they were made by God. They are estranged members of our family.

I have since stopped writing a ton on political things. It's become divisive, targeting, and overall a tool to dehumanize others. I know what is behind it and refuse to engage as this has turned into something darker. Whatever political view you have, the true political view should be an alignment with Jesus. He is the King, Christians are adopted heirs. Whatever else this world has to offer, we don't belong to it. Stop acting like you do.