I read a couple articles this last week on the Christians
call to Jesus’ Great Commission (above). But, wherever Christians have gone to
preach and proclaim the gospel, they encounter those in every culture who
refuse to embrace the Truth that will, without question, overthrow the old
secular humanist order. The coming of the biblical Messiah means the end of
secular reign. American Family Association’s Ed Vitagliano writes that “it is a
human impulse to protect what’s mine; keep the other guy from taking it.
Protect what’s here; keep the new thing from changing it.”
Matthew 4:16 “The people living in darkness have seen a great
light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned.”
John 1:4-11“ In him was life, and that life was the
light of all mankind. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There
was a man sent from God whose name was John. He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all
might believe. He himself was not the light; he
came only as a witness to the light. The
true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through
him, the world did not recognize him. He came
to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
The gospels speak to Jesus’ earthly ministry in terms of
light and darkness. The coming of the kingdom of God
Acts 13:47 “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light
for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Vitagliano continues: Nevertheless, human and demonic
rebellion remains on earth, and it is stubborn resulting in spiritual bondage
in conformity to a satanically-instituted system of lies, referred to as
fortresses or strongholds. There is only one thing to be done with these
strongholds against God: tear them down. How? Not with human weapons, but with
biblical truth. The lies have seeped down into the very foundations of the
entire culture. Such strongholds determine how the majority of people living in
a society view the world; their worldview. As Christianity moves into the wider
culture and beyond, it plows right through ideological fortresses. In turn, the
defenders of the prevailing worldview do not appreciate the collision, and a
backlash ensues. But Christianity thrives were the battle is the hottest
because people then see themselves as lost and in need of a Savior. In John 4:35-36, Jesus
says,“ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They
are ripe for harvest. Even
now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so
that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”
This article is a bit long for one post, so I’ll allow us to think about the ideas presented by Mr. Vitagliano above and finish the write up on his editorial piece on this important subject of reaching our community for Christ in the next post. Blessings.
In Christ, Brian
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