Your Unique View Of The World #5 - Jesus has a Worldview

Jesus has a Worldview


    Jesus Christ has his own view of the world, and it is well worth considering the implications of this. Jesus affirmed the truths of the Old Testament, He regularly quoted the Old Testament scriptures as historically and theologically accurate. He affirmed the understanding of God from the Old Covenant, and further, he quoted the scriptures that were fulfilled in Him and said as much very directly. Jesus declared the Law to be authoritative to all people, and affirmed the role of the Davidic covenant and that it was also fulfilled in Him. Several times the gospels declare "then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet..." Notably, Jesus declared the prophecies of the 61st chapter of Isaiah concerning the Messiah to be specifically about him, when he declared in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor;  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives  And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”  His response, having read this scripture aloud, was to simply say "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."(Luke 4:18-30) Jesus clearly believed and affirmed the things written in the Law and the prophets, and used them as the bedrock basis of his view of the world.
    Jesus also affirmed the dual nature of reality as existing on two planes, the spiritual and the physical. Jesus not  only believed in the existence of angels, demons, and other supernatural phenomena, but He taught others about them as a normative experience of day to day life. In His instructions to his followers, he taught them that His message, the message of the Kingdom of God, was to be demonstrated together with actions to prove the presence of His Kingdom. In Matthew 10:7 He said, " And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." So as a major point of His worldview he believed in the reality of the non-material, spiritual realm. 
    As a consequence of the understanding of the existence and power of the spiritual realms, Jesus also affirmed that there is a kind of ongoing battle going on between the advancing forces of His kingdom, and the retreating forces of the dark one, Satan. While in our day of politically correct speech this kind of warfare talk may seem a little distasteful, it does describe the current situation between the two kingdoms and the kingdom struggle very well. The apostle Paul further discussed and expanded the understanding of this cosmic struggle in several of his letters, particularly that of the letter to the Ephesians. In the sixth chapter, he describes this warfare and the levels at which it is occurring, from the close-up battle for the mind to the universal battle for the souls of men and women and the nations of the world. 
    Jesus also taught a particular view of history. He taught that history is linear, having a beginning somewhere back in time and space, and culminating in the consummation of all ages when He Himself will rule and reign on earth from a seat of power and honor. The last two chapters of the Bible describe a time when all justice has been dealt, when every tear is dried, and every sorrow comforted. This is the fulfillment of His Kingdom, the answer to the prayer prayed by every believer in every time, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."