By Kaka D. Iralu | EMN
John 3:16 did not say “For God so loved the church that he gave his only begotten son”...It said “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son”...This implies that it is the world that is God’s main focus in sending his son. The world therefore is the end for which the son of God came. We also must remember that the coming of Jesus into the world was not an invasion of the divine against an alien planet. On the contrary, the scriptures say: “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 accept him” (Jn. 1:10&11).
Having said that, I am not at all belittling the God ordained institution of the church. Indeed in response to Peter’s declaration that Jesus is “the Christ, the son of the living God” (Mat. 16:16), Jesus declared that upon the veracity of Peter’s statement, the church of God would be built, which even the powers of death will not be able to prevail against, and also that the keys of heaven would be given to that church of God in this world (Mat. 16:17-19). The church of God (and not a denomination) is in a sense the visible expression of God’s kingdom on earth. This institution of the church is where the word of God is constantly preached and taught. It is also the place where all the holy sacraments of the church like baptism, marriages, funerals, the Lord’s Supper and many other activities like Sunday schools, youth fellowships, women’s fellowships and missionary works etc are all conducted. It is indeed a place of learning about God’s words and growing together in faith and worship.
But believers should never forget that the church is not the only end for which Jesus came into the world. We also must remember that the world is not inside the four walls of any church. The world is in fact outside the church in the political, business, economic, and educational institutions of the world. And it is precisely in this outside world where believers are commissioned as “Ambassadors” to practice the word of God as salt and light to the world (Mat. 5:13-16).
In conclusion, the battle for the establishment of God’s kingdom is not in heaven. The battlefield is here in this world. The armor of God to protect believers (Eph. 6:10-18), is for battle in this world. These amours of God will be useless in heaven because there is not going to be any more battles in heaven! Heaven is our future heritage. But earth is our present heritage. Fellow Christians let us therefore rise up and do battle for God’s kingdom on earth- especially in Nagaland.
