This will sound simplistic to some. It may even be offensive …
In the midst of all the complexity, there are really just 2 forces at work in our world.
The concept of dualism is seen consistently throughout human history and across civilizations. Call it Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, the Benevolent and Malignant. I believe that, ultimately, these opposing forces are the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the spiritual world that seeks to oppose Him.
The Gregorian calendar - the internationally accepted civic calendar - alludes to these forces: B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (in the year of our Lord).
We can see the clashing of these forces in the months immediately after Christ’s ascension (the Book of Acts in the New Testament).
The first force can be seen in Acts 4.
“By the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead – by this name this man stands here before you in good health … And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” ~ Acts 4.10, 12 NASB
The second force at work in our world seeks to oppose the first.
“We give you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name …” ~ Acts 5.28 NASB
The Tension Reaches Into Our Time
Our present world continues in the tension between these opposing forces. This obviously creates tension. A tension you can probably feel.
And this tension plays out within our very persons, family life, the realm of business, the body politic, public policy, culture wars, and even extends to international relations and geo-political affairs.
Many are not fully aware that these areas and more are saturated with the tension between these 2 forces.
He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. ~ Jesus Christ in Matt. 12.30 NASB
This tension will be with us until Jesus Christ comes and the fulness of His Kingdom is realized in the new heavens and earth.
Until then, believers do well to understand that our overall approach to life is to be a spiritual one, fueled by prayer and sustained by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
And this question will not go away: What will humanity do with Jesus Christ?
Drawn and adapted from Desert Harvest by Father Bob Wild.
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