Saturday, August 20, 2011
The violent upheaval throughout the Middle East today is reminiscent of an event in the same region 2,000 years ago. It resulted in an international paradigm shift as some predict will happen again today.
Religious leaders caused it when they crucified the purpose-driven and socially divisive carpenter from Nazareth. They wrongly thought the status quo could be restored if only the “agitator” could be destroyed.
Instead, they unknowingly fulfilled the prophetic word. Their action changed the course of history and opened for all nations the possibility of a new relationship with God (Isaiah 3; Psalm 22).
Until that moment, the Biblical record viewed the international community consisting of only two general entities: the Jews and the Gentiles (Romans 1:10).
But that all changed when Jesus was crucified.
Additionally, from that point, history, itself, was divided into BC/AD.
With one dramatic stroke, the ornate and enormous temple veil, which symbolized the separation between God and man, was torn without hands from top to bottom, illustrating that access to God now was available to Gentiles as well to Jews (Romans 10:12). Christ fulfilled the Old Testament law (Matthew 5:17).
Now, “whosoever will” could be “grafted into” the third entity a loving God began to form, to be known as the church of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13; 11:17).
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul explained the covenant relationship with God, up to that point rather exclusively enjoyed by the Jews, now broadened to welcome, embrace and unite to God the “alien” nations of the world, known as the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:15, 16).
That, indeed, was a paradigm shift of a magnitude similar to what some analysts predict could happen today.
Brit Hume of Fox News believes the demonstrations for freedom in the Middle East will “change the whole dynamic of the region.”
Franklin Graham sees these events prophetically.
The demand for personal freedom and democracy appears in sync with “end time” prophecy.
And we must not forget, in a parallel way, the crucifixion also fulfilled prophecy for its time.
The core idea, then and now, is that the crucifixion of Christ opened a way through which individuals now can have peace with God (Romans 5:1), and fighting among nations eventually will end.
The prophet Micah wrote God “will rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3).
Separation from God and warfare will be history where the purpose of the cross is understood clearly and applied appropriately.
Calvary can be an effective peacemaker and a powerful uniter.
People who recognize the significance of Calvary’s cross and personalize it have been in the forefront of reconciliation, overcoming, at times, insurmountable obstacles. Without the cross in his spirit, it’s doubtful Dr. Martin Luther King could have led the Civil Rights movement.
It is also evident in “The Edge of the Spear,” a movie that recalls the sacrificial determination of several young missionaries who died at the hand of the Auca Indians as they opened to them the blessings of Christianity. A New York gang lost its leader when Nicky Cruz encountered the power of the cross. A recent call for preachers of the cross from the leader of a strife-ridden African nation is testament to the healing and unifying power of the cross.
The adhesive power of Calvary’s cross is available as a proven bonding agent.
As Jesus said, people and nations must choose to “take up [their] cross daily.”
The only question is whether or not we have the will to “take up” this powerful force for “beating our swords into plowshares.”
In Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Iran and other nations rocking with civil unrest, if given a chance, the cross can quiet the storms and strengthen the bonds for personal and international peace.
If that sounds too religious, consider how the alternative is working out.
The Rev. Guy BonGiovanni is interim pastor at North Bloomfield Assembly of God and director of Life Enrichment Ministries Inc. in Canfield.