A kingdom breaking in

Better or worse

Is the world getting better or worse?

I suspect that many of you would be quick to answer - it’s absolutely getting worse.

We could point to a growing hostility towards Christianity. We could consider how many of the values given to us by the creator are being shunned. And I’d include in that values such as sexual ethics, abortion, euthanasia and the like.

And it’s not just Christians thinking the world is getting worse. When surveys are done, a majority of respondents have been shown to agree with this sentiment.

I’ve actually asked this same question in my Scripture classes. The interesting thing that I’ve noted is that in previous years, while a majority think the world is getting worse, there have been a good portion that would suggest otherwise. This year, however, and I only asked the question a few weeks ago, there were very few exception of people who didn’t agree it was getting worse.

A good case can really be made to argue that the world is getting worse.

I would like to suggest however, that a case can be made to consider how the world is actually becoming a better place.

Now Covid has certainly thrown a spanner in the works, but if we ignore that for a moment, there are some interesting stats which can paint a surprising picture.

I saw one stat which measured extreme poverty, and I was quite surprised to see that in every single continent, the percentage of people in extreme poverty has actually decreased over the last generation or so.

In education, literacy rates have increased throughout the world.

In health, life expectancy has increased.

You might even be surprised to hear that when it comes to crime, there are less murders than there used to be. Although when it comes to crime, it seems its a bit of a mixed bag, as some types of crime have increased.

So is the world becoming a better or worse place? I actually want to make the suggestion that it is simultaneously becoming both better and worse.

But if that’s the case, what do we make of it?

You see, here’s the thing. Just two weeks ago, as I was looking at the trajectory of the whole Bible, we saw the grip that evil had on the world. One where the devil is essentially digging in his heels as that time draws near for him to be dealt with once and for all.

It was with that backdrop that we were to stand up and stay strong to the second advent - the day Jesus returns. As the world suffers we cry ‘come Lord Jesus, come.’

But if this is the case, then what do we make of the fact that we can see things get better?

Well, I want to answer that question this morning, but I’m going to do so by taking you on a rather round-about journey.

In fact, I’m going to start by taking you back into the Old Testament to a time where, to be honest, we don’t give it a lot of attention.

It might seem a strange place to take you, but from this place far back where going to get a very interesting vantage point to help us make sense of now. So from this vantage point, I’ll try to see if we can find an answer to how things will get both better and worse at the same time.

Context of Zephaniah

So let’s wind the clock back to a little more than 600 years before Jesus.

The Jews at this time were living in a very interesting time. The Northern tribe have already been exiled from the land by the superpower of the time, Assyria.

The prophets at the times had made it clear that the though they had been expelled by a foreign hand, it was the work of God, because these people had lost their way.

In fact, while it was the northern tribe that was behaving the worst, the southern tribe, the ones that are in focus now, well, they weren’t too far behind. The might have been spared the exile at the hand of the Assyrians, by the were far from living godly lives.

Things were certainly getting worse.

But in the midst of this downward trajectory, something curious happens. An eight year old boy becomes king.

His father and grandfather had taken Judah down a very dangerous path, but in the way that God has a habit of doing things, he orchestrates things in such a way to really start turning things around.

I won’t recount all the details now, but if you have the time, have a read from 2 Kings 22 and the chapters that follow.

Essentially what happens is we get these great reforms happening. Their entire outlook is changed when the find the book of the Law and they shift their focus to a genuine gaze upon the Lord.

Well, it’s in this context that we find the prophet Zephaniah.

Now, we’re going to see that his prophecy is quite an interesting one.

On initial reading, it might seem all a bit gloomy, however, when you pay attention, for some, it might just have been a bit encouraging.

You see, it’s a bit like a clean out is happening. All those bad elements are being judged for what it is.

If you go to the second chapter of this prophecy, you’ll see that the majority of this chapter is actually made up of judgement on the various foreign nations that surround Judah.

This are some of the main enemies of Israel, but they’re not just being punished because they stand in Israel’s way for dominance, rather they are being punished because of their wickedness.

But right at the end of this chapter, we get the big one. We see the destruction of Assyria. You see, you might remember I just said that it was Assyria who wiped out the Northern tribe.

Assyria were the big world super power - and the tactics they used were horrific.

But here we have Zephaniah prophesying that this horrific regime is about to come to an end.

Were things getting better at this time? Well, kinda they were.

That judgement was also happening within Judah as well. But that judgement is really against the ungodly elements within Judah.

Day of the Lord

Now, if you look at the whole prophecy of Zephaniah, what you see, is that the whole thing is tied up to the concept we refer to as the “Day of the Lord”.

Zephaniah uses this phrase himself a few times. Back in chapter 1 verse 7 he says: “Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the LORD is near”.

Again in verse 14 of chapter 1 he says: “The great day of the LORD is near - near and coming quickly”

At other times he refers to the day of the LORD’s wrath. And at other times he just says “on that day”.

So what is he referring to when he talks about this day?

Well, it becomes clear that it is a day of judgement and renewal.

There is an immediate context in the day of Zephaniah and our young king Josiah.

Things are changing. There is a changing of the guard so to speak. The evil regime our going down. And the great reforms of Josiah are coming in.

But it becomes clear that there is something bigger than this. Because those changes are only temporary.

The evil regimes that go are just replaced with other regimes. The good reforms of Josiah are soon forgotten in subsequent generations.

This great day of the Lord, then, points us to something much bigger.

A time when there is an ultimate judgement and an ultimate renewal.

Advent

And so this then brings us to our context of Advent.

You see, Advent is all about the coming of Jesus.

We know that Jesus offers this judgement and renewal which the whole day of the Lord points us to.

But here’s the thing. There are two advents. His first coming - the one that occurred two thousand odd years ago. And the second coming - the one that we long for today.

From the Old Testament perspective, this whole Day of the Lord concept, kind of gets caught up in the two events.

Chapter 3

So let me just highlight a few verses in Zephaniah 3 before I bring this back to my big picture that I’m exploring today.

You see, it is when we get to verse 8 that we start to see the cosmic dimensions of the ultimate picture that Zephaniah is painting.

He writes: “Therefore wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day I will stand up to testify… [and now it gets global] … I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms...”

And what will he do when the nations are gathered - well this is where God’s wrath - his righteous anger comes in.

The verse ends with the whole world being consumbed by the fire of the Lord’s jealous anger.

But in verse 9, it’s the restoration that comes into view.

He will purify the lips of the peoples.

Verse 10 talks about people beyond the rivers of Cush, in other words, people from distant lands, will worship God and bring him offerings.

This restoration will be the people who trust in the Lord. They won’t do wrong. They won’t tell lies.

And let me just read verse 20 again:

“At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honour and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before you very eyes, says the Lord”

I think it’s clear that an ultimate fulfillment of this will only occur when Jesus comes again for the second time.

But yet, there is also a sense in which this day of the Lord connects us with his first coming.

Let me read verse 17: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing”.

This is exactly what happened on that first advent.

When Jesus came, it was the Lord our God come to be with us. When Jesus died, we saw his great love making a stand such that there is no more rebuke.

When Jesus rose again, he took the great victory of death.

While we still wait for that final day of judgement, the reality is, all the markers for this were set when Jesus first came.

The Kingdom of God

You see, there is actually this strong connection between the Day of the Lord and the Kingdom of God.

If the Day of the Lord is about judging and renewal - then the result is the Kingdom of God.

I know it probably feels like forever ago, but earlier in the year, I actually did a series on the Kingdom of God when I looked specifically at Matthew 13.

When Jesus comes, he establishes a kingdom. A kingdom that is unlike any other kingdom. It is not of this earth.

But though the kingdom is established when Jesus first came, it will only be fully realised when he returns.

And so we are in this in-between state. Something that I’ll sometimes refer to as the “Now but not yet”

In Zephaniahs day, he saw a pattern of renewal emerge. One of judgement and renewal.

But the process takes time. That’s not because God can’t make it happen straight away, but because God wants to allow people the time to be part of the renewal.

And so, though this prophecy seems to blend this day of the Lord together, it actually natural that it does stretch out such that we end up now in this “Now but not yet” state.

Growth

Now by linking the concept of the Day of the Lord with the conception of the Kingdom of God, we can actually introduce of a new idea - one which will take me back to this question I raised before about whether the world is getting better or worse.

You see, when Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God, and of particular note is the parables in Matthew 13, we get the idea that the Kingdom is one that will grow. He pictured it as a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds, that grows to one of the biggest plants.

Well if the Kingdom of God is to be growing, then we would expect to see his influences becoming stronger in this world.

Church History

Well, on that note, I think it’s time to do a quick journey through church history.

Now, it is true that there are some horrible parts of church history where the sinfulness of humanity leaves horrible stains. However, a careful study actually shows somethings really remarkable.

You see, the teachings of Jesus and the Bible has left an indelible mark on the conscious of the believer.

You see, the church believed in the idea that all people are made in the image of God, and as the church grew, this would have an impact.

Maybe you’re aware that the first hospitals grew out of Christians believing that all people needed to be cared for.

It was Christians who started an education system that was for all people, whether they could afford it or not.

It was Christians that cared for the vulnerable.

I know when we talk about the growth of the kingdom of God, normally we would talk about lost souls being saved - and this is certainly true, but souls being saved actually has a flow on effect, because when the Spirit is in you, your whole outlook changes.

Getting better

So let me bring this back to where I was earlier. How do we reconcile the fact that in many ways the world is getting better, when we actually know that the evil around us is getting a tighter grip?

Well, we can reconcile it by understanding the process of renewal that occurs.

We can understand it by knowing that this renewal occurs between the first and second advent of Christ.

You see, even as the evil one tightens his grip, God’s kingdom grows.

It’s actually the dual story line of the Bible. The devil tightens his grip. God’s kingdom breaks through.

It’s interesting that many of the measures I used earlier to suggest the world is getting better, are the very things that the church started. I mentioned literacy improvements, health improvements, less people in extreme poverty.

While some secular groups might like to claim credit now, I believe we can trace all of these improvements to the effects of the kingdom of God in this world.

The first advent

Now where am I heading with all of this?

Well, I’m introducing this discussion as our journey through this period of advent takes us from a focus on the second advent, back to a focus on the first advent.

You see, it is really easy to sit here and get all a bit gloomy because the world really is getting a worse and worse and have our only hope on the fact that Jesus is returning.

But advent needs to be more than this. That is because while there will be an ultimate fulfillment in the second coming - but we know that Jesus has already come.

And we take joy in the fact that in him coming, he has already won the victory and that he has already established his kingdom.

The things that Zephaniah prophesied back some 600 years before Jesus, has actually already begun to take shape.

Here is what I want you to realise. Eternity doesn’t start when Jesus returns.

Eternity starts now. You are already living in the kingdom of God.

Sometimes it might not feel it, because we are dual citizens, but it’s true - the Holy Spirit already dwells in you. Your transformation has already begun. You can worship God, because he has made us clean.

Clarification

But before I end, I want to make a clarification because I don’t want to be misunderstood.

First let’s clarify what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that if we just keep on improving health, education, charity and the like, then we can achieve all we hope to achieve.

These things in themselves are not the kingdom of God. Rather, these things are just natural consequences when the values of God’s kingdom are taken seriously.

To enter God’s kingdom, you need to have faith in Jesus Christ alone.

But for you to enter this kingdom, you can do it now, and the reason you can do it now is because Jesus has already come.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, this is the message I want to give today.

Don’t just trust God’s promise as something that will come in the future. Trust them as something that has already come.

God loves for you is right now, and so the blessings start now.

As we move closer to Christmas, this is where our hope lies. In a saviour that has already come.

So let me pray...