Disciples Global Network

A theme threaded through the Gospel of Mark is the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel apart from his crucifixion, and even then, and most paradoxically of all, he is called the “ Son of God ” by the unlikeliest of persons, the Roman centurion in charge of his execution. And so, it remains ever since his death and resurrection. The Suffering Servant of Yahweh continues to confound human expectations.

In his Letter to the Galatians , Paul chides believers for their desire “ to return to bondage under the weak and beggarly rudiments ” of the world, including calendrical observations and circumcision. Since they are no longer “minors” but full heirs who live in the AGE OF FULFILLMENT and have the Gift of the Spirit, resorting to outmoded rituals is tantamount to returning to a state of slavery.

Paul pinned the start of the “ Last Days ” to the death and resurrection of Jesus. In him, the messianic age, the time of fulfillment has arrived. Ever since the promises of God have been finding their “ yea and amen ” in the Risen Christ. While the term “ Last Days ” is not frequent in Paul’s letters, he does demonstrate his understanding that History’s final stage has commenced with the death and resurrection of the Nazarene, and therefore, nothing can or will ever be the same again.

The Gift of the Spirit is for every man who repents, even to those afar off, and in fulfillment of the promise of the Father . After completing his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter summoned his audience to repent and be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ.” But something more than a call to accept the Gospel was transpiring - he concluded his sermon on a note of fulfillment and with a foretaste of things to come. The apostle’s sermon began with a citation from the Book of Joel, and he finished it with a clause from the same passage, thus neatly bracketing Peter’s message.

In his epistle to the Galatians , Paul writes that he was commissioned as an Apostle by the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and “ delivered us FROM THIS EVIL AGE .” This statement anticipates his response in Chapters 1 and 2 to certain “ men from Jerusalem ” that were operating as if the old era with its types and shadows was still in effect for the people of God. These men were insisting that Gentile believers must get circumcised, and they were challenging Paul’s authority and credentials.

The Good News proclaimed by Jesus is  NOT  about reforming society, fixing governments, or the surrounding immoral culture.  HIS  Gospel calls all men to repent and join an entirely new and vastly different social order and political reality, namely, the Kingdom of God. If anything,  HIS  message subverts the political ideologies of this present “ evil age .” Responding positively to his invitation is vital considering the rapidly approaching end of the age when the existing world order will disappear from the Earth.