third circle

The world is intentionally made. It has purpose and was not an accident. It is beautiful and reflects the creative power of the creator.

It is also deeply corrupted. Much has gone wrong. People fight for power, the environment is abused and people seek to live without God, no longer in rhythm with their creator.

We are no longer in the first circle, but seemingly stuck in the mess of the second circle. Is there a way out?

Only God can address the damage of corruption in the world. People are corrupted by evil and have become active participants. Though we are homesick for the first world and may even labor to restore our world, we breathe the same corrupted air that the rest of creation does. Instinctively, we may do good, but we also do damage. We simply are too caught up in the corruption to heal it.

This is where Jesus enters the picture.

Jesus is often discussed, sometimes worshiped, lauded as a great teacher and occasionally mocked. Most of the world uses his birth to split history into two eras. He is considered significant by almost everybody.

He has become so famous, that he his known more by reputation than by experience. Think about a book like War and Peace. The book is known and respected by almost everybody. However, most people are simply aware that it is long. Relatively few people have experienced reading the book, but they respect it by reputation.

Jesus is kind of like that. His reputation precedes him and that reputation colors every bible study, church service or academic research about him.

If the only thing you know about Jesus' reputation is that he said "do not judge", then you may struggle when he refers to anybody as "swine". If you have seen signs that proclaims that Jesus hate gay people, then it may be challenging to discover that Jesus never actually talks about homosexuality in any of the gospels. If you know that Jesus died for your sins and to get you to heaven, you may be surprised to learn that he taught so much about how to live NOW.

So who is Jesus? I believe that he is God responding to the corruption of the world. The first chapter of John says that he "is God" and that everything that has been made, was "made through him". He is God in flesh.

God in flesh. When Jesus walked on water, it was his water. He made that water. He chose its color and texture. He decided it would be wet. It's his water to walk on.

The second world is still God's world. It still belongs to him. It's corruption is personal to God. Think about someone breaking into your house or your car. That is a feeling of violation. Someone defiles your space when they break in. Now imagine that person who broke into your house decides to live there. Sleep in your bed, eat your food, raise your kids. How would you respond?

God saw the corruption of the world and decided to address it himself. He dove head-long into the corruption in order to restore it. In Christianity, we call this "incarnation". Incarnation is why I am a Christian. Incarnation speaks to me. It changes me. It is the single greatest picture of love that I can ever imagine. It's personal. God doesn't send down angels or wipe out the stupid humans who failed to take care of the world, he instead enters it.

Jesus was born. He spends time as an infant and has to learn to use the bathroom. He gets hungry and thirsty. He makes friends and is rejected by friends. He faces every temptation and longing that we face. Yet, in the face of living in the second world, he manages to live out the values and hopes of the first world.

Jesus lives connected to God the Father. Jesus lives in proper relationship with other people, loving them sacrificially and speaking bold truth. He lives a simple life, free of the greed that humanity struggles with.

Jesus extends mercy to those who usually don't get it, and he challenges those that most people are afraid to challenge. He heals sick people, because sickness and death are part of the corruption. He casts out demons because they work for the ultimate corruptor.

He speaks of another way. He calls it "the Kingdom of God". It's small and gets bigger. It is precious and hidden. It is coming and is now. It has Jesus as king, not Caesar.

He is so bold, so counter-cultural, so beautiful, so entitled (the world is his after all) that he ends up getting executed in joint action of the church and state.

The world decides that world two is better than world one, or at least that it is too dangerous to speak or dream of world one. They chose the way of the one who invaded the home, over the home-owner.

Those who loved him wept bitterly or hid out of fear that they would suffer his fate.

But remember, this world is his world. He didn't stay dead because he is bigger than death. And because Jesus didn't stay dead, nothing has to stay dead.

The whole world can be redeemed, because it's God's first and foremost.

Dreams that have died, can live again. Hope can live and breathe and grow. People can be reconciled, even if they have warred for years.

And death is no longer a period, it is a comma.

Those who accept that his really happened and pledge allegiance to Jesus' Kingdom and its values become restored, first worlders. They become pockets of the real, ancient, intended way. In fact the early church was called follower of the "way".

This is the healing of the corruption. This is what it looks like for God to take back his world. Someday it will be with power and the Kingdom of God will be the only Kingdom. But right now, it is with sacrifice and prayer and hope and service and radical other-centered love. The world is changing and will ultimately be restored for the better.

And in Christianity, we call this "gospel", which means "good news".