Ewald Schmidt

"… he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment- to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Ephesians 1:9-10 (NIV)

The Bible begins with the opening scene, where God and man live in perfect harmony in the new world God has created. You just have to open the morning's newspaper to see that this existence of peace with God and our fellow man has disappeared from this planet. Man has become his own king, following his own rules in life to reach his own selfish goals. When I am my own king, then everything in my universe revolves around me and what I want. It is human nature to become very angry when we don't get what we want, when we want it. In this glorification of self, other people get hurt. The human ego out of control leads to hate, violence and war. The ecological crisis the world is in at the moment is also a testimony to man's greed, consuming more resources to live more comfortable lives, polluting the earth to exploit nature at the cheapest possible production cost. Mankind has lost its place as the earth's custodian, we have become its greatest threat! In man's kingdom there is no peace with God, with his fellow man, and with nature.

There is a much better alternative! God the Father gave us his Son as a new King, and his Kingdom is so very different from what we know. How does it differ? Where Jesus is honoured as King of our lives, there is a relationship with God where we love him with our whole heart, soul and mind. Followers of Jesus live according to new rules regarding their fellow man. The Golden Rule is to love my neighbour as myself, not doing unto others what I would not have done to me. Jesus made it even more difficult when he commanded in John 13:34 that we must love each other, as he loved us. Jesus even commanded us to love our enemies! In the Kingdom of God love towards our fellow man reigns. This is the point that verse 10 is making: God is busy building a new Kingdom in this universe, where everybody and everything is united under Christ. People build walls and make war. God unites, and make people from different walks of life part of his one Kingdom. That is what God is busy doing today – are you part of his plan, working together to reach the goal of a love-filled world?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my King, and where you rule, there is peace, and harmony between your children. You have come to heal broken people, and you heal broken relationships through your love. As my King, I pray: Let your Kingdom come, also in my life. Make me part of the healing process in this broken world. Amen