Carson: "What does the world look like from the perspective of Jesus’ triumphant death/resurrection/exaltation? "

What does the world look like from the perspective of Jesus’ triumphant death/resurrection/exaltation?

On the one hand the world appears all the more evil and loathsome; yet, on the other hand, this is the world the Father loved enough to send his Son, the world for which the Lamb of God died. On the one hand, this is the world that rejected the Savior and condemned him to death; yet, on the other hand, by that same death the Savior defeated the prince of this world.

On the one hand, this is the world which persecutes God’s people and inflicts both petty irritants and massive scourges upon them; yet, on the other hand, that is the way the Master went, and therefore it is the way his disciples must be prepared to go.

On the one hand, the world spells trouble; but, on the other hand, living by faith in Jesus enables us to partake of the age to come and thereby serve and grow as members of an eschatological community transported into time.

The crucial victory has been fought; Jesus has overcome: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We live and love and serve while waiting for his triumphant return.

It is most important that believers develop the right perspectives.

D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14–17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 169–170.

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