The World According to the Resurrection

In the world of sin and death, problems and troubles concern men most. In the world of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is opportunities, duties, service, faith, and obedience which concern Christ’s people above all else, not death and troubles.^[1]

To look at the news headlines, one can see that the nation is being rocked by scandal, abuse, strife, disaster, protest, criminality, and the like. The changes are happening much faster than in times past, and with everyone plugged in to social media channels, the national mood can shift within minutes. A weak nation is reeling from the constant blows.

However, that’s not the only nation. There’s another. In the midst of all the turmoil there exists another nation—a holy nation:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. ~ 1 Peter 2:9

We are that nation, and the apostle’s description is a great one. We are chosen. We are peculiar. We are called out of darkness into God’s light. We are even a royal priesthood. Yet, Peter’s description oddly changes in verse eleven:

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims…

Which is it? Are we a royal priesthood, or are we strangers and pilgrims? Maybe it depends upon which vantage point one is looking. To the world, we might be strangers and pilgrims. To God and ourselves, we are that holy nation.

This is what Rushdoony means by living in “the world of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” and it is always a world of life—the God kind of life. For that other nation—the one displayed on the news and social media—it is a “world of sin and death,” and therefore, “problems and troubles concern men most.” For the holy nation—living in the world of the resurrection of Jesus Christ—our concern should be “opportunities, duties, service, faith, and obedience.” We are not of this world and we should not carry it’s worries and troubles.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ~ John 17:16

So, while the world stumbles as its house of cards crumbles, let us speak, plan, and work in terms of the opportunities and duties we have as the new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). For we live now in terms of His resurrection (Rom. 6:4-5, 11, 13), and therefore we are “peculiar.” While the world fears, we rejoice. While the world worries, we exercise our faith. While the world devours one another, we advance His Kingdom. They can either continue down their path, or they can convert and become peculiar!

[T]he situation today is what it is not because we have social problems, nor because we have evil in our midst. The problem is that the godly are in retreat, retreat from action and therefore from godliness. The problem is us.^[2]

When we retreat from action, we are in full retreat, and godly action must mean more than theological study or building big churches. Both can easily occupy our time, but they do little in terms of advancing the Kingdom of God. If Christians are not tirelessly involved in the work of reconstruction, the world suffers for it. As Rushdoony said, “The problem is us,” but that also means the solution is us as well.

We have been called in Christ to victory (1 John 5:4), and we dare not shirk that calling. The whole world must know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. His dominion must begin with us. We must be fully commanded by Him, in total obedience to Him, and in all things faithful to Him.^[3]

We are called in Christ to victory! Let that sink in, and then take a look at the world. Can you see the work that needs to be done? As a nation living within a nation, we are here as Christ’s beachhead delivered from darkness into His marvelous light, and all that we’ll do shall not be done in our own strength. It will be the Lord working in us.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. ~ Zechariah 4:6

If God is working in us, then the work is sure to be done. The only questions are, “Where are we, and in whom do we believe?” When God asked Adam, “Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:9), that may have meant positionally as much as it did geographically. In other words, “Adam, where are you hiding? Why have you abandoned your post?”

Where are we? Have we abandoned our posts? Are we hiding amongst the trees in retreat when we should be in the position of dominion to which God has called us? Is it that we question the victorious future God promised? Are we believing another lie by the serpent who incites us to wonder, “Hath God said?”

The world must be conquered for Christ. There is no power too great for Him, no evil He cannot conquer, nor any barrier too high for Him to scale.^[4]

There is no excuse for doubt, and there is every reason for faith, because our faith is founded upon an infallible God speaking in an infallible Word. Added to that is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and in that sense, this is not even a fair fight.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. ~ 1 John 4:4

The ungodly do not live in the world of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so death, worries, and troubles are the burdens they must carry. We, on the other hand, are “married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:4), and His yoke is easy and His burden light (Matt. 11:30).

If we do carry any burden, and if we do have any concerns, let them be for “opportunities, duties, service, faith, and obedience.” It seems they are the more appropriate concerns of a chosen generation; a royal priesthood, and a holy nation.

This is the mission and message of the Chalcedon Foundation. We are called to teach the great work of Christian Reconstruction and serve as a “think tank for the self-governing Christian.” The only policies we teach are those of the Kingdom of God. We seek to function within this holy nation in order to better prepare it for greater dominion.

Would you help us do that? Would you stand with us by your financial support of Chalcedon? The need right now is great, but the givers are few. Please join us in the great work of reconstruction. Click here to donate to Chalcedon today.

^[1] R. J. Rushdoony, A Word in Season: Daily Messages on the Faith for All of Life, Volume 5 (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2014), p. 6.

^[2] ibid., p. 8.

^[3] ibid., pp. 3-4.

^[4] ibid.