Establishing a Christian Worldview – aligning with God’s kingdom
Have you ever thought about your worldview? Everybody has a worldview constructed by their upbringing and those influential in their life. For the believer in Jesus, we are saved out of the world into God’s kingdom. It follows that a shift must take place into a Christian worldview. Growing up in the world system inculcates the values of that system. At salvation, God plucks us out of the ‘kingdom of darkness and translates us to the kingdom of light.’ As a part of such a dramatic transformation: Our worldview must be rebuilt into a Christian worldview.
“Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” 1 Peter 2:11 WEB
Reestablish the Word
Your worldview begins with your belief system. The foundation of our belief system must be the Bible: the infallible Word of God. Written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God’s word is true, and powerful, and able to make you wise. Grounding your belief system in the teachings of the Bible is your starting point in your reconstruction process.
Only spiritual eyes will see the spiritual reality around us.
Reaffirm God’s Kingdom
This physical world is not all there is – we live in a spiritual reality. In 2 Kings 6, Elisha and his servant were surrounding by an invading army. Surprisingly, Elisha was not concerned. “Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:17 WEB
“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 WEB
When Jesus taught how to pray, Jesus challenged us to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” From this flows a kingdom mindset and a Christian worldview. Jesus preached that the kingdom of God is near: repent and believe. To reaffirm God’s kingdom is to understand we entered God’s kingdom at salvation, we usher in God’s kingdom through prayer, and we establish his kingdom by doing his will.
Rearrange Your Priorities
Next, with a kingdom mindset, some “housecleaning” is in order. The Christian worldview takes on Biblical priorities. Consider this passage in Mark 8 where Jesus told Peter “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns”. Our concerns are now the concerns of the King of our kingdom. We serve the Lord God; he calls us ambassadors of Christ and ministers of reconciliation. Grasping these ways of the kingdom will mean a change in our thinking and our priorities. Kingdom priorities become the undercurrent of our lives. Additionally, in order to rearrange your priorities, a humbling must occur. As Jesus prayed, “Father not my will but yours be done,” so should we. Again, Jesus taught us that “thy will be done” follows “thy kingdom come”.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” 1 Peter 2:9 WEB
Remember God’s Promises
Build your Christian worldview on God’s promises. Living according to God’s Word and submitting to God’s will is not easy. Thankfully God has given us his Holy Spirit to empower, convict, and lead us. Our job is to stay focused on God’s truth and God’s commands and God’s call.
- God’s truth is found in His Word – the written Word (logos) and his revealed Word (rhema). His truth stabilizes us and enables us to fend off the deceptive attacks of the enemy. We must cling to and rest in the promises of God. The Bible is full of God’s promises on which we can build our lives.
- God’s commands are our instructions for how to live. Within the commands are the implicit promise of remaining in God’s love and enjoying his favor as we walk according to his commands.
- God’s call for your life also comes with a promise: He who has called you is faithful. And “he who began a good work in your will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.”
2 Peter 1:3 NLT
Reign in Life
Finally, a kingdom mindset leads to a knowledge our call: to reign in life. Death reigned through Adam – we all inherited the sin nature and the wages of that sin: death. But in Christ, grace abounded through the free gift of righteousness in Christ. By God’s grace, He has cleansed us of sin and given us a right-standing before him. From that humble place of transformation we find a springboard that catapults us forward to reign in life. The paradox is that, in ourselves, we were only worthy of judgment and death. And yet through faith in Christ, God translates us from a corrupt sinner to a beloved saint equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to reign in God’s kingdom.
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 ESV