Against the powers and principalities, both
tangible and intangible, that seemingly control the fate of this world
and, at times, of our lives is the Hope and Truth and Triumph of Jesus Christ. At the risk of barking with grand religiousity, I want to declare that because of the resurrection of Christ we become the
sharers of the Good News of victory
over these devastating powers. The kingdom of God breaks and
has in fact broken them! Karl Barth urges us…
If we are his disciples, we are necessarily witness of this fact.
We are awakened by him from the dream that these forces are divine or
divinely given actualities, eternal orders. We can no longer believe,
and therefore we can no longer think or accept, that men, including
ourselves, are indissolubly bound and unconditionally committed to
them. In their place there stands for us the Conquerer Jesus, the one
Mediator between God and humanity, and between one person and another;
he who is the divine reality; he who decides what can and cannot be,
what is and is not, a divinely given reality for us. If we are his
disciples we are freed by him from their rule.
This does not mean that we are made superior, or set in a position
of practical neutrality. It means that we can and must exercise our
freedom in relation to them. It must be attested in the world as a
declaration of the victory of Jesus. The world that sighs under these
powers must hear and receive and rejoice that their lordship is
broken. But his declaration cannot be made by the existence of those
who are merely free inwardly. If the message is to be given, the world
must see and hear at least an indication, or sign, of what has taken
place. The break made by God in Jesus must become history. This is
why Jesus calls his disciples.
From Barth, Karl. The Call to Discipleship. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003, pp.38-39. For my review of this book, check here.