“The early Church was important while it was still insignificant, and certainly while it was still impotent. It was important solely because it was intolerable; and in that sense it is true to say that it was intolerable because it was intolerant. It was resented, because, in its own still and almost secret way, it had declared war. It had risen out of the ground to wreck the heaven and earth of heathenism. It did not try to destroy all that creation of gold and marble; but it contemplated a world without it. It dared to look right through it as though the gold and marble had been glass. Those who charged the Christians with burning down Rome with firebrands were slanderers; but they were at least far nearer to the nature of Christianity than those among the moderns who tell us that the Christians were a sort of ethical society, being martyred in a languid fashion for telling men they had a duty to their neighbors, and only mildly disliked because they were meek and mild. Herod had his place, therefore, in the miracle play of Bethlehem because he is the menace to the Church Militant and shows it from the first as under persecution and fighting for its life.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man
The church has never been a non-issue. From its inception it incited a most violent reaction. Herod attempted to kill one child by killing an entire classroom. The child had to die because He laid claim to the throne. The church cannot be tolerated because the church cannot tolerate the unrepentant. It refuses to go along to get along and so, it must go. And yet, here it is. The Church Militant may be under persecution and fighting for its life, but it is still fighting... and it is still alive.
"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'" — Abraham Kuyper
Enmity is inescapable. The seed of the serpent will never settle for a ceasefire. Evil is no more content with a ghetto of good than Good is content with an island of evil. Neither can tolerate even a hint of the other. God will sanctify the world as He will sanctify the saint. He will push His Spirit to every inch of every corner until everything is under His dominion. Every nook and cranny will crane its neck in His direction.
Isaiah 45:22
Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is none else.
The chief end of all the ends of the earth is to begin with God. Everything is going somewhere and sooner or later, it's going to get there. That place is in Christ. All things, in heaven and on earth, will be summed up in its Savior.
Ephesians 1:9-10, 20-21
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth... He raised [Christ] from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
The current principalities obviously take exception to this. Those possessing power or might push back. Those trying to dominate don't like being dominated.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26
For [Christ] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
But none shall outlast Christ's attack. He has laid siege on the gates of hell and they cannot hold out. Until you see death eradicated, rest assured, Christ's enemies are being systematically stalked and hunted down.
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