The Cross and the Nation
Most Christians see the importance of the Cross for personal Salvation but do not recognize that the Cross ensures the survival of the nation. Before the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ the acting high priest in Judaea made a prophecy recorded in the book of John. “And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,? ?Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.? ?And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;?” John 11:49-51. The promise was that the nation would survive because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. All they had to do was believe in His Sacrifice. The Jewish nation was given the Scriptures, the King, and the Kingdom of God. However, because of their rejection of the King, the Kingdom was eventually taken away from them. “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43. This removed God’s protection from the Jewish nation and moved His protection to another nation (a Christian nation).
The Christians of Judaea were dispersed throughout Europe in the Roman devastations of Jerusalem in the first two centuries, and the spread of Islam over the Middle East a few centuries later. Jesus made it clear that the Kingdom of God was embodied in His followers. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.?” Luke 12:32. The early Christians transplanted the Kingdom from Judaea to the regions that accepted Christ, and they were regions to the west of Palestine. In the book “Drama of the Lost Disciples”, there is a quote from an early Christian writer named Sabellius, (A.D. 250) “Christianity was privately confessed elsewhere, but the first nation that proclaimed it as their religion, and called itself Christian, after the name of Christ, was Britain.” The proclamation by King Lucius of Britain, agreed to by the nobility of the land, declaring the nation of Britain as Christian, was an indication of the transplanting of the Kingdom of God from Judaea to Britain. Likewise, any nation which has a Christian foundation is considered a recipient of the Kingdom of God.
In a previous issue of “Thy Kingdom Come” it was pointed out that every state of the United States of America has a Christian foundation. The same applies to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and a few others. Even though the citizens of those countries are not trusting in the Cross of Christ right now, the foundations of those countries are Christian. “?Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:? ?And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.? ?And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:? ?And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.?” Matthew 7:24-27. It is the foundation of the nation that determines whether it will be protected by the hand of God when the storms of adversity come.
The Kingdom of God, (Israelite followers of God), suffered in Judaea under the Romans and the Jewish leaders. Jesus said, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12. Since then, Christians have been looking for a place of refuge. Over the past five hundred years, Christians have poured into Britain, America, and other Israelite nations to escape persecution. They are still coming. It is because of the cross of Christ that these nations have been preserved and will continue to be preserved. These nations were built upon Christian foundations, and the kingdom of God is within them.
