Jesus didn’t come to earth in the expected way or at the expected time. Nor did He do the expected things when He got here. He didn’t revamp the political system or overhaul the economy. He even disregarded the demands of the religious heavyweights.
Jesus came to build an entirely new kind of kingdom. Not a remake. Not a revision. A completely new kind. And He did indeed establish that kingdom; it has been growing ever since.
He is still “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 ESV). He is not limited by our imaginations, our longings, or even by what we ask of Him. Death itself cannot rival His power, nor can any form of evil.
Which is why the present darkness need not overwhelm us. The One who raised an army from a valley full of sun-bleached bones (Ezekiel 37) can still bring the dead to life. He can still scuttle the enemy’s plans. He can still scatter, shatter, and slay all that oppose Him.
What can’t He do?
Some say it has never been this bad before, that evil is finally winning. The church itself is vulnerable to such despair.
But why should that be? If those bones could live again, surely these can too. What God did once, He can do again.
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love,
O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
(Psalm 85:6–7)