The New World Begun in the Resurrection of Jesus

The early church arrived at a belief that the royal presence of Jesus would be the central feature in a cosmic denouement that could occur at any time...[The Apostle] Paul had expected the kingdom to be ushered in all in one. The resurrection of Jesus, however, has forced him to divide the "end" into two "moments," with the church living in between, grounded on the first and longing for the second. The first (Jesus' resurrection) gives the content of the second (the final resolution) in a nutshell, expressing as it does God's victory over death and the transformation of the physical world. It also guarantees the second, since the risen Lord is now already ruling the world... when the heavenly dimension is finally unveiled, so that the royal presence of Jesus is visibly and tan- gibly with us at last, the dead will be raised and the living transformed, to share his new humanity within a transformed world. This will be the fulfillment of the new world, which began in Jesus' resurrection.

— N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus

NTW on Jesus as the Coming Judge

“The picture of Jesus as the coming Judge is the central feature of another absolutely vital and nonnegotiable Christian belief: that there will indeed be a judgment in which the creator God will set the world right once and for all. The word judgment carries negative overtones for a good many people in our liberal and postliberal world. We need to remind ourselves that throughout the Bible, not least in the Psalms, God’s coming judgment is a good thing, something to be celebrated, longed for, yearned over. It causes people to shout for joy and the trees of the field to clap their hands. In a world of systematic injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day when the wicked are firmly put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best news there can be. Faced with a world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a good God must be a God of judgment.”

“Surprised By Hope” pg. 137

The Resurrection Changes Everything

Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead and He shouldn’t have done it. He thrown every- thing off balance. If He did what he said, then it’s nothing for you to do but throw away every- thing and follow Him, and if He didn’t, then it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can.

— Flannery O’Connor
A Good Man Is Hard To Find