This term has been used in another field of study, but We won’t go there today.
My sense of a way of life in the new testament for the new christians of the world, were always very small in size and very unique in their living. They began by either ‘seeing’ Jesus and ‘knowing’ that He was the ‘Messiah’ that was promised by the Jews and their religion. This was known by the Jews but also by the gentiles that were coming to the tabernacle square to hear the latest word from the religious leaders and of the issues of the Roman Kingdom.
The individuals coming to the square for the news were either from the city or from the outside of the city because of the business of the person to come to Jerusalem for the day. The individuals coming from within the city walls were being curious of this Man who was claiming to be the ‘Messiah’, Son of God. It was a curiosity at first, but later it was intriguing thought to be a more thought out fact. This curiosity was then bantered about with friends who have also heard this claim to ‘Messiahship’. It is this encounter with this claim by ‘Jesus’, that sparked the discussion between friends of acquaintance or from your neighbor, or from the tabernacle square discussions that have led you to the small group of disciples.
The individuals that were coming from outside the city of Jerusalem, businessman or just travelers going thru the city on their way to somewhere else. Their stopovers would always lead them to where the latest scoop of religious and city news and notes would be discussed for the good and the bad. It is then that the traveler would hear about the news about the man that they were calling the ‘Son of God’,doing miracles of healing and of raising from the dead, and being a teacher wiser that all the teachers that they knew. This was the beginning of ‘gossip’ or things that we have heard that we must tell someone else, so that they might be also interested too. This was the beginning of another pocket of discussion back at the traveler’s home town to his friends,family and to the religious leaders of that town. It would soon become to be known as an assembly of the discussion of ‘Son of Man’.
Now if you can imagine this scenario played over and over again, with people coming and going inside and outside the city, discussing the matter of ‘Messiah’, and asking yourself if Jesus was this one, t,hat it created alot of discussion in and around the temple of the Jews, which was a threat to their authority, but also the new claim that God had sent his Son to save them from all of humanity. From the gentile perspective, this was a very confusing time with their philosophy of having a plethora of gods to take care of your needs, covering them all individually in your life, but now to be told that there was a God that was a God of all, was to much to handle.
It is these little pockets of believers that were dotting the landscape of the roman world that was changing the romans but also the Jewish leaders of Israel. They were different. They were believers in this ‘man of God’ that was going to free them from the slavery of roman hierarchy of rule and also the rule of law of the priests and of their institution.
It is this ‘Grass roots’ formation that will keep the belief alive in the coming Kingdom. It will not be the formation of the ‘Jewish’ separation of authority of ‘knowing’ God but the oneness of all, the kingdom of Priests. It will not be formation of a kingdom of mankind to rule over us as to whatever he chooses to be for us, for this too is slavery.
God will reward us for diligence of becoming that light on the hill that shines Christ to all that are around our little hill! That little hill combined with all those other ‘little’ hills will eventually be the brightest light for God! Which is exactly what He said would happen.
The Eternal Purpose 