How to Change the World #3 - Part Three
Description
Dr. Kurt Bjorklund explores Ephesians 4:7-10 to reveal how Jesus changes the world through three powerful movements: His descent to provide salvation, His ascension demonstrating ultimate authority, and His promise to fill all things with God's intended goodness. This message offers hope for those overwhelmed by brokenness, showing how we participate in bringing God's kingdom to earth while trusting in Christ's power to ultimately restore all creation.
Summary and Application
The world is broken. We see it in the violence that erupts without warning, in the poverty that devastates families, and in the personal betrayals that leave us wounded and wondering if things will ever be better. It's easy to look around and feel overwhelmed by the scope of the problems we face. But what if the answer to the world's brokenness isn't what we think?
In a recent message on Ephesians 4:7-10, Kurt explored a question that haunts both skeptics and believers alike: "If Jesus Christ is the answer to the world's problem, and Jesus Christ has been around for as long as he's been around, why is the world still the way that it is? Why haven't things changed? Why hasn't it gotten better?"
It's an honest question that deserves an honest answer. The key, Kurt suggests, lies in understanding three powerful movements revealed in Scripture: Jesus descended, Jesus ascended, and Jesus will fill all things.
He Descended: God's Provision for Our Greatest Need
The first movement addresses our fundamental problem. Christmas isn't just a heartwarming story about a baby in a manger—it's about God entering into our brokenness. As Kurt explained, "This is what Christmas is about in Christianity—the idea that God became a man, and in becoming a man, went to a cross, died on a cross as the Savior for sin, that whoever believes in him would never perish but have eternal life."
Philippians 2:6-8 captures the stunning humility of this descent: "Who, being the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
But here's where many people miss the point. Kurt noted that "most people think that the answer proposed by God, by Jesus, is religion." They think it's about trying harder, doing better, earning God's approval through moral performance. But Christianity offers something radically different: "It isn't about what we do. It's about what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. Jesus descended because we can't climb high enough."
This isn't just about getting people to heaven—it's about bringing heaven here. As Kurt emphasized, Jesus taught his followers to pray, "Thy kingdom come," which means "I want you to know that the way that God rules the Earth is already here."
He Ascended: God's Power Over All Things
The second movement addresses the question of power. If Jesus is so powerful, why does evil still seem to win? Kurt's answer points to the ascension: "His ascension means that he, if it's true, has ascended above the highest heavens. He has full power."
When Jesus ascended, he took his place at the right hand of the Father—the position of ultimate authority. This means that "despite appearances, despite the chaos we see around us, Jesus is in control. History is moving according to His plan. Evil will not have the final word."
This is where Kurt addressed a crucial distinction. Referencing the Goo Goo Dolls song "Better Days," which mentions "one child who saved the world" and "10,000 more that probably could," he clarified: "Jesus is not simply one good example among many. He is not merely a moral teacher who showed us a better way to live. He is the unique Son of God who has power to actually bring about change."
He Will Fill All Things: God's Promise of Complete Restoration
The third movement is perhaps the most comprehensive. Ephesians 4:10 says Jesus ascended "in order to fill the whole universe" or more literally, "that he might fill all things." As Kurt explained, "God's promise is that the way God intends for things to be will be the way things are in every area of this world."
This isn't a vague, nebulous presence—it's specific and tangible. "Every time you see truth win instead of deception, it's like a little taste of the kingdom of God. Every time you see righteousness instead of corruption, every time we see peace instead of violence, every time we see love instead of exploitation, we are seeing a little taste of the kingdom of God."
Kurt used theologian George Eldon Ladd's phrase "the already, the not yet" to describe our current reality. The kingdom has broken into history through Jesus, but it's not yet fully here. We live in the tension, seeing glimpses and foretastes of what's coming while still experiencing brokenness.
Living Between the Already and Not Yet
So how do we change the world? "We change the world not by our own power, but by aligning ourselves with what Jesus is already doing," Kurt concluded. "We change the world not through political dominance or cultural conquest, but through the power of the gospel transforming lives. We change the world one person at a time, one relationship at a time, one community at a time."
The trajectory is set. The outcome is sure. Jesus will fill all things.
Questions for Reflection
Where in your life are you trying to "climb to God" through your own efforts rather than receiving what Jesus has already provided through His descent? Are there areas where you're operating under "religion" (performance-based approval) rather than relationship (grace-based acceptance)?
What "tastes of the kingdom" have you witnessed recently—moments where truth, righteousness, peace, or love won over their opposites? How can you become a more intentional agent of the kingdom in your sphere of influence this week?
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Opening Prayer
God, we ask in these next few moments that you would speak to each of us. God, we ask that my words would reflect your word in content and in tone and in emphasis. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Introduction: Can We Really Change the World?
So we've been in a short series that we've simply called "How to Change the World." We've been camping out in a portion of Ephesians 4, and I would guess if you've been here, haven't been here, you hear that title, you have a couple reactions. Some of us say, "Change the world? Do we need to change the world?"
Maybe you've looked at the world and thought, well, the world's a big place, there's a lot of problems. I'll just kind of say it is what it is and live my life. Or maybe you have been one of those people who say, there are these problems and I'm overwhelmed by them, so I'll just do my best to live my life well where I am. Or maybe you're somebody who gets obsessed—you follow the news and all of the developments and you feel the swings of culture all the time and say, "What's going to happen? What is the direction of our world?"
But one thing I would guess many of us could agree upon, and that is that the world we live in could be better because we live in a world where things aren't always as they should be, no matter where you're coming from.
The Brokenness We All See
And when I say that, what I'm talking about is things like this: If you grew up or raised a child in West Virginia and you had them commit to the National Guard and they go to serve for a while, you would say they should be able to serve without somebody opening fire on them simply because they represent, by virtue of serving in the National Guard, an ideology that somebody else doesn't agree with. And you just say the world should be better, different.
Or maybe you've seen the stories that come out of Gaza where a single mom is overwhelmed by the flood and can't feed her children. And you say we should live in a world by now where people can get food and where destitution doesn't overtake people.
Or maybe some of your disappointments are closer to home. Maybe there's been people in your life who have promised things, stated the way that they would love you and be there for you. And then situations changed and they just said what they needed to say to get you to go along with them for a while. And now you're left with the hurt and the disappointment and you say this isn't the way that the world should be.
These are the realities we face daily—violence, poverty, broken relationships, unfulfilled promises. We see the brokenness at the global level, at the community level, and at the deeply personal level. Each of us carries our own stories of disappointment and pain, moments when we've looked around and thought, "This isn't right. This isn't how things should be."
The Great Question: If Jesus Is the Answer, Why Is the World Still Broken?
Well, Christians have long believed and stated that Jesus Christ is the answer to the world's problems. But by virtue of even how I said that, I recognize that there's a little bit of a disconnect. And the reason I say that—I mean, clearly I believe Jesus Christ is the answer—but it's a disconnect in this sense: If Jesus Christ is the answer to the world's problem, and Jesus Christ has been around for as long as he's been around, why is the world still the way that it is? Why haven't things changed? Why hasn't it gotten better?
This is an honest question that deserves an honest answer. It's a question that skeptics ask, and if we're being truthful, it's a question that believers wrestle with too. We proclaim that Jesus is Lord, that He has conquered sin and death, that He offers hope and transformation. Yet we look around and see the same cycles of violence, the same patterns of injustice, the same brokenness generation after generation.
So what's going on? Has Jesus failed? Does He lack the power we claim He has? Or is there something we're missing about how God actually works in the world?
Understanding How Jesus Addresses the World's Problems
Well, what we're going to do today is just look at a few verses in Ephesians 4 that you heard read and talk about what Jesus does to address the problems of our world. And we see it in these phrases in verses 9 and 10 where it says, "What does 'he ascended' mean, except that he also descended to the lower regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe."
And in those verses you get the descended, ascended, filled the universe—all these phrases. And it's easy to just read them very quickly and think, "What does this have to do with anything?" But I believe that in this phrase "he descended," in the phrase "he ascended," and "fills the universe," we see how God addresses the problems of our world.
These aren't just theological concepts or abstract ideas. These are practical realities that shape how we understand God's work in history and in our lives today. Let's unpack each of these three movements and see what they reveal about God's plan for changing the world.
Point One: He Descended—His Provision for Our Greatest Need
So the first way that he does this is in this phrase "he descended." And this is his provision. This is what Christmas is about in Christianity—the idea that God became a man, and in becoming a man, went to a cross, died on a cross as the Savior for sin, that whoever believes in him would never perish but have eternal life.
The Humility of Christ
Philippians 2 states it even more clearly than simply this idea that he descended. It says this in verse 6, speaking about Jesus Christ: "Who, being the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Think about what this means. The One who created the universe, the One who spoke galaxies into existence, the One who sustains all things by His powerful word—this One chose to descend. He didn't have to. He could have remained in the glory of heaven. He could have addressed the problem of sin from a distance. But instead, He chose the path of descent—the path of humility, the path of incarnation.
So Jesus' descent to the earth is his way of addressing the problem. But here's what happens in our world, and that is most people think that the answer proposed by God, by Jesus, is religion.
Religion vs. Relationship
And what religion is is the basic statement that says, you try harder, do better to become more like God, whatever your version of God is. And then whenever you get to the end of your life, whatever judgment looks like, you'll get thumbs up from your version of God.
And by the way, this isn't just a religious thing. Some of the strongest religious adherents are people who never darken the doors of a church. And they believe in a religion that I call moralism, which says, "I'm a moral person, I'm a good person, I'm better than other people. Therefore, whatever my version of God is, is going to say, 'You're okay.'"
This is how most people think about relating to God—it's a performance-based system. It's about keeping score. It's about being good enough, trying hard enough, measuring up. And the problem with this approach is that it can never actually solve our deepest problem.
But Christianity is very different because it isn't about what we do. It's about what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. Jesus descended because we can't climb high enough. And therefore, the answer to the problem of sin, which is why we have so much corruption in the world, is Jesus' descent, his incarnation, to address the sin of this world.
Salvation and the Kingdom
Now, Jesus' coming addresses sin, and in addressing sin, he makes it possible for people who believe in him—whoever believe in him would never perish but have eternal life—whoever believe in him to have salvation, to have eternal life. He makes it possible for people to go to heaven.
But the mission, his mission isn't just to take people to heaven, but it's also to bring his kingdom, or heaven, here.
And I say this because in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches his followers how to pray, he says, "Pray in this way: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come." He says, "I want you to know that the way that God rules the Earth is already here."
The Already and Not Yet
And here's the thing: There's a sense in which the kingdom that Jesus initiated is already here, but it's not yet here. This is a phrase George Eldon Ladd coined years and years ago—the "already, the not yet." But what he was saying was, when we try to make the kingdom here entirely now, we miss its future aspect. But if we only focus on the future aspect, we miss the current aspect. And there's a both—there's an already and a not yet.
This concept is crucial for understanding how God is working in the world. The kingdom has broken into history through Jesus Christ. Wherever Jesus is acknowledged as Lord, wherever His values are lived out, wherever His love is demonstrated, the kingdom is present. But the kingdom is not yet fully consummated. We still live in a world marked by sin and brokenness. The final victory is certain, but it hasn't yet fully arrived.
And Jesus Christ came in part to say, "I'm going to show you what my kingdom looks like, what it looks like when things are as they should be."
So he descended—it's his provision. He came down to meet us in our need, to address the fundamental problem of sin that separates us from God and corrupts everything in our world.
Point Two: He Ascended—His Power Over All Things
But he also ascended. And this is where we see this phrase, "he ascended." And it says, "above the heavens," which is a way of saying that he's higher than all the heavens, that he has power.
The Question of Power
Because it's easy sometimes to say, if Jesus has so much power and his incarnation is so great—his coming to Earth—then why are things again the way they are? And to assume it means that he doesn't have power.
This is where many people get stuck. They look at the continued presence of evil and suffering in the world and conclude that either God doesn't exist, or if He does exist, He must not be very powerful. But this reasoning misses something crucial.
But his ascension means that he, if it's true, has ascended above the highest heavens. He has full power.
The ascension of Jesus isn't just a nice ending to the Gospel story. It's a declaration of His authority over all things. When Jesus ascended, He took His place at the right hand of the Father—the position of ultimate authority and power. This means that despite appearances, despite the chaos we see around us, Jesus is in control. History is moving according to His plan. Evil will not have the final word.
Jesus Is Unique
There's a song that came out a long time ago now by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's sometimes sung this time of year. It's called "Better Days." And he starts the song, "You asked me what I want this year." And basically, "I just want better days. I want the world to be better."
We can all relate to that sentiment, can't we? We all want better days. We all want the world to be better. But the question is, how do we get there?
But at one point in the song, his line is that there's one child who saved the world—probably an allusion to Jesus Christ. And then the next line says, "And 10,000 more that probably could."
Now, on one way of listening to that is maybe just his way of saying Jesus saved the world, and all of us, if we would, would basically invest in the kingdom of God, could bring goodness to this earth. And there's truth in that—we are called to be agents of the kingdom, to participate in God's work of redemption and restoration.
But there could also be a way to hear that in which he's saying, there's no distinction in Jesus Christ—Jesus just showed the way, and the rest of us do the same thing.
And this is where we need clarity. Jesus is not simply one good example among many. He is not merely a moral teacher who showed us a better way to live. He is the unique Son of God who has power to actually bring about change. His death on the cross wasn't just an inspiring act of sacrifice—it was the means by which God dealt with sin once and for all. His resurrection wasn't just a symbol of hope—it was the demonstration of His power over death itself.
But Jesus has power to actually bring about change, and that is what he's doing. Even now, in this moment, Jesus is at work in the world, advancing His kingdom, drawing people to Himself, transforming lives, and moving history toward its appointed conclusion.
Point Three: To Fill All Things—His Promise of Complete Restoration
And then there's this little phrase, "to fill the whole universe." And we usually teach from the New International Version here. And the New International Version here says, "to fill the whole universe." The New American Standard, which tends to be a little more direct translation, ESV, both basically translate this phrase as "that he might fill all things."
Why Translation Matters Here
You might say, "Well, what's the difference?" Well, the NIV editorializes a little here, tries to fill in the blank, which all translations do to a degree. The NIV is an excellent translation—it's not a critique of it. But here I think the difference matters.
Because to say "to fill the whole universe" sounds kind of nebulous, like God's presence is just everywhere—sort of a vague, general presence permeating everything. To say "he fills all things" is very specific because what he's doing here, what the statement is, is that God's promise is that the way God intends for things to be will be the way things are in every area of this world.
This is a comprehensive promise. It's not just about spiritual realities or heavenly things. It's about everything—every sphere of life, every institution, every relationship, every corner of creation. God's plan is to fill all things, to bring everything under the lordship of Christ, to restore everything to what it was meant to be.
Tastes of the Kingdom
And the reason this matters is because what this is saying is every time you see truth win instead of deception, it's like a little taste of the kingdom of God. Every time you see righteousness instead of corruption, every time we see peace instead of violence, every time we see love instead of exploitation, we are seeing a little taste of the kingdom of God.
Think about this practically. When you see:
A marriage restored after years of conflict
An addict set free from addiction
A community coming together to serve the vulnerable
Justice being done for the oppressed
Reconciliation happening between enemies
Beauty created where there was ugliness
Hope breaking through despair
Truth dispelling lies
Every single one of these moments is a foretaste of the kingdom. They're previews of what's coming. They're glimpses of the world as God intends it to be.
It's an already and a not yet, but it is a taste. And the reason that matters is because what God is doing is he is beginning the process of letting us see what it can be.
Living in the Already and Not Yet
Now you may rightly ask the question—and this is where the transcript ends, but let me complete the thought—you may rightly ask, "If this is true, why does it feel like darkness is winning? Why does it seem like things are getting worse, not better?"
And the answer is complex, but here's part of it: We live in the tension of the already and not yet. Jesus has secured the victory, but the full manifestation of that victory awaits His return. In the meantime, we live in contested territory. The enemy hasn't surrendered, even though his defeat is certain. Evil still rages, even though its doom is sealed.
But here's what we know: The trajectory is set. The outcome is sure. Jesus will fill all things. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Justice will roll down like waters. Righteousness will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea. The dwelling of God will be with humanity. He will wipe away every tear. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be things of the past.
Conclusion: How Then Should We Live?
So what does this mean for us? How do we change the world in light of these truths?
First, we recognize our need for Jesus' provision. We stop trying to climb to God through our own efforts and receive His gift of salvation. We acknowledge that the fundamental problem isn't just bad systems or flawed institutions—it's sin, and only Jesus can deal with sin.
Second, we trust in Jesus' power. We don't despair when we see evil seemingly triumph. We know that appearances can be deceiving. Jesus is on the throne. He has all authority. And He is working out His purposes even when we can't see it.
Third, we participate in Jesus' mission to fill all things. We become agents of the kingdom. Wherever we have influence—in our homes, our workplaces, our communities—we work to bring things more in line with how God intends them to be. We speak truth, pursue justice, love mercy, make peace, create beauty, and demonstrate the love of Christ.
We change the world not by our own power, but by aligning ourselves with what Jesus is already doing. We change the world not through political dominance or cultural conquest, but through the power of the gospel transforming lives. We change the world one person at a time, one relationship at a time, one community at a time.
And we do this with hope, because we know how the story ends. Jesus wins. The kingdom comes. All things are made new.
This is how we change the world—not by our strength, but by His. Not by our wisdom, but by His. Not in our timing, but in His. We trust in His descent, His ascent, and His promise to fill all things.
And in the meantime, we pray, as He taught us, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank You that You didn't stay distant from us. You descended to meet us in our need. You took on flesh. You entered into our brokenness. You died for our sins. And You rose again in power.
We thank You that You have ascended above all the heavens, that You have all authority, that You are working out Your purposes even when we can't see it.
And we thank You for Your promise to fill all things, to make all things new, to bring Your kingdom in its fullness.
Help us to be faithful participants in Your mission. Help us to trust You when we're discouraged. Help us to hope in You when things seem dark. Help us to work for Your kingdom knowing that our labor is not in vain.
We pray these things in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
AI-Generated Disclaimer: This sermon transcript has been processed, formatted, and expanded using artificial intelligence. While efforts have been made to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the original message, this version includes additional commentary and development of themes present in the source material. The original transcript appears to have been incomplete or cut off partway through. Please refer to the original audio recording for the complete and authoritative version of this message as delivered by Dr. Kurt Bjorklund.
