The World Re-Imagined

In the early first century, declaring a new religion wouldn't cause much trouble. The world was awash in varied religion, but it had one political scheme: the Roman Empire. For the early Christians to declare a new political king was a very dangerous proclamation. The early Christians dramatically and radically re-imagined the world with a new king, a new Caesar. This is precisely what the gospel is a declaration that the world now has a new emperor: Jesus Christ of Nazareth! The early Christians were accused of being "people who are turning the world upside down" because they were part of a strange movement that worshiped a crucified Galilean Jew whom they claimed had been raised from the dead and was now the world's true emperor. This new king would reorganize humanity, based on a system of reconciling love, not avenging power. This new world is the Kingdom of God.