Master 265: Heaven, Present and Future
In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesian Christians, he writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (1:3) He says that God "put all things in subjection under His (Jesus') feet." (1:22) After describing our fallen condition, he goes on to say, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus." (2:4-6)
Did you catch those words? God has blessed us. God put all things in subjection to Christ. God raised us up. God seated us with Him. All of these are past-tense expressions. They describe things that God has already done. How can this be, and what does it mean? One of the first things to say is that we are right to look forward to a future day when Christ will return and restore all things. The prophets and apostles, along with Jesus Himself, all speak of this future hope and fulfillment. But Paul's words suggest that it's a mistake to think of that as only future.
--
Jesus' resurrection gives us hope that we too will one day be resurrected, because ultimately these 'two' resurrections are not distinct events but parts of one continuous event. Jesus' resurrection marked the beginning of the end. We are looking forward to the end of all things, but it is also the case that we are living now in the last days. In Christ we have been raised, with Him we have been seated in heaven, and through Him we have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
What follows from this is that the power and presence of God are available to us now. Many Christians seem to be looking forward to a day in the distant future when we will not be dogged by sin, when we will know real fellowship with God, when His presence will be clearly manifested, etc. While there is something right about this, we should not overlook the fact that sin has already been defeated, that God is really with us now, and that if He seems distant that may be because we are actually neglecting to take full advantage of the riches that are open to us here and now.
Emphasis on the present reality of God's kingdom can make some Christians nervous. Certainly there are theologians who have interpreted the presence, now, of God's kingdom in such a way as to exclude its real, decisive, and final coming in the future. But a correct appreciation of this future hope should not stop us from acknowledging, enjoying, and celebrating the fullness of the outpouring of God's love and grace in the present.
Think about this. Will attending to the abundance of God's riches given to us now cause us to esteem less and fail to look forward to the plenitude that is to come? Actually no. Too many Christians content themselves (though never truly content) with spiritual crumbs and console one another with the thought that the feast in heaven will be so much better. But their vision of that future hope and glory is not the larger and grander for its contrast with their present experience. If anything, their present meager experience undermines their ability to envision just how much better heaven will be. The true Christian way, I want to suggest, is one of feasting now--enjoying the good things of God, resting in His presence, exercising His power, loving and abiding with Him--and then marveling that these overwhelming experiences are only the tiniest morsels of what God has to offer. They are like starters or appetizers. The main course of this banquet is yet to come.
So we can ask ourselves: are we living with Christ? Are we abiding in Him? Listening to Him, spending time with Him, working alongside Him? That's exactly what the heavenly life will be like.
--
This material came out of study (on the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ) for a Sunday school class I've been teaching on the doctrines of the Christian faith.
A version of this piece has been published in the March 2012 issue of a new Christian online magazine, Family Labs. Here's a link to that particular article.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
Did you catch those words? God has blessed us. God put all things in subjection to Christ. God raised us up. God seated us with Him. All of these are past-tense expressions. They describe things that God has already done. How can this be, and what does it mean? One of the first things to say is that we are right to look forward to a future day when Christ will return and restore all things. The prophets and apostles, along with Jesus Himself, all speak of this future hope and fulfillment. But Paul's words suggest that it's a mistake to think of that as only future.
--
Jesus' resurrection gives us hope that we too will one day be resurrected, because ultimately these 'two' resurrections are not distinct events but parts of one continuous event. Jesus' resurrection marked the beginning of the end. We are looking forward to the end of all things, but it is also the case that we are living now in the last days. In Christ we have been raised, with Him we have been seated in heaven, and through Him we have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
What follows from this is that the power and presence of God are available to us now. Many Christians seem to be looking forward to a day in the distant future when we will not be dogged by sin, when we will know real fellowship with God, when His presence will be clearly manifested, etc. While there is something right about this, we should not overlook the fact that sin has already been defeated, that God is really with us now, and that if He seems distant that may be because we are actually neglecting to take full advantage of the riches that are open to us here and now.
Emphasis on the present reality of God's kingdom can make some Christians nervous. Certainly there are theologians who have interpreted the presence, now, of God's kingdom in such a way as to exclude its real, decisive, and final coming in the future. But a correct appreciation of this future hope should not stop us from acknowledging, enjoying, and celebrating the fullness of the outpouring of God's love and grace in the present.
Think about this. Will attending to the abundance of God's riches given to us now cause us to esteem less and fail to look forward to the plenitude that is to come? Actually no. Too many Christians content themselves (though never truly content) with spiritual crumbs and console one another with the thought that the feast in heaven will be so much better. But their vision of that future hope and glory is not the larger and grander for its contrast with their present experience. If anything, their present meager experience undermines their ability to envision just how much better heaven will be. The true Christian way, I want to suggest, is one of feasting now--enjoying the good things of God, resting in His presence, exercising His power, loving and abiding with Him--and then marveling that these overwhelming experiences are only the tiniest morsels of what God has to offer. They are like starters or appetizers. The main course of this banquet is yet to come.
So we can ask ourselves: are we living with Christ? Are we abiding in Him? Listening to Him, spending time with Him, working alongside Him? That's exactly what the heavenly life will be like.
--
This material came out of study (on the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ) for a Sunday school class I've been teaching on the doctrines of the Christian faith.
A version of this piece has been published in the March 2012 issue of a new Christian online magazine, Family Labs. Here's a link to that particular article.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 2:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home