"IT IS FINISHED."
--Jesus Christ
We have looked at God's just wrath upon sin being satisfied at the cross.
We have seen what we have been saved from, but what exactly have Christians been saved to?
Now we will compare both the 'general' and 'personal' Redemptive results, and each of these in both their present and final fulfillments.
God's redemptive plan, His triumph over sin and its effects begins with the completed work in Calvary, and takes final, full effect in the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
The final 'general' outcome is seen in the New Heaven and the New Earth where all of the ruination unleashed upon Creation is overthrown. Anyone who looks upon it will call it good. Glimpses of this can be seen in Isaiah and Revelation.
This is the Final State of nature, but even now, God's purposes are unfolding. As His kingdom spreads, and sanctifies man's original mandate of dominion over creation, righteousness will exalt nations. Everywhere the Gospel is lifted up, lives and nations will be blessed. Every sphere of public, private, or community life, every industry, institution -- and even government -- to the degree to which it is submitted to God's authority, can be a tool of Righteousness in God's hand.
The Kingdom of God, of course, consists of Christians, and the way their lives affect their world. But before they can affect their world, they must benefit from Christ's work at Golgotha.
First, our dead spiritual nature, our wicked and rebellious heart must be changed to a new one, one that is responsive to the Living God.
To give us the ability to live the kind of life we were released into, God gave us His Holy Spirit. He leads us into His truth; and He gives us grace, strength, and wisdom. He helps us to pray, He helps us resist temptation, and re-makes our characters to reflect His own. He restores us when we stumble, corrects us when we're wrong, and comforts us when we mourn. In short, He gives us all things pertaining to life and godliness.
The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits, the 'downpayment' of life as it will be when God's work is fully revealed.
Both the Just and the Wicked will see His final triumph over Death itself, and while body and spirit will nowhere be separated, not everyone will rejoice.
The wicked will face an eternity of despair. We have been warned "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10.28) Jesus affirms that there is no 'annihilation' or 'soul sleep' or 'reincarnation' but rather an eternal physical presence in a finite place called Hell. He also affirms the eternal duration with such images as 'where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.'
By contrast, the Glory of the life that awaits us is unspeakable. Greater than the wonders we will behold in a perfect created order, we will hear the commendation of the faithful, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord." Greater even than that is the unimpaired relationship with Perfection Himself, as He said to Abraham, "I Am thy shield, and thy Exceeding Great Reward."
If we can truly grasp the realities that await us, if we 'get' the truth and significance of these "Four Constants" we will not find it a hardship to seek first the kingdom of God, or to bear up under hardships. It will seem easy to testify to His truths, or to live as Pilgrims and Strangers in this present world.
...And Great is our reward if we do.
--Jesus Christ
We have looked at God's just wrath upon sin being satisfied at the cross.
We have seen what we have been saved from, but what exactly have Christians been saved to?
Now we will compare both the 'general' and 'personal' Redemptive results, and each of these in both their present and final fulfillments.
God's redemptive plan, His triumph over sin and its effects begins with the completed work in Calvary, and takes final, full effect in the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
The final 'general' outcome is seen in the New Heaven and the New Earth where all of the ruination unleashed upon Creation is overthrown. Anyone who looks upon it will call it good. Glimpses of this can be seen in Isaiah and Revelation.
This is the Final State of nature, but even now, God's purposes are unfolding. As His kingdom spreads, and sanctifies man's original mandate of dominion over creation, righteousness will exalt nations. Everywhere the Gospel is lifted up, lives and nations will be blessed. Every sphere of public, private, or community life, every industry, institution -- and even government -- to the degree to which it is submitted to God's authority, can be a tool of Righteousness in God's hand.
The Kingdom of God, of course, consists of Christians, and the way their lives affect their world. But before they can affect their world, they must benefit from Christ's work at Golgotha.
First, our dead spiritual nature, our wicked and rebellious heart must be changed to a new one, one that is responsive to the Living God.
To give us the ability to live the kind of life we were released into, God gave us His Holy Spirit. He leads us into His truth; and He gives us grace, strength, and wisdom. He helps us to pray, He helps us resist temptation, and re-makes our characters to reflect His own. He restores us when we stumble, corrects us when we're wrong, and comforts us when we mourn. In short, He gives us all things pertaining to life and godliness.
The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits, the 'downpayment' of life as it will be when God's work is fully revealed.
Both the Just and the Wicked will see His final triumph over Death itself, and while body and spirit will nowhere be separated, not everyone will rejoice.
The wicked will face an eternity of despair. We have been warned "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10.28) Jesus affirms that there is no 'annihilation' or 'soul sleep' or 'reincarnation' but rather an eternal physical presence in a finite place called Hell. He also affirms the eternal duration with such images as 'where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.'
By contrast, the Glory of the life that awaits us is unspeakable. Greater than the wonders we will behold in a perfect created order, we will hear the commendation of the faithful, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord." Greater even than that is the unimpaired relationship with Perfection Himself, as He said to Abraham, "I Am thy shield, and thy Exceeding Great Reward."
If we can truly grasp the realities that await us, if we 'get' the truth and significance of these "Four Constants" we will not find it a hardship to seek first the kingdom of God, or to bear up under hardships. It will seem easy to testify to His truths, or to live as Pilgrims and Strangers in this present world.
...And Great is our reward if we do.
[...]
1 comment:
More good, meaty stuff. Well done.
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