Living in the mystery of the kingdom

The Mystery of the Kingdom The KingdomWill come in the future Has come – is now present Is ‘near’ or ‘at hand’ Has been delayed

History Consummation Age to Come P TheChristianLife

Christians are ‘Already’ ‘Not Yet’ People

This is more than a theology: A known experience  We are here, almost here, delayed, future people.  We are saved, being saved, and will be saved. Failure to understand this dimension of living leads to much personal struggle.

‘Already’ texts This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT) But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. (2:14)

‘Not Yet’ texts We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a “guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit(5:2-5)

Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. (4:11-12) So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. (Colossians.3:5).

An ‘Already’ & ‘Not Yet’ Text 2 Cor.6:4-10

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

‘Already’ & ‘Not Yet’ texts about sin If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. (1 John 1:8) And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. (3:5-6)

What this means – and does not mean  The flesh/spirit, old person/new person language is not psychological - it is kingdom language.  It is TWO WORLD language.  It is the environment into which we are born.

 We can attempt to escape it into: Triumphalism or Defeatism  The ‘deliverance’ and ‘inner healing’ paradigms.  Get used to it. It is not a passing phase.

 Do not panic, or fall into despair, or hate yourself.  It will get harder.  It will get better.  Do not postpone availability to God until you are ‘OK’.

Ministry Time: Making room for the Kingdom to break in upon us! JUST SHRED IT!  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse or from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9)  We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. we capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)