Understanding Eschatology and Its Implications
So last week, in this new year of 2020 we talked about the dangers of bad eschatology and what it does in the lives of otherwise good Christian souls. The thought of Christianity becomes quite muddled for some people in the face of this revealed eschatological view. They wonder: What now then? What’s the point? Why would everything be focused on them/then and not us now? Is there a purpose for life if Jesus has already come and taken His bride? These are normal and natural responses – especially when we were really sold on the idea that Jesus was coming back to save us and destroy the world. For some reason people really revel in that idea.
So, let me quickly lay out some insights:
- We are not preparing for His return, therefore…
- We are not trying to keep the NT narrative alive, therefore…
- We do not have to play church, play authority, play generosity, play righteousness, play “us verses them,” “set everyone straight, warn people about going to hell, play works-righteousness; and therefore…
- We, Christians, are at liberty to walk and live as Christians who are led of the Spirit in this world would walk. And therefore…
- Because God is in us, we live a fully responsible, subjective faith according to the dictates of our consciences and NOT by the letters of the Law. THEREFORE…
The Role of Faith in a Fulfilled World
Notice that God’s interaction with us in this day and age is represented, through Christ and by the Spirit, as pointing “DOWN to those who are His with these gifts and supports. To those who are His by faith. All the other stuff has been taken care of by Christ and we are sort of like people living in a world after God wiped out any and every zombie.
We do not live in fear of zombies – they are gone forever. We do not suspect that others are or can become zombies, we do not treat others as zombies, and we do not have to worry about the hell of being zombies – God, through His Son has cured and saved the world of zombies once and for all. All the world is now either grateful believers in God for what He has done or they are not – they don’t believe on Him nor care. But the work has been done. Now I am speaking only to those people of faith. I am not talking about those who are seeking or have yet to confess Jesus as Lord – just those who are His by faith. In this day and age of Fulfillment God, because of Christ and His victory BY the Spirit, God our Father bestows these things constantly upon His Sons and Daughters.
Gifts for the Faithful
Got that? And, again, looking to the board, those who are in relationship with God our Father through Christ as Daughters and Sons are constantly offered these three constant and main gifts. The Holy Spirit, which teaches all things, and bears fruit of agape love to all things, His Word/law written on each of our hearts (which again is a nod to agape love) and then the power of His might to overcome our selfish fleshly ways and to walk by faith and love.
In this faith I propose that there is always a two-way highway – one with God bestowing, reaching, blessing, empowering, aiding, fortifying, encouraging, helping, etc. etc., and it looks like what I have drawn on the board, and there is our responding, His children responding, which looks like our pointing back (see the board).
So, our responsibility (or our response) is a key factor in God and His reaching out to us. First, we respond by a faith that is both present and increasing. We understand that in believers faith is present. But how does faith increase? It increases by the hearing of the Word.
Understanding Faith
In order to understand this we have to ask ourselves, “What is faith?” The writer of Hebrews says it this way: Faith is the substance of THINGS hoped for, the evidence of THINGS not seen. Notice that twice in that verse the writer uses the word “things.” And what are the things he is speaking about? After a lot of thought and searching I submit to you that the things can be called . . . “the promises of God.”
So we can re-read this passage like this: “Faith is the substance of “the promises of God hoped for,” the evidence of “the promises of God” not seen.” How do we learn the promises of God? Primarily by and through reading and hearing the Word where His promises are contained. We hear them, believe them, rely on them, and our faith commensurately grows – the more we are exposed to it.
It does not seem, from the scripture, that a person's faith is to remain dormant or stagnant. God’s ideal for his children is that it would increase. And so the first principle in this age of fulfillment continues to be for the Christian to grow in their faith, which has a direct connection to hearing the Word of God which contains his promises to those who love him.
The Condition of the Heart
The second response a Christian has in this life is the condition of what I call their “heart-ground” or the condition of their heart. As the ground is kept free from hardness, stones, weeds, and invaders, as it remains soft to Him and His ways, the Word and His promises continue to grow deep with root and high with fruit (of love).
The heart ground of His sons and daughters is a soil of humility, gentleness, kindness, contrition, goodness. When it becomes invaded and corrupt, it becomes more and more difficult to raise up fruits of love. The infiltrators of the heart ground, according to Jesus in his teachings, are the Word and the cares and or riches of the World. These inhibit the ability to love as He loves.
Choices in Christian Living
And this brings us to the third response choice all Christians make in their lives toward God and His reaching out – How we choose to use the liberty we have in Christ in the time we have been given (which we call our lives). This is an individual, subjective decision which every person – believer and not – makes every minute of every day of their lives. I would gently suggest that the difference between the non-believer and the true believer (meaning the real sons and daughters of God) is defined by how they respond to this daily minute to minute choice.
When we take the constant offerings of God to His Children, and the Children’s responsibilities as Christians, we get an interactive relationship that all Sons and Daughters have. And this is what we are going to be primarily talking about in the weeks and months to come in 2020. It’s going to get interesting as I plan to begin our progress through the questions of Christian living in the fulfilled age by talking about marriage, relationships, sex, birth control, children, raising teens, educational pursuits, science, evolution, everything LGBTQ, atheism, environmentalism, flat-earth vs. round, euthanasia, cremation, political stances, occupations, vocations, finances, and a whole bunch more.
We are going to do this by taking the principles of Christ and the facts of fulfillment, and offer-up some reasonable, contextual, approach that puts to bed traditions of Man but endorses what scripture says about selfless, humble loving existence. The point is to not only openly affirm the purpose of Christian living post return, but to show the idiocy of our continuing to propagate some of the thinking and behaviors Christians have gotten behind in years past. So stay tuned, write your comments and questions below, and tune in with us tomorrow night, here on HOTM!
Selfless and Humble Christian Living
but endorses what scripture says about selfless, humble loving existence. The point is to not only openly affirm the purpose of Christian living post return, but to show the idiocy of our continuing to propagate some of the thinking and behaviors Christians have gotten behind in years past.
