The Edge of Heaven
The Body of Christ is a new humanity that lives life between the ages. We simultaneously participate in the age that is currently passing away and the age that is to come. The age that is to come will be characterized by the consummation of God’s kingdom on earth, when His plans and purposes for the universe will be brought to fulfillment and completion. God will be all in all.
Christ’s death and resurrection have already passed judgement on the current age, an age that has already begun to pass away. The restoration of all things, the “new creation” has already begun.
1 Corinthians 1:11 (NIV) “These things happened to them [the ancient Israelites] as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”
1 Corinthians 7:29,31 (NIV) “What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short… For this world in its present form is passing away.”
The reality and promise of a new creation (Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1) can already be seen in the new humanity, who have been redeemed and saved out of the “present evil age.”
Galatians 1:4 (NIV) “[He] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
The role of the Church on earth is to serve as ambassadors of the heavenly King, who reigns from heaven and carefully directs humanity towards its spiritual destination. As Spirit people and the sons of God, we experience the power of Jesus and the age to come (Hebrews 6:5), but also share in the sufferings of Christ as we advance His kingdom on earth. Our ability to partake and co-labor in His suffering releases His glory in the present age.
1 Peter 4:13 (NIV) “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
Romans 8:17-18 (NIV) “Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
2 Corinthians 4:10 (NIV) “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV) “…I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
These “sufferings of Christ” are the willingness to enter into humanity’s darkness in order to enlighten, heal, and redeem. Christ-ones, as citizens of heaven ( Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:19), serve as living conduits for the redemptive healing power of Jesus Christ. We have all been sent from heaven to accomplish a heavenly task and purpose. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit allows us to accomplish the agenda of the Father in the midst suffering and weakness.
Our faith must be Spirit-empowered and Spirit-dominated. In Christ, God has made available to us the riches of heaven and the abundant life of the Father (John 10:10). We freely access these blessings through relationship with Jesus (Ephesians 1:11). Certainly, the kingdom of God is “already, but not yet.” But what will empower and spurn the Church to action is the seeking and seizing of the “already’ (Matthew 11:12). The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
