“What if we are missing the point when it comes to salvation by grace through faith? What if it is vastly larger than a cosmic (albeit legal) transaction—way more than a mere pardon? What if it is about resurrection from the dead—even before you actually die—and the appropriation of eternal life even before eternity begins? After all, you saw the text. We are dealing with . . .
the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
…..Could it be that we have focused so much on sin and salvation that we have lost the bigger story of salvation—of being swept up into the very death and resurrection of Jesus in order to live life in his kingdom—on earth as it is in heaven?”
JD Walt, Seedbed.com Wake Up Call, May 11, 2023
😘. A similar thought, that Christ truly intended for us to come to know the joy, freedom, and fullness of fellowship with Him that we think is only available at some far distant time and place right here, right now! That God’s Kingdom truly HAS come on earth as it is in heaven, if I simply believe Him! It was a thought so grand, so beyond imagination…. yet there it was! It took my breath away when it came in 1997. And trying to wrap my mind around it almost took my mind, as well. When I landed in a voluntary admit to a psych hospital with a diagnosis of religiosity psychosis, the first person I confided in was a Pilipino Catholic psychiatrist. When I whispered to him what a huge majestic view of Christ’s work of salvation I was imagining, not from the physical to the supernatural but from to supernatural to the physical, I asked him if I was crazy. His response was, “No. You are not crazy. That is what I believe, too. You keep that vision of heaven here. You’re going to be fine.”
I gradually received the eyes to see the “there” present with me “here.” Heaven became a reality, not with every breath and in every second, but present enough to me consistently enough that I gained my balance again and began to tread a dual citizenship existence of physical and spiritual that is far more joyful, freeing, and full than I could have known before. Those who do not believe God in Christ through the Holy Spirit present fully with us here have difficulty even grasping the possibility.
I have the privilege of having shared and mentored a few people into this bigger vision of Christ’s work of redemption of believers individually and the whole earth in His completed work. During those months of learning to walk by the Light that is inside, even in the darkest of nights, encouragement from the Lord on several occasions was this, “Tell others.” And “Whisper it all.”
It is not an easy concept for those bound by their own choice of chains to the physical realm. Only when we are prepared to surrender all that we hold on to in the physical can we be trusted with stewardship of the things of the Kingdom that is not of this world. And in doing so, we learn that both can coexist in the present and that the present gradually becomes forever. And when our purpose in the physical is fulfilled we, like Christ, depart these bodies, committing our spirits into His hands.
To gain my footing in this dual citizenship liminal space, the things I found I had to surrender most often were fears…. relational fears (particularly in marriage, family and work), financial security fears, physical well-being fears, fear of rejection, fear of being alone, fear of making mistakes, fear of being judged, and more. There are two Jesus-encounters regarding entering the Kingdom that stand out to me… the Samaritan woman and the rich young ruler. One would be hard pressed to find two more diametrically opposed scenarios. One with little to commend her who was not looking for the kingdom, but believed the Messiah. The other who believed he possessed and had done all that he could and that was needed to enter the kingdom and just wanted a quick, easy add-on to all he had done if something more was required…. a sacrifice at the temple, alms to the poor, a prayer, a pilgrimage? To the former the kingdom was an evident and immediate gift to be shared with others. To the latter the kingdom would require a costly and unacceptable sacrifice. “Blessed are those who know they have nothing to offer to God, but give Him all of who they are…. the poor in spirit…. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
John Cunningham had written a few days ago, “….Somehow the head is satisfied without sacrifice. But the heart has to break … open.” Seems to describe the condition of the rich young ruler and the Samaritan woman, respectively.