Mysteries of the Kingdom, Part II

 

Time and the Day of His Return

Paul wants to convey to the believer the hope that is in Christ. We in the Vineyard have a Kingdom Theology that believes in the “here and the not yet” of the Kingdom of God.

Matt 11:12-13

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Jesus came to establish a beachhead, which we as Christians are to continue to expand His rule and reign until it is fully establish upon His return.

2 Peter 3:11-13

You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

1 Cor 15:51-52

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

If we live in the in-between of the “here and not yet” of the Kingdom, what does that mean for us? Paul was trying to reassure folks that there is hope for us in the here and now.

1 Thess 4:13-18

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Paul tells us that those who are believers and have died before will precede us into the Kingdom. Ok, but didn’t Jesus tell the thief on the cross next to Him that, that very day he would be in Paradise with Jesus?

Luke 23:43

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

In my last column, when I spoke of the attributes of God, I mentioned that He is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (not limited by time and space, able to be everywhere at once). God does not view time the way we do. For us it is linear, for Him it is not.

Rom 8:29

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

For some, the concept of predestination makes it seem like we don’t have any choice in the matter and that He has already chosen those who will be saved. No, He just knew (foreknowledge) which ones would choose to serve Him and He separated those unto Himself. Remember that God can move backwards and forwards in time. He has no beginning and no end.

2 Peter 3:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Again, God’s concept of time is not like our own. There are some literalists who insist that the six days of creation were literally six 24 hour days. If there were no days and nights before He created them, why would He be limited to just 24 hours. How are we to know if each day was 24 hours, 24 years, 24,000 years, or 24 million years.

Remember that Moses is relating back oral history and is trying to explain the unexplainable. Let me give you another example:

2 Kings 6:17

And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.  (KJV)

Were these literally “chariots of fire”?

Let me put it this way. Let’s say that you were transported back to George Washington’s time; how would you describe the space shuttle? What words and imagery do you use to describe it so that they could even begin to get the picture? You would have to use illustrations drawn from their limited experience. Once you finished giving the illustration it might evoke an image for them, but for us, it would sound nothing like what the shuttle is really like.

When we die, time loses all meaning to us. One minute would feel no different than several millennia. Think of it this way. When you go to sleep and then you wake up; can you really tell if one minute or several hours have gone by?

For us, we are living in the “here and not yet” of the Kingdom of God. For God, there is no “here and not yet”, there is only His Kingdom and He reigns supreme above it all.

We get to cheat and read the end of the Book and we get a glimpse through John of what will happen when “our time” ends and Jesus returns to pass judgment and to take His rightful place as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

For Him, He has always been Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

There, mind blown!