At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt.11:25-30)
There is a phrase that has become popularised by “Post Millennial” and “Amillennial” Christians (Christians that accept on some level the present day presence of the Kingdom of God). The phrase they use is “The Already But Not Yet”. According to Google, “it signifies that while a certain reality has begun or is partially realized, its complete manifestation or culmination is still to come. This idea is often used in the context of God’s kingdom, where believers experience its blessings now but anticipate its full arrival in the future.”
For the better part of 25 years, or so, I embraced this perspective as well. It made sense of the tension between the promised Kingdom that Jesus and His apostles established 2,000 years ago, and the apparent reality that not “all things” are yet in subjection to God’s perfect rule and reign, the result of which is continued discord and suffering in the world. Although this paradox is nowhere explicitly spelled out in Scripture, it is used to celebrate the perceived half-done work of Christ, and offer a “future hope” to those who are anxious or depressed about the current state of things.
Through this paradigm I was able to harmonise passage like Matthew 11:25-30, which I just quoted above and which speak of the present reality of the Kingdom, with passages like 1Peter 1:3-10 which seem to speak of “future glories” yet to follow. What the “The Already But Not Yet” paradigm never helped me with, though, was passages like Romans 6 and 8, where the Apostle Paul speaks of the present day victory over sin and death that receivers of Christ’s Spirit have, even against all other powers of wickedness. Or passages like 1 Peter 2:13-17, or Titus 3:1-2, or Romans 13:1-7 where Peter and Paul command all disciples of Christ to submit to the existing governing authorities over them because those offices are actually ordained by God and under His authority and currently maintaining the order that He desires.
Such Scriptures, not to mention everything that Jesus taught about His Spiritual Kingdom seemed to contradict the narrative that God’s righteous rule would have to wait until sometime way off in the future. Indeed, there was a very imminent judgement what was about to drop on unfaithful, Old Covenant Israel, for the rejection of their “Messiah”. Every book of the New Testament speaks of this, and that judgement did, in fact, drop and all of those very specific prophesies were fulfilled exactly as predicted by the time of 70 AD and the destruction of Jerusalem. So, what could it be that disciples of Christ are still looking forward to now, nearly 2,000 years removed from that judgement, and the ushering in a new covenant/creation order?
Sadly, it turns out that believers who seem to know the Scriptures, and follow the teachings of Jesus, are still expecting the Messiah to show up as a earthy King to do the physical force, monarchy thing that Jesus specifically said He would never do for his people 2,000 years ago. (See John 18:36) The Scriptures they claim speak about this future physical return and reign of Jesus are found in passages like Isaiah 9:6-7, Daniel 7:13-14, and Revelation 11:15. All passages that use poetic imagery to describe a “government” that will rule over all the “nations of the earth”. Unfortunately few take the effort to study out the original context of these passages and how Jesus and the Apostles interpret them.
The Apostle Peter gives us a great Holy Spirit empowered message in Acts 2 to address many of these misunderstandings about God’s Kingdom, and how it is that Jesus fulfills the Davidic promises offered by the Old Testament prophets.
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:32-35)
In this passage the Apostle Peter makes it clear to us that the rule of Christ, the Messiah, has indeed come about. And whether or not they could perceive it, He was, indeed, reigning over them, not through force but by Spiritual wisdom and empowerment falling upon all who will receive Him.
Once one receives these facts as gospel you can start to see how it is that Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom is indeed ruling and reigning in our current time, through His new created order. This post will be another personal testimony of experiencing the reality and fullness of God’s Kingdom right here and now. My prayer is that if you are not already experiencing it, that this article will challenge you to dive a little deeper in your studies of the Scriptures, and perceive the presence of God’s Spirit leading in this world in fresh new ways.
Last Friday my daughter Olivia was scheduled to fly into the Portland airport, and then drive up with some friends to a logging sports competition in Morton Washington. Unfortunately her flight was delayed, and then delayed again, and then canceled until the next day. Needless to say this was a bit disappointing because her plans to hang out with friends and us and participate in some events that she really enjoys were starting to vanish. The next morning there were more delays, causing us to wonder if she would be coming at all, but then things finally came together about 1:30 PM and her flight was cleared for take off.
Meanwhile, Mary and I had made our way to PDX, anticipating to pick her up at some point. Having arrived early we had time to explore the recently remodeled airport interior. This was the first time I had seen it in person and was immediately impressed,… and really glad that I had brought my camera.
By God’s grace we had come on a beautiful sunny day, when the terminal was not too busy, and at a time of day when the sun was streaming straight through the wooden beam skylights on to a carefully arranged plant laden atrium.
Unlike the design of the previous waiting terminal, which was very modern and open and industrial, this new waiting area is much warmer and inviting and visually stimulating. Clearly the intent was to create a kind of garden/terrarium feel, bringing the natural environment of the Northwest inside. And I have to say they were definitely successful!
To further their vision of bringing elements of Northwest scenery into the space there are two 20ft. tall by 120ft. wide screens projecting videos of local sights,…
Lounge areas with furniture that resemble logs and boulders,…
And marble floors that simulate flowing streams.
Stadium seats are cut of actual logs,…
light fixtures are made of curved pieces,..
and separation panels constructed of intricate interlocking blocks.
A Prominent placed sign on the upper level explains more about the source of the timber that was harvested locally. And I was struck by the choice to gather from such a wide and diverse selection of locations, and groups of people.
Later on I looked up a couple articles on the process of the renovation project. They calculated that from the extracting of the materials to their transformation, to their final installation was a total of 5.4 million work hours, consisting of 30,000 individuals, costing over 2 billion dollars! And the project is still over a year away from being completed yet. It got me thinking, why would they go to such great effort and expense to create this environment?
One article estimates that 10 million patrons will come through the airport each year, with a projection of double or triple that in future years. The intention of the designers was to create a space where people could feel somewhat comforted and even at rest in an environment that is often hectic and stressful, while people are often laid-over for many hours at a time.
This got me thinking more about the travelers themselves. Why do so many people travel so much? In my last blog I explored a similar thought, pondering about the Oregon Trail pioneers. I surmised that the drive for freedom and exploration and progress is just in our blood. We are an easily discontented race of creatures, and so much so that we will sacrifice much and even separation from the ones we most love, just to see new things or escape the usual humdrum of life.
And despite our recent technological advances, that now entertain us so well, and devices that take us, artificially, to any place in the world that we wish to go, our restless souls still remain unquenched.
A wise theologian once remarked, “Our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” (Saint Augustine). And I think we have thoroughly proven that point in our modern times.
We don’t seem to think this is a problem though. Stuffing every waking moment with as much stimulation as we can justify. I’ll be the first to admit, I have a YouTube, and news feed addiction. It’s not a healthy thing! And although I could make reasonable sounding excuses for it, the bottom line is that I am constantly being pulled from more important relational activities, that I know could bear more fruit; fruit that God actually cares about, and not just more head knowledge or vicarious emotional trips.
Despite how impressive the new tranquil airport is, I noticed that most were not enjoying the full benefits or beauty of it, but just rushing through to the next scheduled end point.
Discontent is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did NOT say, “Blessed are those who desire for better than what they have been given.” Or “More fulfilled are those who have accomplished a great many tasks in this life.” During His incarnation, Jesus did make time to get away from all of the hustle and bustle of life, but it was not merely to find something new or more interesting to do, rather it was to rest from the demands of everyone around him; so He could talk to the Father, and fully process the moment He was living in, both to appreciate it more fully, and to move forward with clarity of mind, and a renewed resolve.
Taking on human flesh to rescue a stubborn group of people was no small sacrifice for the Son of God. And I can feel the anguish and sorrow in Jesus’ voice when He says to the Jews, who are hung-up on their busy body traditions. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)
What if the thing that we have all been really longing for is not something outside of our already everyday blessed experience, but merely something that we need to fully acknowledge and appreciate in the way that it has already been offered to us?
Like the airport, this earthly existence is not intended to be treated as the end goal. But the journey we are on does take us through this place and we will no doubt be better prepared for the next destination if we make better use of our time here. The question we should be asking ourselves is not, Why isn’t this life more “perfect” and “fulfilling”? But rather, How can we best use this time that we are given?
Looking back more closely through my pictures I noticed some scenes where, even amidst all of the activity, some people did seem to be embracing a moment of observation,
and stillness,
and even genuine rest.
But what really caught my attention was some children almost hiding in some of these scenes that demonstrated the value of the simple pleasures of life. Like learning how to serve others,…
Playing on a staircase,…
Or welcoming home a family member.
I think we miss out on so much of the valuable learning experiences and connections with God and others that this life has to offer when we try to squeeze an eternity of experience into the brief moment that is our physical life. Our earthly physical experience was never meant to fulfill us in a complete way. That has never been the full biblical narrative! But what God does offer to us, in this short life, is the opportunity to get a taste of heaven here, so that we can know that we are indeed created for something even more glorious than this bumpy bumbly existence.
Just before my daughter finally arrived, I noticed another scene of heaven touching earth in the receiving hall. And later on, when I examined the picture more closely I was pleased to discover that I wasn’t the only one who took great joy in this moment. Notice in this next picture how surrounding travelers look on with great pleasure and watch while a daughter runs to her father and they embrace, for what seems like the first time in a long while.
After witnessing this special tender moment my wife, Mary said, “I can give you a good moment to capture.” Just then Olivia turned the corner into the receiving hall, and Mary ran to meet her daughter. Of course, I tried to capture it all in a perfect composition, but failed to deliver as the moment was deserving, while caught up emotionally in the moment myself. Never-the-less, another priceless, heaven sent memory to savor!
What is keeping you from embracing with more fullness the reality of God’s Kingdom on earth now? Are you waiting for God to force you and others into it. I hope not,… because you’ll be waiting a very long time.
Jesus declared to the world some 2,000 years ago,
“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without cost. (Rev. 22:12-17).
So, how do our hopes for Paradise, on this side of heaven, find their resolve. My advice: Stop expecting a perfect, pain free existence on this side of eternity and instead look up and receive His presence and provision, as it is, right where you are at. You might be surprised to find the best part of Heaven, a personal touch from your Maker, is not that far away.
Through Spiritual Eyes 