Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 19 –The Story of the Kingdom Revisited
[Bible references: Genesis 1:26-29, 2:15; Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:14-15; Luke 12:42-46, 19:13; John 20:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Peter 4:10; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelations 21]
Our final destiny is not to a disembodied existence, but to a new, transformed body, transformed in the way that Jesus was when he was resurrected. Earth itself will also be transformed, with its corruption being removed, not back into a Garden of Eden, but into the earth as it was meant to be, filled and civilized, with a new Jerusalem being brought from heaven to earth. We are not being sent to heaven, heaven is coming to us.
Knowing we are moving to this end, in the present age we can be motivated to express our hope by living out our hope as in mentioned in The Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This encourages us to do what we can to help usher in God’s kingdom now, if only in part. The full entry of the kingdom will not happen until the Lord returns and establishes a new heaven and earth, but we do not need to wait hopelessly as if there is nothing we can do. God has given everyone in his church gifts with which we can build each other up and take charge as His stewards of the earth.
When Jesus was resurrected, his transformed body still bore resemblance to his old body, it even kept the wounds of the crucifixion. In the same way, we should also expect that just as our transformed bodies will resemble who we are now, that the transformed earth will resemble the earth as it is now. The transformation will be a healing of earth and our bodies, rather a destruction of the corruptions within[1].
Just as God is presently glorified by the vitality and the flourishing of life on earth, we should expect that such vitality and flourishing should continue. Just as we are presently given gifts and abilities to build each other up now, we should expect the same later, although in a new, uncorrupted context. The corruption of life on earth has severely limited our God-given, human potential in vast ways we can hardly imagine. In what incredible ways will we glorify God when we, as a flourishing community, can express our God-given gifts without restriction and without the impediment of sin and corruption?
[1] Wright, NT. Surprised by Hope Harper Collins e-book, 2008 (p.25-26)
Dancing In The Kingdom 