The eonian allotment of the “sheep” contrasted with our allotment
Those comprising the nation of Israel during the
millennial reign of Christ will be the most blessed of all the inhabitants of
the earth, and - as we’ve seen from Ezekiel 47:21-23 - the gentiles
who will be residing in the land during this time will be treated “as
native-born among the people of Israel.” Thus, compared with the eonian fate of the cursed “goats” (who will be dwelling outside the land of Israel and will constitute the nations over which Israel will have dominion), those among the nations who will be enjoying “the allotment of the kingdom” during the eon to come (the “sheep”) will be incredibly blessed.
And yet, as blessed as the “sheep” among the nations will be during the eon to come, there is another category of people among the nations whose eonian allotment will be far superior to even the allotment of these righteous gentiles. The gentiles I have in mind are, of course, those whom God has chosen to become members of that collective entity which the apostle Paul referred to as “the body of Christ” (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15).
And yet, as blessed as the “sheep” among the nations will be during the eon to come, there is another category of people among the nations whose eonian allotment will be far superior to even the allotment of these righteous gentiles. The gentiles I have in mind are, of course, those whom God has chosen to become members of that collective entity which the apostle Paul referred to as “the body of Christ” (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15).
One of the earliest references to the superior allotment of those in the body of Christ is found in 1 Corinthians 15:50. There, Paul wrote, “Now this I am averring, brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God, neither is corruption enjoying the allotment of incorruption.” To understand why the “allotment in the kingdom of God” that Paul had in mind here is vastly superior to the allotment of the “sheep,” it must be remembered that every gentile who will be present at the judgment described in Matthew 25:31-46 will be mortal, and with bodies of “flesh and blood.” As noted earlier, they will be among the survivors of the last seven years preceding the return of Christ at the end of this eon (the only other category of surviving humans who will enter the kingdom of God as mortals will be those constituting faithful Israel at Christ’s return, such as the 144,000 sealed Israelites referred to in Rev.7:2-8 and 14:1-5).
In
contrast with these two categories of surviving humans will be those who will
take part in what Christ referred to as the “resurrection of the just” (Luke
14:14) and the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29), and what John referred to as
the “former resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6). The “former resurrection” will only
involve those who died before Christ’s return to earth and (as I’ve argued
elsewhere) will occur 75 days after this event takes place. Those who are
raised from the dead by Christ at this time will be “neither marrying nor
taking out in marriage” during the eon to come, “for neither can they still be
dying, for they are equal to messengers, and are the sons of God, being sons of
the resurrection” (Luke 20:35-36). The rest of the saints in the kingdom during
the eon to come - beginning with the generation which will be alive on the
earth at Christ’s return – will be mortal.[1] For this
latter category of saints, marriage and procreation can (and will) continue.
That
there will, in fact, be mortal, flesh-and-blood Israelites enjoying an
allotment in the kingdom of God on earth is confirmed from a number of passages
in the Hebrew Scriptures where the future kingdom is in view. See, for example,
Isaiah 11:6-8; 65:20-25; Jeremiah 23:3-6; 30:18-20 (cf. v. 3); 33:10-11, 19-22;
59:20-21; Ezekiel 36:8-12; 37:25-26; 44:20-25. In all of these passages, we
read of things said concerning people in the millennial kingdom during the eon
to come - including the priests who will be ministering in the temple - that
can only be said of mortal, flesh-and-blood Israelites, and in which only those
who are mortal will be involved during this time (such as marrying and
“multiplying” in the land). And, of course, dwelling among these
flesh-and-blood Israelites (and further populating the kingdom with the
children they will be having during this time) will be the gentiles referred to
in Ezekiel 47:22-23 (who I’ve argued will be the “sheep” of Matthew 25:31-46).
In
contrast with what we know concerning the conditions that will characterize the
kingdom of God on earth during the eon to come, Paul told the saints in the
body of Christ that “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the
kingdom of God.” In other words, the only people who will enjoy an allotment in
the kingdom of God that Paul had in mind here are those who are no longer
mortal – i.e., those who have “put on incorruption” and “put on immortality” (1
Cor. 15:51-53). If, when Paul wrote 1 Cor. 15:50, he had in mind the kingdom of
God as it will exist on the earth, then he would’ve been contradicting the fact
that there will, in fact, be
flesh-and-blood (i.e., mortal) humans in this kingdom during the eon to come.
However, Paul wasn’t contradicting scripture, because he
didn’t have in mind the kingdom of God as
it will exist on the earth. Rather, what Paul had in mind in 1 Corinthians
15:50 was the kingdom of God into which the saints in the body of Christ will
be entering after the “snatching away” and meeting in the air (1 Thess.
4:13-18) – i.e., the kingdom of God as it
will exist in the heavenly realm.
It is in
the heavens that Christ is, presently (2 Cor. 5:1, 6-8; Phil. 3:20), and we
know that the kingdom of God will be established in this realm after Satan has
been cast out. In Rev. 12:7-12 we read of the coming of the kingdom of God in
the heavens as follows: ”And a battle occurred in
heaven. Michael and his messengers battle with the dragon, and the dragon
battles, and its messengers. And they are not strong enough for him, neither
was their place still found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the
ancient serpent called Adversary and Satan, who is deceiving the whole
inhabited earth. It was cast into the earth, and its messengers were cast with
it. And I hear a loud voice in heaven saying, “Just now came the
salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of
His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren was cast out…Therefore, make merry, ye heavens, and
those tabernacling in them!”
So Scripture is clear that, in addition to being on the
earth, Christ’s kingdom will be established in the heavens and among the
celestials as well. This makes the “kingdom of God” a future reality that
pertains to those in the body of Christ just as much as it pertains to Israel
(1 Cor. 6:9-10; 15:50; Eph. 5:5; Col. 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5). It is this celestial aspect of the
kingdom of God to which Paul was referring when he expressed his confidence
that the Lord would be saving him “for His celestial kingdom” (2 Tim.
4:18). It is the kingdom of God in heaven – not the kingdom of
God on earth – in which “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment.”
It is
because the kingdom for which we are destined is celestial in location that we
(who are presently “soilish” in nature) must come to wear “the image…of the
Celestial,” and thereby become “celestials” (1 Cor. 15:48-49). Our present
“terrestrial” body must be transformed and made fit for life that is “eonian,
in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1-2; Col. 1:5). It is in the realm where Christ
is presently residing - i.e., the heavens (1 Cor. 15:47) - that we will be “at
home with the Lord” after we have been “dressed” with our “habitation which is
out of heaven” (2 Cor. 5:6-9).[2] It
is the heavenly realm for which our glorified bodies will be suited, and it is
here that the kingdom of God in which we will be enjoying our allotment will be
located.
[1] It should be noted that a
person’s being mortal does not mean that death will (or must)
occur; it simply means that they’re able to die, and that they
lack what the author of Hebrews referred to in Heb. 7:16 as “the power of an
indissoluble life.”
[2] The expression
“out of heaven” does not mean our glorified bodies presently exist in heaven
and will have to leave heaven when the time comes for us to be vivified.
Concerning the word translated “out of” here (ek) we read the following on Biblehub.com (http://biblehub.com/greek/1537.htm): “Ek ("out of") is one of the most
under-translated (and therefore mis-translated) Greek propositions – often
being confined to the meaning “by.” Ek
has a two-layered meaning (“out from and to”) which makes it out-come oriented (out of the depths of the
source and extending to its impact on the object).”
According
to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, one of the meanings given for the preposition ek is, “of the material out of which a thing is made.”
The following verses are referenced as Scriptural examples of this usage:
Matthew 27:29; John 2:15; 19:2; 9:6; Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 11:12; 15:47;
Revelation 18:12; 21:21. Of especial relevance to Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 5:3
are the two verses from 1 Corinthians that are referenced above. In 1 Cor.
11:12 we read that “the woman is out of (ek)
the man,” and in 15:47 we read that “the first man was out of (ek) the earth…the second Man is the Lord
out of (ek) heaven.”
In these examples,
that which is in view is the source of the material from which something is
formed, and of which it consists. Adam did not originally exist in the earth,
and nor was he himself removed from it. Similarly, Eve did not originally exist
in Adam, and nor was she herself removed from him. Rather, just as Eve was
formed from material which was taken from Adam, so Adam was formed from
material which was taken from the earth (i.e., soil). In the same way, Christ’s
glorified, resurrected body consists of material that is heavenly in its source
and nature, and which is, consequently, suited for life in the heavens. It is
for this reason that Paul referred to Christ as “the Lord out of (ek) heaven”
(1 Cor. 15:47) even though Christ was, at the time of Paul’s writing (and
continues to be to this day), in
heaven.
Thus, to say that
our future resurrected body is “out of heaven” simply means that heaven will be
the source of the material of which it will consist (making us fit for eonian
life “in the heavens”). The “soilish” material of which our body presently
consists will, at the moment of our vivification, be replaced with material
that is heavenly in source and nature. It is in this way that the “body of our
humiliation” will be “transfigured” (Phil. 3:21) and “delivered” (Rom 8:23)
when we’re vivified in Christ.
Hi Aaron!
ReplyDeleteI am reading my way through some of the other links you pointed me to on the Israel of God and such, trying to better understand some of the dispensational distinctions you are illuminating. Thank you for those. Meanwhile, I am personally struggling a bit with some of what you highlight in this particular post, which seems quite central to the overall purpose you are defining for the Body of Christ in putting on celestial bodies.
Throughout his letters, one of Paul’s consistent themes is “to put on Christ.” Again and again, Paul exhorts us “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh” (Rom 13:14). Thus he tells us to strip away the “old self” and its corruptible practices in order to put on the New Nature, which is compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and most of all Love (Col 3:12-14).
So when Paul instructs us to set our minds on the things above, where we are seated in (celestial) heavenly places. Or when he tells us that we are citizens of heaven, and that our body of humiliation will be transfigured and conformed to the body of His Glory. Paul does so in an overall context of exhorting us to put on a New Heavenly Nature and the New Heavenly Mind of Christ. “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self (humanity)” (Eph 4:23-24). And thus like a caterpillar turned butterfly, in Christ the new divine nature swallows up the old corrupt nature. Mortality thus “puts on” immortality.
But here, if I’m understanding you correctly, putting on a glorified body of incorruptibility is not about seeing the glorious Divine Nature of Christ swallow up our old corrupt nature, but rather is about physically seeing our bodies transformed (in the future) from terrestrial bodies into celestial bodies, so that we can travel the literal heavens.
That strikes me as quite a different orientation than Paul’s typical message and revelation of “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.
Hi Ben,
DeleteI'm glad you're finding some of what I've written helpful.
Now, you say that Paul exhorts believers "again and again" to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." Here's what I found concerning Paul's "put on Christ" imagery after a quick search: In Rom. 3:14, Paul exhorts believers to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." In Eph. 4:24 and Col. 3:10 we find similar exhortations to "put on the new/young humanity," and in Gal. 3:27 we read that all who have been "(spiritually) baptized into Christ" have "put on Christ."
These are important exhortations to be sure, but it seems just a bit exaggerated for you to assert that Paul exhorts believers "again and again" to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ!" In any case, I think you're getting Paul's exhortations regarding the believer's present conduct, status and disposition mixed up with what Paul has revealed concerning the believer's eonian expectation/future hope. Paul, in his letters, is neither concerned solely with (and focused solely on) the present "walk" of the believer nor concerned solely with (and focused solely on) the future glorification and expectation of the believer. Paul had important things to say about both the present and the future, and we should be careful not to confound the two. By this I don't, of course, mean we should treat them as entirely unrelated (for their IS a connection between our present and future); rather, I mean we shouldn't take something that will be occurring in the future and try to make it belong to this lifetime.
To be sure, much of my blog IS concerned with that which is future. But as I'm sure you'd agree, there is at LEAST as much confusion out there concerning our expectation/future destiny (and how it differs from the expectation of both Israel and the rest of mankind) as there is concerning how believers should conduct themselves now (and perhaps even more confusion!). So I've chosen to focus more on the former than the latter in my blog (hence the name of my blog, "That Happy Expectation"). Speaking of the title of my blog, the passage from which it's derived is a great example of how Paul's "typical message and revelation" (as you put it) concerns both the present conduct of the believer AND his/her future destiny/expectation. Here's Titus 2:11-14:
"For the saving grace of God made its advent to all humanity, training us that, disowning irreverence and worldly desires, we should be living sanely and justly and devoutly in the current eon, anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, Who gives Himself for us, that He should be redeeming us from all lawlessness and be cleansing for Himself a people to be about Him, zealous for ideal acts."
(Continued below)
Notice that one aspect of the believer's life should involve "anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Compare this with 2 Tim. 4:8 (where we read that a "wreath of righteousness" is reserved for "all who love [Christ's] advent"). What is the "advent" of Christ to which Paul was referring to here? I don't think Paul was referring to something that he expected would (or should) occur during the mortal lifetime of each believer. Rather, I believe he was referring to the same event that he referred to in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and elsewhere. It is at this time that Christ will descend from heaven to earth's cloud-filled atmosphere, and every member of the body of Christ - no matter how spiritually mature or immature one happens to be (or how much or little one has progressed in their present "walk") - will be "manifested together with [Christ] in glory" (Col. 3:4).
DeleteAt this time, we will be "dressed in our habitation which is out of heaven" (2 Cor. 5:2) and our body will thus be "conformed to the body of his glory" (Phil. 3:21). This event will be "the deliverance of our body" (Rom. 8:18-23) - and notice that Paul is clear in verses 24-25 that this "deliverance" (our glorification) is future. It's a matter of "expectation." It is at this time - and not before - that "this corruptible" will be "putting on incorruption," and "this mortal" will be "putting on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:51-55). Will this change involve "merely" a physical change? (I say "merely" because one could hardly refer to the change Christ himself underwent when he was "roused by God from among the dead" as something of little consequence) I don't think so. I believe we will, at this time, be conformed to Christ's image in every possible sense, and will, in our glorified state, be incapable of either dying OR sinning/failing to love others as we should.
Until then, we must do our best to heed Paul's exhortations concerning our present walk, and - like the Thessalonians saints - "be slaving for the living and true God" and "waiting for His Son out of the heavens, Whom He rouses from among the dead, Jesus, our Rescuer out of the coming indignation" (1 Thess. 1:9-10).
Aaron
I love the name of your site, and really enjoyed hearing you share the context that inspired it. You’ve done a wonderful job with your articles. Your explanations are so clear and well laid out. And I so admire how you draw from the whole of Scripture when writing. You’ve left me with lots to ponder regarding that happy expectation.
ReplyDeleteAt present I find myself meditating on that passage in Galatians 1 where Paul says it pleased God to unveil His Son IN me. Thus I’m finding it challenging to wrap my head around the idea of Christ being unveiled from WITHIN us, while at the same time holding a future hope of someday meeting Christ externally in the sky.
I guess I’m still rather rooted in that idea of Christ IN us, as our (future) hope of glory. Glorification meaning for me that full transformation and outworking of His Heavenly Nature overcoming our Adamic nature, such that His Life is actually able to be seen through ours. Like when Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
So, I guess my internal picture is that of Christ as the Seed of Heaven being planted in the soil of Adam (the man of earth), in order to bring forth what is heavenly from the soil of our being. And thus we are revealed with Him, as He is revealed through us.
For, is not the Life of Christ meant to manifest Itself THROUGH the Body of Christ? I suppose that’s kind of how I understand the idea of BEING the Body of Christ. If we are not manifesting Christ, then I don’t really see us as being His Body, if that makes sense. One Loaf, many pieces.
Hi Ben,
DeleteMy understanding of what Paul meant when he said that God unveiled his Son in him so that he "may be evangelizing him among the nations" (Gal. 1:16) is this: God gave Paul a realization of the true identity of the One who he had been persecuting (and who he encountered on the road to Damascus), and this revelation - which Paul referred to as something that already occurred in his life - was the basis of his subsequent ministry "among the nations."
But regardless of how, exactly, we should understand what Paul was referring to here, I do agree with you that trying to understand the nature of both our present status and growth as believers and our expectation - and how they relate to (and differ from) each other - can be challenging! But the starting point of such understanding is, I believe, simply recognizing (and not losing sight of) the fact that there IS a distinction to be made between what IS true - or CAN be true - of us NOW (i.e., during this mortal lifetime), and what WILL be true of us in the FUTURE (i.e., after we’ve put on immortality and incorruption just as Christ did when he was "roused from among the dead" by God on the third day).
In other words, we can appreciate all of the verses that refer to our "walk" and our present goal of conforming, as much as is possible while we remain “in the flesh,” to the image of Christ while also appreciating those verses that indicate that full conformity to Christ’s image will occur on the “day” when, in accord with Eph. 1, the deliverance of that which was procured takes place. As Paul wrote in Phil. 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The “day of Jesus Christ” refers to the day when we “meet him in the air” and are “manifested together with him in glory.”
In other words, the future glorification of the believer (when our conformity to the image of Christ is completed) is not something that will take place at different times for different individuals (with some of us reaching this goal before others). Rather, it will occur at the same time for all of us (hence Paul’s use of the words, “together” in Col. 3 and elsewhere when referring to the day of our glorification). Some believers will, of course, come closer to this goal than others during this lifetime. But this does not change the fact that we will all arrive at the goal at the same time, and in the same way (i.e., by undergoing the radical “change” that Paul said will occur “in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump”).
You wrote: “I guess I’m still rather rooted in that idea of Christ IN us, as our (future) hope of glory. Glorification meaning for me that full transformation and outworking of His Heavenly Nature overcoming our Adamic nature, such that His Life is actually able to be seen through ours. Like when Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”“
I think Paul's words in Col. 1:27 are great words to be rooted in! I think the "glory" to which Paul was referring here is the “glory” of which he later wrote in Col. 3:4 (where we read, "Whenever Christ, our Life, should be manifested, then you also shall be manifested together with Him in glory"). And as noted earlier, I believe this event will occur when we "put on incorruption" and are snatched away from the earth to meet Christ in the air. I think we're in agreement that our glorification will involve what you refer to as a “full transformation and outworking of His Heavenly Nature overcoming our Adamic nature.” I also believe (and THINK you do as well, although I'm not certain on this) that this "full transformation" cannot occur as long as we remain “soilish” and wear the image of the soilish man, Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-49). We must (and shall) “bear the image of the Celestial,” and this will not occur until we undergo the change referred to in 1 Cor. 15:50-54.
Aaron
Your wonderful insights and words of wisdom are much appreciated. Thank you, Aaron!
ReplyDelete