Reconciling Heaven and Earth

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

It pleased the Father that all the divine essence, power and attributes reside in the Son. But it also pleased God that all things in heaven and earth be reconciled by the Son. These are not two unrelated statements but belong together in a very important way. It was necessary that the fullness of God abide in the Son in order for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled by Him. Because all things in heaven and earth were created by Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together. This is, indeed, what makes it even possible for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled.

Paul speaks about this reconciliation in his other letters, although a bit differently. God’s plan, he says, is that “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (Ephesians 1:10).

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment, when God made the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1. At the end of that chapter we read, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The physical creation was not evil, as the Gnostics supposed, but was very good. However, it fell away from the blessing of God because Adam, who was made from the dust of the earth (as well as the breath of God) and given dominion over it, rebelled against God.

This is why Jesus came — to set things right in the world. For the Gnostics, this simply was not possible because of their belief that the material world is not merely fallen but inherently evil. The amazing thing, though, is that Jesus has not only reconciled heaven and earth, but He did it in a very physical way: through the blood of His cross. The wood of the cross and the nails that pierced Him were real and tangible. So was the flesh of His body and the blood that He shed there. By these material realities, He has reconciled heaven and earth and made peace between God and humankind.

The emphasis here is on the Son. It is in Him, not through angelic intermediaries, that God has done this. It was through the shedding of His blood. Angels could not bring about reconciliation because they are not of earth. But the Son of God is of both heaven and earth, being fully divine and fully human. He is of heaven because He is the creator of all; He is of earth because He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus is the only one in the universe able to bring heaven and earth together — and He has done it through His own body and blood, and the crudeness of the cross.

The work necessary for reconciliation has already been accomplished. We live now in the time when the benefits of that work are being increasingly revealed in the world, especially in humankind.

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:19-22)

In the end, heaven and earth will be joined together, with the kingdom of God fully come and the will of God done on earth exactly as it is in heaven. We read about this in Revelation 21. In the meantime, “the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Where All Divine Fullness Dwells

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. (Colossians 1:19)

The word “for” introduces a reason or purpose. Here, Paul explains why God has done what He has in regard to the Son:

• Why Jesus has come as the express image of the invisible God
• Why He has been give supremacy over all creation
• Why all things have been made by Him, through Him and for Him
• Why all things hold together in Him
• Why He is the head of the (the church), the beginning, and the firstborn from the dead
• Why He has the preeminence in all things

It was because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell!

Now, the words “the Father” are not in the Greek text, but the idea of God is certainly implied by the context. Different translations handle this in various ways. For example:

• For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. (English Standard Version)
• Because in him it did please all the fullness to tabernacle. (Young’s Literal Translation)
• For God in full measure was pleased to be in him. (Bible in Basic English)
• Because in Him [God] was well pleased that all the fullness be permanently at home. (Wuest’s Expanded Translation)
• Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in Him. (Common English Bible)

The point is that all the fullness of the divine nature dwells in the Son. The “fullness” Paul is talking about is every power and attribute that belongs to God. The Greek word is pleroma. Paul appears to be using this word in particular in order to counter the false teachers who were trying to get into the church at Colosse. The false teaching they brought was probably an early form of Gnosticism.

Pleroma was the central term of the Gnostics, who used it to refer to God, but they believed that creation was separated from God by numerous demigods, angelic hierarchies or other intermediaries. Some intermediaries might possess this or that power while others might have various other divine attributes, but only God, who was very distant, possessed every divine power and attribute.

Paul, however, delivers a stunning blow to this doctrine. The Pleroma, the fullness of all the divine attributes and powers, is not far, far away, separated from us by layers and levels of entities and emanations. It has come very close to us — as close as human skin — in the person of Jesus the Messiah.

Paul will deliver this knockout punch again in Colossians 2:9: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (we will talk about this in its own context as we continue through Paul’s letter). The material creation is not evil, nor is the physical body, as the Gnostics supposed. But God considered it quite appropriate that the divine essence, with all the attributes and powers of God, should reside in the human flesh of the Son and dwell among us in the world.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Incomparability of Divine Life

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, by whom and through whom and for whom all things were created, and in whom all things hold together, is called “the head of the body.” We always speak of head and body together; the one implies the other. A head without a body is pointless; a body without a head is lifeless. It is quite an amazing thing, then that Paul speaks of Jesus in this way. Who Paul identifies as the body of which Jesus is the head is equally amazing: It is the church, composed, not of hierarchies of angels, but of flesh and blood human beings, all those who belong to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Every believer at Colosse, for instance, belongs to the church and is a part of this body.

Jesus is the head of the body, the church. This speaks of vital relationship. The church is not an organization, an association that can be reduced to membership numbers and mission statements. No, it is an organic, living thing where every part flows with the life of the whole. Where does this life come from? From Jesus. He is not just the head of the body, He is the “beginning,” the source, the life of the church.

Jesus is also the “firstborn from the dead.” We were once dead in the rebellion of sin (Ephesians 2:1).

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

In Jesus, there is spiritual life and vitality. But there is more! God has raised Jesus’ physical body from the dead, and that is the guarantee that all those who belong to Him, who are part of His body, will share in His resurrection life. God will raise us, too, bodily and physically from the dead (see Resurrection Life Now! and Resurrection and the End of the Age).

Head, beginning, firstborn. These all speak of preeminence, and indeed, Jesus is supreme over all things, for God has

Raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)

God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Jesus is preeminent in all things, incomparable in every way, and His divine life flows through us now and forever.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

How All Things Hold Together

He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)

The Son of God existed before all things. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). As Paul says in Colossians 1:16, all things were made by Him, through Him and for Him. “In the beginning God …” refers to the creative work of the Son. He was not created like the angelic hierarchies that were the focus of the false teachers who were trying to penetrate the Christian community at Colosse. He existed long before them. Indeed, He has always existed. He is eternal.

Paul says that in Him all things “consist.” The ESV has, “In Him all things hold together.” The Bible in Basic English says, “In Him all things have being.” By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are visible were made by things which cannot be seen (Hebrews 11:3).

Everything is sustained in exactly the same way. The author of Hebrews speaks of the Son as being “the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). All things were created by the word of God; all things are upheld by the word of God.

It is no small thing, then, that Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1 or that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Everything comes from the invisible word of the invisible God, and everything continues to have being because of it. Jesus is the living and eternal Word who embodies and gives expression to the thoughts, desires and will of God. He is the source and sustainer of all creation.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Image of the Invisible

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

Paul breaks into doxology now to sing the eternal glory and greatness of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God’s love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God. It sounds almost like a koan , a paradoxical saying. Like, What is the sound of one hand clapping? How can Jesus be the image of what is invisible?

God is invisible. He is Spirit. The material world was created by Him, but it is not Him. Though the world was created to be seen, God is not subject to that condition nor is He in any way limited by our inability to see Him. It is a matter for the eyes of faith. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

We can see manifestations of God’s glory, but we cannot see Him in His essence, for He is the one who dwells “in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). But Jesus is the image of the one who is invisible. God created man in the image of God to be like Him on earth (Genesis 1:26-28), but Jesus is not only like God, He fully represents Him in every way. He is the “brightness of His glory, the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3).

Paul links the image of the invisible God with the firstborn of creation. Literally, “firstborn” speaks of one who is born first in a family. However, because the firstborn son was given the double portion inheritance, “firstborn” came to be used to speak of pre-eminence, of one who was worthy of the highest honor.

The Son of God was not created. Indeed, He is Himself the creator of everything. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). To declare this is to exalt Jesus as God, for “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Which was exactly the point John makes in his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus is the perfect image and expression of God because He is God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. John goes on to say of Him, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). That is why Jesus could say of Himself, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Paul is careful to note that Jesus is the creator of all things in heaven and on earth, “visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.” He may be alluding to the false teaching that was coming around the church at Colosse. The Gnostics taught that there were angelic hierarchies emanating from God, the lowest of which was the architect of the material world. They considered the physical world to be flawed and therefore evil, so they denied that the Word, who is God, became flesh. Against this, Paul asserts that all things, even the invisible things, were created by Jesus — by Him and through Him and for Him. The angels did not create Him; He created them.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Into the Kingdom of Light

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

Paul transitions now from pastoral prayer to hymn of praise. This is what his prayer has been leading up to all along, and is what the believers at Colosse (and us, as well) desperately need to hear. He has come to the object of his passion — Jesus Messiah, Son of God — the One through whom God has made everything possible for Paul, for the Colossians and for us. He is the one who is to be exalted above all because it is in Him that everything comes together as God has always intended.

We have been delivered — rescued! — from the “power of darkness.” Jesus has done it by going through it for us. When the chief priests and the Temple guard came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). On the cross, He dealt the death blow to the heart of darkness and destroyed its power from the inside out, bursting forth in glory three days later. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

God has also “conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” The Greek word for “conveyed” was often used of the transfer or relocation of large numbers of people from one region to another, settling them as colonists or citizens. Think of how God delivered the children of Israel from out of Egypt into the Promised Land. That is the kind of picture Paul creates here. God has transferred us from out of the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His Son. This is the Father’s inheritance for us. He has made us a colony of heaven on earth.

Do not think of this, though, as being removed from one kingdom into another, as if they were two powers, equal and opposite. It is not like that at all. The power of darkness is no match for the kingdom of God. Darkness is not a kingdom at all; it has no rightful dominion and whatever power it did have has been broken. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

God has brought us into is the kingdom of the “Son of His love” that is, His very dear and beloved Son. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and the voice of the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, hear Him” (Mark 9:7). It is through Jesus that we come into this kingdom, for we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

This kingdom is the kingdom of light, because Jesus is the Light of the World. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). In Him, we are light. “We are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

The kingdom God has brought us into is a kingdom of redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This combination, redemption and forgiveness, pictures a slave purchased at the marketplace and released from bondage. It is in Jesus that we have been redeemed out of the slave market; the price paid was His blood. The Greek word for “forgiveness,” refers literally to sending away and speaks of release from bondage. In Jesus, the guilt of our sin is sent far away from us and we are set free.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Creation and the Lord’s Prayer

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

God created humankind to be His image and be like Him, to represent Him on the earth, to fill the earth with the image of God, to have dominion over the earth and subdue it. To have dominion means to rule over the earth, to exercise authority over it. To subdue the earth means to subordinate it, that is, bring it into order.

God created a garden on the earth for the man and woman to dwell. The whole earth was not a garden, though, only a portion of it. The man and the woman were to take care of the garden, to watch over and protect it. God blessed them and gave them charge over the garden, but also over the whole earth. The work of creation was now done, but the work of subduing and reigning over it was just beginning.

Man is the dust of the ground and the breath of God, created and authorized to represent heaven on earth. The garden God made was perfect and complete, the design of heaven on earth. Man’s role, then, was to bring the rest of the earth into divine order, into proper alignment with the garden God made.

Of course, man rebelled against God, and the earth itself came under a curse because of it. Even so, God had a plan to restore everything into proper relationship between man and God, between man and creation, between man and himself. The good news of the Gospel is that this plan of redemption and restoration is fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

Now, let’s jump from the first book of the Old Testament to the first book of the New, to the sermon Jesus preached on the mount (I call it the Sermon of Heaven on Earth). In the middle of His preaching, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. We call this the Lord’s Prayer, and it is powerful. In it, Jesus gives us authority to subdue the earth and bring it into line with the design of heaven. He teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven: “Your kingdom, come! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The dominion over the earth that was corrupted by Adam through rebellion has been restored in the dominion of King Jesus and He has privileged us to share it with Him. Through this prayer, we exercise His dominion. By this prayer, we subdue the earth. Wherever we find anything out of alignment with the order of heaven, we can pray, “Kingdom of God, come to this place; will of God, be done here as it is in heaven,” and expect that it will be so. Through our prayer and worship, King Jesus changes the world and fulfills the charge God gave the first man and woman.

Fully Qualified for the Father’s Inheritance

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:11)

Paul has prayed for the believers at Colosse that they may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work, knowing God more and more, being strengthened with all strength by the power of God’s glory, joyfully enduring difficult times and difficult people. Now he prays that they may always be giving thanks to God, the Father.

Enduring difficult circumstances. Dealing patiently with difficult people. With joy, no less. Now he prays that we may always be giving thanks! No matter what may be happening in our lives, no matter how thick the darkness around us may seem, there is always something much greater going on inside us by which we prevail.

First, notice to whom we are giving thanks. Not some impersonal deity, but to the Father. In Paul’s earlier prayer, which was a prayer of thanksgiving*, he gave thanks “to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” for the faith, hope and love at work in the Colossian believers. Now he presses in on that relationship and how it pertains to us.

The essence of fatherhood is inheritance. When we have a father, we receive a name, a family, an identity. Through faith in Jesus the Messiah, we are “accepted in the Beloved” and have “obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1). His Father becomes our Father, His name becomes our name, His identity becomes our identity. We do not qualify ourselves for this — we cannot — but God has done it for us, through His Son. Jesus is fully qualified, and through faith, we are joined with Him, In this way, we are fully qualified in Him and can now take part in the inheritance with Him. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Everything He inherits, we now inherit, too.

In Ephesians, Paul prayed that we would know the “riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:19). “Saints in the light,” is how he puts it here in Colossians. Because we are in Jesus, we are “in the light,” for that is what He is, light. John calls Him the True Light who gives light to everyone who comes into the world (John 1:9). The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it, cannot overtake it, cannot put it out (John 1:5).

James, also, has something to tell us about the Father and light and inheritance. He says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

The inheritance Father has for us is nothing but good. It is full of life and light and carries with it the blessing and power of heaven. Darkness cannot overcome it, and when we learn how to walk in the reality and power of it, the will of God will be done wherever we walk on earth, just as it is in heaven.

It is a wonderful inheritance and all who entrust themselves to King Jesus the Messiah are fully qualified to take part in it. So, with David we can sing:

O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
 You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
 Yes, I have a good inheritance.

(Psalm 16:5-6)

*For more about the pastoral prayers and prayers of thanksgiving in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Putting Up with Joy

Continuing in Paul’s pastoral prayer* for believers …

For all patience and longsuffering with joy. (Colossians 1:11)

Paul prayed for the believers at Colosse that they would be always strengthened with all might, and he had a particular purpose in mind: “for all patience and longsuffering with joy.”

The Greek word for “patience” is hypomone, a compound of hypo, “under,” and meno, to “stay.” Strong’s Concordance gives its meaning as, figuratively, to undergo, to bear (as in trials), to persevere, abide, endure. Patience is the ability to persevere and endure in difficult circumstances.

In the Bible, this kind of patience is associated with hope, which is positive expectation or joyful anticipation. It is not giving up in the face of adversity or resigning yourself to it, but remaining on course, no matter what. It comes from having your expectation set on God and His promises.

The word for “longsuffering” is macrothymia, another compound word, from macro, “long,” and thymos, passion. “Longsuffering” is the opposite of “short-tempered.” We find macrothymia a number of times in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, usually noted as LXX). For example:

But You, O LORD, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering [macrothymia] and abundant in mercy and truth.

(Psalm 86:15)

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger [macrothymia], and abounding in mercy.

(Psalm 103:8)

He who is slow to wrath [macrothymia] has great understanding,
But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

(Proverbs 14:29)

He who is slow to anger [macrothymia] is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

(Proverbs 16:32)

Here we can see the nature of macrothymia, as well as some of its benefits.

• It is the nature of God to be slow to anger.
• It flows with His compassion, mercy and grace.
• It demonstrates wisdom and creates understanding.
• The one who “rules his spirit” will accomplish greater things than the one who “flies off the handle.”

Patience is about persevering through difficult circumstances; longsuffering is about graciously “putting up with” difficult people. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Elsewhere, Paul says,

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2)

Longsuffering is part of what it means to walk worthy of our calling in the Lord (which is what Paul’s prayer in Colossians is about) and reflects humility and gentleness. It bears with one another in love and promotes the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Enduring adversity and bearing with difficult people is hard enough by itself, but Paul adds a kicker: we need to do it “with joy.” Now we can see why we need to be always strengthened with the power of Almighty God. And here is why we need the promises of God and the hope (positive expectation, joyful anticipation) they bring. And this is why longsuffering comes after love, joy and peace in the fruit of the Spirit. When we are filled with the love, joy and peace of God, and let them come forth in our lives, enduring adversity and bearing patiently with others will follow naturally.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Resurrection and the End of the Age

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish expectation was that the resurrection would be an end time event. For example, when Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus had died, He said to Lazarus’ sister Martha, “You brother will rise again.” Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:23-24).

In eschatological terms (eschatology is the study of “last things,” that is, what happens at the end of the age), the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah is an end time event, the beginning of the last days. Paul calls it the firstfruits.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

Firstfruits is the first portion of a harvest. In the Bible, the firstfruits were offered to God. If they were acceptable, they were holy and blessed by God, and they prophesied that the full harvest would also be acceptable, holy and blessed. Paul explains the principle in his letter to the believers at Rome: “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16; although he uses it here in a different context, the principle is the same).

When God raised Jesus the Messiah from the dead, Jesus became the firstfruits of the resurrection. The surprise is that the resurrection that was expected at the end of the age has broken into the middle of history, and it is the guarantee that all who trust in Jesus will also be physically raised from the dead. The firstfruits secures the blessing of the full harvest.

There is also another firstfruits that Paul writes about, and it has the same significance regarding the resurrection and the end of the age.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23)

Fifty days after the resurrection of the Son of God, the Spirit of God came to dwell in the people of God. We celebrate this event seven weeks after Resurrection Sunday, on the day called Pentecost. The Holy Spirit indwelling those who belong to Jesus is another assurance that we will experience the “redemption of our body,” when even our bodies are delivered death unto life. All creation groans together, waiting for this resurrection, that it may be itself fully delivered from the bondage of corruption.

The end of the age has broken into history and the eternal age of God’s kingdom has entered into the world. This is why John can say, “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). And we are living in the transition, in the light and power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Resurrection Life Now!

Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:25-27)

There is life for all who hear the voice of the Son of God, Jesus. This life is now! Notice that Jesus said, “The time is coming and now is.” So what is it that happens now? The dead hear and live. They were dead but now they live, because they hear the voice of the Son of God. This is resurrection life. But there is also another resurrection coming. Jesus continued,

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:28-30)

There is an hour yet to come, distinct from the hour that now is (in John 5:25). In the hour yet to come, those who are in the graves will come forth. To speak of graves is to speak of physical bodies. The resurrection of those in John 5:25-27, the resurrection that is now, is that of the spirit: those who were spiritually dead and made spiritually alive when they hear the voice of Jesus. The resurrection of those in John 5:28-30, the resurrection that is yet to come, is that of the body: those who are physically dead will be made physically alive.

In that second resurrection, all will hear the voice of the Son of God. Some, those who have done good, will come forth to the resurrection of life. These are the ones who have been part of the first resurrection. They have done what is good. When Jesus was asked, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God, He answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28-29). Those who believe in Him have done what is good. They have heard the voice of Jesus is this now time. But there are also others, who have not done good but evil. They will come forth to a resurrection of condemnation. In the book of Revelation, John speaks of both groups.

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

The first resurrection is those who have heard the voice of Jesus and believe in Him in the now time. They have been made alive together with Him, raised up and seated together in the heavenlies in Him (Ephesians 2:4-7). Where is Jesus seated? At the right hand of God, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21). We are seated where He is, in the place of ruling and reigning with Him.

The second resurrection will come at the end of the age, when all will be raised physically from the dead. John says,

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

Those who are not part of the first resurrection will be part of the second death, and vice versa. All who hear the voice of the Son of God in this present time have life now and will not see death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

Resurrection life is now. It has already begun with the resurrection of King Jesus from the dead. God has already made us alive together with Him, and at the end of the age, even our bodies shall be raised again to new life.

Do you believe this?

The Powers Have Been Broken

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

Now this, “He ascended” — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. (Ephesians 4:8-10)

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:13-15)

Today is Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. It is also called the Great Sabbath, in recognition of the day that the body of Jesus Messiah rested in the grave. But there was more going on than that. Though the body of Jesus lay in the tomb, His spirit descended into the place of the dead, where He asserted the victory of the cross. This is known, particularly in the eastern Church, as the “harrowing of hell.”

The works of the devil have been destroyed. The power of death itself has been broken. That which held the souls of men captive has now itself been brought into captivity. Those who were formerly held captive, who died in faith before the Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us, have been delivered from Hades (the place of the dead) into the splendor of heaven.

Jesus has disarmed the principalities and powers — broken their power! — and paraded them around in public spectacle as defeated foes. The victory has been announced and the end of the age has already begun. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

(See also The Triumphal Procession)

How Chastisement Became Peace

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
    He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
    And by His stripes we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:5)

For the past few days, I have been captured by this verse, particularly the line about “chastisement” and “peace,” and how one was exchanged for the other.

This passage, from Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12, is about the “Suffering Servant.” It is a portrait of the Messiah, a prophecy of what He would do — and of what would be done to Him. It is a picture of the Passion, of Good Friday and the Cross.

What happened there that day was a very peculiar thing. To onlookers, it might have appeared that He was suffering on His own behalf, because of His own sins: “Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). However, the opposite was true, as the “but” that begins verse 5 indicates: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” The Innocent One suffered for the guilty, the Righteous One for the unrighteous.

• The transgressions were ours; the mortal wound belonged to us, but He was pierced instead.
• Ours were the iniquities, so also the crushing, disfiguring bruises, but He took them upon Himself.
• The stripes that fell on His back should rightfully have been laid on ours, but He let them be on His so we could be healed.

In a word, He took what belonged to us and gave us what belonged to Him. The world’s idea of justice was turned upside down so that the world could be put right.

Consider, now, how chastisement became peace. The Hebrew word for “chastise” is musar. It may be corporal or verbal; it may be instruction, discipline, rebuke or punishment. A chastisement by words indicates that the purpose is to instruct, but what Isaiah speaks of is a chastisement of wounds, of bruises, of stripes, and the purpose is for peace.

The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. It is much more than the absence of conflict or the ceasing of hostilities. It is wholeness, what was once missing now restored, what was once broken now healed.

Jesus, the Son of God become flesh, had no lack. Nothing missing, nothing broken. The lack was ours — a broken relationship with God, with creation, with each other, even with our own selves. The chastisement should have been on us, but He let it come upon Himself so we could have His peace, His shalom, His wholeness.

Strengthened with All Might

Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power. (Colossians 1:11)

Paul prays for the believers at Colosse to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, so that they may have a walk worthy of the Lord.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN IN OUR OWN STRENGTH — WE NEED THE POWER OF GOD!

That is what Paul is talking about here. In the Greek text, the word for “strengthened” is in the present tense. That is, it is an ongoing activity. It is also a passive participle. That is, it is not something we do for ourselves but something that happens to or is done for us. The sense here, then, is “always being strengthened.”

The word for “strengthened” is dynamis. So is the word translated here as “might.” Dynamis is the ability to get things done. It is, of course, where we get the word “dynamite,” but don’t let that fool you. This power can be very constructive and life-changing in a positive way. “With all power empowered” is the literal reading here. Or as Young’s Literal Translation puts it, “In all might being made mighty.”

With all power empowered? This can come only from God. It is “according to His glorious power.” That is, it corresponds to the power of His glory. The word for “power” here is different; it is kratos, which speaks of manifested power, power in its fullness and dominion. It is most appropriately used of God. In this passage, it speaks of “His glorious power,” or the power of His glory. Where and how has the power of His glory been manifested in all its fullness and dominion? In the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah from the dead.

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Roman 6:4)

That is the highest, most world-changing manifestation of God’s glory and power. And it is the same glory and power God wants to display in you and me, not just in the sweet by and by but in the here and now, where it is so desperately needed. Elsewhere, Paul prayers for believers that we may have the intimate, experiential knowledge of

what is the exceeding greatness of His power [dynamis] toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power [kratos] which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power [dynamis] and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:19-22)

At the end of that book, Paul concludes,

Finally, my brethren, be strong [dynamis] in the Lord and in the power [kratos] of His might. (Ephesians 6:10)

Notice, again, that “be strong” (or empowered, or strengthened) is a present passive, a continuous action that happens to or in us. We are made strong “in the Lord.” It is His power and His might at work. Our part is simply to yield to that work in us.

A walk worthy of the Lord is a walk made in His strength, always being empowered with all power by the magnificent power that manifests His glory and dominion — His resurrection power! It is an amazing strength, and possible for you and me to be always and fully strengthened with it. Or else Paul, praying by the Holy Spirit, would not have prayed it.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Knowing God More and More

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding … and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

In verse 9, Paul speaks of being filled with the knowledge of God’s will. In verse 10, he shifts focus to increasing in the knowledge of God Himself. The Greek word for “knowledge” is both cases is epignosis, a depth or fullness of knowledge. Not merely head knowledge, an accumulation of facts or even of how facts work together. Not theoretical knowledge, but experiential knowledge. Not the kind of knowledge that puffs up, but knowledge that is according to love, which builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1).

Paul speaks of “increasing” in this knowledge. Actually in the Greek text, this word is in the passive voice. That is, it is not something we do to ourselves but something that is done to us. We do not increase ourselves in the knowledge of God; we are increased in the knowledge of God. Only God can do that for us, and He does it by the work of the Holy Spirit.

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11-16)

Notice also that this increase is in the present tense; it speaks of continuous action. God’s plan is that we are always being increased by Him in the knowledge of Him, continually knowing Him more and more. It is a growth process. Peter says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

This is personal, intimate, revelation knowledge of God — He reveals Himself to us in personal, intimate relationship! Through Jesus, through the Spirit, through the Word. He fills us with the knowledge of His will, revealing His desire, revealing His heart. Every response we make to that revelation in faith, and the obedience of faith, will be pleasing to Him and will bear the fruit and good works He desires. A walk worthy of the Lord is all about walking with the Lord. The more we walk with Him, the more we will know Him. He will not hold back but will reveal Himself freely to us as we walk along with Him.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Every Good Work

… being fruitful in every good work. (Colossians 1:10)

Yesterday we talked about a life of fruitfulness, what it means to be fruitful. Now let’s talk about “every good work.” In Ephesians, Paul tells us that salvation and grace and faith are the gift of God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10).

“Good works” are not the cause or basis of salvation but the result or benefit of salvation. They come from God, because we are His workmanship, His “doing.” They come through Jesus the Messiah, because of the new life we have in Him and the life He lives in us.

“Every good work” is one of Paul’s favorite phrases; we find it a number of times in his letters. The author of Hebrews also uses it, and in a way that sounds very much like Paul.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. (Titus 3:1-2)

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 12:20-21)

The grace of God supplies us, equips, prepares us, establishes us and makes us complete in every good work. He even supplies for us in our finances (which is the context of 2 Corinthians 9), so that we may always have all we need, plus abundance so we have something to give for “every good work.” He supplies the seed and even multiplies it to “increase the fruit of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God” (2 Corinthians 9:10-11; see Seed is for Sowing). From beginning to end, it is God at work in us, to bless us and make us a blessing to others and a praise to Him.

“Every good work” does not mean that we are always doing everything all the time. After all, we do have to sleep! What it does mean, though, is that no matter what times and circumstances we find ourselves in, there is always something we can offer, some good we can do, some fruit we can bring forth to bless others. As we pay attention to where God has placed us, what He has supplied and how the Holy Spirit is working in us, and we yield ourselves, God will lead us.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

A Life of Fruitfulness

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask … that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

In verse 6, Paul gave thanks to God that the gospel was bearing fruit and being increased all over the world, and that it had come to the Colossians. (The Greek word for “being increased” is not in the Greek text from which the NKJV version, above, was translated, but it does appear in some older manuscripts.) It echoes the mandate God first gave the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

Now in verse 10, Paul picks up on that theme again in his pastoral prayer. He asks that these believers in Jesus may now be fruitful in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God. (Actually, the verb for “increase” is in the passive form, i.e., “being increased” — but that is for another day.)

God has always been interested in fruitfulness. It is part of the series of blessings in Deuteronomy 28: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 28:4). It is part of the happiness and prosperity of those who meditate on the instruction of the Lord.

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

(Psalm1:3)

Then there is the teaching Jesus gave to the disciples on the night of the Last Supper, about the vine and the branches:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:5, 8, 16).

In Galatians, Paul talks about the “fruit of the Spirit,” in contrast to the “works of the flesh.”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

This fruit cannot be produced by keeping laws or observing rules; it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring forth this fruit, which is the character of Jesus. Fruit is the overflow of the life of the vine, the life of Jesus at work in us. Our part is to yield to this life and the fruit will come.

(For more on fruitfulness, see The Fruit of the Righteous ~ A Tree of Life, Don’t Strain, Abide and Transformed by the Holy Spirit.)

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Lord’s Prayer and Postmillennialism

In a recent chat online, I posted that I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Eschatology is the doctrine of “last things,” i.e., what happens at the end of things. Postmillennialism is basically the view that when Jesus returns, the Church will have been successful in the mission He gave to disciple all nations, teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). Someone asked me if this has led me to pray the Lord’s prayer less than Christians did a millennium or two ago. Here is how I answered:

I pray the Lord’s prayer more now that I ever have in my life, and I pray it more aggressively. Wherever I see something out of alignment with heaven, I pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God be done here as in heaven!”

When I pray over someone who is sick, it is, “Kingdom of God, come into this body! Will of God, be done in this body as it is being done in heaven” (because there ain’t no sickness in heaven).

When I hear about the troubles in the world, say in Libya, I pray, “Kingdom of God, come into Libya! Will of God, be done in Libya as it is in heaven.”

My conviction is that the kingdom of God is forcefully advancing in the world, ever since the days of John the Baptist, and forceful men lay hold of it (see A Kingdom Forcefully Advancing). And my confidence is that the kingdom of God will increasingly saturate the earth and the will of God will increasingly be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I am convinced that when we pray the way Jesus taught us to pray, God hears and answers.

I am postmillennial because I believe God intends to answer the Lord’s Prayer. And because I believe that the Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations (not just in all nations) will be fulfilled, because all authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth. That does not cause me to slack off but to move forward with greater passion and assurance.

Am I Seated in Heaven?

When I was at Bible college, there was an evangelistic tract we used quite extensively that was titled, “Am I Going to Heaven?” It was about what happens to us when we die. We thought of heaven as someday and out there.

Today, if I were to write a tract, I think I would call it, “Am I seated in Heaven?” Heaven is not just about when we die; we begin to participate in the life of heaven here and now. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:7). The Greek word for “again” can just as well mean “from above,” that is, from heaven.

Paul tells us that our citizenship is now in heaven (Philippians 3:20). In another place, he tells us that we have made alive together with Christ, raised together with Christ and seated together with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:5-6). This is not a future promise but a done deal and a present reality. We are meant to live from now on out of that reality.

The answer to both questions is the same and comes about the same way. In John 3, where Jesus speaks of being born “from above,” it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (v. 16).

In Ephesians 2, where Paul talks about being made alive, raised up and seated together with Christ, he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (vv. 8-10).

In other words, it is by faith, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son. That is how we enter into the kingdom of God, which is here and now as well as there and then.