Now let us look at the third category of people as mentioned in the Bible, the Church of the Lord Jesus. That Church belongs to Heaven. With and in Christ ‘seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms ‘ (Ephesians 1:20 / 2:6).
The Kingdom of Heaven will be on earth. With Jesus on the throne of David, in Jerusalem. More about that later.
In loving fellowship they were spending time together. Who were they? They had followed Jesus of Nazareth. For a year or three they had seen, heard and some of them had experienced, His mighty miracles, healings that were to convince Israel that indeed He was the promised Messiah they had been waiting for. For years the nation of Israel had been expecting the coming of a great and brave king, who would deliver them from the hated Roman occupation. Someone like that hero of old, king David. But this Jesus of Nazareth did not even look like it. With all His display of Divine power, He never displayed any intention to be king. In the end the learned leadership of the nation saw Him as if He was a fraud and found reason to reject Him. Many of the common people did likewise. They crucified Him. Little did they realize that God was using them, in the fulfilment of His eternal plan.
On the morning of Pentecost the followers of Jesus had much to talk about. They did remember their bitter disappointment when they had seen their Master on the Cross. And the tears they had shed when they wrapped His dead body in linen, placing it in a grave. Roman soldiers were charged to keep watch over a dead man in a sealed grave. For the disciples it was as if all hope had been dashed into the ground.
They may have been wondering about one thing. Some of them were very sure! They had heard Him saying it: ‘I will build My church!’ That had never happened. He was dead. And then, of course they must have been talking about what happened that early Easter-morning. They had come to His grave. But instead of meeting Roman soldiers they were meeting heavenly angels. And then they heard a most surprising message. ‘He is not here!’ ‘He is risen!’ Suddenly they were reminded of His own words ‘On the third day I will rise again!’ Now a sore mixture of faith and fear, hope and doubt had gripped their tired hearts. Could it be so? The humanly impossible, did it really happen? Yes, it did!
The evening of that resurrection-day they had been together. The doors were locked because they feared the hostile Jews. But to Him, like a heavy rock to shut His grave, a locked door also was meaningless. Suddenly He was there. He just stood there in the centre of their circle. Yes, beyond all doubt and fear. And He talked. They heard His precious voice. All of it was so incredible. But surely it was true. He did encourage them and asked them to come and touch Him. And He asked for something to eat. Some of them may still have found it difficult. Did not they wrap His dead body in linen? Place it in a grave? And those hated Roman soldiers. Really, was that Him? But soon their painful doubt must give way to their exuberant joy. Now they believed. They had seen and heard Him call others back from death. And now He Himself had risen from the grave. And there He stood. All this filled their hearts and conversation on that Pentecost-morning. No doubt, their hearts were filled with joyful assurance and hoping that He would come and be with them today.
Today was the day the Lord had made. It would bring a new beginning. Commence a new phase in HIS PLAN FOR THE AGES OF MAN. Previously, from time to time, the Holy Spirit had come on a single person and some times left again. On the day of Pentecost we see God the Holy Spirit taking up residence in a group of people .The Church of the Lord Jesus. This time He came to stay until that Church is complete.
Acts, chapter 2 “Suddenly the sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole room where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.”
Please, take note! They saw what ‘seemed to be tongues of fire’. There was no destruction, only grace.
Oh yes, God is One and the same for each of the three groups we have now mentioned. But His way of dealing with each, His plans and purposes for each are totally different, one from the other. Having temporarily suspended His dealings with Israel. He is now dealing with the whole world, building His Church. It was born on that day of Pentecost. After the Church has become complete God will again take up His plan for Israel and the nations.
People today may be proud when they mention date and founding member of what they call ‘our church’, but are they connected to the Church of the Lord Jesus that was founded by Him? THAT is THE Church of which God’s children today, believers in Christ Jesus, are members.
It is sad, but it needs mention. As God’s plans and purposes for each of the three categories vary, Christians today should be very careful when they apply the word of God to Israel, particularly the promises, upon themselves or the Church. It is being done, often without the slightest discrimination. Let us never forget that Israel is still subject to God’s trial and severe trial it will be.
The Old Testament is very precious to us. Not so much because of what we learn about Israel and her history. But certainly because of what we learn about the awesome GOD of Israel. The God of Israel is our God!
His love and grace, His power and patience are still as always.
The Lord Jesus died for the sin of the whole world. In the New Testament His Church has her own promises and will never face hardship or sorrow from God’s hand! For His Church that pain was borne by Jesus. When He cried ‘It is finished’, for His Church it was finished indeed. In the face of Satanic attacks, His Church may always rejoice in a precious Bible-truth:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that In Him we might become the righteousness of God!”
Israel and the nations still are years away from being the righteousness of God. About the Church the apostle Paul did write:
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
Since that day of Pentecost, when His Church came into being, from that day onward, millions of Christian believers have stood before the face of the Most Holy God and found Him to be a loving, most gracious Father and then passed on, into His very presence. Millions are still on earth, also in the presence of the Lord. It will happen that all of them will be together, at home in the Father’s house, to be with Jesus, forever.
One day the Church of the Lord Jesus will be full and complete. That will be the end of what Paul calls ‘the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2). The apostle Peter writes about the glorious future for the Church:
1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade ‘kept in Heaven for you’ “.
This is a promise exclusively for the Church! It is not for Israel or the Nations! Let’s read again the promises God made to Abram:
Genesis 17:7,8 “ ‘I’, says the Lord God, ‘I will establish My covenant as an ‘everlasting’ covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien I will give it as an ‘everlasting’ possession to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God.’ “
What does ‘everlasting’ mean? Does any one dare to stand and claim that the world, Israel and the Church will disintegrate, either by human power or in one mighty bang of judgment by God?
One day the very last human soul will be added to the Church. It will happen in a hospital-ward, a prison, an impressive cathedral or in a humble, jungle bush-hut. And then our Lord’s own words will come into fulfilment:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “The trumpet of God will sound, the voice of the arch-angel will call, the dead in Christ first will rise, and then, after that, those who are still alive and on earth, will be caught up together with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.”
The real meaning of ‘be caught up’ is ‘will be snatched away’. Snatched up and away from this world. His Church will then forever be with the Lord.
We may freely believe this, not only because Paul wrote it, but more so because the Lord Himself said so (1 Thessalonians 4:15). And He again used Paul to confirm the message:
1 Corinthians 15:51 “Listen, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.”
‘In the twinkling of an eye’. Not a split second to turn off the garden tap or get the last bank statement into the house. Nothing at all like that!.
Millions have waited, longed for, expected and looked for this event. It has not yet come; we are still waiting for the call of the archangel and the trumpet of the Lord.
When a Christian loved one passes away, all who are Christians according to the Bible and still in this world, have this joyful hope and comfort. It is only ‘until He comes’. Then we shall be re-united, in our Father’s eternal home we will enjoy ‘an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, ‘kept in heaven’ for you.’ while Israel will enjoy eternity ‘on the new earth’ the home of righteousness.
It should be so abundantly clear. Christian believers of all ages and persuasions together make up the Body of Christ. A body of which He is the Head, and we the members. With Him and in Him we shall have our eternal abode in a new Heaven. A Heaven, that is free from all ‘the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’ (Ephesians 6:12).
With their ancient forefather, Israel, the descendants of Abraham, will inherit the new earth. No longer will the earth be a home of evil and shame. It will be ‘the home of righteousness’. The new earth will be full of the glory of Heaven. God’s new creation will be as it was before Adam and Eve submitted to SIN. No longer any impediment to glory and fellowship between heaven and earth because it will be the glory of God and the fellowship will be in Jesus, His beloved Son. There is such a great need of understanding these things. The apostle Paul did. In his letter to the church at Ephesus he wrote:
Ephesians 1:9,10 “ And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment - ‘to bring all things in Heaven and on earth TOGETHER, under one Head, even Christ -‘
When He takes the last remainder of His Church home to be with the Lord, the world will know it. It will be God’s intervention, in world-affairs.
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