KINGDOM PROMISES: ALREADY BUT NOT YET

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”  (Philippians 3:20-21 NIV)

When we think of kingdom, we often think of place, but the kingdom of God is not a place: it refers to the reign of God, or God's in-breaking, saving activity. Eschatological living means envisioning life in light of the saving activity of God in our midst -- not only what He has already done, but also what He promises to do in the future. God's kingdom is not fully manifest yet; we live between the beginning and the completion. 

-- Ben Witherington III in “Christianity Today,” October 15, 2012 

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LAST WORDS FROM THE CROSS

Jesus said, “It is finished.”  (John 19:30)

What was finished?

The history-long plan of redeeming man was finished. The message of God to man was finished. The works done by Jesus as a man on earth were finished. The task of selecting and training ambassadors was finished. The job was finished. The song was sung. The blood had been poured. The sacrifice had been made. The sting of death had been removed. It was over.

A cry of defeat? Hardly. Had His hands not been fastened down I dare say a triumphant fist would have punched the dark sky. No, this is no cry of despair. It is a cry of completion. A cry of relief. A roar of fulfillment. A shout of victory. 

-- Max Lucado in “The Cross: Selected Writings & Images”

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LOOKING AT THE OLYMPICS

"While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."  (1 Timothy 4:8)

The Apostle Paul took the Olympics -- well-known even then -- and taught the Christians to transpose them into a different level, and to see in the games a reality very different than everyone else is seeing. When you see them training and denying themselves, see another kind of training and self-denial. When you see the athletes compete, see another kind of completion.  When you see them smiling with a gold medal around their neck, see another kind of prize.

Olympic glory is for the young and the fittest, but the Christian "race" is for the young and old, the healthiest and sickliest.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day -- and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.… “ (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

-- Adapted from Anugrah Kumar in “The Christian Post”,  quoting from John Piper

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THE ZEIGARNIK EFFECT

“One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:13b-14 NASB)

Why do failures linger? Failures take on a life of their own because the brain remembers incomplete tasks or failures longer than any success or completed activity. It's technically referred to as the "Zeigarnik effect." When a project or a thought is completed, the brain places it in a special memory. The brain no longer gives the project priority or active working status, and bits and pieces of the achieved situation begin to decay. But failures have no closure. The brain continues to spin the memory, trying to come up with ways to fix the mess and move it from active to inactive status.

-- Perry Buffington

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