The Spirit of Christmas Future
The Spirit of Christmas Future
John 1:1 & 14
(NIV)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
During these weeks
before Christmas, we have been considering the incarnation, the mystery of God
becoming human, drawing near to us so that we can draw near to him: The truth
of Christmas past. We examined the plan within the incarnation; that with this “en-flesh-ment”
of the Creator as Jesus of Nazareth God in Christ would reconcile sin’s
universal estrangement of humanity that separated all of us from the knowledge of
God: The truth of Christmas present. Both teachings reveal the love of God
extended to each and everyone that we might enter into a right relationship
with God, and in that knowledge find life eternal. Today we are going to
explore the future ramifications of the incarnation. The scripture reveals
three great truths, the second coming, the resurrection, and the restoration of
the earth. Let’s explore the Spirit of Christmas future for it is full of hope,
and by hope, we are encouraged.
The incarnation,
the first coming, is the inauguration of the kingdom of God. The good news of
the kingdom of God is that through faith in Christ you can be restored to a
right relationship with God. You can enter the Kingdom. Your sins can be
forgiven, your spiritual debt with God can be canceled. You can be adopted and
made an heir of the Kingdom. You can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, You can be empowered
to live your life to the full. Such
gifts are yours through faith in Jesus. All you have to do is simply believe.
There is an
interesting additional thought for you:
There is also a
sense that the incarnation of Christ continues when you believe, the Word
dwells in your flesh. This also is a mind-bending revelation, worthy of your
contemplation.
Colossians 1:27
(NIV)
Christ in you, the
hope of glory.
God is incarnate in
believers as each one of us partners with God allowing His will to work through
us. The scripture encourages us to: “continue to work out your salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according
to his good purpose” (Phil 2:12-13 (NIV).
Back to Christmas
future. As we move into what we call the
future, the Kingdom of God in all its fullness approaches. It is the second
coming of Christ which ushers it in.
Acts 1:6-11 (NIV)
"Lord, are you
at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 [Jesus] said to
them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by
his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth."
9 After he said
this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their
sight.
10 They were
looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed
in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do
you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from
you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into
heaven."
The angel
proclaimed the same way he has gone, he will return. Jesus told his disciples
that he was going to prepare a place for them and that he would come back for
them, and if you are His disciple, for you. (John 14:3). Jesus' return is the
second coming. The second coming is a hope born with the incarnation. This is
the future to which the incarnation points.
The Kingdom of God
here on Earth is advancing, the Kingdom of God in whatever heaven maybe is
approaching (Matthew 11:12). We see this is a careful reading of the Revelation
of Jesus Christ. The second coming merges the two. The Kingdom is consummated
in that merger.
The ramification of
the incarnation is the consummation of the Kingdom at the second coming. With
the second coming there will be a resurrection.
The incarnation
created an absolute identification of Jesus with those who believe. For
believers with the event of the second coming is a resurrection (1 Corinthians
6:14) or just as incredible a physical transformation.
1 Thessalonians
4:16-17 (NIV)
For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever.
Scripture is not explicit
in what this resurrection body will be like. The 15th Chapter in the
first letter we have to the congregation in Corinth we learn the resurrection
body will be imperishable, immortal. Imagination suggests we will physically be
as God originally intended for humanity to be. We know this, with certainty the
result of second coming resurrection: “Death
has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54 (NIV). God’s mighty
power raised Jesus from the dead, if through faith you have believed and
identify with Jesus, you will rise too and enter into life eternal. This is the
future to which the incarnation points; humanity restored, no more sickness,
disease or death. Rather intimacy.
Because of the
incarnation, God becoming one of us: the first hope of Christmas future is the
second coming of Jesus. The second hope of Christmas future is
resurrection/transformation into our original physical body and mind. The third
hope of Christmas future is the restoration of the planet.
Romans 8:20-21
(MSG)
Everything in
creation is being more or less held back.
Human sin is so
pervasive that it permeates the very planet itself. I can only assume that the
earth is not as God created it. It bears the results of its steward’s sins. What is broken with be made right.
There is a teaching
that has floated around the Church for a long time. I don’t agree with the
notion. The idea is that our eternity will be spent in someplace called heaven.
I am sure you’ve seen those cartoons of harps and clouds. But that is not what
the scripture reveals.
Rev 21:1-3 (MSG)
I saw Heaven and
earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I
saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready
for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne:
"Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men
and women!
What is above, in
between and below are made new, re-created to the specifications of God’s original
intent. Holy Jerusalem in my understanding, (I must tell you that this is my
understanding for many scholars would disagree) Holy Jerusalem is symbolic for
the disciples of Jesus.
Listed for you in
your notes are verses that help identify the bride of Christ as the Church: 2
Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:22-27, Revelation 12:1, Revelation 19:7-8.
Revelation 21:9-11
(MSG)
"Come here.
I'll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb." He took me away in the
Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending
out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.
The picture here is
New Jerusalem, the Church, the believers fully establishing the Kingdom of God
on earth. Earth is our home, it is the place created for humanity in which to
thrive. The picture is of living again with the knowledge of our home, living
in harmony with the planet. Our task just maybe turning the Earth into a
garden, healing what has been disseminated by human ignorance and greed. This
is the future to which the incarnation points.
Into your Christmas
celebration add the hope of the incarnation. The babe in the manger will return
as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). His return triggers
a resurrection/transformation for all who believe in Him (John 6:40). Our home,
this earth, will be made new (Revelation 21:5). An unimaginable future awaits
those who believe in the incarnation. Don’t allow this glorious hope to slip
through your grasp, or get lost in all the temporal stuff that we celebrate
this Holy Day we call Christmas with.
If today you are on
the outside, looking in, this hope of Christmas future can be yours. You can
participate in what is going to happen. The invitation is open to everyone.
Your response is to receive the great gift that God has given in the
incarnation (John 3:16). Deity “enfleshed” in humanity (Philippians 2:5-7), the
mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, who came (John 1:14), who modeled humanity
(Hebrews 4:15), who died in an atoning sacrifice (1 John 2:2) that anyone who
calls upon Him (Romans 10:13), who vows to be his disciple (Matthew 16:24), can
be reconciled to the Father (Colossians 1:19-20) and made heir to this future
(Romans 8:17), a participant in the second coming, a resurrection from
mortality, a restoration of this earth. Simply believe.
Today if you are a
believer, don’t allow Christmas to leave you empty. In the future, you win. Skirmishes
may be won, battles may be lost, but you will win the war. Let the knowledge of
being a winner over all the obstacles that keep you from knowing God encourages
you to be an overcomer. Let the incarnation fill you will hope for the best
future imaginable.
Ephesians 1:18-19
(NIV)
I pray also that
the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope
to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe…
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