(Please read this in conjunction with my earlier post “Christ in us the hope of glory” and the article to which that post directs. Thank you.)
C. H. Spurgeon once warned that we should not expect Jesus to do at his Second Coming what he has already accomplished at his First! That is to say, he has ALREADY conquered sin through his atoning death, he has ALREADY brought into being the Kingdom through his death, resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Another mistake, I believe, is to expect the fullness of the Kingdom to come instantaneously and without any activity on the part of Christians. That is not to say that the fullness of the Kingdom is to be brought about by the activity of human beings rather than God, but it is to say that it will come as Christians allow God to work through them to bring about Kingdom fullness.
The coming of Kingdom fullness as a gradual process seems to me to best fit Biblical descriptions. We think about the stream rising at the Temple and growing to become a mighty river, the rock not cut by human hands growing into a mountain that fills the earth. Then, in the final visions of the Apocalypse, we have the picture of the trees of life yielding fruit for the healing of the nations. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but trees take time to mature and bring forth fruit and few healings are instantaneous. One may object “Yes, but Jesus spoke about the lightning illuminating the sky from one end to the other. Is that not sudden?” True, but I think the point that he was making had more to do with the coming of the Kingdom being something obvious and not secretive like the impostor messiahs about whom he was warning. (Actually, there is some debate as to whether Jesus was speaking about “lightning” or “lightening” in the sense of the growing illumination of the dawn of a new day lighting the sky from horizon to horizon. That would fit very well with a gradualist scenario, but I do not have the linguistic knowledge to say more about this here).
While I believe that the “gradualist” idea is correct, there is a danger involved in this teaching. It can be interpreted as teaching that Christians can (and should) work through the political process to create a “godly” government through which Christian standards are legislated. The trouble is, Christianity cannot be legislated and Christian morality (while it certainly can be used as a basis for legislation) is the result of the presence of Christ within the Christian through the Holy Spirit. I do believe that Christians can work through political structures, but only if those who do allow themselves to be governed by Christ within and not simply follow a set of rules and regulations. If they truly are governed by Christ working within them, it is not they but Christ who would rule through the political process.
Consider this analogy. A wind farm generates electrical power. We see the array of windmills but not the wind, yet we do not normally say that the farm generates electricity by “windmill power”. We call it “wind power” as the wind is the true source of the required energy. The windmills merely provide the mechanism by which this power is utilized. Yet, there is also a sense in which the windmills do 100% of the work. Yet, in truth, the wind does 100% of the work, but without making the former statement incorrect!
When a person becomes a Christian, Christ is spiritually “born” within that person. They then have Christ within, but that does not necessarily imply that Christ rules within or that they can say, with St. Paul, “Not I but Christ in me”. More often than not, they are infants in Christ. Christ is within them, but there are many other competing sources of desires, hopes, fears and ambitions that together rule in and through that person. If that person is in a position of political power or of some other influential role, it is not Christ who rules through him or her (at least, not uniquely Christ) but the collection of other “springs of desire and action” within. In effect such a person is a collection of “selves” each sharing the rule of the person’s inner life. This is the position of the non-Christian, but the immature Christian is similar except that one more “Self” is added to the collection!
Christian maturity comes as Christ comes into his rightful reign within the person and the “other selves” are brought under his rule. Those that are intrinsically sinful are cast aside and those that are not are made to bow before him. The person then becomes aware of a deeper Self, beyond the collection of ephemeral selves that had hitherto ruled his/her inner life. Godly desires well up from the Self which is Christ within and the person lives increasingly spontaneously from this deeper Self. Such is the mature Christian who is able to say, truthfully, that “Christ, not I lives”.
I believe that the next step in the maturing of the Church is the recognition of “Christ within” and the implications for the Kingdom that this heralds. For one thing, as each member of the Church comes to live increasingly from the deeper Self who is Christ within, then all Christians will be “of one heart and mind” as the deeper Self of all (and of the Church itself) will be the One Christ. The corporate Body of Christ can only be truly united if it operates from the one Mind and Spirit. I believe that the world will one day be filled with Christians – indeed with mature Christians who truly live by their deeper Self; by Christ within them. Jesus’ prayer that the Father’s will be done on earth as in Heaven will surely be answered. When all positions of authority (political, ecclesiastical, economic etc.) are filled with such mature Christians – entirely motivated by Christ within them as their true Self – then the Kingdom will have come in fullness.
I believe that the time has come for Christians to take very seriously the full implications – both personal and with respect to the bringing into fullness of the Kingdom – of having Christ within. Seeking the Kingdom before all else involves having Christ rule WITHIN us and (flowing from this) having Christ rule THROUGH us in the world.
WE CAN EACH PLAY OUR PART in this ministry. At a personal level, we must all allow Christ to become our true “Self”. But I would humbly ask that, if you are a member of a small group, that you discuss these thoughts with the other members. The article “Christ in Us and the Kingdom of God” gives an overview and I would request that copies be circulated to members of small groups and as widely as possible (also through social media). Wherever possible, small groups may be formed specifically as “Kingdom cells” prayerfully seeking God’s guidance as to how to take advantage of Kingdom opportunities within one’s own environment (home, business, college, political etc.) although any activity should not be undertaken unless all members of the group agree and are sure that it is truly motivated by Christ within. Even if none of this is possible for you, prayer is always an option. Indeed, it is the priority always for everyone.
Blessings.
C. H. Spurgeon once warned that we should not expect Jesus to do at his Second Coming what he has already accomplished at his First! That is to say, he has ALREADY conquered sin through his atoning death, he has ALREADY brought into being the Kingdom through his death, resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Another mistake, I believe, is to expect the fullness of the Kingdom to come instantaneously and without any activity on the part of Christians. That is not to say that the fullness of the Kingdom is to be brought about by the activity of human beings rather than God, but it is to say that it will come as Christians allow God to work through them to bring about Kingdom fullness.
The coming of Kingdom fullness as a gradual process seems to me to best fit Biblical descriptions. We think about the stream rising at the Temple and growing to become a mighty river, the rock not cut by human hands growing into a mountain that fills the earth. Then, in the final visions of the Apocalypse, we have the picture of the trees of life yielding fruit for the healing of the nations. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but trees take time to mature and bring forth fruit and few healings are instantaneous. One may object “Yes, but Jesus spoke about the lightning illuminating the sky from one end to the other. Is that not sudden?” True, but I think the point that he was making had more to do with the coming of the Kingdom being something obvious and not secretive like the impostor messiahs about whom he was warning. (Actually, there is some debate as to whether Jesus was speaking about “lightning” or “lightening” in the sense of the growing illumination of the dawn of a new day lighting the sky from horizon to horizon. That would fit very well with a gradualist scenario, but I do not have the linguistic knowledge to say more about this here).
While I believe that the “gradualist” idea is correct, there is a danger involved in this teaching. It can be interpreted as teaching that Christians can (and should) work through the political process to create a “godly” government through which Christian standards are legislated. The trouble is, Christianity cannot be legislated and Christian morality (while it certainly can be used as a basis for legislation) is the result of the presence of Christ within the Christian through the Holy Spirit. I do believe that Christians can work through political structures, but only if those who do allow themselves to be governed by Christ within and not simply follow a set of rules and regulations. If they truly are governed by Christ working within them, it is not they but Christ who would rule through the political process.
Consider this analogy. A wind farm generates electrical power. We see the array of windmills but not the wind, yet we do not normally say that the farm generates electricity by “windmill power”. We call it “wind power” as the wind is the true source of the required energy. The windmills merely provide the mechanism by which this power is utilized. Yet, there is also a sense in which the windmills do 100% of the work. Yet, in truth, the wind does 100% of the work, but without making the former statement incorrect!
When a person becomes a Christian, Christ is spiritually “born” within that person. They then have Christ within, but that does not necessarily imply that Christ rules within or that they can say, with St. Paul, “Not I but Christ in me”. More often than not, they are infants in Christ. Christ is within them, but there are many other competing sources of desires, hopes, fears and ambitions that together rule in and through that person. If that person is in a position of political power or of some other influential role, it is not Christ who rules through him or her (at least, not uniquely Christ) but the collection of other “springs of desire and action” within. In effect such a person is a collection of “selves” each sharing the rule of the person’s inner life. This is the position of the non-Christian, but the immature Christian is similar except that one more “Self” is added to the collection!
Christian maturity comes as Christ comes into his rightful reign within the person and the “other selves” are brought under his rule. Those that are intrinsically sinful are cast aside and those that are not are made to bow before him. The person then becomes aware of a deeper Self, beyond the collection of ephemeral selves that had hitherto ruled his/her inner life. Godly desires well up from the Self which is Christ within and the person lives increasingly spontaneously from this deeper Self. Such is the mature Christian who is able to say, truthfully, that “Christ, not I lives”.
I believe that the next step in the maturing of the Church is the recognition of “Christ within” and the implications for the Kingdom that this heralds. For one thing, as each member of the Church comes to live increasingly from the deeper Self who is Christ within, then all Christians will be “of one heart and mind” as the deeper Self of all (and of the Church itself) will be the One Christ. The corporate Body of Christ can only be truly united if it operates from the one Mind and Spirit. I believe that the world will one day be filled with Christians – indeed with mature Christians who truly live by their deeper Self; by Christ within them. Jesus’ prayer that the Father’s will be done on earth as in Heaven will surely be answered. When all positions of authority (political, ecclesiastical, economic etc.) are filled with such mature Christians – entirely motivated by Christ within them as their true Self – then the Kingdom will have come in fullness.
I believe that the time has come for Christians to take very seriously the full implications – both personal and with respect to the bringing into fullness of the Kingdom – of having Christ within. Seeking the Kingdom before all else involves having Christ rule WITHIN us and (flowing from this) having Christ rule THROUGH us in the world.
WE CAN EACH PLAY OUR PART in this ministry. At a personal level, we must all allow Christ to become our true “Self”. But I would humbly ask that, if you are a member of a small group, that you discuss these thoughts with the other members. The article “Christ in Us and the Kingdom of God” gives an overview and I would request that copies be circulated to members of small groups and as widely as possible (also through social media). Wherever possible, small groups may be formed specifically as “Kingdom cells” prayerfully seeking God’s guidance as to how to take advantage of Kingdom opportunities within one’s own environment (home, business, college, political etc.) although any activity should not be undertaken unless all members of the group agree and are sure that it is truly motivated by Christ within. Even if none of this is possible for you, prayer is always an option. Indeed, it is the priority always for everyone.
Blessings.