Seeing
scripture as already
fulfilled may be one step toward seeing reality from a divine eternal
perspective, as God sees it. Conversely, seeing reality from an eternal
perspective may be one step toward seeing scripture as already
fulfilled. With this
divine insight, the Christ
is come, and the resurrection is a present reality, and the
consummation is
complete. Some call this
Preterist theology,
or fulfilled eschatology. In this view, there is a progression, a
working out
of a divine plan that is now fulfilled. This is a reasonable human
understanding that can lead to a spiritual worldview that sees all as
now
completed within the Christ. Within this view, when all is fulfilled,
the
scriptures are unlocked and our interpretations and understandings are
freed
from the fetters of time and cultural restraints. Even within the
common futurist
viewpoint, we are now that spiritual body
of Christ. This
spiritual body has already been raised up to newness of life. We are
the
spiritual house. This is a present reality. We have been raised up, a
spiritual body. We have all been baptized into this one body,
and raised
up, and made to sit together in heavenly places. We don't have to wait
for the
fulfillment of future events to have the fullness. Nor do we have to
look
longingly into the past to regain a former golden age of glory. We, with all
things, are now this
one resurrected body. Ephesians 2:6,
Ephesians 1:23 “Ye also, as
lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house.” 1Peter 2:5 “There is one body,
and one
Spirit.” Ephesians 4:4 “It
is sown a natural body; it
is raised a spiritual body.” 1Corinthians 15:44
You are that
spiritual body. We are
that spiritual body. We don’t have to wait for some future day of
transformation.
We have been “fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to
the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.” Philippians 3:21.
This “body,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all” leads to the realization of
God
as all in all. Ephesians 1:23, And once at the
end of time, at the
consummation, in eternity, “all in all” refers to
God being all, when
all things are found reconciled and united in the Christ "that God
may
be all in all."
1Corinthians 15:28.
Here we see God
is all, and all is
One, with the Eternal. The
consummation is the hint that
helps many see that the Church, God, and the universe are all one, now
and
eternally. Some see the coming of Christ and the resurrection as a
still future
event to bring about this oneness. This is a reasonable human
perspective. I speak as a
mere man for humans
restrict their perspective and experience with timelines.
Regardless
of our view of
prophecy, or our eschatological school of thought, in human history, as
time
passes and as we mature, we may see all fulfilled in Christ at the
cross, at
the comings, and then at the consummation. Limited
by the perspective
of time, we don't always see things as they really are. True reality is
the way
God sees it. However, through revelation, we do have the ability to
look at
reality through significant events, or standpoints in time, receiving a
glimpse
into the eternal reality. Try looking at reality from the standpoint of
the
consummation. Dare to
take even one step further. From the eternal vantage point, it has
already
happened. Enlightenment
is seeing
from God's perspective. God is All. Albert
Einstein: "I
never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
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