This is the conclusion of 12 articles in the series on The Presence of God.  In part 11, we demonstrated from Galatians 3 that the Holy Spirit was received by "the hearing of faith" (by incorporation into Christ through his death and res­urrection, Galatians 3:26-29; Romans 6:3-6), not by "the works of the law" (3:1-5).

 

The supernatural gifts of the Spirit in the community of believers were evidentiary proof of this (v.5).  But the primary purpose in receiving the Spirit is drawn out in Galatians 3:13-14 where Paul wrote, "Christ has redeemed us (Jews) from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we [Jew and Gen­tile without distinction, see vv.26-29] might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

 

In verse 14b, Paul links the Holy Spirit with God's promise to Abraham in Christ. It is not just the receiving of the Spirit, but the receiving of that which is through the "ministry of the Spirit."  This is what Paul had in mind when speaking of “the promise of the Spirit.”

 

Contextually, Christ, not the Spirit, is the essence of the promise (3:16).  The Spirit's role, as seen in John 16:13-15, was to show "things to come."  These things, Christ said, "are mine," re­ceived from the Father.  They are the things of the promise God made to Abraham. Thus, in light of the connection of the Spirit with the promise in Christ, Paul can speak of it as "the promise of the Spirit" in the same sense that the Spirit is said to be "the Spirit of Christ."

 

From this standpoint, the Spirit is the earnest, pledge, or guarantee of the promise (1Cor.1:20­-22), the inheritance (Eph.1:13-14), and immortality (2Cor. 5:4-5).  The Spirit’s presence in the commu­nity of believers was the guarantee that what was begun in the Spirit in attaining unto the perfect state of the promise would be completed in the Spirit; it would not be realized by a reversion to "the works of the law" such as the Judaizers contended.

 

Hence, Paul is able to show the validity of the promise independent of the Law.  At the same time, he upholds the integrity of the Law with re­spect to the promise by demonstrating the Law’s tem­poral, preparatory function (3:17).

 

The Law was not "against the promises of God" (Gal.3:21); it simply could not fulfill the things promised, such as "inher­itance" (v.18), "life" (eternal/resurrection life), and "righteousness" (v.21).  In fact, one of the essential preparatory functions of the Law was to make the offense abound (Rom.5:20), to show sin's exceeding sinfulness (Rom.7:13), and thus "confine all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Gal.3:22).  To this end Christ died to redeem Israel from "the curse of the law" (3:13), that both Jew and Gentile "might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (v.14).  The fact that the promise is "through the Spirit" (5:5) does not change its Christological focus or centrality; indeed this affirms it.

 

When the revelatory or disclosing function of the Spirit is linked to Christ and the Abrahamic promise, and when one considers that this work and its age-­changing effect was not finished when Paul wrote his epistles, the "already" but "not yet" of promise fulfillment is illuminated.  The “more to come” (of which the Spirit was the "guarantee") was not more of the Holy Spirit, but the increasing fullness in Christ that stems from the Abrahamic promise (Col. 1:19; Eph.1:22-23; 4:13).

 

In this connection Paul speaks of having the "firstfruits of the Spirit" (Rom.8:23); that is to say, the “already” of the promise.  The reception of the “already” of the promise intensified the firstfruits saints’ expectation of future fullness.  Their "ea­gerly waiting for the adoption, the re­demption of our body" was linked to the coming of "the perfect" through the completed work of the Spirit (1 Cor.13:8-13).

 

Likewise, the Old Testa­ment creation held captive in the "bondage of corruption" was "eagerly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God" (Rom.8:19-22).  They were wait­ing for the "glorious liberty" in Christ because under the Law they "did not re­ceive the promise, God having pro­vided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (Heb.11:40).  The "us" here refers to the firstfruits of the gospel in Paul's day.

 

Regarding the "eagerly wait­ing" for the completed change through the Spirit, the writer of the Book of Hebrews ex­horted the believing community to stand fast and not return to the Old Covenant order, "'For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise" (10:36).  The “promise” here in Hebrews is the same promise in Galatians 3.  Moreover, as was the case in Galatians (see 5:5, "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith"), the focus in Hebrews is on the consummation of the promise at the "soon, very soon" coming of Christ (Heb. 10:37).

 

This crucial "not yet" di­mension of the promise did not rule out "the already."  Clearly, the saints in Hebrews were already tasting "the heavenly gift" and "the powers of the age to come" (6:4-5) because they had become "partakers of the Holy Spirit"—the Spirit of the Abrahamic promise by faith in Jesus Christ.  In Hebrews 10:36, we see that the "not yet" of the promise is linked to the "soon" age-consummating coming of Christ (compare Hebrews 10:25, 37).

 

Thus, in view of the “more to come,” which was integral to the completed mission of the Spirit, Paul put forth the question to the Galatians, "Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [i.e., by embracing the works of the law]?”  Paul's point is explicit and powerful in his countering the Judaizing movement.  If the Spirit of Christ (and hence the promise) is received by "the hearing of faith" rather than by "the works of the law," and if this is the way the Galatians had begun (in receiving the promise that predated the Law), it is necessarily the way for them to attain the perfect state in Christ independently of the Law.  Freedom from the curse of the Law meant free­dom from the Law itself.

 

As we follows Paul's train of thought on the work of the Holy Spirit in prom­ise fulfillment, we discover that a common mistake made today by those attempting to interpret the significance of “the promise” is that of separating the "not yet" from the "already,” thereby giving it a different meaning and separate timeframe for fulfillment.

 

This approach would leave us with two widely separated end-times with partial fulfillment as­signed to the end of the Old Covenant age and the rest at the supposed end of the New Covenant age.

 

Another related and serious consequence is the practice of some to dichotomize humanity, giving people a re­deemed spirit now while looking forward to a redeemed physical body sometime later.

 

In both cases, there is an inexpli­cable extension of total fulfillment be­yond the range of the Spirit's work in "the last days" of the Old Covenant aeon.  The gospel becomes merely a “half-step” between the Law and the receiving of the promise in its full­ness in Christ.

 

The problem stems from the failure to see that the "not yet" (from Paul's standpoint) represents nothing other than that which completes the "already."  Be­cause Paul was living and writing during the covenantal transition period, he could speak, for example, of past, present, and fu­ture salvation and have the same sal­vation in mind. The hope of salvation (1 Thess.5:8) does not, in Paul's think­ing, denote a salvation that differs from the salvation already then-present (Eph.2:8).  In the same context, Paul spoke of "having obtained an inherit­ance" already (Eph.1:11) while calling the Spirit "the guarantee of our inheritance" (v.14); yet, he has the same inheritance in mind.  On one hand he affirmed present sonship through adoption (Gal.4:4-6), yet on the other hand he was "waiting for adoption" (Rom.8:23); but he is not arguing for two different and separate adoptions.  He wrote of having "attained to righteousness" (Rom.9:30) and of "eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal.5:5); in both cases he is referring to the one and only saving righteousness of the gos­pel.

 

Such is the case with every aspect of the one promise by faith in Christ, which calls for some obser­vations at this point on the widespread belief in and reasoning about two supposed kinds of resurrections—one now and one later, one spiritual and one physical.

 

The "One Life" of the "One Promise" - Present and Future

The common understanding (sometimes explicitly stated and other times implicit) of two resurrections (spiritual and physical) to totally redeem humanity is a classic example of separating the "not yet" from the "already" of life in Christ through the Spirit.

 

In giving fullness of life, Jesus never claimed to be more than "one resurrection" and "one life.”  He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).  Later, he said that he was "the way" (John 14:6). Traditional theology emphasizes "the way" meaning one way, not two or more.  Likewise, there is no reason for denying the singularity of the resurrection and the life.

 

In a context of dying and rising with Christ through baptism, Paul speaks of being united with him in the "likeness" of his death and of being raised in the "likeness" of his resurrection (Rom.6:3-6).  If two separate resurrections (spiritual and physical) are required in humanity’s total redemption, this text raises an important question: Which one does Paul have in mind here in his "likeness" analogy?  There are no qualifiers here—or anywhere else.  “In the likeness of” encompasses the full and undivided scope, meaning, and ap­plication of Christ's death and resurrec­tion.  Paul says nothing about a need for two deaths and two resurrections in order to fully die and rise "in the like­ness of Christ's death and resurrec­tion."

 

We find no biblical reason requiring full redemption hinging on more death and more resurrection with Christ than the one in Romans 6—which is the same one found in 1Corinthians 15.  Does one's physical de­mise due to natural causes or fatal acci­dents qualify as dying in the likeness of Christ's death?

 

Does Paul have biological death with Christ in mind when writing, "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin" (Rom.8:10)?  Note that Paul said that "the body is dead."  Could this possibly be physical death?  Was Paul writing to a bunch of corpses?  But if the “dead body” in verse 10 is not a reference to physical death, neither is physical death the subject in verse 11 which speaks of the quickening or the giving of life "to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."  This verse contains Paul's answer to the dead body in verse 10.  The quick­ening of the "mortal body" through the indwelling of the Spirit (in verse 11) gives bodily life that is correspondent to the life received by Christ in his be­ing raised from the dead by the Spirit of God.

 

The presence of "the (singular) body" in Romans 6:6; 7:24 and particularly 8:10-11 is the key issue.  It absolutely refutes a spiritual-physical dichoto­mizing of Christ's death and resurrec­tion as an answer to the "already" but "not yet" of gospel resurrection.  Such a view as this would have Paul getting his "already" and "not yet" mixed up by putting "physical body" death and res­urrection in a text where one would expect to find a "spiritual" resurrection.  Paul would be rushing things a bit in telling the saints at Rome that already they were dead (biologically) and that the quickening through the indwelling of the Spirit had been set in motion.  That should have ar­rested their attention if Paul dichotomized the promise of life and the resurrection that fulfills it.

 

Let’s return to "the promise" in Galatians 3.  We find life and righteousness so closely linked that Paul uses them interchangeably in verse 21.  "For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteous­ness would have been by the law."  Life here is no ordinary life; it is the "resur­rection life" which is identical in meaning to "the resurrection" and "the life" that Christ personally claimed to be in John 11:25.

 

Bear in mind that Paul is dealing with the life of the promise in Galatians 3.  And for Paul, Christ, the promise, life, and righteous­ness are inseparable, possessing re­demptive fullness.  If, therefore, the gospel framework for present/future Righteousness can be established, one has the framework for present/fu­ture Life. They go hand in hand.

 

We have seen the "already" and "not yet" of righteousness.  In Romans 9:30 Paul said the Gentiles "have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith."  In Galatians 5:5 he said, "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."  In both texts, it's the same "righteousness by faith."

 

How can it be both present and fu­ture, both "attained to" but "eagerly awaited"?  Should we resort to a di­chotomizing hermeneutic?  Are there two kinds of righteousness "by faith in Christ"?  Does the solution lie in di­chotomizing humanity—a righteousness for the soul/spirit of humanity now and a righteousness for the physical body later?  That's how some deal with present/future life (resurrection life), so why not follow suit with present/future righteousness?

 

The key for identifying the destina­tion of the "hope of righteousness" (which equally is applicable to the "hope of eternal life") is found in Galatians 3:21.  Paul's objective in showing that "the Law" could not give life or righteousness was to show what could. What is it that does what the Law could not do?  The gos­pel (the faith of Christ) has Paul's ex­clusive attention in this regard.  And this should be the case today as we interpret "the promise."

 

If, however, life and righteousness are only partially fulfilled by the gos­pel, if "hope" (or "not yet") represent a future that must be "eagerly awaited" beyond the New Covenant age, Paul's argument in Galatians 3:21 about the inability of the Law to give life must be amended to further read, "and if there had been a gospel given which could have given fullness of life and righteousness, truly fullness of life and righteousness would have been by the gospel."

 

In this view of a supposed yet-future fullness, a situ­ation is created where Christ must re­turn to establish another "age" because the one he died to establish (the ever­lasting New Covenant age) could not give fullness of life and righteousness.  Hence, the "eager waiting" would be for the gospel age to end in order to receive in fullness the salvation fore­told by the Old Testament prophets, "who prophesied of the grace that would come to you…at the revelation of Christ" (1 Pet.1:5-13).

 

Such is not only the inevitable con­clusion of a dichotomized promise, but it has opened the door for the wide­spread view that the hope (or the “not yet”) of the Abrahamic promise in Paul's time remains to be fulfilled today in ours.  This approach also suggests that the hope of the Abrahamic promise pertains to a literal restoration of Abraham's physical lineage to Pales­tine with all the Old Testament trim­mings. That completely contradicts Paul's "Law versus Gospel" argument in Galatians 3—not to mention the whole volume of scripture on gospel fullness and perfection within the end-time framework of Paul's day.

 

The same is true of the di­chotomized, partial fulfillment treat­ment of the promise. In either case the efficacy of the cross, and the purpose, power, and perfection of the gospel are mitigated.

 

The dichotomizing hermeneutic overlooks all that is imperative for realizing the destination of gospel hope relative to the promise.  Again, it is a mat­ter of observing the context and keep­ing the gospel's "already" but "not yet" message tied to its historical setting. We need to stick with Paul and the other apostles who consistently preached Christ and the promise against the background of Israel's Old Testament redemptive history.

 

Paul, for example, was "separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scrip­tures" (Rom.1:1-2).  In preaching the hope of salvation, of righteousness, and of eternal life, he remained within the boundary of "the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers" (Acts 26:6), "saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come" (verse 22).

 

It follows that the full end of the Old Covenant economy (which in God's de­sign is concurrent with the completed work of the Holy Spirit) is the point of promise fullness that was “eagerly awaited” in apostolic time.  Regardless of what state or standing one ascribes to Israel and the Law from the point of Christ's death, the clearly delineated future con­summation in Matthew 24 and numer­ous other texts (see, for example, Heb.12:18-29) cannot be set aside as having no bearing on the "not yet" of the promise. This rings out clearly in Philippians 3.

 

This entire chapter is Paul's defense of righteousness and life by the gospel (by faith of Christ) as opposed to the Law of Moses.  His case addresses past, present, and future attainment, and it is structured to rule out the Law from the fulfillment process.  Paul’s need to do this says something about the contin­ued presence of the Old Covenant order, and its threat to gospel righteousness and life from the standpoint of the Judaizers’ abuse and misuse of the Old Covenant itself.

 

What Paul had counted loss in Philippians 3:7-8 is found in verses 4-8.  His aim in departing from his mode of life un­der the Law was to "win Christ" (v. 8) and to "be found in him" (v. 9) having "the righteousness which is from God by faith" as opposed to a righteousness of his own, "which is from the law."  The difference would result in his being found at the age-consummating com­ing of Christ "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white" (Rev. 19:8) as opposed to the "filthy rags" of his own righteousness (Isa.64:6).

 

But Paul does not break off his train of thought here.  He makes his aim of righteousness commensurate with "knowing Christ, and the power of his resurrection" (Phil. 3:10). It is notewor­thy that he equates his sufferings (which were "dying-to-the-Law" suf­ferings) with the sufferings of Christ.  In this manner he was "being conformed to His [Christ's] death," hence, dying "in the likeness of his death."  The reverse side and complementary action of his dying with Christ was his ability to "attain to the resurrection from the dead" (verse 11).

 

The point is, Paul's striving to be found in Christ with "righteousness by faith" (as opposed to Law righteous­ness) is tied to his "knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection."  For the outworking of this, Paul is not looking away from the historical setting of his day to a far distant future at some al­leged end of the gospel age. To the con­trary, already he was "being con­formed to Christ's death."  He considered himself and the Philippian community as already on the way to attaining "resurrection from the dead.  "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected ... Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind" (vv. 12, 16).

 

If Paul had "physical death and resurrection" in mind, it would have been pointless, even senseless, to tell the Philippians that he and they had not already attained it.  It would have been absurd to claim partial attainment to the resurrection if biological death and life was the subject.  It would have been patently clear that he and they had not.  However, Paul wrote, "to the de­gree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule" (v.16).

 

But it would make a lot of sense if he were addressing the resurrection life of the promise in Christ—the resurrection that some in Paul’s day were saying "is already past" (i.e., is fully attained.)  The “already” of the Spirit was being turned by some into eschatological perfection in ad­vance of the end that would bring consum­mated change. The effect of this from the standpoint of Paul's time, and par­ticularly regarding the Judaizing movement, would be the retention of the still-stand­ing Old Covenant order and all of its trappings as a necessary part of gospel perfection in Christ. That would have a "faith destroying" effect that Paul would not tolerate "not even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Gal.2:5).

 

It's clear that righteousness and life (resurrection life) in Philippians 3 is identical to that in Galatians 3, and is rooted in the Abrahamic promise.  In both texts the "already" (having begun in the Spirit) and the "not yet" that brings fullness or perfection through the Spirit's completed work extend no further than the consummation of the Old Covenant age.  This was the historical setting for the gospel's eschatological message.

 

Also, this was the focal point in Daniel 9:24-27 with respect to "bringing in everlasting righteousness."  The end-time that Daniel saw is linked with "the things to come" through the Spirit of Christ (hence, of the promise) that constitute the promised "new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells" (Isa. 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13).  In this manner, "the hope of righteousness" (Gal. 5:5) and the hope of "eternal life" (Titus 1:2) were realized by the coming in of "the perfect" New Covenant creation in Christ.

 

Contrary to the Judaizers who claimed completion already prior to the fall of Old Jerusalem and all it represented, we find John’s statements.  The "already" dimension coupled with the nearness of the "not yet," allowed John to pro­claim boldly, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11).  Like­wise, Peter, knowing that "the end of all things is at hand" (1 Pet. 4:7), counters the scoffer's denial of Christ's age-­changing coming in his appeal to God's unfailing promise to Israel of a new creation "in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet. 3:1-13).

 

Those who had "ears to hear" what the Spirit said to the "seven churches of Asia" about "The Revelation of Jesus Christ", and eyes to see the historical setting (the fall of Babylon, the "bond­age" city "where our Lord was cruci­fied", 11:8), did not miss the consum­mation that brought to fullness the prom­ise in Christ through the Spirit. Likewise, we see the link between the world and city (21:1-2) and God's promise to Abraham that moved him by faith to look beyond earthly Canaan and Jerusalem to the heavenly country and city (Heb. 11:13-16).  Abra­ham's faith in the "heavenly things to come" corresponds precisely to "the faith of Christ" (the gospel) that fulfills these heavenly things. "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righ­teousness of faith" (Rom. 4:13).

 

Furthermore, the his­torical setting for the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" (the consummation of the Old Covenant age as taught by Christ in his Olivet Discourse) is confirmed by the multiple "imminence" affirmations at the beginning and the end of the Book of Revelation. The purpose for John's writing the message to the churches in Asia was for Christ "to show His servants things which must shortly take place" (1:1).  With this admonition, the churches were urged to read and keep "those things which are written in it; for the time is near" (1:3).  This advice is reiterated in an impressive fashion at the end of the book (22:6­-20).

 

In this connection, since the Law was to bring Israel (and consequently the Gentiles) to Christ, and since the Law was a shadow of "things to come" relative to the promise, and since the Spirit was sent to "disclose" those things during the closing period (last days) of the Old Covenant economy, it goes beyond the context to ascribe the consummat­ing events in Revelation—the very framework of Christ's "revelation" or "Second Appearing"—to the fall of Rome or to some other period of history (past, present, or future) that is completely foreign to Old Covenant Israel and its Divinely-inspired design to lead humanity to Christ.

 

Interpretation of scripture could cease dichotomizing, literalizing, and futurizing the promise by faith in Christ Jesus by leaving the eschatological in their historic setting.  The paradise of God's peace, life, and righteousness has been restored fully in Christ through the Spirit.  That is the message of the Spirit in Revelation.  To this end the Spirit was sent to do a work that terminated the "ab­sence of Christ" (his absence from the world below that could not give "life and righteousness") by disclosing the world of Christ's presence (the world or age to come) that fulfills the promise by faith in Christ.

 

This concludes the twelve-part se­ries on humanity's return through Christ to The Presence of the Living God.  In summarizing briefly, we have learned that:

 

1. The need, the promise, and the nature of life spring from the fall of Adam who suffered death (separation from God) in the day that he sinned.  That death is the backdrop for the restored life in Christ.

 

2. The Genesis 3:15 promise of vic­tory over Satan and the domin­ion of sin and death are taken up in God's promise to Abraham confirmed in Christ (Gen. 12:1-3; Ga1.3:16).

 

3. The intermediate Old Covenant dispen­sation bore witness to the promise in Christ through it's typical earthly ordinances, and by serving to "confine all under sin," thus leading all to Christ (see Rom.7), "that the promise by faith in Christ Jesus" might be received through the Spirit independently of the "works of the law" (Galatians 3).

 

4. Christ entered the world of his brethren under the Law.  He de­parted from that world by death and res­urrection.  In so doing, he brought to an end the "ministry of death, writ­ten and engraved on stones" and brought in through the Spirit the "ministry of life and righteous­ness" (2 Corinthians 3; Galatians 3).

 

5. The transformation of the covenant ages is the framework for under­standing Christ's absence (his going away to prepare a place for his disciples).  Also, it sets the outline for understand­ing his sending the Spirit, whose work is identical to that of Christ's in his preparing a place.  Additionally, it allows us to identify the world of Christ's Second Appearing—the heavenly world or "world above" of God's promise to Abraham in Christ that fulfilled the "gathering together of the elect" at the consummation of the age (Matt. 24:3,13,31; Eph. 1:10; 2 Thess.2:1).

 

6. We have shown that the futuris­tic consummation (from Paul's standpoint) is the historical set­ting for realizing the coordinate "hope of righteousness" (Gal. 5:5) and "hope of eternal life" (Titus 1:2).  Paul con­nects this with "knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection" (Phil. 3:10-16).  In this same vein of thought, it is important to see the presence of "hope" in Paul's theology which he links with the transformation from "the ministry of death" to "the minis­try of righteousness" (2Cor. 3:12).  Paul’s present tense usage, "is passing away," suggests present action in Paul's day (not ours); as does the presence of "hope" in 2Corinthians 3:12.  Paul’s future with respect to completed transformation was his "hope" in Galatians 5:5 and Titus 1:2, and he eagerly anticipated the full­ness of righteousness and life that hinged on reaching the goal of his hope in 2 Corinthians 3:12.

 

7. Finally, we have shown that the passing of the earthly, typical Old Covenant economy (world, cosmos) is the biblical setting for John's "Revelation of Jesus Christ" and the coming in of "all things made new" (21:1-5).  Everything in both Testaments pertaining to consummated salvation in Christ points to this end.  The emphasis on "nearness" is indisputable, leaving one with no other frame­work of events in John's day that could come close to match­ing the magnitude of this end-time event and its Christological cen­trality.  The Old Testament back­ground for the signs, symbols, and figures; the Hebrew terminology; the contrast­ing "old" and "new" things; and the remarkable parallel with Christ's Olivet discourse lead to no other goal except that for which Old Covenant Is­rael was chosen of God.  In the words of Jesus, "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its deso­lation is near…For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be ful­filled" (Luke 21:20,22).  This is the consummation that fulfills the "restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21).

 

The journey from Adam to Christ by way of Israel's Old Testament redemp­tive history is mapped out in scripture.  From this standpoint, "salva­tion is of the Jews" (John 4:22) in the fullest sense.

 

There is no other histori­cal backdrop for the consummation of God's plan of redemption; no other end time for "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" in his world—the heavenly world of the Abrahamic promise.

 

The imagery of "the throne of God and of the Lamb" in the New Jerusalem, where there is "no more curse" (22:3), makes precious the invitation of the Spirit and the bride, “‘Come!" And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’  And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (22:17).  This invitation is not about coming to "the tree of life" and drinking freely of "the water of life" sometime in our future.  The city of God's Presence, Life, and Righteous­ness is a current reality for all.  It is a sad irony that many extend the invitation to come while denying the fulfillment and presence of that to which thirsty souls are invited.  May God help us appreciate, value, and live what he has accomplished in Christ through the Spirit.

 

 

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