Here is the point we shall live with Him.

Crucifixion with Christ frees us from all condemnation.

Where do we go from here? Contemporary teaching is that we now have received the unmerited gift of eternal life and are to wait until we take up our eternal residence in Heaven after we die. Of course there are Christian duties to perform, but salvation really is a separate issue. We stand in grace. Whether or not we serve Christ diligently we still possess the unmerited gift of eternal life meaning we shall go to Paradise when we die, there to live forever in a mansion amid various forms of material wealth.

This understanding is almost totally in error.

Salvation is not a ticket to Paradise. Salvation is living with Jesus Christ and is not referenced to Paradise at all.

The purpose of the Christian redemption is to free us from slavery to sin (actually, not just in the sense of freedom from guilt) and to bring forth in our personality a whole new creation, a creation in Christ's image, a creation dwelling for eternity in untroubled rest in the bosom of the Father for this is where Christ dwells eternally.

Our transformation into Christ's image has nothing to do with Heaven! Heaven is a place of rest for departed spirits until the Day of the Lord and also a staging area for the army of the Lord as it is being organized in preparation for Armageddon.

Christ is destined to sit on the throne of His father, David, in the city of Jerusalem in Israel. We are destined to be with Him where He is, not stuck in the spirit realm in a silly mansion which we won't need anyway because we will have a glorified body. Anyway the weather is so nice there you don't even need a house.

In order to be with Christ in Jerusalem on earth we will have had to learn to live with Him now. We are to walk with Him, partaking continually of His eternal Life, His body and blood. As we live with Him the Holy Spirit busily deals with our worldliness, lusts, passions, and self-will. Until we have been transformed through our continual association with Jesus Christ we neither are authorized nor competent to rule with Him from Jerusalem.

We have been crucified with Him. We now are living with Him. We are sharing His resurrection life and His sufferings. We are being conformed to His death and His resurrection. Conformation to His death and resurrection signifies a complete transformation of our personality such that a new creation is produced old things have passed away; all things are new and are of God. This is salvation. This is the new covenant. This is eternal life and the Kingdom of God.

As we said previously, crucifixion and resurrection are the mainspring of the Christian salvation. It is only as we experience crucifixion and resurrection that we participate in the new covenant. All of our other Christian activities and implements are scaffolding.

The joy, the romance, the salvation, consists of living together with Him. It is as simple and straightforward as that. All else is a means to this supreme end.