If what we are suggesting is indeed true, if a redeemed body and a redeemed earth actually are our land of promise, our Canaan, then the manner in which we view and experience the Divine redemption is about to experience tremendous change. For if our hope is a resurrected body and our inheritance is the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth, then grace must include not only forgiveness but also moral transformation. Who would want to live on a redeemed earth with people who were forgiven but still worldly minded and self-seeking?—who never had truly received Jesus as their personal Lord?

The goal of the Christian salvation is not eternal residence in a mansion in the spirit Paradise. The goal is moral transformation into the image of the Lord Jesus and oneness with the Father through the Lord Jesus. These two aspects of the goal constitute what salvation is. The coming to maturity in our personality of the two aspects of the goal make it possible for us to serve as the Bride of the Lamb, the brothers of the Lord, the royal priesthood, the Temple of God, and all the other roles and relationships that God had in mind when He created man.

If our land of promise is not Heaven then we indeed have arrived at a new day in our thinking. We have come to the most marvelous, wonderful opportunity to understand the Scriptures and to prepare ourselves for the redemption that is near to come with the return of the Lord Jesus with the saints and holy angels.

But do the Scriptures actually speak of a future redemption? Hasn't redemption been fully accomplished when we receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior?

Notice in the following verse that our salvation has not been fully established until we finish our course.

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; (Hebrews 3:14)

We are destined to be part of Christ provided we finish our course, provided we endure to the end of the race. How could we derive any other meaning from Hebrews 3:14?

Redemption is past, present, and future. We are received by the Lord when we first put our trust in Jesus and are baptized in water according to His commandment. However, redemption is always a present battle in that the forces of life and death struggle continually to gain mastery over our personality. We are required to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to lay hold on eternal life, to save ourselves and those who follow us.

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (I Timothy 4:16)

To be continued.