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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Fifty-two Kingdom Concepts, #35
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies." (Leviticus 23:2—NIV)
The seventh element of each of the four types tells us about the goal of our salvation. We have the solid-gold Mercy Seat, representing the fullness of the Glory of God that we are pursuing; the feast of Tabernacles, reminding us that God's eternal purpose is to dwell in us; the Sabbath rest showing us that we are pressing toward that place where we are at peace concerning God's eternal purposes in us; and the possession of Canaan, signifying life lived in the fullness of Christ's eternal incorruptible resurrection Life.
Salvation has a definite beginning, a definite program specifically designed for each one of us as an individual, and a mark, a completion and fullness toward which we are to be pressing every day of our Christian life.
We are not "saved," in the total sense of the term, until we press through to the fullness of God. It is he who endures to the end who finally is saved to the extent the Lord desires.
The Goal of Salvation
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29—NIV)
We already have mentioned the somewhat revolutionary, yet totally scriptural, concept that the goal of salvation is not eternal residence in the spirit Paradise. Although the idea of "making our home in Heaven" has been part of the Christian tradition for centuries, this objective is not found in the Old or New Testaments.
The Bible presents our future destiny as that of having an inheritance in the Kingdom of God, the rule of God that will come to the earth at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven with His holy angels.
Obviously, many of our definitions and ideas are in need of review.
We are not saved to go to Heaven; we are saved to participate in the installation of the Kingdom of God on the earth. In order to participate in the installation of the Kingdom on the earth we have to be changed into the moral image of Jesus Christ and also brought into untroubled rest in the center of God's Person and will.
This is what the Christian salvation does for us—it changes us into the image of Christ and brings us into union with God through Christ. When we are in Christ's image and our will has become one with God's will we then are able to participate in the several Kingdom roles God has prepared for us.
To be continued.