Introduction

Some day, in the not too distant future, much of what we have known of Christianity and of the world will be done away. In its place will stand the Lord Jesus Christ—the Goal of all that God has placed in the churches and in the world.

If we go through life and do not become part of the Lord Jesus we have missed all that truly is of significance. If we have become part of the Lord, then, no matter how impoverished our environment may have been, we have gained all that is worthwhile and eternal.

To the extent we have gained Christ—to that extent alone!—we have attained our purpose in life. All else, relatively speaking, is garbage.

We may think of salvation in three great areas. The three areas are represented by the three major gatherings of Israel:

Passover (Unleavened Bread).

Pentecost (the feast of Weeks).

Tabernacles (the feast of Booths).

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: (Deuteronomy 16:16)

The three areas of salvation are:

Basic salvation.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit

The fullness of God.

Basic salvation includes repentance on the part of the believer, faith in the blood atonement, water baptism when the circumstances permit, the born-again experience, the beginning portion of eternal life, and reckoning one's self crucified, resurrected, and ascended with the Lord Jesus.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit includes the power to overcome sin, the power to assist in building the Body of Christ, and the power to bear witness of the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus and also of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

The fullness of God includes transformation into the moral image of Christ, total, restful union with the Father through the Lord Jesus, and the eternal abiding of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit in the believer's personality.

The fullness of God is "that which is perfect."

Believing and receiving the first area grants us the authority to be children of God and to partake of the Divine Virtue (grace) provided in the new covenant. We do not have the right to pursue the Kingdom of God until we have believed in and received God's plan of redemption.

Believing and receiving the second area, the Holy Spirit, gives us the tools to pursue and attain the Kingdom of God, which is "that which is perfect." The first and second areas of salvation are the necessary preparation for the third area, for the fullness of God.

The third area, the fullness of God, is the Divine objective. It is the Kingdom of God—that for which the entire creation is groaning. God's desire is to build for Himself a Temple, a royal city in which He can find rest and through which He can govern His universe. That Kingdom is God in Christ in the saints. It is the city that has foundations for which Abraham looked. The city is the new Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, the glorified Christian Church.

To be continued.