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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Your Redemption Draws Near, #2
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)
Exactly when and under what conditions the idea of the believers "making Heaven their eternal home" was added to Christian doctrine would be an interesting dissertation for a candidate for the Doctor of Divinity degree.
When the Lord spoke of the coming of redemption, the Jews who were listening would think of deliverance from the rule of the Roman Empire, of the restoration of the glory of the kingdom of David and Solomon, and also of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
The message of John the Baptist and of the Lord Jesus.
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:1,2)
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)
It is clear neither John nor the Lord preached the Good News was that we would go to Heaven when we die. Rather, they both spoke of a kingdom that was at hand, a kingdom that was to come from Heaven and be installed on the earth.
The parables of the Lord Jesus were about the Kingdom of God, not about Heaven. If we would understand the Divine salvation we must begin to think about the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth rather than the going of the Church to Heaven.
When the Lord commanded them to lift up their heads because their redemption was near, the Jews would picture the exalting of the people and land of Israel and the bringing of justice and Paradise to the earth.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
The definition of redemption. To "redeem" something is to restore to the original or rightful owner what has been taken from him by purchase, or trickery, or violence. By definition, redemption involves only what was in one's possession originally.
Redemption could never refer to our going to Heaven to live in a mansion because we never have lived in Heaven in a mansion.
What then did mankind forfeit? What did the Jews forfeit?
In the beginning human beings were placed in a garden on the earth that surpassed the most glorious environment possible for people to imagine.
To be continued.