The Fulfilled Life

Since God now dwells with/among us now ( Revelation 21:3, Leviticus 26:11, Zechariah 2:10,11 ), 'how should we then live?'

I'm not meaning to 'build upon another man's foundation' or 'lay another foundation, other than what has already been laid', by writing this little remonstrance; just to remind us all that even though we now live in the 'New Heavens and New Earth', or the New Jerusalem, we are still in bondage to the Law of Christ ( Matthew 22:37-40 ) and should fashion our lives no differently than we did when we thought that Christ was not among us yet, or when we still looked for the fulfillment of that 'Blessed Hope' ( Colossians 1:27 )!

With that said, I was just thinking that we as 'preterists', or, believers in "Fulfilled Eschatology', have an even greater responsibility, not only to share this knowledge of realized redemption, but to shew forth in our lives the reality of 'Christ in us'!

I'll admit that many passages ( like John 14, I Corinthians 15, I Thessalonians 4, etc ) don't have quite the same message for us as for their original readers; but really, when you think about it, they have, if anything, a more 'blessed' meaning for us today!

Proverbs 13:12 says that, "Hope deferred ( drawn out ) makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes ( re. Isaiah 52:3, Haggai 2:7 ), it is a tree of life!"

I know that we all ( I'm speaking from experience here ) get frustrated, at times ( more often than not ) with our brethren that can't yet 'see' ( II Kings 6:17 ) that Christ has Come, that we have been fully 'changed' ( I Corinthians 15;52 ), and that God now dwells in, and 'houses' with us ( John 14:1-6, I Peter 2:5 ); but when we 'realize' that God is 'over' all, and in all ( Ephesians 4:6 ), we should remember that He is in control of all things, and for some reason ( maybe to teach 'us' patience ) He hasn't chosen to 'reveal' that particular truth to them, whether it's because they 'can't handle the truth' yet, because He has chosen His own time, rather than ours, to 'open their eyes to this truth, or whether it's because it is not important to their salvation.

I think that we, as 'preterists' ( especially ) need to remember that we are 'temples of the Holy Spirit', in reality, Christ on earth; and we need to start living ( and I fail grossly at this everyday ) the 'Fulfilled Life' before the world, since we ARE all they'll ever 'see' of Christ!

What is the 'Fulfilled Life', you ask?

We ( because of Christ 'in us' ) are living it...

Prayerfully realizing 'It',

In Christ,
Charles Shank