Abiding in Christ 7
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. (Isaiah 62:1-2-NIV)
The goal of God is to bring righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit into the earth. To this end God has planted a Vine in the earth. The Vine is Christ. Christ is the Dwelling Place of God. All the Life and Fullness of God abide in Him.
The Christian churches misunderstand the purpose for the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. The prevailing tradition is that the Lord is coming to catch away His Bride of Heaven, that is, the tiny fraction of His Bride that is not already in Heaven. The Hebrew Prophets tell us that the purpose for the coming of Messiah is to bring righteousness and justice to the nations of the earth.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1-NIV)
The coming of Christ to the earth is the coming of the Father's house. But in the Father's "house" there are many rooms. The many rooms are the branches of the true Vine.
Those who abide in the Vine are the many rooms in the Father's house. When Christ appears the "many rooms" shall appear with Him and work with Him in bringing righteousness and justice, the Kingdom of God, to the peoples of the earth.
Christ receives the elect into Himself, baptizing them by the Spirit of God into His own Body. After that, the elect have one supreme objective for the remainder of their lives-perhaps for the remainder of eternity. This objective is to bring, through the Spirit, their entire personalities wholly into Christ, remaining in Christ at all times and in every situation.
It is a lifelong project requiring our undivided consecration and attention.
One by one the saints are perfected in Christ and then plucked from the earth. They include all the righteous from Abel to the victorious Christian who went to be with the Lord a few minutes ago. They all are abiding in the Presence of the Lord, waiting for the last trumpet to sound.
Then they will descend from Heaven as the army of the Lord, the Life and Light of God Almighty shining through them, to accomplish their task of driving sin and death out of the creation and filling the earth with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord.
God has planted a true Vine. One day in the not too distant future the branches from that Vine will fill the whole earth.
Then the nations of the saved will behold the righteousness and praise of God, and beholding will be transformed into the same image.
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. (Isaiah 27:6)
(from Abiding in Christ)