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Christianity's Forgotten Hope

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The biblical faith is forward-looking and integral to its doctrine of salvation is the future resurrection of the righteous dead, an event that will also mark the commencement of the New Creation. In the New Testament, this hope is linked to two events. First, the past resurrection of Jesus, and second, his future arrival at the end of the age. Moreover, the church’s salvation will remain incomplete until Jesus raises the dead, transforms all those still alive, and then “ gathers ” all his saints to himself.

Three Woes

An eagle flying in mid-heaven announces the last three trumpets, the three woes unleashed against the inhabitants of the earth  – Revelation 8:13.  The first four trumpets have sounded. Now, an “ eagle flying in mid-heaven ” announces the final three and calls them “ woes .” Unlike the first four, the plagues unleashed by the last three trumpets afflict the “ inhabitants of the earth ” themselves, whereas the first four damaged the infrastructure on which human society depends – agriculture, commerce, freshwater supplies, and light.

Reign of the Saints

During the “ thousand years ,” Satan is imprisoned, and the victorious saints reign as priests. Ironically, the “ rest of the dead ” do not live until the “ second death ” at the “ Great White Throne of Judgment .” Behind this image is Daniel’s vision of “ one like a Son of Man ” who receives the kingdom from the “ Ancient of Days .”

I Came to be in Spirit

In his first vision, John “ came to be in the spirit ” on the Isle of Patmos where he saw a vision of “ one like a Son of Man ” standing among the “ Seven Golden Lampstands .” The “ lampstands ” represented the seven churches of Asia. In the fourth chapter, he again “ came to be in the spirit .” But this time, he was summoned to heaven to receive a vision of the “ Throne ” at the center of the creation, the “ Sealed Scroll ,” and the slain “ Lamb .”

The Sanctuary of God

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Apart from the contacts between Jesus and the early church with the priestly authorities from the Temple, the New Testament shows minimal interest in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. More frequent are the applications of temple language to the New Covenant community inaugurated by Jesus and built by his Apostles. What the Temple and the Tabernacle foreshowed is coming to fruition in the “ Body of Christ .”

Ekklésia – The Assembly

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The New Testament usage of the term “ assembly ” is based on the language and imagery of Israel when the nation was assembled before Yahweh for worship in front of the Tabernacle. The Greek noun rendered “ church ” in many English translations is  ekklésia . It means “assembly, congregation, convocation.” In secular Greek, it could refer to an “assembly” of citizens gathered to conduct matters of state. However, that is not the sense found in the Greek New Testament.