Back to Front part 2
Here's why I think it's important to understand the upside down backwards economy of the Kingdom: "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). Our journey is not to BECOME complete, or perfect. We already ARE complete, and perfect. Our journey is understanding what it MEANS that we are complete and perfect. It's the picture of running the race with patience, even though we know we are already at the finished line. We are not trying to get to the Promised Land. We are already IN the Promised Land. And that, to me, is the only way a verse like Philippians 3:13 makes any kind of Kingdom sense. "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." We're pressing toward the mark. But God declares the end from the beginning. We have already received the mark! It's the idea of, "I want more of you, God." How could you get any more of Him than Him living in, and through, and as you? How could you get any more perfect than having the perfect One live inside you? We're pressing toward the mark, but we're not trying to get something we don't have. We're not trying to be somebody we're not. And this is one of my favorite revelations: What is the mark we're pressing toward? The mark that we've already received? Psalm 37:37, "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." JESUS is the mark! And as He is, so are we in this world! We don't try to be like Him, we simply mark Him so that we can see what we're already like! He is the truth. If it's true about Jesus, it's true about you. We ARE complete in Him. We don't need to run the race in order to win something. We need to run the race simply to see how we BECAME complete. Simply to see how complete we are by seeing how complete HE is! We mark Him, we see the truth about Him (the truth about US) and the end of man is peace! The end of that man is righteousness, peace, and joy! The end of that man is the Kingdom, because He is the King! The Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. We are kings and priests equipped and empowered to rule and reign on this earth. We are IN the Kingdom, because the Kingdom is within us, and we ARE the Kingdom, because Jesus rules and reigns in and through and as us! It works from the inside out. From the back to the front. On the cross God CONFORMED us to the image of His Son--the image we were made in, in the beginning, but the image we couldn't see because it (we) were dark and void and without form. Then the light of the world shined. And the light didn't CHANGE anything, but the light REVEALED things as they truly are. Jesus, the light of the world, revealed that WE are the light of the world! With this back to front understanding we can stop trying to change, and we can begin to understand the change that took place 2,000 years ago on an old, rugged cross. We can stop trying to "be a better Christian" (as if there is such a thing) and we can just be who we are. We can be WHAT we are. And, again, what we are... is complete in Him. WHO we are... is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. The end happened before the beginning, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. That's how the Kingdom works!