Grace and Peace to you!
There are many images of heaven. Some think that it is a place of feasting and celebrating. Others believe that it is a place of peace that is free of pain, suffering and sickness. Some people talk about heaven as a physical place. There are others who confess that heaven is wherever God is, everywhere. And there are people who might combine all or parts of the above in their descriptions of heaven.
But what if we lived as though heaven on earth is the body of Christ, the church? Some might bristle at this idea as humans are imperfect, sinful. But what if, even as broken sinners, we strive to make Christ’s church as heaven-like as possible.
In the early church there were tensions as there were some Jewish Christians who believed that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was only for them. As the gospel grew in the Gentile world, they had difficulty in seeing how non-Jewish people could be worthy of God’s love and grace.
Unfortunately, there are times when something similar to this still happens in the church today. Some look at others with differences in clothing preferences, musical tastes, and customs and put up barriers.
We might do better if we remember that we each have accepted an invitation to experience personally God’s grace and love in our life. We are more alike than different in that we are all aliens turned citizens because of what Jesus has done. And when we enter into God’s kingdom, we bring who we are, our customs, our preferences and our prejudices with us.
The Apostle Paul, in his letters to the early church, reminded both sides that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. He reminded them that we all need the Cross of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, victory over death, and a renewed relationship with God.
The body of Christ today is still made up of people with different ethnic and ancestral backgrounds, different political views, various theological views, and a variety of hopes and dreams. And still today we are also a united people, united in Christ. Our unity in Christ is what transcends our differences.
Each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s dwelling place. Together we are also the dwelling place of God. The Holy Spirit is moving in us individually and as a community of faith to enable us to reflect God’s glory more and more as a holy temple and dwelling place of God.
Paul taught that the church is God’s dwelling place and a glimpse of heaven on earth. Let us not, however, allow our doubt and division to limit the work of the Spirit of God. Let us continue to open ourselves as individuals and as members of the community of faith to the Spirit. As we continue so, we do become God’s kingdom on earth.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-20 (NRSV)
There are many images of heaven. Some think that it is a place of feasting and celebrating. Others believe that it is a place of peace that is free of pain, suffering and sickness. Some people talk about heaven as a physical place. There are others who confess that heaven is wherever God is, everywhere. And there are people who might combine all or parts of the above in their descriptions of heaven.
But what if we lived as though heaven on earth is the body of Christ, the church? Some might bristle at this idea as humans are imperfect, sinful. But what if, even as broken sinners, we strive to make Christ’s church as heaven-like as possible.
In the early church there were tensions as there were some Jewish Christians who believed that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was only for them. As the gospel grew in the Gentile world, they had difficulty in seeing how non-Jewish people could be worthy of God’s love and grace.
Unfortunately, there are times when something similar to this still happens in the church today. Some look at others with differences in clothing preferences, musical tastes, and customs and put up barriers.
We might do better if we remember that we each have accepted an invitation to experience personally God’s grace and love in our life. We are more alike than different in that we are all aliens turned citizens because of what Jesus has done. And when we enter into God’s kingdom, we bring who we are, our customs, our preferences and our prejudices with us.
The Apostle Paul, in his letters to the early church, reminded both sides that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. He reminded them that we all need the Cross of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, victory over death, and a renewed relationship with God.
The body of Christ today is still made up of people with different ethnic and ancestral backgrounds, different political views, various theological views, and a variety of hopes and dreams. And still today we are also a united people, united in Christ. Our unity in Christ is what transcends our differences.
Each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s dwelling place. Together we are also the dwelling place of God. The Holy Spirit is moving in us individually and as a community of faith to enable us to reflect God’s glory more and more as a holy temple and dwelling place of God.
Paul taught that the church is God’s dwelling place and a glimpse of heaven on earth. Let us not, however, allow our doubt and division to limit the work of the Spirit of God. Let us continue to open ourselves as individuals and as members of the community of faith to the Spirit. As we continue so, we do become God’s kingdom on earth.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-20 (NRSV)