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Kingdom Civics

Preparing a Place for Us

castleThe King’s Business (6)

“And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
-John 14.3

The King’s Business
We have been considering the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and King, as He is seated at the right hand of God in the Majesty on High. We have seen that He is advancing His reign on earth, as it is in heaven. Having bound the devil, He is taking all the enemy’s usurped possessions unto Himself, reclaiming His elect and building His Church as He upholds the world and everything in it by His own powerful Word.

He is truly a working King! And it is our privilege to enter into His work by looking to His Word and resting in His Spirit. Thus the King’s business becomes our business as we orient our lives and prosecute our days according to the divine economy and the Kingdom civics that economy requires.

But this earthly sojourn of struggle, strife, and progress in redemption is not the end of our journey. For in His last work our heavenly King shows the great depth and eternal worth of the love He has for us. He is preparing a place for us to be with Him, in uninterrupted, unobstructed joy and bliss, forever and ever.

A City to Come
This is that City to Come for which the patriarchs and faithful in every age have longed (Heb. 11.13-16), the glorious Eternal City which, as Edwards’ explained, is the true destination and highest hope of every Christian pilgrim. John received a glimpse of that Eternal City in Revelation 21 and 22, a place of supreme beauty, unending wonder, and glory all around.

In one sense the City to Come is a true but timeless place, a new heavens and new earth, but without the corruption of sin or the constraints of time. In another sense that City to Come is the Bride of Christ in all her perfection and glory, as John saw in Revelation 21.9-14. King Jesus is preparing the City in its latter form by gathering and perfecting His saints; concerning its former, He is bringing the City to Come to a state of readiness by finishing out His plan for the Kingdom of God on earth. In eternity we will dwell in a specially-constructed material/spiritual cosmos where there is no need of the light of the sun and where neither death nor corruption shall be found. We will engage in all the activities of culture and society familiar to us here and now, but without the taint of sin, and without missing a beat in offering continuous praise and thanks to our Triune God.

But we will also dwell with all our brothers and sisters from every age, tongue, culture, and tribe, sharing in the gifts and graces each has received and dedicating all we are and have to celebrating and glorifying our Savior/King and His Father and Spirit.

Where righteousness dwells
The City to Come will be a place where righteousness dwells without blot or stain of sin (2 Pet. 3.13). We can scarcely imagine what that will be like! How truly joyous, enriching, and mutually edifying it will be to dwell and work among a people we can trust completely and who, like us, are devoted above all to enlarging the glory and honor of Christ.

Here there will be no harm, no fear, no worry or doubt, and no shame. Here we will live with people in whose every manner the person of our King and Savior is manifest with ever-increasing glory. Jesus is preparing this place even now by sanctifying a people for His glory, receiving them into His heavenly court when they depart this life, and readying them – and us – for the final victory over the enemy of our souls (Rev. 19).

All glory
Even now, in the courts of heaven, all the angelic hosts and departed saints sing ceaselessly of the glory of our great and holy God (Ps. 29.9). This is but the “warm-up” for an eternal chorus that will sing of glory in response to the manifestation of glory that will daily greet them in the presence of the Lord, of His glorified saints, and in the new heavens and new earth.

The weighty, comforting, reassuring, strengthening, beautiful, and amazing presence of the living God will be our constant companion as we take up our callings and work together to extend and enlarge the chorus of glory that will resound around us without interruption.

Joy and pleasure
There we will finally know that fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore which, here and now, we can only glimpse in fleeting glances and experiences (Ps. 16.11). But we could bear no more in this life, given our continuing sinfulness; thus, the Lord rations His glory to us, as He did to Moses, in servings meet for our weak and frail condition (2 Cor. 3.12-18).

But there, at the eternal banquet-table of the Lord, nothing will be held back. We will want for nothing, and all that we have ever hoped for and desired in the way of joy and holy pleasure will be ours in the presence of our God and King.

Journeying toward that City
So now we are like Abraham and all the patriarchs. We study to gain a clear and compelling vision of the City to Come, and we bring our lives, to the best of our ability, into conformity with what we know will be our citizenship then and there (2 Pet. 13, 14; 1 Jn. 3.2, 3). We are pilgrims journeying through the days of our lives, preparing for our eternal home and the glory that awaits us there. We carry no excess baggage; we encourage and sustain all who journey with us; we bear witness to our Eternal City and the King Who is preparing it for us; and we urge others to give up love of this transient world to seek the City which is to Come, which King Jesus is even now preparing for us.

As hard as He is working, in all the ways we have seen, so hard must we also work, hastening our growth in the Lord and furthering our journey to be with Him where He is (2 Pet. 1.5-11; 2 Cor. 7.1; Heb. 12.1, 2). This is the calling and privilege of all who acknowledge Jesus as Savior, Lord, and King; it is the duty of all who declare themselves to be citizens of that eternal realm of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14.17, 18).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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