David Bahn – Reflections

Heaven on Earth?

By Michael R. Ruhl

I remember like it was yesterday.  Shortly after graduation from seminary and starting pastoral ministry at a wonderful church in rural Minnesota, it came to my attention that some Christian churches called themselves FULL GOSPEL churches. That saddened me a great deal because it gave some people the impression that some Christian churches only had an incomplete or deficient (less than FULL) gospel.

The liberating words of Jesus in John 3:16 – coupled with a clear grasp of the Scriptural teaching that salvation is by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ alone – apart from works of the law – yielded full assurance that the gospel given to me by the Holy Spirit was FULL, clean, clear, sufficient and devoid of any humanistic or ecclesial pollutants or deficiencies. This obvious perceptual division in understanding the essence of the gospel continues to trouble me to this very day. And yet, there remains an important lesson for all of us Missionary Leaders who walk the Missionary Road.

The biblical understanding of the gospel which I was taught included a concept that can best be described as partially realized salvation. This insight testifies to the fact that our salvation actually begins to unfold (be realized) at our baptism/conversion here on planet earth and in the church – and is made fully perfect in eternity, in heaven. Some theologians describe this as … the tension between the already and the not yet. Post-conversion life in the Christian church provides the opportunity to experience a “foretaste” of the blessings of eternal salvation in this present (realized) lifetime. This is NOT the radical “realized eschatology” of C.H. Dodd. But it IS an affirmation that all the blessings of the gospel can be experienced in our post-conversion lives on earth and in the church, which is the Body of Christ. One thinks of the security and joy of caring, bonded, reconciled and Christ-centered relationships in the church as a “foretaste” of our unending fellowship with the saints in heaven – and even how the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a “foretaste” of the Messianic Banquet in heaven (described in the Book of Revelation) – or even how the hymns and music of the church are a “foretaste” of the dynamic praise of saints and angels in heaven directed toward the Christ, the Lamb who was Slain – and even the  intuitive, Spirit-communicated “peace of God which passes all human understanding” (tetelestai – It is finished!) Reconciliation with God is fully accomplished through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the Holy Spirit imparts the ‘joy of our salvation.’ That makes life in the Christian church an exciting, fulfilling and incredibly desirable reality – a reality for us to enjoy, and to share.

Missiologists like Mike Breen (LEADING Missional Communities) take note of the reality that some secular people (unchurched unbelievers) can decline to hear and receive the gospel because their hearing of the gospel is entirely OTHER-WORLDLY [speaking only of heaven]. These same people can be blessed by the Holy Spirit when their hearing of the gospel includes A GOSPEL-CENTERED, SPIRIT-EMPOWERED grasp of how blessed, fulfilling and sanctified their current and earthly lives can be – as they receive Christ as Savior and Lord and enter the full fellowship of the Christian Church.

Mike Breen writes:

If Missional Communities are going to be “good news communities” and proclaim the gospel effectively, we need to have a fuller, more robust picture of what the gospel actually is. For example, if we proclaim a gospel that has to do only with forgiveness of sins (which results in heaven), we typically don’t end up with disciples of Jesus.  For people who think the gospel is only about having their sins forgiven so they can go to heaven someday, discipleship is an optional extra-curricular activity. We need to recover a fuller, more biblical picture of the gospel. While it isn’t something less than forgiveness (that’s certainly part of it), it’s a lot more than just forgiveness.

The gospel that Jesus, John the Baptizer and all the New Testament writers proclaimed was simply the present availability of life in the Kingdom of God to everyone through trusting (saving faith) Jesus. Of course that gospel includes (and is primarily focused) on the forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life in heaven (thanks be to God!) … but is also includes much more than that.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The time has come,” he said.  “The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14).

Welcome to the ‘healthy tension’ of the Already … and the Not Yet.  What a great gospel God has given to us!  Eternal blessedness in heaven – and also temporal blessedness in our faith-filled earthly lives!

Te Deum laudamus!  Let us proclaim that gospel with power, passion and persuasion!   Let us multiply the planting of new churches (Gospel Lighthouses) which proclaim the gospel to all the cultures and nations – and which provide a base for living the gospel today!