Salvation Yet to be Fulfilled

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?... not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom. 7:24, 8:23)

But our citizenship is in Heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Yesu Christ.        (Phi. 3:20)

Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Heb. 9:28)

He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. (Phi. 3:21)

I  INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this article is to give an indication about the salvific plans that God is implementing in these end times to those who have discerned that these are the end times and that the time is imminent for the Glorious Manifestation of Yesu Christ[1]. These facts are presented to those who believe that there is only One True God, that His Son Yesu Christ is the only Saviour and that the the Word of God is Truth.

We mainly look into three areas here and these are discussed only on the basis of the written Word of God.

Firstly, God has prepared an eternal salvation for man. But did Yesu Christ give the fullness of salvation in his First Coming? What is the fullness of this salvation? When will he give this?

Secondly, since God always acts through men and this salvation cannot be given without first revealing it and preparing people for it and since no one can preach without being sent by God, this salvation must be preached at the appointed time. There is a written prophecy that God will do so in the end times (1 Pet. 1:5). Now, the questions that arise are: Who will reveal or proclaim this salvation? Where will it proclaimed?

Thirdly, since the Son of God comes to give both salvation and punishment in the End times, who on this earth will receive this salvation? Where will they receive this salvation?

A.     Saved People

Christian faith is one that is based on a Saviour and the salvation that he gives. Christians are those who believe that Yesu Christ is the only Saviour and through his passion, shedding of the blood, death on the cross and resurrection we are saved. It is the experience of this salvation that shapes the life of a Christian. Therefore, for the last 2000 years, Christians boasted of a salvation and preached about that.

We read many passages in the Bible that declare that we have been saved by Christ. For example, the Word of God teaches so: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Likewise, there are many other passages in the Bible that testify that we have already been saved. (e.g. Rom. 10:10, 1 Cor. 1:21, Eph. 2:5, etc.)

One of the passages that people often quote is this: And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mk. 16:15-16).

But, it is an indisputable fact that all of the signs listed in this Word of God are not present in any of these people who claim that they have been saved. But this Word of God is true and so this will be fulfilled. Then one thing is clear: the Good News that is mentioned in this passage has not yet been preached until now; the faith mentioned here has not come until now (for faith comes from hearing); no one has so far received the salvation that this passage testifies.

Let us examine another Word of God. Concerning the eternal life that he is going to give, Yesu Christ said: Truly truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread that comes down from Heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. Whoever eats of this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (Jn. 6:47-51).

Yesu Christ, who exhorted us to work for the Bread of eternal life that the Son of Man gives (Jn. 6:27), also declared categorically that whoever eats this Bread of life will never die but, will live for ever. Man can die due to sickness, or due to old age complications or as a result of a fatal accident. Then, if a person is never to die, then his body must be rid of diseases, old age and death (in one word, decay) for ever. Yesu Christ said that if we eat the Bread that he gives, this will take place. This is the promised eternal life or salvation (1 Jn. 2:25).

But, all those who believed, all who ate the bread that he gave did not overcome decay until now. All people died, decayed. No human being has so far attained eternal life (Heb. 11:39-40). Since Yesu Christ speaks only the Truth and he cannot deny himself, his Word must be fulfilled. Therefore, it is clear that the eternal life (salvation) that is promised in John 6:47-51 has not yet been received by anyone.

Then, what is the salvation that the ‘saved’ have received? In other words, what is the salvation that Yesu Christ gave in his First Coming?

B.     The salvation that Yesu Christ Gave

What is the salvation that those who believe in Yesu Christ received? The Apostle Peter makes this clear in his first speech after the Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38). Yesu Christ bore our sins and atoned them through his suffering, shedding of blood and death on the cross. If people repent hearing the Gospel, believe in Yesu Christ and receive baptism in his Name, then they will receive the forgiveness of their sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the salvation that Yesu Christ gave us in his First Coming. 

People believed that the prophecies written about the Saviour were fulfilled in Yesu Christ. Therefore, they accepted Yesu Christ as their Lord and Saviour. All those who believed received the grace of the forgiveness of sin. Well, that is the salvation that they received – forgiveness of sins. The fact that their sins are forgiven filled their hearts with joy and peace. God cast away all powers of evil from their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 12:28). Thus the reign of God began in their hearts. This is the Kingdom of God that is established in the heart of a believer. (This is the First Kingdom of God that Yesu Christ taught us.) Is it not this grace and the experience of this Kingdom of God that those who believed in Yesu Christ received on this earth until now?

If a believer lives without losing this grace and as a witness to the Word of God, then he will, of course, die in the experience of this Kingdom of God. When a person dies like this, there is a higher realm of the Kingdom of God that he goes and enters (of course, not with body). That is what we call Paradise. That is the Second Kingdom of God that Yesu Christ preached about (Mk. 9:47-48). This is the Kingdom of God received by all    those who believed in Yesu Christ and died in sanctity until now.

(To be continued ...)

[1] Throughout the article the Name of the Saviour is mentioned as Yesu Christ and not Jesus Christ, for the latter is a wrong usage that developed only many centuries after Christ.

II

SALVATION YET TO BE FULFILLED

Is the salvation that we received the complete salvation? In fact, those who claimed that they have been saved, have not examined whether the salvation is complete. They did not enquire what is the salvation that God has envisaged and willed that His children should receive. No one enquired whether he or she should wait again for the Saviour and the salvation yet to be received. Christians thought that the wait for a Saviour amounts to the denial of Yesu Christ, the Saviour.

Does the Word of God teach about a salvation that we are yet to receive? The Word of God distinguishes between the salvation that we received through Yesu Christ and the salvation that we are yet to receive through the same Yesu Christ, the only begotten Son of God. But no one has taught people about this salvation. In spite of the Word of God repeatedly reiterating that the People of God are yet to receive a sublime salvation, no one prepared people to seek it. Because, the so called scholars and authorities have become advocates and beneficiaries of teachings that make the Word of God null and void. Through the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, the deity of this world has blinded their hearts so that they are not able to see the Light of the glorious Gospel of the Son of God (2 Cor. 4:3-4). They could not reach the fullness of Truth. They gave up seeking the Kingdom of God and became ministers and beneficiaries of the Kingdom of the world. But, the Word of God testifies that even the angels of God long to look into the mysteries of this salvation (1 Pet. 1:5-12).

Who, in fact, are we? Why did God create His children? How is God going to destroy Satan and the devils through His children? What are the riches that God has prepared for His children? What is the Plan of Salvation that God is going to execute through His Son in the end times? How will human beings become Blessed? How will the children of God inherit the eternal Kingdom of God? Only those who receive the sublime thoughts and imagination of God can understand the dreams that God the Father has about His children and the plans He has devised to fulfil those dreams (Is. 55:8-9). Only those who understand these Divine Mysteries when God reveals them, can wait for and prepare themselves for a salvation that Yesu Christ is going to give.

Of course, as far as human beings and their short life span is concerned,  the time that this Plan of God takes may seem extremely long. But this is because we are not able to distinguish between the ‘time’ of God and the time of man. God abides in eternity and it is for eternity that the children of God are going to live. Compared to eternity or infinity these few years of men on this earth are like a drop of water and a grain of sand in the ocean (Sir. 18:10).

We can see the fact that we are yet to receive a salvation mentioned throughout the Book of the Lord.

A.       Man is yet to receive deliverance from punishment (Curse)

Is not salvation a deliverance from punishment or curse? Only if we realize what is the curse that fell on man due to sin, will the need for a salvation become vivid for us. Salvation is complete only when man is fully redeemed from the slavery into which he fell in the Garden of Eden.

A human person consists of soul, mind and body. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-28). His image is his glory; His likeness is His eternity. In other words, God created His children to be eternally youthful and with His indestructible life. God had given man His glory and dominion over all creation (Sir. 17:3-4, Ws. 2:23).

But man lost all these when he listened to the lie of Satan and committed sin by violating the Commandment of God. Due to sin, not only the soul but also the mind and body of man became subject to curse. Man lost eternal life. (Life of the body dwells in the blood (Lev. 17:11). Thus man became a slave of diseases, old age and death (in one word – decay).

Paul who received salvation through Yesu Christ laments: Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). Here Paul is praying not for the liberation of the soul from the body. If deliverance of the soul from the body were true salvation, then God would not have created body for man and infused life into it (Gen. 2:7);  He would not have infused soul into that body (Eccl. 11:5, Jam. 4:5). What is mentioned here is the redemption of the body.  So the Word of God testifies: Not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved... (Rom. 8:23-24). This prayer is yet to be answered!

Because of man’s fall, the soil and creation also became subject to curse. All creation is subject to decay even today (Rom. 8:19-20, 22). God formed all creatures so that they bear fruits for God’s children and serve them. But the creation that is now subjected to futility, is not able to serve the children of God. Unless and until man attains the freedom of the Children of God, creation that has fallen under the slavery of futility will not gain freedom. Therefore, the Word of God states: For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now (Rom. 8:19-22).

Perfection of man is when his body, soul and life are perfect and without any blemish (i.e. when man becomes holy, immortal and imperishable and glorious) (1 Thes. 5:23). God has this perfection in Him. Therefore, Yesu Christ exhorted us: Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48). Human beings have not attained this perfection until now. From all these it is clear that man is yet to receive a salvation.

B.       Man has to become eligible for the purpose for which God has created him.

God created His children (men) to live with Him for all eternity as holy and blameless in love before Him (Eph. 1:4). Without a body and mind we cannot love anyone. If love is to be blameless (pure), then sin must be removed from our body (But, there is sin in our body even now -1 Jn. 1:8, Rom. 7:21-24). For that, the law of sin and death must be removed from our body (1 Cor. 15:56). The body of man must be redeemed from the slavery of the law of decay. If man is to live forever, he must have an immortal and imperishable body. For that, death should be annihilated. The Bible says that this will definitely take place on this earth. But until now this has not taken place.

C.       Man is yet to receive Eternal Life

The greatest desire that is in the heart of man who has sinned and became a slave of decay is to gain eternal life. The life of the body is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). Then, eternal life is to dwell with God eternally with an immortal and imperishable body. This is the promise that God gave to man who became a slave of decay (1 Jn. 2:25). Eternal life is the fullness of salvation.

The body of man is redeemed only through resurrection and transfiguration. Both these events are yet to take place on this earth (1 Cor. 15:51-55). The Word of God unequivocally teaches that until now no one has gained eternal life or attained perfection (Heb. 11:39-40). The Word of God says: You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3/3-4). We will receive eternal life where Yesu Christ will appear in glory. The Word of God again declares: For the Lord will build up Zion; there he will appear in his glory (Ps. 102/16). There Yesu Christ will transfigure our weak body into the likeness of his glorious body (Phil. 3:20-21). We are yet to receive indestructible life - life where there is no old age, diseases and death. This makes it clear that we are yet to receive the fullness of salvation.

D.      We are yet to be Saved to See God and Dwell with God

God created man to dwell with Him. God is a loving Father who longs to live with His children and wants His children to enter into His rest (Rev. 21:1-3, Heb. 4:8-10). But God told Moses: ... You cannot see My face; for no one shall see Me and live (Ex. 33:20). That means, man has not yet become worthy to see God face to face. But it is prophesied that we will receive this ability once (Ps. 84:7). The Word of God gives us this promise: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The world does not know us, for it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as He is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as He is pure (1 Jn. 3:1-3). We are yet to be made worthy to see and know God as He is (1 Cor. 13:12).

E.       We are yet to be Saved to inherit the Kingdom of God

God wants His children to inherit the Kingdom of God that is eternal. The Bible speaks of a Flock whom God is pleased to give the Kingdom (Lk. 12:32). Yesu Christ also has promised that he will give his Kingdom to a Flock (the same Flock) (Lk. 22:28-30). This is the Third Kingdom of God that Yesu Christ declared! If we examine the Word of God, we can see that the Kingdoms of God that man received until now are only temporary stepping stones to this eternal Kingdom of God.

This is the Kingdom of God that comes down with power (Mk. 9:1). This is the Kingdom of God that can be seen with our eyes (Jn. 3:3). In fact, Yesu Christ asked his disciples to pray that this Kingdom of God may come (Mt. 6:9-10).

This is the Kingdom of God where the children of God will sit for the Banquet along with all the Patriarchs, Righteous men and the Prophets (Mt. 8:11). This is the Kingdom of God where a Flock will sit on the Thrones of the Son of God and will judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk. 22:28-30). To sit and eat at the Banquet, and to sit on the Thrones to judge, we need a body.

But the Word of God warns: What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Cor. 15:50). That means, to inherit the Kingdom of God, our body must become immortal and imperishable, for the Third Kingdom of God is an imperishable Kingdom. None of the human beings have got their body made immortal and imperishable. Only when Yesu Christ comes again and gives resurrection to the dead and transfiguration to the living saints, the above mentioned Flock will become immortal and imperishable (1 Cor. 15:51-55).

The Word of God testifies that the holy ones of God will inherit this eternal Kingdom. The kingship and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the holy ones of the Most High; their Kingdom shall be an everlasting Kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them (Dan. 7:27).

Who are the holy ones of God who inherit the Kingdom of God? The holy ones of God are His Firstborn children (Lk. 2:23, Heb. 12:22-24). The Word of God testifies that there is a flock called the Firstborn of God. They are the flock of the children of God who were born from God along with the Son of God Yesu Christ. Even though they were deposited first in Adam, they are born on this earth only in the end times (1 Pet. 1:5).

This is the Flock that gains true Sonship of God by being made free from the laws of sin and decay and receiving participation in the flesh and blood of God the Father (Rom. 8:19-24, Eph. 1:5). This Flock, whose soul, body and life are made holy and perfect at the glorious manifestation of Yesu Christ, will inherit this Kingdom of God (1 Thes. 5:23). This is the Flock that is called by God to live with His beloved children (Jer. 3:19). They are the ones who, according to the Will of God, to be made perfect first (Heb. 11:39-40).

When summarizing the signs of his Second Coming and the End of Ages, Yesu Christ warned: So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the Kingdom of God is near (Luke 21/31). This is the Kingdom of God that comes down at the Glorious Manifestation of Yesu Christ. We are yet to receive this Kingdom.

F.       The Children of God are yet to become Blessed as Promised

True Blessing in the sight of God is not what people today mean by that word. True Blessing is the opposite of curse. The blessing that God had given to man in the Garden of Eden was lost due to disobedience. Therefore, God who loves His children gave them first the promise of Blessing. Blessing is the restoration of all that God had given to man in its fullness, after destroying Satan, the cause of the curse upon man (Gen. 3:15). The children of God become truly Blessed, when they receive all that God has prepared for them (1 Cor. 2:9). The children of God will become truly blessed when they become perfect as God the Father is (Mt. 5:48, Jn. 10:35).

This is the promise that God gave to Eve and Abraham. The promise that God gave to Abraham was that all the families of God will get this Blessing through one of his offspring (Gen. 22:18, Acts 3:25). It must be noted that neither Abraham nor any other Patriarchs, Prophets or Apostles have received this blessing until now (Heb. 11:39-40, 2 Tim. 4:7-8, Phi. 3:11-14).

If man is to become blessed, Satan who is the cause of the curse and decay must be crushed. This was in fact the challenge that God made to Satan in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15). God’s challenge was that the offspring of the same Woman whom Satan deceived will crush the head of Satan.

But, as Christians think, Yesu Christ is not the offspring of Eve who destroys Satan. Yesu Christ was born of God (Jn. 1:13); he is the seal of the essence of God (Heb. 1:3); He is the Word became flesh (Jn. 1:14). He is not an offspring of Adam who was taken from soil. The Word of God  testifies that sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned (Rom. 5:12). Sin dwells in everyone (Rom. 7:19-24, 1 Jn. 2:8). But Word of God teaches that there is no sin in Yesu Christ and he came to bear our sins (1 Jn. 3:5). Yesu Christ is not an offspring of Eve.

Besides, Yesu Christ has not destroyed Satan. If Satan had been destroyed, then there would not have been sin in the world now; there would not have been death which is the wage of sin; there would not have been law that enslaves man to flesh, world and nature; the creation would not have been under the slavery of futility; the children of God would have become immortal and received blessing.

God decided in advance that it is not Yesu Christ the Son of God who must destroy Satan, but the offspring of Eve. It is children of God who must destroy the devils also (Rom. 16:20). This is to glorify the children of God. But to do this they must be redeemed from all slavery by the Son of God. God decided beforehand that all the children of God must be redeemed through His Son, Yesu Christ (Eph. 1:5). This is yet to take place.

G.      Only those who are saved will be taken up.

The Word of God teaches that when the last trumpet sounds, those who have died in Yesu Christ will resurrect and those of his sheep who are living will be transfigured. Then those who are transfigured and those who resurrect will be taken up in the clouds (1 Thes. 4:16-17).

One of the things that has taken up the imagination of people is what they call rapture. But who will be taken up and where will it take place? What are the things that must take place before the so called rapture? What is the relation between rapture and the salvation that God gives to His Children in the end times? Where can we find answers to these questions? We get true answers to these questions only when God reveals the mysteries of salvation that have been prepared to be revealed in the end times (1 Pet. 1:5). The ideas that people churn out from their mind before God reveals His mysteries, are not true Divine statements.

Of course, all will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds. But the Word of God makes it clear that the inhabitants of the earth who see him coming will weep and faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon them (Rev. 1:7, Mt. 24:30, Lk. 21:26-28). Therefore, all people will not be taken up for sure.

Those who belong to Yesu Christ in his Second Coming will resurrect and transfigure first (1 Cor. 15:23). The Word of God makes it clear who belong to Yesu Christ in his Glorious Manifestation. It is also written in the Holy Scriptures where both resurrection and transfiguration will take place. Only from that place a flock will be taken up to receive God.

More over, man does not have the ability to rise up in the atmosphere at present. The Word of God testifies that our body is subject to many types of law which prevent us from doing so. Only if we are freed from the laws of our body and nature, can we rise from the ground. The body and blood that we have now cannot inherit the imperishable Kingdom of God where God dwells (1 Cor. 15:50).

The children of God are yet to receive a salvation. But they will get it not after being taken up in the clouds, but before. Yesu Christ has to come again to this earth in flesh to transfigure our weak bodies into the likeness of his glorious body (Heb. 9:28, Phil. 3:20-21). It is clear that it is on this earth that both resurrection and transfiguration must take place. For that, those who are to inherit this salvation are to be gathered in one place (Jn. 10:16) and a time of preparation is required (Heb. 12:9-12). Only those who receive salvation from the Son of God on this earth itself, will be taken up from this earth.

All the Word of God that promise the salvation that God reveals in the end times, must be fulfilled on this earth itself. Salvation is not something that we get after reaching Heaven. If salvation is something that we do not get on this earth, there was and there is no need for the Saviour to come. The Word of God would not have asked us to wait for the Saviour from Heaven (Phil. 3:20). God could have taken us to Heaven and saved us. But we know that it was not and is not the plan of God. From this it is clear that the salvation attested by the Word of God must be received by the children of God on this earth itself. People made mistakes in this regard because they never understood what true salvation is.

(To be continued...)