THE UNSEEN OR THE FUTURE, WHICH IS IT?
[p. 451] THE UNSEEN OR THE FUTURE, WHICH IS IT?
The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4: 17, 18, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”. This appears to me to raise a question worth considering, namely, whether our minds are taken up with unseen or with future things. Very many christians are much interested in and occupied with future things — such as the restoration of Israel, the disposition of the world according to prophecy, the millennium, and other truths of the future. These things may have a certain moral effect in unsettling us in regard to the present — showing us that there is an appointed term to things in the world — but it cannot be imagined that they will produce at all the same profound effect as the light of things which exist; and such are unseen things, of which faith is the conviction.
There is a vast system of things of which sight and sense are unconscious, but which are veritable realities, and which, by their moral power, will supersede the existing order of things. It appears to me that it is God’s way to build up a system and order of things, outside of the activities of man and the world, which awaits the displacement of all that is seen that it may be in due time displayed. These are the mysteries of God. A mystery is something which exists, but is not yet displayed.
The foundation of the system of which I am speaking is righteousness accomplished and declared in redemption; the principle of it is resurrection, that is,
[p. 452] the setting aside of the rule and power of death; and the power and expression of it is Christ at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit down here.
The “world to come” is brought into view in the truth of the kingdom, which is seen in Jesus crowned with glory and honour. He has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him. It is in the confession of Him as Lord that we have salvation — salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us. He is in power on the resurrection side, and in confessing Him as Lord we are waiting to reign in life through Him; and the worst that can happen to us down here only brings us to the Lord. Thus the kingdom is not future, but a great present reality, though unseen; the Father has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. There is no darkness in the kingdom, we are light in the Lord, and walk as children of light. Thus we have security and light in the kingdom in the midst of a world of bondage and darkness; righteousness, peace and joy are assured to us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We have a high priest cognisant of and sympathetic with our infirmities, and a throne of grace where we can obtain mercy and find grace for seasonable help. We see in all this something of the character of the kingdom; and, further, there is in it an inheritance; all that which appertains to Christ as man, of which the Spirit is earnest. The apprehension of the kingdom in its true and blessed moral features is thus of great present value to us. It is not a myth or imagination, but a substantive reality.
Connected with and depending on the kingdom are the temple and the house, for the Holy Spirit, who has come to make good the kingdom, is dwelling here. He has not come to the world, but to [p. 453] continue with the saints, and is in them. Hence we have the obligation to holiness and to unity. To recognise the presence of God dwelling here by the Spirit is the way of deliverance from the ecclesiastical order which obtains around us in christendom, and falsifies the character of christianity as taught in the Scriptures. We are brought back thus to that which was from the beginning.
The existence of God’s house is a matter of profound importance as a basis of fellowship; and all corporate responsibility flows from it. If we fail to apprehend it, I do not see anything for us but acquiescence in christendom as it is.
But, further, we have the new covenant and Jerusalem above. These are also dependent on Christ at the right hand of God and the Holy Spirit down here. Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant, and at the same time the spirit of it. The disposition of God towards us has in Him found its full and perfect expression, and this after death has come in to set aside the covenant that previously existed, but failed to satisfy God. Christ at the right hand of God is the seal and approval of our righteousness, while in His death there has been perfectly expressed the love of God towards us, and the Spirit who witnesses to Christ being at God’s right hand, sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God. Now it is this covenant that constitutes the Jerusalem above, and gives its value to it in the eye of God. Jerusalem which is now was constituted by the legal covenant, symbolised by Hagar, and is in bondage with her children; hereafter it will be reconstituted by the law being written in the hearts of the Jews. Meanwhile, Jerusalem above has come in, being constituted by the Lord and the Spirit, and is thus, in its proper character, the vessel of heavenly light and order. We are its children, walking in the liberty which [p. 454] is the consequence of the knowledge of God. All this is present though unseen.
But there is one point further which is connected with the headship of Christ. He having made peace by the blood of His cross in the removal of the man that was offensive to God, has taken the place of Head of all principality and power, that through Him all might be reconciled to God; and as such He is given as Head to the church, which is His body — in regard to which reconciliation has now been effected. Now the body, though in a sense unseen — a mystery — exists. The company of the sanctified ones has been formed — the brethren of Christ, in the midst of whom He sings praises to God. We are come to the assembly of the firstborn, which are written in heaven; the body of Christ is here, in which He, the Head, is known and expressed, the fulness, of Him that filleth all in all. There is another thought connected with this, namely, that He has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true. We have come to that sacred circle which is in Him that is true, morally outside of the wicked one and of the world. “He is the true God and eternal life”. We have thus reached the scene where eternal life is now known.
I do not pursue the subject further. The truths of which I have spoken are bound together and form part of that vast system of existing unseen things, in which God is glorified and will be displayed.