in between times

Christmas is over (or at least the way most of us celebrate it in North America) and the New Year is almost here. 

• 2020 has been a different year. A difficult year for many. It's OK to grieve what has been lost.
• I am not a prophet, but let me suggest that 2021 (and beyond) is also going to be difficult. As pandemic fatigue increases and the longing for things to get back to “normal” disappointment will increase.

The New Testament consistently claims that as followers of Jesus we live in the time between the times. Our identity, who we are, is bound up in what God has already accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. At the same time, we look toward God's final fulfilment of his promises as all things are finally reconciled. What God has already done in Christ makes it possible for us to journey in the here and now in the resurrection life (Colossians 3:1-3) and anticipate that resurrection in its fullness. 

We look backwards and forward, in one direction and then another. Both past and future come together in the present with the one constant of God's presence with us along the way.

Living in this unusual time, in this time between the times, we live in the tension of embodying kingdom citizenship in this time and space that resists God's kingdom come. 

Some say we are to live with one foot in God's kingdom and the other in the kingdoms of the world. And while I understand the thought, the Sermon on the Mount reminds us that we are to live in God's way, here and now. But we cannot do that unless we give ourselves over to God's reign while confronting the current age with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

We live as God's kingdom citizens in this present time between the first and second Advents. And so it is not surprising that we often feel a sense of exile in these days. We, the church, is more of an outpost in enemy territory than an established colony. 

But what God has already accomplished in Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago firmly establishes Christ's church as a colony in this world, though still in enemy territory. And so we live in the here and now as if God's kingdom has already come in its fullness and we look with confidence to the future that God will bring its fullness to pass in his own good time.

In this time between the times, we look backwards and forward, we glance in one direction and then another; and seeing what God has already done, we trust in the New Testament words (Paul quoting the prophet Isaiah “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).