Dr. Leonard Allen stated the following during lectures at ACU in 2003 in his three-part presentation, Living in Light of Last(ing) Things.  You can find expanded thoughts in his book, co-authored with Danny Swick, Participating in God’s Life, New Leaf Books. 

The Basic New Testament claim is: The triumph of God has been revealed.  The triumph of God has been uncovered.  In Jesus’ death and resurrection, all the hostile principalities and powers of this present age have been disarmed and, in fact, defeated.  God’s Kingdom has broken into history and—for the believer, those with faith—it has brought an end to all other kingdoms.  In this new Kingdom, the believer sees—knows by faith—the end of history, how history is going to turn out.  This triumph is not visible to the human eye, it’s not audible to the human ear, in fact, much of the evidence we see and we hear around us point to the contrary.  Just read the daily paper.  It is known not through any scientific search, nor statistical projection.  It is known only through faith.  The worldly powers keep on raging and threatening to overwhelm us to win, but the believer sees by faith that they (worldly powers) are already doomed, finished.  They are already writhing in their death struggle.  Therefore, the believer already knows something by faith that unbelievers do not know.  They know that Jesus Christ now reigns as Lord of all.  And further more, they know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Lordship.  Furthermore, believers not only know by faith how history will turn out (more than just knowing the end), they also presently participate in that end through the presence of God’s Spirit…as Paul states in 1 Cor. 10:11, “We are those upon whom the end of the ages has come.”  So, this means then, for the faithful, that knowing this truth (this revealed truth) and experiencing this apocalyptic presence or power by the Spirit, the believer can follow Jesus in all things, even in those things that may seem to worldly logic and to mere worldly eyes utterly impractical and utterly unworkable to those who do not know what Christians know and see, by faith, what Christians see.  And it is this basic New Testament outlook that can properly be called apocalyptic…  The Kingdom of God in the person of Jesus Christ has broken into history.  The end has come, and we are participants by the Spirit in that.

He went on to say that this vision (Paul’s vision) eventually faded as the church became more institutionalized and powerful. 

This is what Dr. Allen’s thoughts say to me: 

• The Kingdom is far bigger than “church.”  In fact, God’s greatest work on earth might be outside the realm of religion.
• Christians live for more than just the end—heaven.  We are active participants in what God is doing on earth now.  We are to fully participate with God in bringing about his will “on earth as it is in heaven.” 
• There is nothing that needs to ruffle a believer.  We can follow Jesus into any and every circumstance and be confident of the outcome.
• We need not fear Memphis’ high murder rate, economic catastrophes, or falling church attendance. 
• We need not shrink from being found in the “bad parts” of town. 
• We can invite anyone into our home and visit anyone in his.

What does this say to you?

(adapted from July 7, 2007)