The Already and Not Yet
As a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, I kept hearing that we live between “the already and not yet.” I had been a Christian for 20 plus years but was not familiar with this idea. As I came to understand this phrase, I learned the value of living with an eternal perspective. The “already” refers to Christ’s work on the cross. He defeated Satan and triumphed over the powers and darkness of this world. All the spiritual blessings described in the New Testament are ours already; we are redeemed and declared righteous before God through faith in Jesus. The not yet means that we are awaiting our glorification, the final transformation of our bodies at the resurrection (Romans 8:30) and the fulfillment of all that God promised us as believers. Sin has already been forgiven on the cross, but we are not yet free from its power. Christ already reigns in our hearts but is not yet reigning on the earth.
Living with this theological tension can sometimes cause us to question our circumstances and doubt God’s goodness. We read the words of Jesus such as, “I came that they may have life, and have abundantly” (John 10:10b). If we think of an abundant life as one free of pain and difficulty, we can easily become discouraged. An eternal perspective understands the abundant life as one of love, peace, joy, and so forth because we are God’s children, destined for a glorious future in heaven. An abundant life does not mean a life free of trouble. An abundant life means that God sets us free from living for ourselves which brings misery. Instead, we live to serve Him through the good works that He created in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We live to glorify Him, not ourselves.
This is the life of faith: “the assurance of things hoped for” in the future, and “the conviction of things not seen” in the present (Hebrews 11:1). I once heard someone say that they didn’t want to trust Christ as their Savior because the Christian life is boring. Far from it! The Christian life brings challenges that call us to live up to all that God created us to be. Winning an Olympic medal cannot compare to the satisfaction of following Christ as He transforms us to be more like Him. And then He uses us to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Yes, living in the already and not yet means living with tension, but the yearning for heaven we develop by actively pursuing life with an eternal perspective is worth it all!
Father, may we fix our eyes on Jesus and run our race with perseverance as we live in the already but not yet. Someday our faith will become sight, and we will rejoice evermore!
See you next week!
