As In Heaven…
04.27.25
(From chapter 7 of Created to Worship- Brent D. Peterson.)
A subtle virus has worked its way through the evangelical church in North America (and perhaps beyond.) As an adolescent who had only known life in the church (and it had been a wonderful life), I had concluded that the goal of being a Christian was to get to heaven. Unfortunately, my youthful mind conceived of heaven as a personal utopia. I imagined it to include physical prowess on the basketball court, fast cars, big homes, and daily access to an amazing beach. The gospel was all about escaping hell and getting to the heaven of my dreams…
The purpose and goal of communal worship, the sacraments, Scripture, evangelism, missions, the church, Christ’s incarnation, and creation itself is that God will be all in all…
(For context read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
Paul states boldly that Christ’s resurrection from the dead defeats the final enemy of death and is an action whereby the Father has put everything in subjection under Christ’s feet. This is the consummation of the kingdom. As God is all in all, people may know God, may become one in God, may be sanctified in the truth, and may be in the triune God so that the world may believe. People become one in God by the mutual giving and receiving of love, which is their sanctification and God’s glorification.
The Church’s hope and confidence in the kingdom’s coming grounds all human activities, especially communal worship. The hope of what we will be invades an uncertain present. Therefore, the hope into which God gathers Christians for worship is not naïve to present pain, death, torture, or evil. The Church’s proclamation by the Spirit is that this present challenge is not eternal. Furthermore, this hope of what will be empowers the Church not to seek escape from this life but to participate by and with the Spirit to embody more fully the kingdom of God on Earth as it is in heaven.