The Christian’s Role In This World

Feature 5 – April 2014 — Grace & Truth Magazine

The Christian’s Role
In The World And The
HEAVENLY Calling

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling...” —Hebrews 3:1 JND

Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a partaker of the heavenly calling. It is the very essence of Christianity and that which distinguishes him as a Christian. This could not be said of any Old Testament believer regardless of how devoted or faithful he might have been. “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Every true Israelite knew that his inheritance was in the Promised Land. He knew, moreover, that all the promises and blessings were of an earthly character relating to the land which flowed with milk and honey (Ex. 3:17). Even the promise of the coming Messiah was in relation to Israel’s being established in the land under His righteous rule, bringing in a time of unparalleled prosperity and blessing. This is a time yet future such as the world has never witnessed but soon shall see when Christ, the true Messiah, will take up the reins of government and establish His rights in Israel and the whole world (Isa. 11-12).

Our Role
The Scriptures referred to above will help us understand our role in this world and walk worthy of our heavenly calling. An Israelite could not possibly understand what had not yet been revealed. And, the heavenly calling spoken of in Scripture is not addressed to an Israelite as such, but to believers, both Jews and Gentiles – those who by faith acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Unfortunately, we Christians tend to view the heavenly calling merely as a place of bliss where at some future date, when called to leave this world, we shall spend an eternity in heaven. We are truly thankful that we will not go to a place of torment, but meanwhile we often live as men of this present world hoping to get the most out of it. Is this all that is implied when speaking of our heavenly calling?

On the other hand, we might get the notion that by getting involved in the affairs of this world we could help stem the tide of moral evil or else influence the issues and politics of this world for the better. But is this consistent with our heavenly calling? Will not our influence, while intended for good, be rather ineffective as we see in the life of Lot in Genesis 19? Lot got involved in the affairs of Sodom when he moved there (Gen. 13:10-11). He sought the well-watered plains (materialism), then he pitched his tent toward Sodom (a city morally corrupt), and finally he sat in the gate of Sodom (involved in its politics – Gen. 19:1). When God’s judgment fell on the city, Lot was unable to deliver his sons-in-law from it. What a solemn warning for us all!

Another objection sometimes raised is that since we are not only part of the Church (the heavenly company) but also in the kingdom, we have an obligation toward our fellow men. The apostle Paul certainly realized this obligation when he wrote to the Romans that he was “debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise” (Rom. 1:14). This responsibility, however, did not involve the apostle in any affairs of this world, but rather pressed on him the urgency to deliver souls from its power and from Satan’s rule (Eph. 2:2-3), to bring them into that sphere where Christ rules – the kingdom of heaven. This is the sphere on earth where the rights of Christ are acknowledged even while the world itself has rejected those rights and has cast Him out. In Daniel 9:26 we read that the Messiah shall be cut off having nothing for Himself in this world. The One who was rejected on earth is now exalted in heaven (Ps. 110:1), and faith looks up to see Christ in glory pledging allegiance to Him there while following Him in His rejection here (Heb. 2:8-9).

Foundation To Witness
This leads me on to the next point which is most important: Our heavenly calling is not really based on Christ’s rejection on earth, but much rather upon His triumphant entrance into heaven itself. Even a godly Jew during the tribulation will be following his rejected Messiah, waiting for His appearing as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2). He is waiting for this on earth and not for a moment thinking of going to heaven for its fulfillment. As Israel’s hopes are linked up with a Messiah coming to the earth to establish His rights here, the Christian’s present portion and hope is linked up with Christ who has gone up to glory, yea heaven itself in the very presence of God. And since there is a heavenly Christ, there is also a heavenly calling and a heavenly Church.

Let’s look at a few Scriptures which have a direct bearing upon this wonderful fact. In John 17:4-5 we learn that upon Christ’s having glorified the Father and finishing the work given Him to do, the Father now glorifies the Son. The time’s having come that Christ would depart out of this world unto the Father (Jn. 13:1), the Lord directs the thoughts and affections of the disciples heavenward. The disciples’ hopes on earth had been shattered – the establishing of the kingdom in power postponed to a later time. But in the meanwhile He assures them of a better and an enduring possession in association with Himself in that heavenly glory He was about to enter. They were not to look for this at some future time, if and when they would die, but it was for them a present portion known to faith and enjoyed in the power of the new life – eternal life – possessed by all who know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent (Jn. 17:2-3).

Furthermore, the Lord addresses the disciples as those given Him of the Father out of the world (Jn. 17:6), but not of the world even as He is not of the world (vv.14,16). While not being of this world-system they nevertheless are in the midst of many dangers in the world and require the Father’s care and protection from the evil that surrounds them. Not only do they need to be kept from the hatred of their enemies and the evil influences around them, but they also need to be kept in the consciousness and enjoyment of that new relationship into which the grace of God has placed them. Then in verse 18 we learn that the disciple is sent into the world even as Christ was sent into the world, and from this we can see the Christian’s role in this world. He is not here to try to improve or reform, much less to exploit, but to demonstrate in living power by word and deed, by his pursuits and his attitudes, by the way he conducts his business or discharges his assignments and duties – in other words the very atmosphere that he creates demonstrates that he belongs to another world, a world where Christ is the center. By a life thus lived the world will believe that Christ is the sent One (Jn. 17:21).

It is only by the Holy Spirit that this unity with Christ can be known and in the measure in which the Spirit of God has control of my life there will be one object, purpose and aim in communion with the Father and the Son. This will be seen by the world. Would to God this was seen more in each of us. What a powerful witness this would be to the world that the Christ they rejected is nevertheless alive and is living in the believer!

Collective Aspect
Before bringing this to a close we will touch on the collective aspect of our heavenly calling. In Ephesians 3 the apostle Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ and the Church which had been hid from the beginning of the world but was then revealed by the Holy Spirit come down from heaven. Wonderful grace of God to think that we who were without God or hope in this world are now brought into a living union with Christ, the glorified Son of Man in heaven. Christ indeed has been raised from the dead and given the place of highest honor at God’s right hand. He is exalted as Head over all things given to the Church and the believer is seen as seated in Him where He now is seated in heaven itself. We are not yet seated with Him, but we are seated in Him there (Eph. 2:6). This is not something to which we must attain, nor is it something we can only look forward to at the Lord’s coming, but this is true now of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Concluding Thoughts
God would have every believer intelligent in their understanding of this mystery because only then is it possible to walk worthy of this our calling. We cannot join this body because we are already joined by the Spirit of God and are members of the only Church which Scripture recognizes – the body of Christ. In the midst of failure the challenge remains for each believer to act in accordance with the truth of God as revealed in His Word. The Word of God remains unshaken. Christ is still the living Head of the Church in heaven, and the Spirit of God is still abiding in and with His redeemed people. There is ample grace available for such a time as this. Every individual believer who lays hold of these great truths by faith will be enabled to live as a heavenly citizen, “as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16).

By Jacob Redekop