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"I personally believe that the MARK will be either an invisible laser tattoo (they are in the skin) or a micro chip, which will be placed under the skin having the Uniform Product Code (UPC). This MARK, a type of bar code in the skin or on the micro chip, would be scanned at the point of trade."
-- Gary D. Blevins
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Traces of Fulfillment
Posted on Saturday, April 22 @ 19:55:48 PDT by Flakinde |
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Last Monday, I arrived back from spending the probably-wrongly-named "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) in the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This trip really helped contribute to my growth and maturity, especially in how the Lord has been opening my eyes to other forms of worship, to learn to love, tolerate, and be open to them. A huge reward for my taking this attitude is observing how the message of fulfillment is permeated throughout the Church, and I believe will eventually need to be declared clearly and directly, sooner or later.
Three examples: The first was my visit to el Círculo Juvenil (the Youth Circle), a Church led by my friend Fausto Liriano. I really liked the experience of visiting a Church focused on reaching out to folks who have left their walk in faith, or have been disappointed by the issues in the current Church that we are all aware of. No, this is not a "secularized" Church, as Dominican culture in general is not as secularized as U.S. culture certainly appears, so the temptation for "selling out" the message for "more appealing" messages is very low. However, at other points in my life, I might have criticized the fact that the sermon was not for "theological big heads", as this is the type of sermon I usually enjoy. Right now in my walk, I could see that whay they are doing has so much sincerity and transparency, that not having that kind of "depth" (intellectual depth) wasn't a big problem for me. As a matter of fact, the openness that these guys display reflected a lot more depth (true, spiritual depth) than what I could probably get by drinking a Calvin's Institutes smoothie every morning.
The day I was there, Fausto spoke about the Kingdom and hope (for a post-sermon and pre-pizza dialog about this, in Spanish, please listen to Santa Suburbia, episode 04). I find it so exciting to see that this generation is being infected with a passion for declaring God's work (such as, His Kingdom) as an accomplished fact. More and more people are being disappointed by the constant future expectation (without foundation, I believe), and is paying attention to the practicality announced in Scripture. This generation is prepared, submitted, and excited to see God's hand at work NOW, and not after supposed future raptures, tribulations, antichrists, and millennia.
I also had the chance to visit the Iglesia Bíblica del Señor Jesucristo (Biblical Church of the Lord Jesus Christ), invited by my friend and brother Noel Pou. I really never had visited a Reformed-type church before, although I have many Reformed-thinking friends, Sam Frost and Jason Bradfield being notable examples. I enjoyed the experience very much, although the worship and order of service are very different than what I have come to know throughout this 16-year walk in faith. I have usually been used to meetings that look more like Psalm 150, than maybe Isaiah 6 or Exodus 3:4-6, if you understand what I mean. I don't mean this in a bad way, actually it was very cool. The sermon was also great, titled "The Anatomy of Compassion", which was basically an analysis of the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The trace of fulfillment I could find was that the whole premise of this message was based on the supposition that men already have what God provides in order to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, and which would abolish differences between Jews and Gentiles. However, if there is no New Jerusalem and no resurrection, neither is there a New Covenant nor regeneration (as these are respectively synonymous, as I understand them), so it would be impossible for man to set aside ethnic differences, nor to believe that anything good can come out of us. As a result, this sermon also assumes God's fulfillment. Even though it was not affirmed directly, fulfillment was a necessary implication of everything spoken about, and a necessary premise in order for the message to be practical in any true sense.
The last example I found while watching the televised transmission of what is commonly called "La Misa del Gallo" (Rooster's Mass), which is a catholic mass celebrated until dawn, from what I understand. This is done in expectation of celebrating Christ's resurrection. Now I feel I must clarify, I am not a Catholic, but neither do I have any other labels that identify me, other than maybe "son of God," or "king and priest," or any other common label that everyone in the Church is entitled to. For this reason, sitting through a Catholic mass does not give me any type of heartburn, no matter how much I might disagree with many of their doctrines.
Anyway, I kept watching until I was too sleepy to go on. For the most part, I beheld in admiration how they held almost all liturgy in musical form, with the priest singing very well I must add. Imagine the impact this had on me, being a musician and all. However, the greatest impact was when they came to their selection of Scripture to be read. One would expect that the first reading, in order of Biblical accounts, would be the passage about Abraham and Isaac, which is an almost-perfect pre-figure of the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord. I was extremely surprised at the first Scripture read during the ceremony . . . the account of creation in Genesis 1!
At that moment I was a bit dumbfounded, as I just couldn't find the connection between creation and Christ's rising from the dead. However, the more I considered it, the more I understood how this passage fits perfectly with the fulfillment idea. After all, just as Genesis 1 marks the beginning of "old creation". Christ's resurrection (and with Him, the resurrection of his own, Colossians 3:1) is the beginning of the "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17;Gal 6:15). In other words, these Catholics are completely justified in their urge to review the account of the "old creation", in contrast with, and in the context of the celebration of the "new creation" obtained in Christ Jesus through His resurrection.
Instead of fiddling around with ideas that God will one day blow up the planet to do it all over again, the Spirit is illuminating many minds to understand that the New Heavens and New Earth have been with us for centuries. Indirectly and without realizing it, the whole Church is affirming this whenever they declare that they have been saved and that God's presence is among us. Amazing!
Blessed in His rest, Hebrews 4:10,
Alexander Rodríguez
P.S.: This article was originally written in Spanish, and translated from there; however, I have left most links intact, many of which point to Spanish sites, so I apologize if this causes anyone frustration. I have replaced the links to English equivalents wherever possible.
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Re: Traces of Fulfillment (Score: 1)
 by mazuur on Sunday, April 23 @ 18:30:31 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Flakinde,
Thanks for your words. I find them interesting as I go to Dominican Republic every so often on mission trips. I also go over to Haiti, however they (FAME {www.fameworld.org}) will not let us go currently due to the danger.
I'll tell you this. Until one partakes of a worship service with the local Haitians, one has not experienced worship (Of course I'm embellishing a little).
Anyway, thanks for sharing with us.
Rich |
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- by mazuur on Sunday, April 23 @ 19:30:11 PDT
- by Flakinde on Sunday, April 23 @ 20:17:37 PDT
- by mazuur on Monday, April 24 @ 09:31:38 PDT
- by Flakinde on Monday, April 24 @ 09:45:57 PDT
- by mazuur on Monday, April 24 @ 09:55:41 PDT
- by Flakinde on Monday, April 24 @ 10:36:17 PDT
- by mazuur on Monday, April 24 @ 11:44:37 PDT
- by Flakinde on Monday, April 24 @ 11:48:45 PDT
Re: Traces of Fulfillment (Score: 1)
by Islamaphobe on Monday, April 24 @ 21:13:34 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | I find it interesting that although we preterists reject futurist theology out-of-hand, we also, I believe, have a tendency to believe that "something is afoot" in the religious arena that is producing a revolution in Christian thought and practice with a focus on, as you put it, "the Spirit . . . illuminating illuminating many minds to understand that the New Heavens and the New Earth have been with us for centuries." Your observations about what you saw in Santo Domingo are a case in point. I share your feeling and your optimism.
John S. Evans |
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- by Flakinde on Tuesday, April 25 @ 09:15:48 PDT
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