The Fellowship of the Mystery-Part 13

But when this priest (i.e. Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool....
Hebrews 10:12-13

In the book of Hebrews, Psalm 110 (quoted again by the writer above) clearly is used as the theological framework about which this elegant revelation of the New Covenant in Christ is displayed. Just the simple term from the Psalm, "right hand", is quoted five times. All of chapter 7 is an exposition of the implications of the reference in Psalm 110 to the Messiah being ordained as a royal and permanent priest "after the order of Melchizedek" in contrast to the non-royal temporary priests of the Old Covenant being ordained after the order of Levi. Truly, much more could be said at this point!

However, I simply want to point out something that has seemed to escape the consciousness of many believers. The New Testament, in it's teaching about the kingdom of God and Christ, makes it very clear that:

1. Jesus is indeed, at the appointed time, going to return to this world to consummate God's Big God-Story for this age.

2. Jesus is waiting to return. "Since that time" (i.e. the time of his ascension and coronation in the highest heaven after his passion on earth was finished) Jesus is waiting to come back. The first Christians hoped that he would return in their generation. Many generations of believers have hoped the same. Believers today, now 2 millenniums later, hope for the return of Christ in this generation. ("Glory be, Mabel...it's enough to make one think that the longing for Christ's return in one's own lifetime might actually be a healthy part of a full spirituality grounded in NT realities!" ;-)

But...it should be obvious by now that Jesus has been, in fact, waiting to return. What is he, and what has he been, waiting for? For many, it seems, "for no good reason". Yet, this attitude surely does not do justice to the wisdom of God and/or the prophecies of both Old and New Testaments. The reality is, he "must remain in heaven until...." (Acts 3:21) Until what?

I posit that he has been waiting for the inevitable ramifications of his resurrection, ascension and coronation as the the Father's true King of both heaven and earth to "play out" in human lives and in human history via his ongoing earthly mission through the agency of his "body"--the Church. God is longing for many, many fully human (and unapologetically so!) junior partners...co-laborers...true friends...earthen vessels who are, nonetheless, temples of the Holy Spirit...who are individually in sync with the "head of the body" (Jesus) and, as a vibrant and healthy Spirit-empowered community of faith that is multiplying across the globe, faithfully living out (incarnating) his real presence and his good news in the eyes of the watching cultures of the earth.

Just maybe something like this is what he has been, and still is, waiting for.