All Together Now

These verses at the end of Hebrews 11 tell us that the Old Testament saints “did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” While we do have it better in the sense of knowing that the promise has been fulfilled and Christ has come, we also have this in common with all of these Old Testament saints – we will not be made perfect apart from each other. In other words, we are in this all together now.

All together now we will see the final fulfillment and completion of our salvation. All together now we will experience glorification. When Christ returns all of those who have died will be raised and then we all will be changed together as our bodies are finally and completely saved. You see, God’s plan to seek and save that which was lost will end with us all together being finally redeemed.

It is often so easy to think of the Body of Christ in individual terms. We know that the body is made up of many members, but we are prone to think about the part we play, the member that we are, instead of having a view toward the whole of the body. Many members make up one body and so we are all members of each other. Instead of focusing on the individual members we need to see the whole body, with Christ as the head.

The Church, the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, all of these denote the adopted family of God, those who will have a share in Christ’s inheritance as they are in Him and He in them. We do not need to have a mindset that dwells upon only individual members of the body, nor should we be consumed with thoughts and concerns only for our local congregation. We should have a view toward the whole body of Christ, here and in heaven – all of us together waiting for the completion of our salvation!

As we looked at the persecuted church, are we truly aware of the plight, the victory, the strength, and the needs of the body of Christ around the world? I have been having a discussion by email and by phone of late with believers in England, Singapore, and Malaysia. It is amazing to me how the struggles are the same, the obstacles identical, and the needs so similar for the body of Christ around the globe. Yet we have this truth in common, we are members of the same body, we worship the same God, and we have been purchased with the same blood. We also wait for the same blessing that even the OT saints wait with us for – the completion of our salvation on that Day of the Lord when the trumpet sounds and Christ returns.

We will one day be all together now – every single member of the human race that God has saved will one day stand together and be glorified. While many have been saved, and are being saved, and will be saved, on that Day we will all finally be like Jesus. It will happen not one by one or church by church. It will happen all together now, as every single member of the Body of Christ is finally and forever transformed into His image – glorified – the end of our salvation and the beginning of our everlasting life, forever spent in His presence without the propensity or nature for sin.

One day the church will be unified. One day all sins and schisms will be wiped away. One day we will be perfect as He is perfect. One day, we will be all together now.