Stranded
“The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,”
I recall a movie from 2004 called “The Terminal”. Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is a citizen of Krakozhia, a fictional country in Eastern Europe. He travels to the United States, arriving at JFK airport. While he is in the air, there’s a coup in Krakozhia. Because of the coup, the U.S. Government no longer recognizes Krakozhia as a legitimate nation and refuses to admit Viktor. At the same time, Viktor has no country to return to. He’s stranded in JFK airport.
This is life for too many Christians. We’re taught we have been rescued from the world. We are told to be less worldly. But we’re left to wait for heaven until we die. For now, we don’t belong anywhere. We’re stranded.
This isn’t what the Bible promises. We were both rescued and transferred. We are admitted into God’s Kingdom now. We draw our life from there. We belong.
“So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come!”
We don’t have to live a lonely life, isolated from fellowship (koinōnia) until heaven. The old has passed and the new has come!
“We are proclaiming what we have seen and heard also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. ”
