WE'RE DESTINED FOR THE THRONE

Though I have not personally received revelation from the Holy Spirit that the Bride of Christ (The Church; individual born again Christians) will one day be elevated higher than the angels, many Bible scholars believe this will happen. Luke 20:34-36 supports my reservation in the matter. Nevertheless, I remain open to the possibility, yet it personally doesn't matter to me one way or the other. What God has planned for His Bride is going to happen just the way He has it all planned out, and I'm simply thankful to be a small part of it, all by God's grace.

Having said such ... the following writing is very thought provoking, I feel, regarding the future of the Church, thus we would like to share with you portions of a book titled: Destined For the Throne, authored by: Paul E. Billheimer. (ISBN l-55661-739-9) As you read, we pray that your awareness will be greatly elevated of the inheritance that awaits the Bride of Christ ... which are overcoming born again believers in Christ Jesus.  

-- Norm Rasmussen, Founder, Precious Testimonies

The Bible-The Only Infallible Source Book

The average historian has no clue as to the meaning of history because he ignores the only infallible source book, the Bible. For most people, historians included, the center of history for any given age or period is the political entity or state which is the most populous, which occupies the greatest territory, represents supreme material resources, and boasts the largest and most invincible military might. To most of us, the stuff of history is the part played by the great empires of the past, including the leading political, military, and financial figures associated with them. So men like the Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon seem to be the authentic makers of history. These empire builders and their followers considered themselves to be the architects of fate and the molders of destiny. They believed that they were the central forces of history and the prime movers of its events.

Calvary-The True Center of History

But the world at large and its historians in particular have missed the point altogether. There is only one philosophy of history that makes sense: biblical philosophy. 

The center of history is not its great empires like Egypt, Babylon, Greece, or Rome, nor their modern counterparts such as Russia, China, the United States of America, or any other which may yet appear. To locate the center of history one must bypass all these vast empires and the glittering names associated with them and find his way to a tiny land called the navel of the earth, the geographical center of the world.' And in that tiny land is a hill -- called Calvary --where two thousand years ago a Man named Jesus was lifted up to die. And I submit to you that that hill in that land is the center of all history, not only of this world, but of all the countless galaxies and island universes of outer space from eternity to eternity.

The Church-The Central Object and Goal of History

This Man hanging upon that bloody cross amid the taunts and jeers of the passersby was "before all things" (See: Colossians 1: 17. That is, before history itself. He is the starting point of history, for "all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (See: John 1:3). And the history that began in Him was and is fashioned and controlled by Him. "He regulates the universe by the mighty power of His command" (See: Hebrews 1:3, TLB). And it was and is fashioned and controlled by Him with a single specific purpose in view. That specific purpose and design is always the central and controlling factor of history no matter how wide its sweep may be.

Every event in history transpires to serve that purpose. Nothing, no matter how small, is excluded. The universe, including this planet, was created for one purpose: to provide a suitable habitation for the human race. The human race was created in the image and likeness of God for one purpose: to provide an eternal companion for the Son. After the fall and promise of redemption through the promised Messiah, Israel was born and nurtured in order to bring in the Messiah. And the Messiah came for one intent and only one: to give birth to His Church, thus to obtain His Bride. The Church, then -- the called-out body of redeemed humankind -- turns out to be the central object, the goal, not only of mundane history but of all that God has been doing in all realms for all eternity.

If this is true, then all history is sacred. There is no such thing as secular history. So history is simply "His story." The entire universe in its totality is cooperating with God in His purpose to select and train His church as His Eternal Companion. The entire universe is ordered for this purpose, for all things belong to the Church and are for her benefit (See: I Corinthians 3:21-23). As the Lord of history, God is controlling all of its events, not only on earth but in all realms, to serve His purposes of bringing to maturity and eventually to enthronement with His Son, the Church, His chosen Bride. This was the glorious truth revealed to Paul when he wrote: "We know that all things [the entire cosmos] work together [are cooperating] for good to them that love God [the Church], to them who are called according to his purpose [the Bride]" (See: Romans 8:28)

The Heart of the Universe

From this it is implicit that a godly "romance" is at the heart of the universe and is the key to all existence. From all eternity God purposed that at some time in the future His Son should have an Eternal Companion, described by John the Revelator as "the bride, the Lamb's wife."' (See: Revelation 21:9) John further revealed that this Eternal Companion in God's eternal purpose is to share the Bridegroom's throne following the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (See: Revelations 3:21). Here we see the ultimate purpose, the climactic goal of history. 

According to Romans 8:28 this is the total objective, the single, solitary motive of all God's creative acts. This passage teaches clearly that all that God has been doing from the very beginning was focused upon the Church. This and this alone, fully unveils the mystery of history and makes it understandable. No secular historian can be expected to comprehend this. But if our understanding of Romans 8:28 is true, then for the Church "suns and moons wax and wane." For her, starry galaxies fill the heavens. For her, island universes swing in outer space. For her, earthly kingdoms rise and fall (See: Psalm 75:6-7 and Psalm 105).

Therefore it was not for their own intrinsic importance that Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Sennacherib, and others were raised up. This is the gist of Isaiah 10:5-14 (TLB). These kings derived their significance wholly from their relationship to God's purpose for the Messianic nation, through whom the Messiah was to come. Someday we will understand that not only these biblically recorded instances but all events from all eternity were ordered and directed for one purpose and one alone-- the eventual winning and preparation of the Bride.

In Halley's Bible Handbook, Henry Halley points out that "The Old Testament is the account of a nation. The New Testament is the account of a MAN. The Nation was founded and nurtured of God to bring the Man into the world."

But what was the purpose of the Man? He came to die -- to die and rise again (See: John 12:27). And what then was the purpose of that? The conventional answer is that He died and rose again to redeem the world.

Limited Acceptance of an Unlimited Atonement

You may be surprised when I say that, in my opinion, this answer is too simplistic, that it fails to encompass all the factors involved. It is true that His death and resurrection did provide for the redemption of all humankind. Not one soul of Adam's race was excluded. "And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (See: I John 2:2). All that have been or ever will be born from the dawn of human history to the dawn of eternal ages are included in God's all-embracing redemptive love. But God knew from the very beginning that only a select remnant would accept this universal provision. This is clearly revealed by Jesus himself in Matthew 7:13-14: 

"Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in there at; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

If God knew from all eternity that the net result from all His creative activity, including the plan of redemption, would be only this tiny minority, then it may be presumed that this small group was the object of all of God's previous plans, purposes, and creative enterprises. Therefore, it was for the sake of this small group that the universe was originated. It was for them that the angels, the inhabitants of the unseen world, were brought into being (See: Hebrews 1:14). It was for this small group that the earth and the world were formed. For their sake the Adamic race was born. To possess them, God himself entered the stream of history in the incarnation. And this small group is called the Church -- the Bride, the Lamb's Wife (See: Matthew 16:18; Revelation 21:9). 

The Bride -The Finished Product of the Ages

This view of the purpose of the universe is further strengthened by what may be called "the residual argument." If one wants to know the meaning and purpose of history, he must look at the end, the final outcome, and the net result. Since prophecy is history written in advance, we have history's final chapter in the Book of Revelation. Turning to the closing pages, what emerges as the finished product of the ages? It is one thing and one alone: the Eternal Companion of Jesus Christ, wholly God and wholly man. The final and ultimate outcome and goal of events from eternity to eternity, the finished product of all the ages, is the spotless Bride of Christ, united with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and seated with her heavenly Bridegroom upon the throne of the universe -- ruling and reigning with Him over an ever-increasing and expanding Kingdom. He entered the stream of human history for this one purpose, to claim His Beloved (See: Revelation 19:7, 9; 21:7, 9-10).

Thus the Church, and only the Church, is the key to and explanation of history. The Church, blood-washed and spotless, is the center, the reason, and the goal of all of God's vast creative handiwork. Therefore, history is only the handmaiden of the Church, and the nations of the world are but puppets manipulated by God for the purposes of His Church (See: Acts 17:26). Creation has no other aim.' History has no other goal. From before the foundation of the world until the dawn of eternal ages God has been working toward one grand event, one supreme end -- the glorious wedding of His Son -- the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The Celestial Wedding and the Beginning of God's Eternal Enterprise

From the very beginning, it was God's plan and purpose that out of the riven side of His Son should come an Eternal Companion to sit by His side upon the throne of the universe, to share with Him His sovereign power and authority over His eternal kingdom. "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father on his throne" (Revelation 3:21).

To be given the kingdom is more than to internalize kingdom principles and ethics. That is only one phase of it. To be given a kingdom is to be invested with authority over a kingdom. That this is God's glorious purpose for the Church is authenticated and confirmed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? ... Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" This is a pledge of what Jesus meant when He said, "The glory that thou gavest me I have given them." (John 17:22).

This royalty and rulership is no hollow, empty, figurative, symbolic, or emblematic thing. It's not a figment of the imagination. The Church, the Bride, the Eternal Companion is to sit with Him on His throne. If His throne represents reality, then hers is no fantasy. We are joint heirs with Christ (See: Romans 8:17).

We may not know why it pleases the Father to give the kingdom to the little flock. We may not know why Christ chooses to share His throne and His glory with the redeemed. We only know that He chooses to do so and that it gives Him pleasure.

Therefore, from all eternity, all that precedes the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is preliminary and preparatory. Only thereafter will God's program for the eternal ages begin to unfold. God will not be ready, so to speak, to enter upon His ultimate and supreme enterprise for the ages until the Bride is on the throne with her divine Lover and Lord. Up until then, God is manipulating the entire universe under the Son's regulation and control for one purpose -- to prepare and train the Bride. Truly, God is the Lord of history.

We have a testimony in our EXHORTATIONS section that dovetails with the above writing. Its title is: MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

Here is an excellent link that supports statements of Paul Billheimer:  Bible Study: Destined for the Throne 

Here is a review of Billheimer's book that many may greatly appreciate:  Review: Destined for the throne, by Paul Billheimer 

To order a copy of Paul's book:  Destined for the Throne: How Spiritual Warfare Prepares the Bride of Christ for Her Eternal Destiny 

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Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-20 is our assurance)