Our Unique Position in Christ

      This is a word of preparation given at a recent Chronos Ministry weekly meeting. “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:10).
            Note that our calling as the Church is a time-specific offer. Our relationship is always by faith, believing even though we have not seen Him directly. When Jesus returns, Scripture tells us that the whole world will see Him come and see us gathered to Him and taken to Heaven. People can still be saved after the rapture, becoming part of the family of the redeemed, the family of God. But they will not be part of the Church, for that is always by faith, believing without having seen Him.
            Could it be that one reason for the timing and effort being made to disclose all that the government has collected concerning the UFOs, extraterrestrials, portals and such is part of the deception of this age? The government will have to offer their spin on what actually happened when the whole world witnesses the rapture.
            Notice, too, that the angels desire to look into this plan of God. The angelic council was originally put in place to rule over the created earth. But when Lucifer (Satan) rebelled along with some of the angels, mankind was created and given the delegated authority over the earth. When Satan caused Adam and Eve to question God’s word to them, whereby they disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they forfeited their authority to the Evil One.
            This is why another man, the last Adam, Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Son of Man, had to come to restore the situation on earth. In doing so, the angels marveled at God’s perfect love and perfect justice. They, too, would no longer have to question God’s position, wisdom, or plan of redemption.
            Incidentally, Hebrews 1 and 2 describe the rest of the plan, particularly in regard to the angels. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;  who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they [the angels]” (Heb. 1:1-4).
            Verse 14 adds that the angels are now ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation—that is, the Church, the Body of Christ, both now and after the rapture. Heb. 2:5 confirms, “For He [God the Father] has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.” Instead, we know that all things shall be put under Christ’s feet and He and His joint-heirs shall reign over the earth from above until every enemy is put underfoot at the final judgment (1 Cor. 15:25).  
            Since we are “in Christ,” 1 Peter 1: 13-16 (emphasis added) reminds us of what our response as His disciples should be. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” This is the attitude and mindset of a disciple, the seeker mentality, as we see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25).