Sooner than Later

The common belief and view I was taught in my younger years says, that salvation is about my personal walk with Christ and my life is focused on getting to heaven, in the future, after my death. It’s not until recently, the last 5 years, I have been thinking and reading about a new kind of Salvation–a different perspective on what "being saved" means. Once I started rethinking my ideas, I soon found out that the new kind of perspective changed everything. It didn’t just change how I live my life but how I treated the guy behind the bar to the sucka who cut me off on 635. I was taught that I needed to be nice to people, follow the law, and be good. I had a list of things to do and a list of things not to do. It was basic. I did all these things in order to find my ultimate peace after death. The ultimate goal was Heaven, leaving earth, leaving my physical body to decay and being with God. In my view, the church as NT Wright says,"[with this view] the main work of the church is bound to be seen in terms of saving for that future."
This simply isn't what the New Testament says about salvation or the Kingdom of God.
"Salvation is about the entire person, not just the soul. Salvation isn’t simply about the future, but includes the present. Salvation is what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us."
When Christ came to earth, he brought the Kingdom. Through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, we see the point of the entire story of the Bible. NT Wright puts it like this, "They are designed not to take us away from this earth but rather to make us agents of the transformation of this earth...." Remember the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who is in Heaven, Glory to your name, Your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven....” The Process has started! From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks about God's purpose to reclaim the brokenness of the entire cosmos. His plan includes those who follow Christ. Just as in the covenant with Abraham, God blessed Israel so they could bring blessing to the whole world. With this end in mind, our future actually starts sooner than I had been taught. Let us build the Kingdom.