freeborn | ἐλεύθερος on Nostr: Thanks for the shoutout, hodlbod. Been swamped latetly, but wanted to follow up on ...

Thanks for the shoutout, hodlbod (npub1jlr…ynqn). Been swamped latetly, but wanted to follow up on this thought. (Better late than never?)

Your description of the moss and the rock reminded me of Lewis' description of Spring bursting through the snow, flanking the Pevensies as they journeyed to Cair Paravel. (That's a 'speech in favor,' if that wasn't clear, ha.)

It's certainly a compelling thought-picture, but the question is: are we preparing a place for Christ, or is Christ preparing a place for us? I think it's the latter. Post-mil has a tendency (in my opinion) to drift toward the former--and if it goes too far, can lead to serious errors like Dominionism, or Theocracy, etc. (And, as Rothbard was excellent at pointing out, when you mix post-mil with secularism, you get progressivism and statism a la Wilson.) We're pilgrims--'in the world' but not 'of the world' precisely because we're 'of the kingdom' but not yet 'in it' (in a geopolitical sense). We are as Rahab in a cosmic Jericho; having renounced our citizenship in 'the world' and declared allegiance to the 'coming king,' praying 'thy kingdom come,' while 'Joshua' approaches the gate.

The dominon mandate (read: Covenant of Works) given to the first Adam is not given to us; it was given, however, to the Last Adam--and where the first failed, the last succeeded. Then enters the already/not-yet paradigm you mentioned: first is the 'already' the ethical rule ("the kingdom is in your heart"), the 'not yet' is the geographical realm ("the kingdom is coming"). Only souls will survive the 'great conflagration' when--as others have pointed out--the 'world that now is' is, as it were, 'baptized by fire' as the 'world that then was' was baptised by water. (But now I'm just rehashing the amil position.) But this top-level thought has downstream consequences: what, then, qualifies as 'kingdom-building'? I say it limited to discipling our children, missions/evangelism, winning the hearts and minds of those who join us in 'waiting for Joshua'. In the meantime, we buy and sell (as though not), marry and are given in marriage (as though not) (1 Cor. 7), and--since 'here we have no continuing kingdom' we 'look for a better, one with foundations, that is, an heavenly' - etc. But, again, just rehashing a-mil now.

Unlike the First Adam's mandate to 'be fruitful and mulitply,' our mandate is the Last Adam's 'go into all the world and make disciples.' Under periods of theocracy (the garden, under the Mosaic economy), the mandate was 'go forth and conquer', but now our mandate is Jer. 29:7 - "work and pray for the peace and prosperity of the cities into which I've driven you--for in its peace shall you have peace.' Many of Paul's exhortations fit well with this--he didn't say 'take over the institutions' he said 'stay where you are, but do it as unto the Lord,' etc.

Side note: if you've never read David VanDrunen, I think you'd appreciate him. Check out _Living in God's Two Kingdoms: A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture_ as an appetizer. But then move to his trilogy involving natural law, especially the last two: _Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law_ (astonishing!), and then _Politics After Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World_ (very helpful).