Holy Spirit

"The Spirit belongs primarily to the future, in the sense that what we witness of teh post-resurrection action of teh Spirit can be understood only when viewed as a breaking-in of the future into the present. In ohter words, on the basis of the work of Christ, the power of the redeemed future has been released to act in the present in the person of the Holy Spirit."

Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible And The Future, Pg. 58

Eschatology

"Being a citizen of the kingdom, therefore, means that we should see all of life adn all of reality in the light of the goal of the redpmtion of the cosmos. This implies, as Abraham Kuyper once said, that there is not a thumb-breadth of the universe about which Christ does not say, "It is mine." This implies a Christian philsophy of history: all of history must be seen as teh working out of God's eternal purpose. This kingdom vision includes a Chrstian philosophy of culture: art and science reflect the glory of God and are therefore to be pursued for his praise. It also includes a Christian view of vocation: all callings are from God, and all that we do in everyday life is to be done to God's praise, whether this be study, teaching, preaching, business, industry, or housework."

Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible And The Future, Pg. 54

Past & Future

"The church has expereinced the victory of the Kingdom of God; and yet the church is, like other men, at the mercy of the powers of this world.... This very situation creates a severe tension-indeed, acute conflict; for the church i the focal point of the conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, until the end of the age. The church can never be at rest or take her ease but must always be the church in struggle and conflict, often persecuted, but sure of the ultimate victory."

George Ladd (quoted by Anthony A. Hoekema), The Bible And The Future, Pg. 52

Eschatology

"Invisibly, history has fundamentally changed; visibly, it is still the same, for the Kingdom of God is already at hand, and yet, as an eschaton, still to come. This ambiguity is essential to all history after Christ: the time is already fulfilled adn yet not consummated.... On account of this profound ambiguity of the historical fulfillment where everything is "already" what is is "not yet," the Christian believer lives in a radical tension between present and future. He has faith and he does hope. Being relaxed in his present experience and straining toward the future, he confidently enjoys what he is anxiously waiting and stiving for."

Karl Lowith (quoted by Anthony A. Hoekema), The Bible And The Future, Pg. 34

In Faith For The Future

"Hitler has occupied Norway, but in 1945 it was liberated. Suppose that up in the almost inaccessible north some small village with a Nazi overlord failed to hear the news of the liberation for some weeks. During that time, we might put it, the inhabitants of the village were living in the 'old' time of Nazi occupation instead of the 'new' time of Norwegian liberation.
... Any person who now lives in a world that has been liberated from the tyranny of evil powers either in ignorance of, or in indifference to, what Christ has done, is precisely in the position of those Norwegians to whom the good news of deliverance had failed to penetrate. In other words, it is quite easy for us to see that men can live B.C. in A.D."

John Marsh (quoted by Anthony A. Hoekema), The Bible And The Future, Pg. 31

Joy and the Honor of God

"If joy were more general among the Lord's people, God would be more glorified among men; the happiness of the subjects is the honor of the sovereign."

- Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 20:5

Apostle Paul

"... Before everything else, he [Paul] was the proclaimer of a new time, the great turning point in the history of redemption, the intrusion of anew world aeon. Such was the dominating perspective and foundation of Paul's entire preaching. it alone can illuminate the many facets and interrelations of his preaching, e.g., justification, being-in-Christ, sufferin, dying, and rising agin with Christ, the conflict between teh spirit and the flesh, the cosmic drama, etc.
The person of Jesus Christ forms the mystery and the middle point of this great historical redepmtive revelation. Because christ is revealed a new aeon has been ushered in, the old world has ended, and the enw world has begun."

Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible And The Future, Pg. 31