The Kingdom Is For Everyone

I believe we can understand repentance, holiness, and transformation without turning the Christian life into an endless cycle of separation and reunion.

Remember the distinction we've been developing throughout this series.

Union is what is true because of Christ. Communion is our participation in what is true.

Today we're going to ask what happens to communion when we live contrary to the life of Christ.

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rorschach God⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We're continuing our series on Union and Communion, and today I want to address a question that naturally follows everything we've discussed so far.

Where does faith fit into all of this?

If union with Christ is grounded in His faithfulness rather than ours, why do we need faith?

If Christ has already acted toward humanity, why believe?

If God has reconciled the world to Himself in Christ, why does the New Testament continually call people to faith?

Let's jump in!

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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I believe this parable of the prodigal son gives us a beautiful picture of the distinction between union and communion. And it reveals something extraordinary about the heart of the Father.

The son could leave the father's house, but he could never make the father stop being his father.

Let's get into it!

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We're continuing our series on Union and Communion, and today we're going straight into one of the passages that inevitably comes up whenever we have this conversation.

John 15.

Jesus says: "Abide in Me."

And the question is obvious.

If union with Christ is the starting point, why does Jesus tell us to abide?

If Christ is our life, why does He tell us to remain?

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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I think there is a tremendous amount of confusion in Christianity comes from using the words union, relationship, fellowship, communion, abiding, and participation as though they all mean exactly the same thing. They don't. They're related. They overlap. But they aren't identical.

When we collapse communion into union, we inevitably make our participation the foundation of God's faithfulness.

So today I want to make a distinction that I believe can radically change how we understand the Christian life:

Union is not communion.

But communion flows from union.

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Today we're beginning a brand-new series that I believe addresses one of the most important distinctions we can make in the Christian life.

We're going to talk about Union and Communion.

Here's the foundational thought for this entire series: Union is what is true because of Christ. Communion is our participation in what is true.

When we confuse those two things, the Christian life can very quickly become an exhausting attempt to accomplish something that Christ has already accomplished.

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In this fourth and final part of this series, I don't want to end by merely telling you what I think we need to leave behind.

I want to talk about what we can recover.

Because Christianity doesn't need less hope.

We need a bigger hope.

And the ancient Christian hope is breathtaking.

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Today we're going to ask a historical question.

If this wasn't how the earliest Christians understood the gospel, then how did so many modern Christians come to believe otherwise?

This episode isn't about attacking people. Millions of sincere believers love Jesus and hold dispensational views. Many have come to faith through churches that teach them. This isn't about questioning anyone's devotion to Christ.

It's about asking another honest question:

Where did this way of reading Scripture come from?

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Today we're going to tackle one of the foundational ideas of modern dispensational theology—the belief that because Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah, God's plan for the Kingdom was postponed.

According to this framework, Jesus came offering the Kingdom to Israel. Israel rejected Him. Therefore, God temporarily set the Kingdom aside, inserted the Church as a kind of parenthetical age, and will resume His original Kingdom program sometime after the Church is removed.

That idea has become so familiar that many Christians simply assume it's what the New Testament teaches.

But does it?

Let's open the Scriptures and find out.

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Over the next four episodes, we're going to explore a topic that has shaped modern Christianity in profound ways—often without us even realizing it.

This series is called Kingdom Over Countdown.

Now, before anyone assumes this is simply another attack on dispensationalism, let me say from the beginning: that isn't my goal. This isn't about winning theological arguments or proving someone wrong. It's about asking an honest question:

What was the gospel Jesus actually preached?

Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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