Over-realized eschatology. Ever heard of it? Maybe not, but you’ve probably been exposed to it at one time or another. In fact, it is the opposite extreme of another issue – that of under-realized eschatology. Let me try to unpack some of this VERY briefly – though both deserve much fuller treatments.

We get a picture of over-realized eschatology from several places in Scripture, but 2 will suffice for a quick grasp.

1 Cor. 4:8 “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!”

2 Tim. 2:16-18 “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.”

The problem in both is readily apparent. In Corinth, some Believers (incited by the “super-apostles) were looking down on Paul’s trials as an indication he was not walking in the fullness of what God has given us in Christ.

The thought was simple – we’re already redeemed, we’re children of the King, we’re adopted into the family of God, and therefore, we ought to be living in carefree abundance and ease now. If we are not, there is something wrong with our spirituality. We’re not taking full advantage of the privileges which belong to us in this present age. Pain and trial and loss and need are things of the past to those in the Kingdom now. So the thinking goes.

Without casting stones, that sort of theological bent is easy to adopt when – like so many in the Corinthian church at the time – one is living in an outwardly prosperous circumstance. Corinth was wealthy, cosmopolitan, urbane. Isn’t there a direct connection between being Christ’s and earthly success and ease? Paul’s detractors thought so. And in essence, they were trying to live like the Kingdom had already come in its fullness, and that that translated into luxury, ease and wealth as a sure sign of God’s blessing.

We have the analog of this today in the so-called prosperity Gospel. We’re Christ’s now and so we’ve already tapped into Kingdom blessings (read – material wealth and worldly success).

Of course, that kind of theology doesn’t play very well for Believers in North Korea, Iran and other places, now or historically. Yes, the Kingdom has emerged into the world, but no, it is not here in its fullness yet. That awaits Christ’s return. And even then, the glory of the Kingdom is not earthly riches and ease – it is the manifested presence of King Jesus. Yes, the Kingdom is ALREADY here, to a degree, but NOT YET in a very large degree.

The second way this manifests itself today is in – if I may use this language – an un-healthy obsession with intimacy with Christ.

Do not get me wrong, living in a real, vital experiential union with Christ is central to genuine Christianity. But the danger is that we can get overly familiar with Him, and seek an intimacy with Him that will not be ours until the consummation of the ages.

Paul speaks of how – through the Gospel – he “betrothed” his hearers to Christ, to present them as a pure virgin to Him. And there are liberties and joys the “betrothed”, the engaged, are not to try and indulge in until after the marriage. We have not yet reached the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” That day is yet to come. There are intimacies with Him which is it unseemly for us to try and pursue now. We must rest with the fact there are longings of closeness with Him which will not be met until then. And those who are of a more sensual nature will try to “experience” God in Christ in ways that quite simply do not belong to us yet.

Jesus is neither our Buddy, nor our husband. Not yet. Grow to know Him more, but beware the draw of the mystical beyond proper bounds of the betrothed.

Our second text above points to an issue in the early church, which, due to some claiming the resurrection was already past, led some to teach and practice that fleshly sins just don’t matter any more. We’ve entered into the next age. Sin is all done away with. So what we do in our bodies doesn’t matter. We’re past the pale of being judged any more in any way and so we’re for all intents and purposes, sinless, no matter what we do.

This has been labeled by some as “hyper-grace”. But in the final analysis, it is a n outgrowth of over-realized eschatology. Grasping after what is not yet, and then twisting it into license to sin.

And it is deeply disturbing to see such a mindset making a new showing in the Evangelical Church in America even today. I’ve interacted with some proponents of it in just the recent past. Ultimately, it is just one more deluded false teaching to find a way to indulge the flesh without guilt – justifying sin.

This too, is an over-realized eschatology. And it brings shame on the name of Christ and the cause of the Gospel.

Now, all that said, there can be the problem of an under-realized eschatology too. But that is the subject for another day. Just as some can try to over-reach in the privileges of the Christian today, many too live far below the true privileges which are indeed ours in Christ – even in this age.

In both cases Beloved, we need to take the whole teaching of the Bible regarding where we are in God’s redemptive timeline now, and what is yet to come. For this, we cannot cherry pick certain verses and passages and try to squeeze the rest of Scripture through them – but become a “whole-Bible” people.

Balance, requires hearing all God has to say, and not formulating broad constructs based upon a few select passages. As John stated it under the inspiration of the Spirit so perfectly: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3.

Already, but not yet.