Heaven on earth | with Ros Evans | a Gospel Spice Conversation

Gospel Spice | Christian faith, God's love & the Bible

Bonjour! Today I welcome my dear friend, team member, and regular Gospel Spice Podcast guest Ros Evans to ponder the statement we start with: Heaven is closer than we realize.

How does this statement hit you? I ask Ros the same question, and then we engage in a conversation about the presence of God in our lives and God’s invitation to us as believers, to bring heaven to Earth in small, transitional ways until He establishes Heaven on Earth. We invite you to embrace the mystery of heaven, engage in dynamic worship and co-creation with God, and actively participate in being the hands and feet of Christ, bringing heaven on Earth. We humbly hope to challenge you, as we ourselves are challenged, to prayerfully consider your role in bringing the transformative power of heaven into your everyday life!

I start by sharing an insightful listener's email questioning the Christian responsibility to wait for heaven while actively engaging in the world. This prompted a discussion on the closeness of heaven and the ways in which we can experience and manifest God's presence on Earth. Now, of course we acknowledge the tension of not fully understanding the nature of heaven, so we draw parallels to the beauty of Eden before the fall, and the transcendent experiences described in the book of Revelation.

We humbly hope to help providing you with a framework to explore the Biblical truth of the presence of God in our lives. And so, we discuss the incarnation of God in Christ Jesus as a unique and essential aspect of our faith, and the various ways in which God's presence is made visible through manifestations in the Old Testament. The goal of our conversation is to hopefully bring you rich spiritual insights, and invite you to hold your own profound reflection on how we can actively participate in bringing heaven to Earth.

We also explore the Biblical teaching of worship in heaven as dynamic and active, emphasizing the idea of growth and co-creation with God. This perspective challenges the static perception of heaven: it is not about sitting on a cloud with a harp! It is stunningly active, growing, and engaged.

An important topic in the conversation is the transformative impact of Pentecost, which enables believers to bring heaven to Earth through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This pivotal event empowers believers to act as a royal priesthood, representing God to humanity and interceding on behalf of humanity to God. We spend some time exploring our role as the royal priesthood, under Jesus as our Great High Priest.

We also hope to provide practical insights into living out the Lord's Prayer, specifically focusing on the line "on earth as it is in heaven." We encourage you to lean into Jesus for guidance, and to actively partake in the realization of heaven on Earth, aligning your life with God's will and purpose! On that subject, Ros does a great job emphasizing the significance of bringing blessings to those in need and the stewardship of God's gifts and resources.

It is not too late to be one of those who, in Christ, participates in bringing heaven to earth! The Lord calls us to a sense of urgency in taking action in the present moment. Think of the thief on the cross who experienced a transformational encounter with Christ. This serves as a powerful reminder for us to embrace our role in bringing heaven to Earth and to be ready to answer the call without delay.

We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with.

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Identity in the battle | Ephesians

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/

Shades of Red | Against human oppression

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/

God's glory, our delight

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/

The Ascension is one of Stephanie's all time favorite events, and one that draws her deep into worship. She invites you to the same through her 2024 Ascension episode coming out on May 7, 2024, and more: make sure to be signed up for our newsletter by that date, so that you will receive a gorgeous gift to deepen your experience of the Ascension this year. All you need to do is make sure you are signed up at gospelspice.com/signup today!

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