Whether or not any are post 70 AD or not, there are a whole host of problematic scriptures for a full preterist view, not the least of which problems(imo) is that it they assume all those verses into metaphors and then use obscure interprative âmaybe this means thisâ verses to confirm those assumptions.Dont misunderstand me. I love the many metaphors of scripture, but metaphoric interpretations do not always apply and certainly doesnt exclusively explain away the contradictions.
As in Adam all died so also in Christ must all be made alive, but each in his own order; Christ, the first fruits, then those who are His at His coming, then comes the end.
That is a verse, just as an example, that refers to the resurrection of the body- definitely. As does this one.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
When âthose who are His at His appearingâ are resurrected, the revelation of the children of God will occur and the restorartion of the creation will begin in earnest. The timing(not in history but in signifigance) is defined as, âeven the redemption of our bodiesâ.
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. James 1:18
We are to be a kinf of first-fruits of creation, and as Paul says the entire creation groans for us to be revealed with Him, and those verses begin with,
âFor I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to(eis into) us.â
Peter explained it like this
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Essentially the same thoughts as Paul in Romans 8 and James.
Peter proclaimed this immediately after being filled with the Holy Spirit on PentecostâŠ
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
As this period is further described in the old and new testaments, it is clearer we are not yet in it )
Four things are tied together in all these verses.
The first-fruits, redemtion of our bodies, the appearing of the Lord, the restoration of all things⊠as Peter called it, âa new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnessâ
The original gospel contained, not only to unbelievers the message, âBe saved from this perverse generationâ- but also the awareness that we who believed and remained faithful to the end(end of our remaining lives) would participate in âthe restoration of all thingsâ
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22âHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.â"
And He who sits on the throne said, âBehold, I am making all things new.â And He said, âWrite, for these words are faithful and true.â 6Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7"He who overcomes will inherit these thingsâŠ
The inheritance of the believer is to work with Christ in the restoration for which all creation is groaning, and that is why, as Paul says,'we also having the first fruits of the spirit graon inwardly as we eagerly await our sonship, the redemption of our bodies"
Paul ties this to the restoration of all things in Eph 1
In all wisdom and insight 9** He made known to us the mystery of His will**, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvationâhaving also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Godâs own possession, to the praise of His glory.
With a view to the redemption of Godâs own possession to the praise of His gloryâŠ
Every knee shall and every tongue confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the FatherâŠ
I consider that our present sufferring is not to be caomared to the glory that is to be revealed to usâŠ
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.âŠ
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: "Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever."âŠ
"For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.âŠ
âwhom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient timeâŠâ
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
The prophets spoke of the restoration of all things from ancient time. habbukuk and isaiah especially in clear terms, the language of which is perfectly mirrored by Paul and Peter. The prophets spoke of it because it was âprepared beforehand that we would walk in themâ
12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.
Angels long to look into them but it is reserved in heaven for a salvation(healing deliverance) ready to be revealed in the last time through the children of God at the redemption of their bodies- the âmany sons unto gloryâ who will inherit these things and sit with Him on His throne and do the work preared beforehand which is the restoration of all things, because tghey have received the first-fruits with a view to the redemption of Godâs own possession.But we look into themâŠ
but just as it is written,
âTHINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.â
10For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
I post ll those snips not to be a twit, but because until one sees them altogehter it may not become as clear as it obviously was to those who wrote using the same words about the same things, as they received from the Lord Himself⊠the whole cloth of the gospel.
they were not in the dark about anything nor did they misunderstand Jesus who ws with them 40 days after the resurrection teaching them and preparing them before the Holy Spirit came.
He was here to âreproduce Himselfâ in the 12, then in the 120 and then in all those who received His gospel and became disciples.
1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentilesâ 2if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of Godâs grace which was given to me for you; 3that **by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, **
In all wisdom and insight 9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
25Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.âŠ
All of these verses tie into us as the first fruits of a revelation of the restoration of universal immortality that will work out in ages yet to come, "an administration suitable to the fulness(pleroma- completion, complete fulness) of times, each in their own order, and our participation in it as the first immortals after Christ, a kind of âfirst fruits of His creationâ.
I am a âfirst fruits preteristâ. I agree that the seed contains the full fruit, the first fruits foreshadow the full harvest, but not without the workers in the field, which stretches out over ages of glory yet to come. Many of the insights of preterists have blessed me⊠but I feel the same way about some of the things I learned as a Charismatic" and as a Nazarene"
The full preterist view is seriously defficient in understanding Godâs plan of the ages and our part in it and the epochal/aionian changes that must yet occur.
âWhom the heavens must receive until the times of the restoration of all thingsââŠ
This age did not begin with the judgment of Jerusalem in 70ADâŠWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of Godâs one and only Son.
The age began with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, His ascenscion to His thron, and our receiving the first-fruits of the Spirit.