The desolation of the city
When Christ ascended up into heaven, He was enthroned at the right hand of God and given all glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Because of this, Christ's kingdom is being extended over all the earth. And while He currently rules over the affairs of men, His conquest of obedience is being brought to completion in time, until the consumation, where He will bring in the fullness of His reign. The Church has therefore been likened unto a city within the city, or more explicitly, a city upon a hill. This city's domain will continue to eat up, as it were, the nations until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. These covenant realities lay the foundation for the future.
A world of abundance
With a heaven above that can’t be measured, and the foundations of the earth that can’t be searched out beneath, we live in a world of vast abundance. A key role of the Christian life is to take this vast abundance and bring it into a greater glory, The end is not a return to the garden, nor is it the story of the city conquering creation, but instead we voyage towards a garden city where the good creation of God is tended to, paired with, and transformed by the good creativity that God has given to man. Just as we’re in a much better state being redeemed, as opposed to merely being not fallen, so too does the end of history speak a much better word than our first parents could. The primary way this work is accomplished is by the Church proclaiming the Gospel through the power of the Holy Ghost. Though, the secondary means of business and vocation also play a crucial role in saturating the city with Christ.
Mysteries made to be found
As it is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter, the mysteries of creation are a holy dance which the Lord beckons us to join. The call of the Christian is to follow Christ in everything that we do. Vocationally, this calls us to execute our craft at a much higher level than the unbelieving, and to communicate this skillfulness to our progeny. The task of Christian work, much like the Church, is multi-generational, covenantal, and faithful. The question then comes to how we are to best fulfill this work, and train generations of Christians in the vocational sphere to both think about and do their work Christianly.