I didn't missing anything because the first resurrection is not a physical one; it is a spiritual one. When Christ was raised up and seated, we were all raised up and seated with him. We, well, at least some of us, rule and reign right now. The rest of you seem to be star gazing or something waiting for a sign of the coming of the kingdom of God, even though the Lord himself testifies that the kingdom does not come with observation.
We are in heaven RIGHT NOW and you missed it because you don't know how to properly read and interpret Scripture. It clearly says that we are seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus while you wait for a secret rapture which isn't going to come to spirit you away. You are safe at home right now.
Before I even finish reading your post, I want to AMEN! this portion.
The current reign of Christians in this world is the most subversive truth on earth. No wonder the reprobates of this world work so hard to keep that fact from those who are His.
But the earth and everything on the earth were made by, for and through Jesus Christ. And since we are in Christ, the world, too, is ours.
You are safe at home right now.
AMEN!
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." -- Matthew 28:18-20"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Lately I've thought that dispensationalism tends to obscure the work of the Holy Spirit almost to the point of denying it. God is on earth and Christ is on earth because the Holy Spirit is on earth and leading God's children in all truth and love. That realization should be our number one reality. God is here today, with us, leading us, indwelling us, motivating us, protecting us, equipping us for the work on this earth today.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." -- Matthew 16:18
We let the Catholics commandeer this verse and so we Protestants tend to ignore it when we should be exalting it.
The church of Jesus Christ is real and it is on earth and it is growing by the perfect leading of the Holy Spirit as it does the work of the sower until the harvest.
It's a wheat field; not a tare field.
“The current reign of Christians in this world is the most subversive truth on earth.”
I think you are misreading the the intent of the passage; it is referring to our regeneration; our union with Christ, not reigning. It is not realized eschatology, but a reference to our future inheritance as in Eph. 1:13-14, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”.
The Spirit is the present guarantee of the future inheritance, sealing the believer against the coming day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”) That God has already seated His people with Christ in the heavenly realm is best understood as a statement of God’s purpose which is so sure of fulfillment that it can be spoken of as having already taken place i.e. Romans 8:30, “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”. We have been justified but our glorification has yet to take place although God sees it as done. It’s our experience catching up to our election.
The phrase “in Christ Jesus”, I think, clarifies the meaning. Enthronement with Christ in the heavenly realm is not yet part of the experience of the believer. So far as the believer’s experience is concerned, being glorified lies in the future (Romans 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”). But the heavenly realm is the believer’s proper location because we are united with Him. Our true home is where Christ is because that is where the believer’s citizenship is (Phil. 3:20, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”). But the community to which we belong to now is the church; heavenly in origin, character, and destiny, but militant here in earth.
The idea of “made us sit together” probably refers more to reclining at a meal as a guest as opposed to being a servant or reigning or ruling since there is no mention of thrones or places of power i.e. Luke 13:29, “And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”