book review: "living in the overlap" by steve schaefer

We are currently living in the overlap. The time in between Christ’s first visit to this earth and His second. “The implications of this overlap are monumental. It means that right now in this present age we can begin to experience some blessings of the age to come (at least to some degree), even though we won’t fully experience all the kingdom blessings until Christ comes again and the present age ends.” Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, He allowed us to have a taste now of what we’ll be able to fully experience later. Schaefer makes the comparison to that of a newly engaged couple. Though they aren’t married yet, they’re able to reap some of the benefits of their upcoming marriage. They receive gifts from well-wishers and perhaps buy a house. “But it’s only because of a future event – the wedding – that they experience these things. In a sense some of the blessings of the future event have spilled backward in time to become present realities.”

I found this to be a very interesting concept. It’s something I’ve never thought about before but it’s exciting to think we can have a taste of the things we’ll one day be able to fully experience. For example, since Jesus bore our sicknesses on the cross, (Isaiah 53:5: “…by His stripes we are healed…”) we can claim healing now. The book was a little heavy and I feel it needs more than a one time read through to fully grasp it all but a definite good read.

I received a free copy of this book from Glass Road Public Relations and was not required to write a positive review.