You Have Come to Mount Zion
Dispensational theology has sadly drawn Christian attention away from Mount Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22). With a message focused on the future of the Middle East, the Jewish people and nation, and a physical, earthly reign of Messiah before His second coming, this message removes the joy of salvation by adding unnecessary drama and uncertainty.
Christians are supposed to fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2). We are to set our minds on heaven, the things above (Col 3:1–2), where Christ is seated on the throne of God at the right hand of the Father (Heb 8:1), having all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). Our Lord Jesus Christ is not coming to earth to set up His kingdom at some future date before His second coming. He rules and reigns over all, today, as Lord of all (Acts 10:36). When He comes again, He will bring a final sentence to this present earth and heavens, which meet their end in the fire of His wrath (2 Pet 3:7).
Christians, born from our mother above (Gal 4:26), in the miraculous new birth, that is, to be born again of the Spirit of God (1 Pet 1:3), have our citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20). This one and that one was born there! (Ps 87:5). We, like Issac, are born of supernatural means, as promised. The revelation promise for the covenant of grace dates to Abraham, whose offspring would number as the stars of heaven and the sand of the seashore (Gen 15:5; 22:17), through the promised seed (singular), who is Jesus Messiah (Gal 3:16).
In telling the next generation about Zion, we must be clear about the location. Unbelievers must be told that the narrow way that leads to life arrives at Zion in the far north, not the Middle East. The destination of the pilgrim saints is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The path is narrow and few find it, but those who do, by grace, journey home to Zion’s glory.
Zion is a place, but it is also a people, the congregation, a tribe whose inheritance is Christ Himself. Salvation comes out of Zion (Ps 14:7; 53:6) to the people enrolled there and who are being brought home (Jer 3:14) through the grace of repentance (Acts 5:31; 11:18). He calls His elect into Christ, baptizing them into His church (1 Cor 12:13).
Daughter Zion is code for Christ’s bride (Eph 5:25; Rev 19:17–19). Thus, she is the people of the meeting place (e. g. Sinai; Tabernacle; Temple; Jesus Christ; Temple in the Spirit; and the beautiful city of heaven). She had become a harlot and was mistreated by her suitors. Hence, she is not only compared with Sinai but also contrasted with Babylon.
In the comparison with Mount Sinai, a terror because the Law of holiness, Mount Zion is a place of peace and joy because it is a place of grace and forgiveness. In contrast with Babylon, the city of man, Zion is the place of Yahweh’s presence. Babylon is depicted as a whore with no favor with God. Thus, the program is to pursue His chosen people, embedded in the city of man, as Hosea did with Gomer.
For this reason, our interest is the kingdom of God, in the midst of the kingdom of this world. Here, like Abraham, we have no lasting city (Heb 13:14). As ambassadors for Christ, Zion’s eternal King, we labor to find and bring in our elect brethren (2 Cor 5:18–20). We are not bringing them into the present Jerusalem (Judaism), which remains in slavery to the religion of works righteousness. Rather, we are bringing them to daughter Zion, the bride of Christ, His church, the true Israel of God (Is 49:1–8; Gal 6:16).
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Our city, even in the exile of this present age and place, is the meeting place of God. Christ’s church is the Temple of God, where in the Holy Spirit occupies each living stone being added to the building project (Eph 2:20–22). The Christian life is each living stone being fitted via sanctification by the Spirit for his or her unique place in Zion. Each stone has Christ as our cornerstone. Everything is measured according to Him who is chief. The extraction of God’s elect from exile in Babylon (the world) gives great joy to the Temple stones already placed in heaven. Once a living stone has been chosen, redeemed, crafted, and ready for final placement, he or she is taken home to the reality of Zion perfected, yet incomplete. In this, death has lost its sting.
The Lord Jesus Christ is building His church, a Temple in the Spirit, whose placement is in the city of the king, Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. From the work site here, we graduate to the city whose architect and builder is God. There, no Temple exists except Christ and His redeemed people in glorified communion forever and ever.
In coming to Mount Zion, we are coming to God, the Judge of all, who has chosen to make us part of His eternal community plan. We are coming and joining the company of the spirits of men made righteous because we, too, have been justified by Christ’s blood and God’s grace. We are coming to myriads of angels, who serve God night and day both in heaven and on the earth. We have come to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new and everlasting covenant of grace.
In summary, unlike the Dispensationalists, we look up to the heavenly Jerusalem, not to the Middle East. We see salvation from Yahweh coming down from heaven, from the city of the great King, Jesus Christ. It is Zion above who is our mother. We are born of her, in whom we have our identity, our citizenship.
In conclusion, let us recognize our place here and now, along with our place then and there. They are connected in the concept of the already, not yet. We dwell here in mixed company, but we will soon be dwelling in the reality of righteousness. It is a beautiful city of immense proportions and where we will meet with God, forever. Look up, lift your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 12, 2026
Hebrews 12:18–24
