The Preoccupation of the Early Church

The Greek culture that Paul evangelized to was crowded with a number of other new religions.  One of the common characteristics of these other religions was a preoccupation with the end of the world.  This is referred to as an apocalyptic orientation.  The point of these religions, based upon an assumption that the end of the world was imminent, was to figure out when the end would happen, what would happen, and how to be protected from the anticipated violence that was associated with it.

The early converts to Christianity brought this preoccupation with them.  Paul did not seek to bring the correct understanding of the end, but to change the underlying preoccupation with it from an emphasis on the end, to an emphasis upon God's presence in the present moment, how we can discern this presence, and how to lead our lives in conformity with it

There will be a final consummation of things.  But God is unchanging and eternal.  That means that God's will for us is unchanging and eternal.  God seeks to make us holy so that we might reflect God's light and be at peace and unity with him.  As this is God's preoccupation, it should be our own, now, and forever