Heavenly Mindedness (18)

 

Continuing with the quote from Vos’s message in our last post:

 

“In the city of the living God believers are joined to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, and mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect. And all this faith recognizes.” G. Vos. (See Hebrews 12:18 – 24).

 

I want to focus on what it is to be “joined to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” and also what it means to “mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect.” While in one sense these two expressions may be synonymous (a person saturated with the Bible, such as Vos, may use the Hebrew - Biblical rhythm of couplets and triplets when speaking or writing, expressing the same image or thought in succession), there may also be a nuance of distinction.

 

The more I ponder Hebrews 12:18 – 24, the clearer it is to me that you can’t approach that passage without working through what precedes it in the Epistle. In the last post I asked us to consider the trajectory from the last section of Hebrews Chapter 10, through Chapter 11, and then through the first 17 verses of Chapter 12; a trajectory that we must take if we are going to approach the juxtaposition of Moses and Mount Sinai, and Jesus and Mount Zion, and the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

 

This is a juxtaposition of heaven and earth, and of earth and heaven; and it is a theme of the Letter to the Hebrews. It is a way of thinking and living that cultivates heavenly-mindedness. If we cannot first wrestle with the distinctions between the earthly Sabbath and Christ our heavenly Sabbath, or with the earthly Tabernacle being a shadow of our heavenly Tabernacle, or between the temporal Levitical priesthood and the priesthood of Melchizedek, or between the Old Covenant which cannot cleanse our consciences from sin and the New Covenant which not only cleanses our consciences, but leads us into the Holy of Holies as our abiding place; if we cannot first wrestle with these things (I do not say fully grasp them), then I am not sure how we can approach Hebrews 12:18 – 24.

 

Can we hear Paul’s voice to the Colossians, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Fix your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:1 – 2).

 

It occurs to me that Hebrews is so difficult for most people, including pastors, not only because of its expansive use of the Law and Prophets and Writings (what we call the Old Testament), but also because it relentlessly challenges us to experience the unseen, to ponder the unseen, to be heavenly-minded, to have our center of gravity in the unseen (see also 2 Cor. 4:18). This resistance to the Kingdom of God in its unseen reality is one reason why it is well nigh impossible for us to “see” the Epistle to the Hebrews or to “see” the book of Revelation. Of course, by extension, this also means that we miss much of the entire Bible, for Christ is unveiled throughout the Bible, but if we are not accustomed to seeing beyond the natural we’ll not “see” Him as He comes to us from Genesis through Revelation. 

As Hebrews 5:13 – 14 tells us, this all takes practice and exercise and training; if we’re not willing to submit to the active working of God’s Word (Hebrews 4:12 – 13) it isn’t likely this will ever make sense to us. Thankfully, we have a great High Priest who desires to pour mercy and grace and love into us, and who will teach us His ways (Hebrews 4:14 – 16; Romans 5:1 - 11).

 

Well, this is enough for one post, we’ll continue with Vos’s statement about being “joined to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” and also what it means to “mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect,” next time.