Heavenly Mindedness (22)

 

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).

 

Picking up the question of what it means to “mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect”:

 

If we understand the trajectory that leads us to Hebrews 12:18 – 24 (see previous post), then we can say that, at a minimum, mingling with the spirits of just men made perfect is living in an awareness of being “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” We will experience this awareness in different ways, this is true of individuals and it is true of us as a people. I, as an individual, can look back over my life and see that mingling with Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, has been like a kaleidoscope; the individual-colored glass itself has not changed, but the patterns of the colors do change. But also, as a member of Christ’s Body, I have learned to appreciate that other members of the Body have experiences and insights which I am not likely to generate, and it awes me when I see the beauty of Christ coming through my brothers and sisters.

 

I use the word “generate” above because, while I may not generate the beauty of Christ coming from other members, I can receive that beauty and experience it to some degree. In fact, the residue of that beauty often remains with me, contributing to my transformation in Christ. I am very much the fruit of Christ coming to me through the members of His Body.

 

As a fundamental truth, we can only “mingle” with those who we spend time with. Those who deemphasize the Old Testament do great violence to the Body of Christ and the Scriptures. We cannot mingle with Moses unless we spend time with Moses. We cannot mingle with Deborah unless we spend time with Deborah. If we lack a sense of our forefathers before the Flood we will not mingle with them, and we will not have a “sense” of them if we do not spend time in Genesis, 1 Chronicles, and elsewhere in the Bible. In fact, the Epistle to the Hebrews makes little sense, and certainly can’t be “seen” in its deep texture, if we are not living in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, and the rest of the Old Testament.

 

What do we do if we are not at home in the Old Testament? We start spending time there, we cultivate our relationship with the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; we ask God for the grace to become desperate to know our inheritance in Him, our lineage, our birthright – and throughout this journey we look for Christ, again and again and again. Rather than be discouraged, let take the adventure Christ lays before us!

 

Jesus says that to those who have, more will be given; but that those who do not have, even what they do have will be taken away. Growing in Christ is, in part, a matter of “use it or lose it.” If we are not giving away to others what Christ gives to us, and if we are not offering ourselves as living sacrifices on a continual basis to Jesus Christ, if we are not sowing the seed of the Word of God in our lives; then we will lose whatever we might have…we will not grow. Yes, we may absorb information and data and live second-hand lives, living vicariously off others, but we will be more like artificial plants than living fruit-producing plants.

 

We all have the capacity, by grace, to receive from Christ. It does not matter what our varying capacities may be; whether they are initially large or small – what matters is that we present ourselves to Jesus Christ and allow Him to fill us; then we offer back to Him what He has given us; in praise, worship, adoration, and in ministry in word and deed to others. As we respond to Jesus Christ He enlarges our capacity, He increases the land He has given us to cultivate, He deepens the fountain within us, He lays an ever-deepening foundation.

 

We may not think we have the capacity to live in Exodus and Leviticus, but that is an ill-conceived notion – for our Father has given us Exodus and Leviticus, He has given us Numbers and 1 Chronicles and Ezekiel and Nahum; and in all of this territory He desires that we see Christ and mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect. We will not inherit the land unless we walk the land (Joshua 1), and unless we walk the land we will not know what it is to mingle with the people of the land.

 

Some of us may gain immediate perspectives on elements of the land, for others more time is required; we are a Body, this should not surprise us. I think it is safe to say that the longer we range throughout the land, the more nights we spend in the open, looking up into the heavens, the more time we spend with the inhabitants of the land – that the deeper and broader our insights and perspectives, and the more we find ourselves traveling with Jesus Christ.

 

Dear friends, we can sow according to the natural, according to the flesh; or by God’s grace we can sow according to the Spirit. There is much Christian religious material that addresses us as children of this world, children of the natural (see 1 Cor. Chapters 1 and 2 for help with us). This material fosters dependency on the world’s way of thinking and does not encourage growth in Christ, it reinforces the world’s message that we are consumers, that we purchase our food from the grocery store rather than grow it and share it ourselves. The chemicals in this food will stunt our growth at best, or kill our growth at worst.

 

I write this because what Vos is preaching, a life of heavenly-mindedness, is our inheritance, our birthright in Jesus Christ. What Hebrews 12:22-24 says to us about coming to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; what Vos says about mingling with the spirits of righteous people made perfect – all of these things should become, in Christ, more than second nature, they ought to become our very nature, our primary nature – our joy, our hope, our vision, our experience – for we are citizens of heaven, we are children of another world.

 

Will we, just as the saints of Hebrews 11, confess this?  

 

Will we, by Christ’s grace, live it?