Heavenly Mindedness (27)

 

Continuing our reflections on Geerhardus Vos’s Message on “Heavenly Mindedness” from Hebrews 11:9 – 10:

 

“Because it had this effect for the patriarchs, faith had so intimately joined to it the exercise of hope. It is no less the assurance of things hoped for than the proving of things not seen. It annihilates the distance of time as much as of space. If faith deals with heaven as it exists, hope seizes upon it as it will be at the end. Hope attaches itself to promises; it sees and greets from afar. As the Epistle describes it, it does not contemplate purely provisional and earthly developments, does not come to rest in the happenings of intermediate ages, but relates to the end. In one unbroken flight it soars to the goal of God’s work in history, which is none other than the finished heaven.” G. Vos

 

Please read the above carefully, for it is likely that Vos is introducing concepts that are unfamiliar to some of us. What does Vos mean when he speaks of the annihilation of “the distance of time as much as of space”? What does he mean when he speaks of “heaven as it exists” and “as it will be at the end”? What does “the finished heaven” mean?

 

Have you ever thought about these things? What is your reaction to them? Have you ever thought that heaven is a work in progress? Have you considered that heaven as it is, is not heaven as it will be? Have you experienced the annihilation of the distance of time and of space? In coming passages Vos will continue this line of thought, in fact, in the next passage Vos beings with, “For heaven itself is subject to a process of preparation…”

 

A challenge with engaging Vos as he engages the Word of God is that this is a blog, and we are therefore limited in how much we can reasonably ponder in a posting. Another challenge is that, even if we were all in a room together, Vos’s preaching is so dense that it requires time to ponder and absorb it – it deserves to be read and considered again, and again, and again.

 

Vos’s language will resonate more easily with some of us than with others; some of us may be more inclined to give a fair hearing to Vos than others of us. After all, how many of us think this way? How many of us have experienced these things? How many of us have heard teaching concerning heaven being a work in process?

 

In Vos we see a disciple of Jesus Christ in whom there is a holistic dynamic of the rigorous Spirit-directed intellectual and the heavenly-minded mystic. Let us not forget that Vos taught theology, a rigorous and thorough-going theology. Vos is an example of the wisdom Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians Chapter 2, a wisdom imparted by the Holy Spirit, a wisdom that is discerning, seeing the relationship of elements of the Word of God and the Kingdom of God, “righting dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). In the Trinity there is no separation between knowledge and experience, the deeper we move into the koinonia of God and His Word the more our thinking, seeing, knowing, and experience meld together in Christ Jesus. As our eye is single our temple becomes full of light. Not only is there no disconnect between Vos the intellectual and Vos the mystic, the intellectual informs the mystical and the mystical informs the intellectual.

 

Consider Paul, who in 2 Corinthians 10:5 can write of “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” surely with an emphasis on clear thinking and the intellect; and then in 2 Corinthians 12:4 writes of being “caught up to Paradise” and hearing “inexpressible words,” surely a mystical experience – mystical to the point that Paul writes, “whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows” (2 Cor. 12:3).

 

While it is natural that some of us are inclined to the mystical and others are inclined to the intellectual, that some of us are predominately thinkers and others feelers, that some of us tend to look backwards, others to the future, and others are more rooted in the present – these myriad propensities we all have should not be insurmountable barriers to us all tasting the good things of God in Christ and inheriting the promises of God. We are all called to be the sons and daughters of the Living God in Jesus Christ and we can trust the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ to us in all of His glory, restoring the holistic image of God in Christ in our hearts, minds, and souls. Let us remind ourselves that in Jesus Christ all the promises of God are “Amen” (2 Cor. 1:19 – 22).

 

What are your thoughts concerning this passage in Vos’s message? In the next post we’ll look at this again.