Heavenly Mindedness (42)

 

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

 

“The inspired writer tells us that the two most momentous events in sacred history, the giving of the law on Sinai and the end of the world, signify the removal of things that are shaken, in order that such things as are not shakable may remain. And the second shaking is so radical and comprehensive that it involves not only the earth but likewise the heavens: it will sweep the transitory out of the life of the people of God even in the higher regions, and will leave them, when the smoke and dust of the upheaval are blown away, in a clear atmosphere of eternal life.

 

“But in this sense also faith is not purely prospective: it enables to anticipate; it draws down the imperishable substance of eternity into its vessel of time and feeds on it. The believer knows that even now there is in him that which has been freed from the law of change, a treasure that moth and rust cannot corrupt, true riches enshrined in his heart as in a treasury of God.”   G. Vos.

 

Pondering the second paragraph above (we considered the first paragraph in our last post); this idea of faith, of heavenly – mindedness, drawing “down the imperishable substance of eternity into its vessel of time” and feeding on it, is central to Vos’s message. Can we hear Jesus saying to His disciples, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about”?

 

Consider Paul’s words to the Colossians (3:1-2), “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.” In Ephesians 2:6 Paul tells us that God has “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

 

Being seated with God in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus is not a theological fiction, it is not something sterile and theoretical, but rather an actual organic living event originated by God, animated by God, and sustained by God. Christ Jesus is to be our biosphere, the heavenly places in Christ are to be the air we breathe, what Vos terms ‘the substance of eternity” is to be where we live in Christ, as we draw “down the imperishable substance of eternity into its vessel of time.” In other words, we should be living in the heavens and the heavens should be living in us. We are called to feed on the heavens in Christ as we live on this earth.

 

This in turn frees us “from the law of change.” This “law of change” is ultimately all corruption, including the corruption of our body, for a Day will come when the fulness of our redemption will be consummated in the Resurrection (Romans 8:18 – 25; 1 Cor. Chapter 15). But let’s think about this from a more immediate perspective.

 

I can think of no better example of the law of change than the 24/7 news cycle. The American church is in bondage to this cycle, as the past few years have amply demonstrated. Rather than having our lives anchored in the Rock which is Christ, rather than meditating on God’s Word, rather than being led by the Holy Spirit in sacrificial living; “Give us our daily bread” now means that we feed off news, whether that “news” is true or false.

 

We have become slaves to the immediate, to the temporal, to what has become the law of daily and hourly change. Those who learn to live in the heavenly places in Christ as a Way of Life come to see news cycles for what they are, they come to see political and corporate and academic and science leaders for what they are (well-meaning but limited at best, wicked and evil at worst), they come to see this present evil age as passing away.

 

Dear, dear friends. If we live subject to the law of merciless change how can we help those around us? If our hearts and minds are filled with the anxieties and uncertainties of the surrounding culture, if our souls are daily diminished and poisoned by words and images of swirling insanity – including political insanity – how can we live as ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20)?

 

We have been seduced to trade the treasures of heaven for treasures that have the life of a Mayfly. This is wickedness.

 

Vos tells us that we can have “a treasure that moth and rust cannot corrupt, true riches enshrined in his heart as in a treasury of God.” Christ has entrusted His treasure to us, will we not only preserve it, but will we share it? Sadly, we barter away this treasure for the corrupt promises of this present age – this must be a source of great sadness to heaven. Are there angels weeping? Our Savior gave Himself for us, and in return we give ourselves to the false and wicked promises of the present evil age.

 

Let me gently remind us that wickedness often disguises itself as morality, as progress, as common sense, as pragmatism, as idolatrous nationalism, and as Christless Christianity – a Christianity that has all the trappings and language and even the doctrines of Biblical Christianity, but without the Jesus Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Jesus Christ, without the anointing and vitality of the Holy Spirit.

 

To follow Jesus Christ is to have one treasure, for which we sell all that we have (Matthew 13:44 – 45; Jesus sells all for us and we sell all for Him); in which we lose all to gain all (Mark 8:34-38). To follow Jesus Christ is to treasure Him and our inheritance in Him above all else in the universe – we draw down the imperishable substance of eternity into our vessel of time and feed on it.

 

We enshrine the true riches of Christ in our hearts as in a treasury of God. We treasure the Lamb of God. We treasure the Word of God. We treasure the People of God. We treasure the Holy Trinity. We treasure the holiness of God. Doing so we are freed from the tyranny of the corruptible and ever - changing age in which we live.

 

You see, dear friends, this is not about us, this is about Jesus Christ and others. This is about being heavenly – minded, about being consumed by Christ and for Christ and with Christ. God’s love was so consumed with us that He gave His Only Begotten Son – how can we live other than to be consumed with love for Him?