Heavenly Mindedness (51)

 

In the word that God speaks we can taste all his goodness and grace. Hope itself is spiritualized, remaining no longer the hope of imagination but grasping in God the ideal root from which the whole future must spring and blossom in due time. The heavenly world does not appear desirable as simply a second improved edition of this life; that would be nothing else than earthly mindedness projected into the future. The very opposite takes place: heaven spiritualizes in advance our present walk with God. Each time faith soars and alights behind the veil it brings back on its wings some of the subtle fragrance that there prevails. G. Vos.

 

Continuing to work with the quote from the previous post, let’s pick things back up with:

 

“The heavenly world does not appear desirable as simply a second improved edition of this life; that would be nothing else than earthly mindedness projected into the future.”

 

The title of Vos’s message is Heavenly Mindedness, but O what a difficult concept to grasp if we are not cultivating a life in the Holy Spirit, if we are not seeking the Living Christ in His Word, if we are not striving for koinonia in our Christian gatherings and relationships. When our center of gravity is this world and its affairs, its headlines, its financial systems, its accolades, what it considers success – it is hard, so very hard, to touch what Vos is saying, and to allow what Vos is saying to touch us. Vos holds up Hebrews Chapter 11 for us, a procession of men and women who lived in heavenly mindedness – they were not looking for “a second improved edition of this life” they were looking for the City of the Living God.

 

If we read Revelation chapters 21 and 22 and simply see a street of gold and dazzling jewels, or pearly gates – and equate these things to a better and second edition of this life, we have missed the glory of the Living God and the Lamb who are the Light of the City.

 

Paul writes, “But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?’ You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else…So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15).

 

We are not looking for a second edition of this life, nor are we looking for a better edition, we are looking for a New Creation, a New Way of Living – for we have been taken out of Adam and placed in Christ and the old creation is passing away (Romans 5:12 – 19; 1 Cor. 15:20 – 28; 45 – 49; 2 Cor. 5:16 - 21).

 

But how hard it is to understand these things when we continue to think as mere men (1Cor. 3:1 – 3); even though God has given us the mind of Christ, we continue to live as natural men, looking to improve that which has been put to death by the Cross (1 Cor. 1:18 – 2:16; Galatians 2:20, 6:14).

 

Regarding “heaven spiritualizes in advance our present walk with God,” we will never be anymore complete than we are now in Christ, we will never be anymore more perfect than we are in Him now; and yet the completeness and perfection are being worked out in our lives as we follow Jesus Christ – and the deliverance of creation from the bondage of corruption hinges on Christ being unveiled in us and on us being unveiled in Him (Romans 8:18 – 25; Colossians 3:1 – 4; 2 Thess. 1:10 – 12; 1 Peter 1:3 – 9).

 

We’ll continue with this quote in the next post.