Heavenly Mindedness (74)

 

As we work through the final two paragraphs of Vos’s message, we are considering: “Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.”

 

In the last post we noted that there are three components to the above; “here,” “there,” and “pure, disinterested love,” then we considered the “there” of the three. Now let’s ask whether in this life we can really know how much we love God, that is, “to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love.” Or we might phrase it, “Can we really know the full extent of our subjective – experiential spiritual condition while “here” on this earth?”

 

I am reminded of Psalm 19:12 – 14: “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

 

Then we have Psalm 139:23 – 24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

 

Whenever I think about spiritual formation into the image of Jesus Christ, I have the sensation of being on the beach and pondering the ocean – its vastness and depth are overwhelming and comforting at the same time. Its sounds are usually soothing, but they can also be roiling and threatening. In some coastal areas, riptides are ever – present, in others their potential is there. While there are typically no visible markers, such as buoys, in the ocean, the seasoned sailor can read the currents, the skies, the stars; this reading can be enhanced with instruments. All of the foregoing has its counterpart in our pilgrimage in Christ. Most professing Christians sail within sight of land…assuming they enter the ocean at all, but those who trust the Holy Spirit and the Bible can anticipate the adventure of a lifetime.

 

When we recently explored 2 Cor. 3:17ff, Col. 3:1ff, and 1 John 3:1ff, we saw that our lives are to be focused on Jesus Christ, oriented toward Jesus Christ, and that it is as we behold Jesus Christ that we are transformed into His image. This is framework for our pilgrimage in this life.

 

Within this context and understanding we are told to examine ourselves in 1 Cor. 11:28, 2 Cor. 13:5, and Gal. 6:4. In Romans 12:1 – 2, we are told that, in light of Romans chapters 1 – 11 that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices, not being conformed to the world and the present age, but rather transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might prove what the perfect will of God is in our lives. This “presentation” of ourselves includes Romans 6:12 – 13, in which we present our “members as instruments of righteousness to God.” This certainly speaks to us of being engaged with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – the grace of God empowers us and acts upon us, our grace – enabled response is critical.

 

Then we have the enigmatic Philippians 2:12 – 13: “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Our working out of our salvation, of our holistic growth and trajectory in Jesus Christ, is only possible because God is at work in us – God is doing both the willing and the working. This is how we live, this is the dance of grace; and a mysterious dance it is.

 

I agree with Vos that it is impossible to measure our relationship with God in this life and that it is impossible to really know the complete nature of our love for Him…at least in one sense. After all, God’s love so far surpasses our love that our love, as it is transformed into His love, will always (I think) be growing in God – God is infinite are we are not, so I cannot imagine a time or place…whether here and now or in the far reaches of eternity…when His glorious love will not always be overwhelming us and our love (yes, yes, here again we have a mystery).

 

And so our orientation is not self-examination, it is not self-critique, but rather our orientation is Jesus Christ and the perfect and complete salvation which He has bought for us on the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension. The Christian life is not about tallying up debits and credits on a daily basis; we are justified by Jesus Christ…we must not fall into the trap of measuring debits and credits, and this includes the process of transformation into His image – this is a work of grace and of the Holy Spirit, it is not a work of self-righteousness. As Jesus says in John 15, without Him we can’t do anything.

 

However, this does not mean that we don’t experience conviction of sin in our lives, and that we don’t experience a continuing awareness of areas in which we are called to grow into the image of our Lord Jesus.

 

I’ll pick this back up in the next post.

 

 

Heavenly Mindedness (73)

 

“And the faith is the faith of the Psalmist, who spoke: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.

 

“It was because God discerned in the souls of the patriarchs, underneath all else, this personal love, this homesickness for Himself, that He caused to be recorded about them the greatest thing that can be spoken of any man: that God is not ashamed to be called their God, and that He has prepared for them the city of their desire.” G. Vos

 

As we continue to work through the final two paragraphs of Vos’s message, let’s ponder: “Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.”

 

There are three components to the above, “here,” “there,” and “pure, disinterested love.” We’ll look at the first and third, and then consider the second.

 

Is it really impossible for us to tell, in this life, how much we love God and the nature of our love for Him?

 

When we do see God face to face, will we think about such things? Will we look to our lives on this earth and consider how much we loved God and what the form of that love was? Will we look to our condition as it will then be, and measure our love for God?

 

Regarding the third element in the above, our future state in eternity, my sense is that we will be so caught up, so focused, so centered, in the Father and the Lamb; so filled with love for them and God’s love for us, and with their glory, that the idea of measuring ourselves – whether measuring our past life on this earth, or our life as it is then in the Trinity and with one another, will not enter our minds, hearts, or souls. This is my sense.

 

In 1 Corinthians 15:35ff Paul touches on the glory and substance of the Resurrection. In 2 Corinthians 3:1 – 18 Paul writes of the glory of the Gospel, of the New Covenant, and that it has a trajectory of what I’ll style as “open heavens” with a continual unveiling of Jesus Christ, an unveiling which transforms us into His image (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; recall our consideration of Colossians 3:1ff and 1 John 3:1ff).

 

In Dante’s journey into Paradise, Canto III, Dante the pilgrim, with an earthly mindset, wants to know whether those in the lower areas of Paradise want to aspire to higher areas, aren’t they thinking about progressing? Don’t they want to be farther “up there” with those higher than themselves? Dante the author’s answer to the question is fuller than what I’m going to quote and it demonstrates Dante the pilgrim’s inaccurate perception, for it is replete with assurance and joy and peace and contentment, but the following oft-quoted segment is the beginning of the answer to Dante’s question by a lady in Paradise:

 

“Brother, love’s virtue sets our will at rest,

and makes us wish for only what we have,

and doth not make us thirsty for aught else.

If higher we desired to be, our wishes

would be discordant with the will of Him,

who here discerneth us, which, thou wilt see,

can in these circles not occur, if love

be necessary to existence here,

and if love’s nature thou consider well.

Nay more, essential to this blessèd life

it is, that we should be within the Will

Divine, whereby our wills become one will;

and so, even as we are, from grade to grade

throughout this Realm, to all the Realm is pleasing,

as to its King, who in His Will in-wills us;

and His Will is our Peace; and that

the Ocean is, whereunto moveth all

that It creates, and all that Nature makes.”

 

Courtney Langdon, translator. Public Domain

 

We live by God’s grace here, we will live by God’s grace “there.” We live in Christ here, we will live in Christ “there.” My sense is that, as we behold Christ and the Father “there” that we will have no inclination, or thought, of self-assessment, of measurement, of comparison – for God will be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

We’ll pick this back up in the next post in this series.

Heavenly Mindedness (72)

 

“And the faith is the faith of the Psalmist, who spoke: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.

 

“It was because God discerned in the souls of the patriarchs, underneath all else, this personal love, this homesickness for Himself, that He caused to be recorded about them the greatest thing that can be spoken of any man: that God is not ashamed to be called their God, and that He has prepared for them the city of their desire.” G. Vos

Vos tells us, concerning heavenly – minded faith; “And the faith is the faith of the Psalmist, who spoke: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.”

 

Is there anyone in heaven who we desire other than the True and Living God? Is there anyone on earth who we desire other than the True and Living God? That is, does our desire to know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, does our desire to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength – surpass, eclipse, and envelope all other desires in our lives? Is the Trinity our orientation on earth? Is the Trinity our source of Light and Life and the ultimate purpose of our lives?

 

To be heavenly – minded is to be consumed by God and to be consumed with God. It is to say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

 

To be heavenly – minded is to continually present our “bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [or age], but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1 – 2).

 

To be heavenly – minded is to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. “For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulteress and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34 – 38).

 

My dear, dear friends – any message that purports to be the Gospel but does not require all that you have and all that you are in worship and service to Jesus Christ is not the Gospel; it may appeal to your sense of well – being, it may be religiously or socially acceptable, but it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gave His all for us, and He calls us to give our all to Him and for Him…and to love one another. (See 1 John 3:16).

 

When you meet someone who has Psalm 73:25 as her testimony you know it. There are many who have pseudo – Christian politics as their testimony. There are others who have one of many Christian “traditions” as their testimony. There are others who have some form of therapeutic “Christian” message as their testimony. But where, O where, are those who have Jesus Christ as their testimony? Where are those who are “all – in” for Jesus Christ? Not Jesus Christ as He is obscured and apologized for by many churches, but the raw and unfiltered Jesus Christ as we see Him in the Bible – the One Who commands that we surrender ALL to Him and devote our lives to Him?

 

Can we say, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth”? If we cannot say it, can we ask our Lord Jesus to give us a desire to say it, live it, and mean it? Can we desire to aspire to a life lived wholly in Christ and for Christ?

 

There was once a church which did good works, it toiled hard and persevered. It did not tolerate evil people or false teachers and was known for its steadfastness to the Name of Jesus Christ and had not grown weary. This people looked pretty good, they were commendable, and yet, Christ warned them that if they did not repent that He would remove them; He warned them that they were to “do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.”

 

Why? Why would the Lord Jesus Christ do this? Because He says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent…” (Revelation 2:1 – 7). The Ephesian church could no longer say, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You I desire nothing on earth.”

 

Friends, as the Ephesians, we can have the right doctrine, we can discern between true and false teaching; we can have good works, even great works in which we persevere in the face of opposition, but if we do not love Jesus Christ, if our lives are not devoted to Him in love, obedience, worship, and affection; if we are not laying down our lives for one another, if we are not “all – in” for Jesus Christ, then dear friends, whatever we may think we have, it is not the Gospel of the Bible, it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for Biblical Christianity is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is Biblical Christianity. The Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ must ever be our North Star.

 

Throughout his message on Heavenly – Mindedness, Vos has been leading us to Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You I desire nothing on earth.”

 

Is this my testimony today? Is this our testimony?

 

Is this your testimony?

 

 

 

Heavenly Mindedness (71)

 

I want to quote once again Vos’s conclusion, for it is our destination, it is where Vos has been taking us in his message in Hebrews Chapter 11 on Heavenly – Mindedness, what do you “see” in these paragraphs?

 

“Finally the highest thing that can be spoken about this city is that it is the city of our God, that He is in the midst of it. Traced to its ultimate root heavenly-mindedness is the thirst of the soul after God, the living God. The patriarchs looked not for some city in general, but for a city whose builder and maker was God.

 

“It is characteristic of faith that it not merely desires the perfect but desires the perfect as a work and gift of God. A heaven that was not illumined by the light of God, and not a place for closest embrace of Him, would be less than heaven. God as builder and maker thereof has put the better part of Himself into his work. Therefore those who enter the city are in God. The thought is none other than that of the seer in the Apocalypse:

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”

 

“And the faith is the faith of the Psalmist, who spoke: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.

 

“It was because God discerned in the souls of the patriarchs, underneath all else, this personal love, this homesickness for Himself, that He caused to be recorded about them the greatest thing that can be spoken of any man: that God is not ashamed to be called their God, and that He has prepared for them the city of their desire.” G. Vos

 

We have come to the two concluding paragraphs of Vos’s message; in the penultimate paragraph Vos quotes Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” May I ask you to read this verse in your Bible? May I ask you to read this psalm in your Bible? What is the story of Psalm 73? What part does verse 25 play in this psalm? Is this psalm, and this particular verse, woven into the fabric of your life, or is this the first time you’ve considered Psalm 73?

 

Vos has spoken to us about living a heavenly – minded life, a life which looks not at the things that are “seen,” but rather the things of God which are unseen. The psalmist allows himself to be drawn into the things that are “seen,” he looks at the visible world around him and despairs, until he comes into the sanctuary of God (verse 17) and then his eyes are opened once again to the invisible and understanding is renewed within him, and he realizes that he had been like a beast before the Lord in his perception of the world around him. O but what assurance he expresses in, “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory” (verses 23 – 24). Even when we live in beastly understanding, our God will not forsake us. Let us listen to the LORD in Psalm 32:8 – 9:

 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the Way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you.”

 

We will return to Psalm 73:25 in our next post in this series. In the meantime, what do you see in this psalm?

 

Heavenly Mindedness (70)

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  [G. Vos using excerpts from Revelation chapters 21 & 22]

 

“…and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  

 

Now we come to the third passage in our trio of passages consisting of 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18, Colossians 3:1 – 4, and 1 John 3:1 -3. All three of these passages demonstrate that as we behold Jesus Christ, that as our lives are orientated toward Him, centered in Him, devoted to Him; that we are transformed into His image and that His Name and the Father’s Name are written on our foreheads – that is, our minds are made new – new heavens dwelling within tabernacles that will one Day become new earth. Even as our inner persons are made alive, a Day will come when our bodies will also be made alive (Romans 8:23; Philippians 3:21).

 

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:1 – 3.

 

Note that in Colossians 3:3 that Paul says that our lives are “hidden with Christ in God,” and that in 1 John 3:1 we are told that “the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” While I think there are differences between our lives being hidden in Christ and the world not knowing us, the similarity is important – we are identified with Jesus Christ, we are “in” Jesus Christ, and it is the recognition of Jesus Christ that is important, we are to seek to make Jesus known, not ourselves.

 

 When Jesus appears we will be like Him. We can also say that, “When Jesus appears we become like Him.” Or, “As Jesus appears we become like Him.” That is, the more we see Jesus the more we take on His image. This resonates with 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18 and Colossians 3:1 – 4; as our eyes seek Jesus, as they are fixed on Jesus, as they behold Jesus…we become like Jesus – both as individuals and as His People. As we become like Jesus the Name of the Father and of the Lamb is placed in us.

 

“And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” As we behold the Lamb of God the glory of His holiness, purity, love, and truth, the radiance of His Being, cleanses and purifies our spirits, souls, hearts, and minds. That is, His Presence burns away our dross, purges our self-centeredness, casts the idols out of our temples, and expels impurities – so that “the Lord whom we seek, comes suddenly into His Temple.” We may also say that He also comes progressively into His Temple and that He will do so until that Perfect Day arrives. (Thomas Chalmers focused on this dynamic in his sermon, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection).

 

You see, my dear friends, the only long-term hope we have for our healing and transformation is Jesus Christ and deep relationship with Him. All other hopes and healings, including those of the so-called social “sciences,” even when given Christian trappings, fall short. Do we seriously not think that the Son of God cannot bring holistic healing to His People? Of course, such healing is meant to be found within the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11 – 16) and this can be a problem if we are not living as His Body, “growing up into Him in all things.” But is it not better to acknowledge our deficiencies and seek His Face for our growth and transformation and healing? Is it not better to throw ourselves at His feet and plead for His mercy and grace? Might we not believe His promise that “everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”?

 

I hope you will meditate on this trio of transformative passages and that they will be woven into the fabric of your soul; for dear, dear friends, we were born to know Jesus, to love Jesus, to seek Jesus, to be hidden in Jesus, identified with Jesus…true Christianity is Jesus Christ, the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ – Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last; He is the Author and Completer of our faith, of our lives – Jesus Christ is our destiny. To be heavenly – minded is to be seeking Jesus Christ, transformed into His image; O what a glorious Day awaits us, let us allow the grace of God to draw us deeper and deeper, closer and closer, to that Day as the Name of the Father and of the Lamb is written on our foreheads.

Heavenly Mindedness (69)

 

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  [G. Vos using excerpts from Revelation chapters 21 & 22]

 

“…and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  

 

How shall we see the Face of God? How shall the Name of God, His Nature, be written on our foreheads? Vos’s message on Heavenly – mindedness is anchored in Hebrews Chapter 11, and yet his conclusion propels us into Revelation chapters 21 and 22, for our union with God in Revelation is the fruit of Christ’s redemptive work and grace and love in us, and of our heavenly – mindedness in Him. When we know our true nature, which in Christ is the Divine Nature; and when we know our true purpose, which in Christ is koinonia with the Trinity, then heavenly – mindedness becomes a Way of Life; it is not only how we live, it becomes in Christ who we are.

 

Continuing with Colossians 3:1 – 4:

 

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

 

What do you see in this passage? What do you see about Christ? What do you see about yourself? What do you see about your position in Christ? What do you see about your activity in Christ? What do you see about your life’s orientation?

 

Note that in verse 9 that we “have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” Note in verse 11 that in this renewal, in the People of God, “Christ is all, and in all.”

 

Then in verse 12 we read, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved…”

 

We see that we have been raised up with Christ, that we have died [with Christ] and that our lives are hidden in Chris, that we have put on the new self and that this new self is being  renewed in the image of God, and that we have been chosen of God and that we are holy and beloved.

 

Now then, is this the way we think about ourselves? Is this the way we think about one another when we gather together? Is this the way you think about yourself? Is this the way you think about the glorious salvation which Jesus Christ has brought to you and to your sisters and brothers?

 

If not, then why not? Do we not believe the Scriptures? Do we look to ourselves and not to Jesus Christ? Do we make our experience – whether high or low – our benchmark, our view of reality, or do we trust the Word of God and “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7)?

 

Do you see yourself as raised up with Christ, out of the tomb of sin and death? Do you see yourself as a new creation in Jesus Christ? This is the way, in Christ, you are called to think about yourself – do not deny the completeness of the salvation that Jesus Christ has accomplished for you and in you. This salvation is so much more than the forgiveness of sins, it encompasses our inheritance as the sons and daughters of the living God, as those who have not only been raised from spiritual death (Eph. 2:5), but who have also been raised to sit in the heavens in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6).

 

“…keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” The title of Vos’s message is Heavenly Mindedness. The motif of Hebrews Chapter 11 is faithful pilgrimage, looking for that City whose builder and maker is God; living life with the eyes of faith, living according to the reality of the unseen, invisible, and eternal Kingdom, as opposed to the temporal and visible. We are to “keep seeking” the things above, for our treasure is in heaven and not on earth (Matthew 6:19 – 24).

 

We want to keep seeking Christ, beholding Jesus Christ, following Jesus Christ – loving Jesus Christ with all that we have and all that we are. Do we want to love Jesus more today than we did yesterday? Do we want to know Jesus more deeply today than we did yesterday? Do we want to spend more time with Jesus today than we did yesterday? Is Jesus Christ our all-consuming passion and desire?

 

Are you a man, or a woman, or a young person, who belongs to Jesus Christ? Are you pursuing Jesus Christ? Look at those words, “keep seeking.” What image do these words convey? When others look at us, do they see us seeking Jesus Christ? Should others want to learn to seek Jesus, can they look at us as examples of how to do that?

 

Our orientation is to be above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that we can be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good – let me tell you a little secret, that is a lie from hell. How can seeking Jesus Christ be of no earthly good? Was not Jesus Christ consistently seeking His Father in heaven? Was the Father not His source of life, His source of action, His source out of which He give His life for us – healing, feeding, saving, redeeming, delivering from darkness, dying for us, rising for us? (John 3:6, 13; 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10; 17:4).

 

On our day of judgement, and make no mistake, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10; see also 1 Cor. 3:10 – 17); Paul is writing to Christians, so if you think that you will not be judged, when Paul knew that he (and we) would be judged, you are believing a lie…

 

On our day of judgement, do we think it will go like this:

 

Christ says to us, “Where have you been? I have not seen much of you here in the heavens.”

 

“O Jesus, I knew you were up here, but I had so much to think about on earth, so much to give my attention to, so much with which to be occupied.”

 

“Really? Did you not read Colossians Chapter 3? I had Paul write that to my people. Also, did you ever to read Geerhardus Vos’s message on Heavenly Mindedness? I had him preach that to my people. I have had many of my servants write and preach such messages.”

 

“I read Colossians 3, and I did read Vos’s message, and I’m sure I’ve heard and read similar things, but I kept reminding myself on Mondays that what I heard on Sundays needed to be filtered through what I’d also heard, that we can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.”

 

“So that is why I haven’t seen much of you Bob?”

 

What about you dear reader?

 

Heavenly Mindedness (68)

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  [G. Vos using excerpts from Revelation chapters 21 & 22]

 

“…and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  

 

Now let’s ponder Colossians 3:1 – 4. What do we see? How is it related to 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18? How are both of these passages related to 1 John 3:1 – 3?

 

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1; see also Ephesians 2:4 – 7).

 

In order to capture an element of context:

 

We are to be pleasing Him “in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power according to His glorious might (Col. 1:10 – 11)”…living in the knowledge that in Christ we have “all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3)…and that “in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9) and that in Him we “have been made complete” (2:10).

 

While in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 there is a contrast between the Law of Moses as the letter that kills and condemns, and the New Covenant that gives life and transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ, in Colossians the dangers have a swirling complexity:

 

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). I think we could add the social sciences to this, in that we have exalted social science to be the arbiter of much of what we do, how we think, and what we trust; we have replaced God’s Way with man’s social and therapeutic understanding. We have brought idols into the Temple.

 

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day…Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind…If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why as if you were living in the world do you submit yourself to decrees, such as Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch! (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) – in accordance with the commandments of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self – made religion and self – abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” (These are excerpts from Chapter 2).

 

Thus we have the lead – in to Chapter 3, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

 

In light of the foregoing, we are to “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity…” We are to live as those who are being “renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him,” and to realize that we are “chosen of God, holy and beloved.”

 

In Colossians 2:20 we have “died with Christ.” In Colossians 3:3 we have “died and your life is hidden in Christ in God.” In Colossians 3:5 we are “to consider the members of our earthly bodies” as dead to sin. (See also Romans Chapter 6, and Galatians 2:20).

 

Can we begin to grasp the context of Colossians 3:1 – 4? How are we thinking about ourselves? Do we see ourselves in Christ, and do we see Christ in us, our hope of glory? (Colossians 1:27). Do we see the work of Jesus Christ as complete, or do we think we need to add to the work and Person of Jesus Christ in one of the many ways the Colossians were tempted to do in Chapter 2? Is Jesus Christ truly our treasure house? Is He our all in all? (Colossians 1:13 – 20; 2:1 – 10).

 

O dear friends, these are not just words, nor are they simply ideas – Jesus Christ is our source of life and the one and only source of our inheritance. These images and teachings and paradigms in Christ open our souls, our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and our bodies to be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19), calling us into the koinonia of the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3).

 

The pores of our skin should be oozing the glory of Colossians, we should be saturated with the Word of God, with Jesus Christ. We are called to be “a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:14 – 16). How can it be that we can be among others and no one sense the aroma of Jesus Christ? How can it be that the professing – church blend in with the world, looking to the world for legitimacy and acceptance? Can we hear Paul saying, “why, as if you were living in the world...”? (Col. 2:20).

 

Can we see the heavenly – mindedness of Colossians? Are we setting our minds “on the things above, not on the things that are on earth”? Are we living heavenly – minded lives in Jesus Christ and with one another? What does the story of Colossians look like in your life? In the life of your congregation? In your denomination or movement?

 

We’ll pick Colossians 3:1 – 4 back up in the next post, the Lord willing.

Heavenly Mindedness (67)

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  [G. Vos using excerpts from Revelation chapters 21 & 22]

 

“…and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  

 

At the conclusion of the previous post, I asked you to compare 2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; Colossians 3:1 – 4; and 1 John 3:1 – 3. What do you see when you consider these three passages? What are their patterns? How does the Holy Spirit speak to us when we meditate on them? How might these passages be appropriate for Advent? What do these passages teach us?

 

Well, for sure they are appropriate for Advent in that, as Athanasius taught, Christ became as we are so that we might become as He is; and note 1 John 4:17, “…as He is, so also are we in this world.” Even now we sit in Christ in the heavens (Eph. 2:4 – 7), and we are “complete in Him” (Col. 2:10; Heb. 10:10). Yet, we have the tension of realizing that “…it has not appeared as yet what we will be” (1 Jn. 3:2). But, yet again, the glorious unveiling of Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27), is such that it will bring about, and coincide with, the deliverance of creation from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). In some enigmatic fashion the creation knows this, even if we don’t (Rom. 8:22). Note the word “freedom” in Rom. 8:21 and in 2 Cor. 3:17, freedom in the glory of God is a hallmark of the salvation that Jesus Christ has given to us – we are not to continue in slavery and fear, for we have received the very Spirit of the Living God, and His Spirit in us causes us to cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

 

Consider Paul’s words in 1 Thess. 2:13 – 14:

 

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

O dear friends, it is our Lord’s desire that we receive His glory, live in His glory, and share His glory; indeed, this is our Lord’s very prayer for us (John 17:22, 24). What a tragedy that we do not acknowledge this, teach this, live this. What a travesty that we do not live in the forensic and organic reality of justification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and deep assurance in the Word of God that we are “beloved by the Lord” and that God has called us to “gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (see also Romans 8:28 – 39). 

Can the angels believe that while our Father desires to treat us as sons and daughters, and that while our Lord Jesus Christ desires to treat us as brothers and sisters (see Hebrews chapter 2), that we insist on rejecting their glorious love for us, living as infants at best, and as slaves to sin at worst? Why do we reject the freedom that we have in Christ and insist on wearing grave clothes when Jesus Christ commands, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:44)? Isn’t it time we leave the stench in the tomb? Can we not find assurance in Christ and grace for one another to unwrap the grave clothes that bind our hearts and minds, that keep us from freedom of movement in Christ?

 

What do we see in the above three passages?

 

They all speak of transformation into the image of Christ. They all give us a picture of lives focused on Jesus Christ, orientated toward Jesus Christ, beholding Jesus Christ. The principle is, as we behold Jesus Christ we are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18 is preceded by a glorious contrast between Christ and the Spirit of life, and Moses and the Law of condemnation, the letter which kills.

 

“…not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death…for if the ministry of condemnation…much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” 

Now I think the reality is that most of us have difficulty with these statements and prefer to gloss over them and explain them away. We are embarrassed that Paul wrote them, and others like them, after all, it’s the Law of Moses we’re talking about, the Law that God gave on Sinai…this is embarrassing. And yet, the trajectory of 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 is our transformation into the image of Jesus Christ as we live in the freedom and liberty that we have in the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant. The Law of Moses cannot transform us into the image of Jesus Christ, the Law cannot produce godly living, the Law cannot transform our hearts and minds; we will not find transformative Life in the Law, but we will find Life in Jesus Christ.

 

There is a similar, though more complex, trajectory in Colossians chapters 2 and 3, which we’ll consider in a future post; for now I’ll point out that in Colossians chapter 2 Paul is dealing with both the Law as well as various forms of so–called special or hidden “knowledge.” When we ponder 1 John 3 we’ll see another trajectory, in chapter 2 John deals with the world (this present age) and the antichrist. What I’m saying is that all three of our paradigmatic passages of transformation into the image of Christ are contrasted with passages having to do with things that destroy our souls. We see the same contrast in Revelation 14, in which those faithful to the Lamb have the name of the Lamb and of the Father written in their foreheads; this is in contrast to the name of the beast in Revelation 13. The name (or number) of the beast transforms into the image of the beast, the Name of the Lamb and the Name of the Father transform into the image of God. Which name are we receiving today?

 

I suppose I should point out that to realize that the Law of Moses can only bring death and condemnation is not the same as teaching that Genesis – Malachi can only bring death and condemnation, or even that Exodus – Deuteronomy can only bring death and condemnation; what we call the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch, is critical to our life in Christ. Why? Because Jesus Christ is revealed in Exodus – Deuteronomy, as indeed He is throughout Genesis – Malachi; and this revelation of Him is critical to the Gospel witness, it is critical and foundational for the New Testament and our life in Christ.

 

At its most basic, we ought to see that the resurrected Jesus Christ revealed Himself to His disciples through the Old Testament (see two instances of this in Luke 24). If we cannot see Jesus Christ in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, then we ought to be on our faces with open Bibles imploring the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and ears and hearts to His Word. Were we to excise all direct references, implied references, and Old Testament patterns and paradigms from the New Testament, the New Testament would cease to exist. So let us not make the heretical error of thinking that to teach others that Christ has freed us from the Law of Moses means that we should not teach and glory in the Old Testament, that thinking is foolishness…and make no mistake, it is heretical.

 

We’ll come back to our passages in 2 Corinthians 3, Colossians 3, and 1 John 3 in the next post.