LIVING IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY
Colossians 3:1-4
Jerry A Collins
SCC
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Where do you
have your affections?
v
What does it
mean to live in light of eternity?
v
How can I set
my mind on eternal things?
In the book, “His Excellency:George Washington”, the author makes the case that
everything George Washington did he did with his legacy in mind. He was well
aware of how history would view him and he wanted to determine how that view
would be remembered. His decisions as the leader of the American Revolution, as
President of the constitutional Convention, his place as the first American
president and then reelection for a second term were all orchestrated and
managed by in such a way as to how he would be remembered by future
generations. All of this was a focus on how things would be viewed temporally,
on this side of the grave, from a worldly perspective. Now this kind of
preoccupation is foreign to a believer who is learning to view life from God’s
point of view. It is not about our legacy—what we will leave behind and how
people will think of us. We have a brand new position before God because f
Jesus Christ and this new position brings with it a
different vantage point from which we are to live our lives. We will learn from
Colossians 3 that our lives are to be ‘lived in light of eternity.’ But what
does that mean and how do we do it? Those questions are answered for us and
these answers are especially pertinent because all around us society and
culture are driven by what one lives for temporally—this side of the grave.
1. WE
HAVE A BRAND NEW POSITION TO LIVE FROM
If suggests that ‘since’ something has happened to us
that something changes everything—our direction, our perspective, our ambition,
our affection. This is assumed to be true for us. What’s that?
Been
raised up with Christ This is a
return to the argument in 2:9-15 of our union with Christ in His death, burial
and resurrection. So this is assumed to be true for us as believers not because
it is a possibility but because it is a reality and since it is there must be
something different driving us while we are in this world. The fact is we have
been raised together in Christ. This reality brings with it an extra dimension
of life—an invisible reality, one the world cannot see and does not have. This
new reality is right inside of us. It is Christ in you the hope of glory. So we
no longer take our cue from this world. We have no interest about legacies and
reputations to uphold here. This resurrection is a description suggesting Jesus
authority and his greatness in our lives. So our devotion belongs to Him and
Him alone. We live, then from this new position. It orients our lives and
focuses our attention elsewhere not on ourselves.
2. OUR
NEW POSITION BRINGS A NEW VANTAGE POINT TO US
Since we have been raised in Christ, our new
position a brand new identity, then we must set our hearts on heavenly things.
We do hat in two ways:
Keep
seeking This present imperative
means that we are to do that for treasures in heaven. Our attention is to be
fixed on things above where we have our new position sealed by death, burial
and resurrection. That place where we will ultimately be glorified. And he says
two things about that place. First, it is where Christ is. He is there right
now even though He is everywhere. He is there preparing a place for us even
now. It is the place where God is personally. Jesus tells us that where he is
we shall be also. Second, it is where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God
the Father. Christ is up there and at God’s right hand. He is there as a
mediator for us. This describes Jesus authority and greatness—He occupies the
supreme position there. So He alone is the focus of my attention. Everything
about me is now tied to Him. He has saved me. He has delivered me. He has
raised me up. He is my life. He has defeated the forces of evil and our enemy,
death. It only makes sense then to keep on seeking help from there, mercy and
grace from there. While I am here I am seeking perspective from there. I can do this by studying God’s Word. This
gives me heaven’s vantage point. I can think on earth like they think in heaven
while I am on earth. I can walk and talk and live and act as a foreigner. Like
Jesus, people can say, no one has ever spoken like this before. No one has that
kind of perspective. No one live with priorities like that. Of course not! The
world cannot think and act and consider and decide like they do in heaven. That
is why the Bible is called ‘Revelation’. It is the disclosure of the mind and
heart of God to us. We could never have figured out any of the stuff recorded
in the Bible. We would still be trying to save ourselves—well all world
religions still teach that! Love your wives
as you do your bodies, love your enemies, speak evil of no man, don’t look only
on your own interests but also on interests of others and so much more would
never be an earthly pursuit. It is from heavens point of view and that is what
we are called to pursue in every dimension of our lives!
Keep
thinking the second imperative is
to ‘keep on thinking about’ this. We not only make heavenly thinking our
ambition we make it our preoccupation vs 2. You must
not only seek heaven you must also think heaven! The 1st suggests
striving while the second suggests concentrating and both for the whole of our
lives. In contrast, the verse states ‘not on the things that are on the earth’.
Possessions, persuasions and pursuits of this world should never be our aim, our
goal, our master. While we have our feet on earth we
must have our ambition and preoccupation in heaven. So things recorded in vs 5 must be avoided since they have nothing to do with our
lives from our heavenly vantage point. These things only invite God’s wrath vs 6 and now in Christ we must simply ‘put these things
away’ vs 8-9 like we do our old clothes that do not
fit us anymore. Instead we can ‘put on’ new things now 10-11 like brand new
clothes that fit us and are useful in lite of our new
life. Your greatest struggle in your xian life will be to apply heavenly thinking to your
earthly situations. Whether raising your kids, or conflict resolution, money
management, ministry priorities, job performance, sexuality, time management,
all of this and more will be challenged by heaven’s point of view. What will
you do when it is? That will determine whether you believe God has your best
interests at heart or not! It will come down to who you want to please. Do you
want to please men or do you want to please God? The fact that these are two
commands tells us it will be a struggle to apply heavenly thinking to our
earthly living but we must live in light of our destiny. The saddest aspect of
anyone’s ministry in lives of others is the knowledge that those you love and
shepherd and pray for and care about will choose to follow the ways of the
world even though they have heavens vantage point. This only brings ruin and
lives wasted on both sides of the grave. It is possible for a believer to veer
from the correct path and follow the ways of the world. A mother this week
confessed that her son, a believer, wanting something so very badly and in
jeopardy of not getting it, one nite screamed ‘I just
wish God would stay out of my life’. Be careful, God may grant you that wish
and let you have what you want with the consequences. Pursue the eternal.