08/02/09    A Matter of Perspective    Colossians 3:1-4 and others

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We recently finished a series of lessons on Sunday evenings called Principles of Bible Interpretation, or Hermeneutics.  The purpose of the class was to help us know how to approach the Bible and understand what it is saying.  We want to learn how to exegete Scripture by letting Scripture speak for itself, and interpret itself.  What we want to avoid when we come to the Bible is eisegesis, or injecting meaning into the text based upon our own point of view.

All of us are exegetes.  We interpret a lot more than the Bible during the course of a day.  We all practice our skills of interpretation all day, every day.  As we live out every hour of our lives, we interpret the information coming into our minds.  How do we understand the news reports we hear?  How do we interpret the conversation we’re having with the lady at the bank?  How do we interpret what the doctor is saying?  How do we correctly understand the bill we got in the mail or a conversation with a five year old?

One of the most important aspects of correctly interpreting the events of our lives has to do with context.  Yesterday, I heard what had to be one of the most boring monologues I have ever heard in my life.  It was emanating from the property across the street from our house.  This guy went on for hours, nearly all day long, and people were sitting there listening to him, and nobody was falling asleep.  

He spoke in an extremely monotone voice, except for an occasional rise in his intonation.  And his speech was so fast, I couldn’t understand what he was saying.  To me, it sounded kinda like “blibbety, blibbety, blibbety, BLAH, blibbety, blibbety, blibbety, BLAH, blibbety, blibbety, blibbety, BLAH.”  And there were some numbers interspersed here and there among the blibbety-blahs.  And he would point to someone every once in a while when they held up these little cards like at the Olympics.

What does all that mean?  What is the correct interpretation of “blibbety-blah”?  It all depends upon context.  On the nightly news, it would be ridiculous.  But in an auction, it’s considered normal.  That’s just what auctioneers do at auctions.  How we interpret all of life is dependent upon context.

Another huge factor that affects our understanding of life is our perspective, our point of view, or our vantage point from which we see the world.  That greatly influences how we understand everything.  Sometimes it is rather subtle, but at other times it can be overwhelming.  For example, sometimes it is literally a matter of how tall or short we are.  I don’t interpret my surroundings today the way I did when I was the size of Josiah.  He has made a huge change in how he perceives the world within the past couple of weeks because he can walk now.  His perception of everything has changed by about a foot.  He now understands that the bottoms of tables hurt when you walk into them.  That’s a new concept to him that he did not grasp a couple of weeks ago.  You gotta watch where you’re going.

Geography affects our perspective.  Life and culture in the mountains is different from life in Kansas.  Living at the beach is different from living in Pittsburgh.  Living in Chester, SC is very different from living in Tokyo.  Life is interpreted differently, depending upon your history, your culture, your location, your age, your language, your physical size.  All of these things affect our perspective.

According to the Scriptures, the most powerful influence upon one’s perspective on life is one’s spiritual condition.  There are two possible spiritual conditions: Dead and Alive.  If you are spiritually dead, your perspective on life is horizontal, fleshly, worldly, temporal, and blind to all things “Spiritual.”  If you are spiritually alive, you have a lot more options.  The person whose spiritual eyes have been opened sees absolutely everything, all of life, all events, all circumstances, from a point of view that is completely foreign to the spiritually blind person.  I believe that is why we refer to it as “the new birth” or regeneration.

Look again at Colossians 3.  Paul is talking to us about spiritual perspective.  How should we view this life as Christians?  What should be our interpretation of what we see and hear every day?  Here is what he is saying: The believer in Christ has died, has been buried with Christ, has been raised from the dead with Christ, and has even been already seated with the Lord Jesus in Heaven.  Spiritually speaking, the Christian is IN Christ.  Since that is true, consider everything from a heavenly perspective.  Interpret all of life from God’s point of view.  If you do, you will find this life to be not only bearable, but joyful.

How does that play out, practically speaking?  What affect does setting our minds on things above and not on earthly things have upon our day to day living?  I believe a heavenly mindset enables us to persevere all the way to the end.  Look with me at 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:10.  Paul explains there how a heavenly mindset, or maybe we could call it a celestial world view, affected his own life as an apostle and a minister of the Gospel.

1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Chapter 5
1 For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

This is the practical effect of setting your mind on things above: “In our afflictions, we are not crushed.  In our perplexities, we do not despair.  In our persecutions, we are not forsaken.  Even though we are struck down, we are not destroyed.  We do not lose heart.  We are always of good courage.  Our aim in this life, as long as we are in these mortal bodies, is to please Him.”   Beloved, that is the result of a heavenly perspective.  It creates what we read of in the book of Romans: Conquerors.  Invincibility.  37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8)

Notice that Paul does not say, “We are not affected by affliction”.  Rather, he says the inevitable afflictions that come to us in this life do not crush us.  Sometimes, we are perplexed.  Sometimes we do suffer persecution, life is difficult, there are days when it’s just hard to get out of bed and keep going.  But because our minds and hearts are practiced in the skill of interpreting life from heaven’s point of view rather than from an earthly perspective, we are not overwhelmed by the struggles and heartaches and difficulties of living in a fallen world.  Rather, we overcome them.

The other option we have available to us is to continue to think the way we used to, before we knew Christ.  Back then, we thought like everybody else.  Our minds were set on things that are on earth.  That’s all we knew.  We were blinded to the spiritual world, we were strangers to the concept of a Sovereign God, and dead to this spiritual life.  That’s the only way we could think.  But as believers, we are encouraged by Paul to rise above the thinking of the world and be heavenly-minded.  We are capable of still thinking the old way, but we must not.  Listen to Paul’s explanation of being spiritually minded in Romans 8:

Romans 8 ESV

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Fleshly, worldy, horizontal thinking, or what Paul refers to in Colossians 2:8&20 as thinking according to the elemental spirits of the world, is the same as setting our minds on things that are on the earth rather than on things that are above. Our minds are to be set on the Spirit, on truly spiritual things.  Not Oprah-spiritual things, but upon the truth that is according to Christ.  That mindset, according to Paul, IS life and peace.  The mind that is set on the Spirit IS life and peace.

How else can Paul live the life he lives as an Apostle to the Gentiles, a life filled with danger on every side, a life of perplexity, and persecution, and affliction and trouble, and say, “We do not lose heart.  We are always of good courage.”  That is an attitude that truly is beyond this worldly realm.  It is from mind that is set, fixed on things above.  Again, listen to Paul in Philippians 3.

Philippians 3:17-21 ESV

    17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Notice what he says about the mind that is set on earthly things: they “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame.  Is that not the opposite of the mind set on the Spirit: Life and peace!  Always of good courage!  We do not lose heart!  Our citizenship IS in Heaven!  Not ”will be in Heaven,” but IS already in Heaven!

When we are troubled “beyond measure”, when we find ourselves despairing because of our terrible circumstances, when we go beyond just being sad or discouraged and we begin to delve into a sinful attitude of doubt and fear, and we want to criticize our sovereign God and complain about our lot in life -- we get into that state of mind because of a wrong perspective.  We have ceased to look at things from heaven’s point of view.  We may be raised with Christ and seated with Him in the Heavenlies, but our minds are stuck here in the back lot making mud pies here on earth.

Look again with me at Colossians 3 and verses 3 and 4.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Your life is hidden.  How do we interpret that?  What does Paul mean?  The life of the Christian is hidden with Christ in God.  Here’s what I think he is talking about:

2Cor. 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

As we live this life on this horizontal plane, we are simultaneously living another life on a vertical plane.  Our hope is in that vertical life where our inner nature is being renewed daily.  This life is the preparation for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  This life with all of its troubles is where we are fitted for eternity.  It is like the building of Solomon’s Temple.  Almost in passing, the writer of that account pens these words in 1Kings 6:

7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

We are in the quarry.  In this life we experience the hammers and the chisels constantly.  But consider what we are being prepared for!  Consider what your pains and struggles and afflictions are for!  We are being transformed into not only a Temple, but we are being made into the image of Christ Himself!  THAT my friends, is the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  Brethren, set your mind upon THAT!  You and I are being fashioned here in this world of woe, for a life in Heaven with Christ, LIKE Christ!

But why does Paul say our lives are hidden?  Verse 4: When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory!

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time [here in the quarry] are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  

Presently, the sons of God are hidden in Christ from the world.  They do not know or understand who we really are.  We don’t even fully understand it.  But one day, when Christ is revealed to the world in glory, we also who have died, who have been raised from the dead with Him, and who have been seated with Him in Heaven, WE also will be revealed in glory with Him when He comes.  Then the world will know who we are, Whose we are, and who He is.  

1Peter 4:12  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you. . .

1John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

The world does not know us because our true identities have been hidden with Christ in God.  But when He appears, the world will suddenly know Him AND us!  This life will have been used to prepare us for Heaven.  When He comes, we will be revealed with Him in His glory, and in our glory, in that eternal weight of glory that cannot be compared with anything in this world!  This is how the mind that is set on things above thinks.  This is the perspective we must keep in mind.  

Because this life IS hard, this life IS filled with disappointment and discouragement.  

This life IS NOT conducive to deep spiritual thinking.  That is why we must rise above the noise of a fallen world and set our minds upon the reality of our hidden, spiritual life in Christ.  It is then that we interpret this life rightly, our perspective is accurate, our exegesis of this life is according to Christ, and we live in a manner that is pleasing and honoring to the one who saved us for glory.

More to come!