It happened all too quickly. Several days earlier they had been joking and laughing with one another, preparing for the arrival of a dear friend. Now they stood weeping before a sepulcher feeling all hope was gone. The nightmare hit like a thief in the night. It came without warning, and it came full of fury. When it hit, they immediately sent for the only one they knew could help. They sat, night after night, beside the bedside of their dying brother assuring him help was on the way. But as the breaths grew shallower and the heart beat fainter, they wondered if help would arrive in time. It did not. Now their brother was in a grave, and the one they sought had finally decided to show. Even worse, he admitted the delay had been deliberate. The great physician had arrived after the funeral director had gone. What could he do now? The answer came in a simple pronouncement. “Lazarus, come forth!” And the one that had been dead; the one bound in a garment of grave clothes, came forth in resurrection power.
Do you think that brief brush with death changed Lazarus’ perspective of life? Do you think he looked at a flower differently? Do you think he embraced his family more passionately? Having caught a glimpse of the glories to come, do you think he ever longed to go back? Did he gaze into the sky and smile because he saw something no one else could see?
You and I have a great deal in common with Lazarus. We too, were once dead, for the Bible tells us we were dead in sin. We were bound in the grave clothes of sin and shame. And the one who called Lazarus forth, has called us to Himself and made us His own through the shedding of blood on a hill called Mount Calvary. The Bible says, “But God being rich in mercy
because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). You were dead, but now you are alive in Christ; and your resurrection ought to change the way you look at life.
If you have been raised with Christ it ought to affect how you look at life. In the third chapter of Colossians Paul tells us a resurrected life is a heaven focused life. The key to living the risen life on earth is to have a life focused on Christ who is in heaven. A resurrected life is a heaven focused life.
The opening verses of chapter three act as transitional hinge between the primary doctrinal section of chapters one and two, and the primary practical section of chapters three and four. This is a common pattern in the Pauline epistles. In the opening chapters of this letter to the Colossians, Paul has been confronting a hideous false teaching that threatened to pervert the purity of the gospel. The false teachers being confronted had attacked the person and work of Jesus Christ. They had tried to make Him less than God and thus, insufficient to meet the needs of man. If Christ was insufficient, these believers must submit themselves to a rigorous regiment of rules and regulations if they hoped to be right with God. Paul has thoroughly destroyed this damnable heresy by reminding the believers of who Jesus was, and what He had done for them. Now Paul turns his attention to how we should act because of what Jesus has done for us. Your belief ought to affect your behavior. Who you are ought to be evident in what you do. Paul begins this section of his letter on practical application by pointing to an obvious affirmation: ‘You have been raised up with Christ.’ The text says, “If then you have been raised up with Christ,” (v.1) but the conditional clause is in the first class, meaning it is a statement assuming truth. “If you have been raised with Christ”, and you know that you have. The statement is actually closing the picture of baptism Paul began in verse twenty.
Baptism is a beautiful image of our identification with Christ. When an individual is baptized, we lower them under the water. It is a symbol of death. But we do not leave them under the water. The Bible says, “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away, behold all things become new.”( 2 Corinthians 5:17) Our resurrection ought to change our perspective on life. It alters our point of view. It changes our standard of judgment. It rearranges our life priorities. We no longer focus on the here because this world is not our home. Although we exist in this world, we are not of this world; we are citizens of heaven, so our resurrection ought to elevate our eyesight.
SEEK HEAVEN! IT IS WHERE YOUR HELP IS FOUND. (v.1)
The verse literally says, “Keep on seeking”. Make it the ongoing passion and priority of your life. We do not seek heaven for heaven’s sake; we seek heaven because that is where our help resides. The psalmist declared in Psalm 121, “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help? My help comes from the Lord.” (Psalm 121:1) You and I look to the heavens because our help is in the Lord and that is where He now resides. He sits at the right hand of God.
The right hand is a seat of honor.
In Acts 5:31, Peter, when challenged not to preach Christ, declared of Him, “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:19-20 says, “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.” Having accomplished the work of reconciliation for which He had been sent to earth, God has restored the Lord Jesus to His rightful place of honor in heaven.
The right hand is a seat of power.
Why the right hand? In a world of right handed people, it was believed strength and power were in the right hand. Therefore, the one granted power and authority was always seated on the right. But even more significant for those of us in need of divine strength to stand against the onslaught of the enemy who seeks to cripple us with doubt and discouragement,
the right hand is a seat of intercession.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul poses this question: “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God who intercedes for us.” Romans 8:33-34) Paul imagines a celestial courtroom where the creator of the universe sits on the seat of judgment. It is in this great courtroom where Satan, the accuser of the brethren, will seek to make his claim against us. He will present as his evidence everything you and I have ever said, thought, or done; and the evidence against us will be overwhelming and undeniable.
His charges however, will be challenged by two other personalities present in the courtroom. One is the great judge. The only person in the courtroom who can condemn us is the judge, and He is the one who most wants to pardon and free us. Paul says, “It is God who justifies,” meaning it is God who renders us just as if we never sinned. The only one who can condemn us is the One who justifies us, because God is for us. Our advocate, our attorney, counsel for the defense is none other than God’s son, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The One who died for us on the cross is the One who stands with us in the courtroom, and He is the One who has satisfied the terms and conditions of the law that condemn us. Now stay with me. The judge who can condemn us is for us. The attorney defending us stands with us as the One who died for us. Best of all, the counsel for the defense, and the judge who sits on the bench, are father and son. What a tremendous source of comfort and encouragement for all of us who put our faith, hope, and trust in Christ alone for salvation.
The apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 1:9-2:2)
We may condemn ourselves. Other men may accuse us; but we keep seeking heaven because the only one who can condemn us sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, and we find pardon in Him.
Commentator J.B. Lightfoot said, “You must not only seek heaven, you must think heaven”.
THINK HEAVEN! IT GIVES YOU A PROPER PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE. (v.2)
We are pleased to have our daughter home with us this week. She is on her spring break. Leah is attending North Greenville University. The slogan of the institution is, “Where Christ Makes the Difference.” Karen and I attended a Baptist college where the motto could well have been, “Where Christ Gets in the Way.” The president of that institution taught my Old Testament Survey course. When we came to the Isaiah passage where the prophet declared, “A virgin shall be with child and bear a son”, the president said the term virgin simply meant young maiden. Those of us who believed Jesus was truly born of a virgin were merely the products of the warped teaching of naïve preachers who did not know any better.
I should have known what was in store for me when I sent a letter to the president regarding my first campus visit. I spent my first night on campus in a building that had been condemned by the city. The third floor did not have running water. With my passion for athletics I wanted to see the gym. When the door to the gymnasium was locked, I knocked on the glass door hoping to draw the attention of some students I saw playing basketball inside. I drew their attention, but rather than opening the door for me, they just pointed and laughed. All of this was taking place on a “Baptist” campus. When I wrote a letter to the president asking him to help me understand my observations, I was not prepared for the reply I received. His letter of response began, “Thank you for your undated letter.” He went on to tell me I was probably not a suitable candidate for the college since I was obviously too heavenly interested to be of any earthly value.
Well, Paul tells us just the opposite. It is only when you and I become heavenly interested that we truly become of earthly value. Before Christians can reach the world they must leave it behind. Paul does not mean we should constantly have our heads in the clouds, but he is telling us heaven ought to be the plumb line by which we measure things here on earth. Everything you and I do and say ought to be viewed from an eternal frame of reference. This life is temporal. It is but a dot on the time line of eternity. That reality affects the way we view tragedy and the way we shape priorities. Think heaven! It gives you a proper perspective on life.
LONG FOR HEAVEN! IT IS YOUR FUTURE GLORY. (V.3-4)
Your hope is rooted in a past event.
Our hope is not rooted in what we do. Our hope is rooted in what Jesus has done, and our relationship with Him.
This hope rooted in a past event, produces a present security.
You are hidden with Christ. There is security in our relationship with Him. Ephesians 1:13-14 remind us,
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Paul is comforting us by reminding us, until the future glory we enjoy a present security. Let me show you how this works. The Bible says that when I accepted Christ He came to live in me. (Take a 3x5 card with the name Jesus on it, and put it in a letter size envelope marked Wayne.) But my security does not end at that point. It simply begins at that point. In John 14:20, Jesus told His disciples, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” So not only is Christ in me, and I in Him, (Put the envelope marked Wayne in a legal size envelope marked Jesus) but He is in the Father. (Put everything in a large envelope marked God.) Then the apostle Paul tells us, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” (Put the envelope marked God into a large sealable plastic cooking bag marked Holy Spirit and seal it).
Now, here is our security in Christ. How can the devil get to me? First, he has to break the seal of the Holy Spirit (Take the envelope out of the cooking bag), then he has to go through God the Father. Even if that were possible; what would you find if you open the envelope representing God? You would find the envelope with Christ’s name on it. (Take the legal size envelope out of the large envelope marked God) So to get to me, not only would the devil have to go through God the Holy Spirit, and through God the Father, but also through God the Son as well. Now for the sake of argument, let’s suppose the devil did all of that and got to me. (Remove the letter size envelope marked Wayne) Would he have me then? Not on your life; because you open up me and who do you find in me? (Take out the 3x5 card marked Jesus) You find the Lord Jesus. That is what it means to be hidden in Christ.
There is incredible security in knowing Christ. No wonder the apostle Paul, writing to the Romans about our security in Christ, burst forth in praise,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Paul is so excited he cannot even wait for a response. He answers his own question in joyous proclamation, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
Paul is unashamedly speaking from the depths of his heart. He is telling us, “I have wrestled with it. I have meditated on it. I have observed it. I have experienced it. And it is an absolute certainty, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that absolutely nothing, not death and its cloak of fear; not life and all of its allurements; not cosmic powers-benevolent or malevolent, not the height of heaven above or the depth of hell beneath; not disappointments, neurosis, disease, broken romance, financial crisis, physical calamity, or mental instability; nothing shall be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Friend, that ought to get your motor going this morning. Your spouse may walk out on you. Your friends may betray you. Your health may fail you. But the Lord Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. Your hope is secure in Him.
And this hope that is a present security will one day climax in a glorious reality. (V.4)
Remember, when the Bible speaks of hope it is referring to a sure thing, a bedrock guarantee of a future reality rooted in a past event. When He comes, the veil that now shrouds our glory will be removed for all the world to see. The world that now despises and persecutes people of faith will see clearly what this faith has secured for us. Revelation 19:11-16 tells us,
“And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.”
Hope past. Hope present. Praise God, hope secured. One day this world will be overtaken by a celestial warrior riding a pale white horse. One day all rebellion and defiance will be put under the feet of God’s avenger. One day all hell will tremble as heaven’s hero returns to restore a fallen creation to its original splendor and glory. One day all the hurts of the here will give way to the hallelujahs of the hereafter. One day those of us who have entered a personal love relationship with God through His son Jesus, will be participants in a celestial celebration such as this world has never known. Despite the current chaos of our deteriorating culture and the demonic domination of this planet called earth, despite the raging storms crashing onto the shore of your soul, the inner turmoil and the outer tragedies you may be facing at this moment, we elevate our eyes because our redemption draweth nigh.
A resurrected life is a heaven focused life because where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Is your hope in heaven? Do you look for that glorious future in Him? If the answer to that question is no, you can do something about that this morning. The apostle Paul reminds you Christ is sufficient to free you from your sin, and restore you to a right relationship with God if you are willing to open your heart to Him this morning. A resurrected life is a heaven focused life
