Having A Heavenly Perspective

Colossians 3:1-4

What is your perspective as you go through life?  How do we look at the events and circumstances that we have to deal with, particularly the difficult and trying ones?  Looking down at traffic from a very tall building sure looks different than it does to the person in the car, stuck in a traffic jam.  Rain clouds don’t look so bad from up high in an airplane.  It all depends on one’s perspective.  Reading this passage we are encouraged to view things from a different perspective - that of the risen Christ.

Our passage for today begins in verse one to strive to put heaven’s priorities as top in our life.  A popular saying is “you are what you eat”, the type of food you eat will affect your health and general well-being.  Even more so, we are what we think about and allow into our minds.  This is done chiefly by what we view on TV, the internet, and what we read.  What we think about becomes who we are.  As believers, we need to focus our mind on spiritual things more than worldly things (vs. 2).  Look around at the things that you own, your house, car, clothes.  They wear down and start to deteriorate.  Your job doesn’t always last, friendships fade away.  All these temporal things are just that - temporary.  Don’t hang your affections on them.  Instead, as Christians, we need to focus our attention on what really does last; those things that last for eternity.  When we are living like this, we can praise God, even in the midst of trying and difficult circumstances, just like Paul and Silas did when they were beaten and put in prison (Acts 16:25-26).

How much does a dead man care about things of this world?  Does he care any more about his house, his belongings, or his job?  No, he doesn’t.  His only care now is whether or not he accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior.  If we are born-again, Scriptures say that our old nature has been crucified with Christ, and we (our old nature) is dead (vs. 3).  We need to regard our earthly nature as dead.  Christ is in us, and we should allow Him to shape us into what we should be.  Our interest and desire for things of this world should be as little as a dead man’s, which is nothing.  Our home is with Jesus, so seek what God desires.

Paul says that our life is “hid with Christ in God” (vs. 3).  We like to hide things that are important to us, to keep them safe.  Something that is hidden away won’t be lost, and is kept safe from thieves.  We are safe in God, safe from the enemy of our soul.

Jesus will return (vs. 4).  That is a promise of God, and He has never reneged on any promises that He has made.  When Jesus returns we will all be proudly shown forth as His followers.  Just like a triumphant king returning to reclaim His land from the enemy usurper, He will reveal us as His people in the midst of His enemies.  Those enemies will be destroyed, but we, Jesus’ faithful followers, will appear with Him in glory, and be rewarded.

One question that we as Christians should ask ourselves is, “are we living as if Jesus has truly risen from the dead, or not?”  This is not just, and only, an event that took place some 2,000 years ago, but doesn’t really affect us today.  For those of us who have accepted Him as Savior, we have also then risen to a new life in Christ.  We should live that life in joy and peace, filled with His Spirit, and with our focus on our home in heaven.