Aiming at Heaven While Living on Earth - Part B

What Paul is saying is it should not only cross your mind, it should be one of the things that dominate your thinking. That our feet might be on earth, but our minds should be in heaven. Living with your mind in heaven isn't about walking around with your head in the clouds. It's about having a perspective that's higher and greater than any earthly thinking. And as Skip shares today on Connect with Skip Hiting, there's no better way to live than getting direction from Jesus, who sees everything perfectly from heaven.

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Those four are based upon the personality of the founder. But of all of those four religions, only one claims a resurrection for its founder. That's why we have hope. That's why we gather here today, because of that good news. For this Easter season, we've put together a special set of resurrection resources by Skip that include five of his finest Easter messages for audio download or on CD and a full video titled On the Road. We want to send you a copy of this package of messages as thanks for your gift to support Connect with Skip Heitzig and help grow this teaching ministry to reach more people in major cities in the U.S. this year. So request your package when you give your gift of fifty dollars or more today and take a walk with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. Just call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer.

That's connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now we're in Colossians three as we joined Skip for today's lesson. I just want you to get this. When God looks at you, He looks at you through the lens of His Son, Jesus Christ. He sees you clothed in His righteousness.

He sees you in effect perfect and permanently His. Your life is tucked in, wrapped up in Jesus Christ. You're hidden in Christ.

Now this speaks of a couple things. You know, because our life is hidden, you might say we're concealed from the world. The world looks at you and they don't see this reality. The world looks at you and they don't know you're a new creation.

You're just walking down the street or driving in your car or working at wherever you work. They just see another person. They don't know you're a citizen of heaven, but you are. They don't get it, but it's the truth.

It's a reality. You are hidden with Christ and God. The word in verse three, the word in verse three, hidden, in the Greek tense indicates something that happened in the past.

So it's a past tense event, but it has ongoing effects. So a better, fuller translation would be our life has been hidden and continues to be hidden. And I think what this really speaks of is our security as believers. That God has the power to keep us.

We have died. We've been raised and He's going to keep us secure all the way to the end. In fact, one translation even says, God is keeping your new life safe with Christ. This speaks of security.

He'll get you all the way through. So if you ever worry, I don't know, I thought I was saved yesterday, but today I'm not so sure. You're hidden with Christ in God. You know, we live in a world that is worried about safety and security. I heard about a woman. She's so upset about the rising crime rate in our country and in our city that she got a concealed carry permit. So she decided to carry a gun, and she did. And she was in a store one night, and she got out of the store to go to her car in a dark parking lot.

And when she came to the parking lot and came to her car, she found it occupied by four men. So she yelled at him, get out! They didn't budge.

Get out! They didn't move. She pulled out the gun, pointed it at him, said, get out. Doors opened. They all ran away. And then she noticed her car. Three parking spots away. Same make, same model, same color.

Same color. She made a mistake. God never makes a mistake. God always protects the right one. You happen to be the right one.

You're the right one. John chapter 10, Jesus said, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. How many of you understand that Jesus Christ has a very strong grip, and He's not depending on you to hold on to Him? Come on, hold on to Jesus. Hold on. Any parent or grandparent walking a kid across the street does not depend on the grip of that child.

Any smart parent or grandparent holds that child, and no one will snatch you out of His hand. So you've died. You were raised.

You are hidden. And the fourth spiritual reality, according to Paul here, is you will be glorified. Look at verse 4. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in what?

Glory. Now, of these four spiritual realities, this is not a metaphor. This is not figurative language.

This happens to be literal. Just as there's going to be a literal appearance of Jesus, He is coming back. He said that. He promised that. And so you literally will appear with Him in glory. This is at His second coming with His church. If you want to read all about it, not right now, but go read Revelation chapter 19.

That's when He comes in glory. So get this. You're not just going to change location. You're going to change your looks. You're going to change your looks.

And I hope that gets you excited. What it means is you're going to one day get the body you always wanted. I've never met a person who doesn't think there's some feature of their body that should be changed. There's been so many polls where they ask people the question, if you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

90 plus percent. It's almost always something physical, something with their physical appearance. Well, in Philippians 3, it says, Jesus Christ will transform our lowly body. That's what He calls it, lowly body, to be like His glorious body. You're going to get the body you've always wanted. Now, some of you are young and good luck and you're thinking, I got the body I've always wanted right now. I mean, check me out.

I look pretty awesome. And I always smile when I hear that or kind of see that attitude, and I think, just wait. Just wait a few short years. You'll see. And that's why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, and the older we get, or we can relate to this, we groan in this body, longing for heaven and the freedom that it brings.

It's going to be better than any facelift, any face cream, any face cream, any Botox, any diet program, any reconstructive surgery that costs you an enormous amount of money. Imagine having a body that never wears out, never gets tired, never has aches, never has pains, never atrophies, never gains weight, never loses hair, never gets wrinkled, never sags for free. Well, that's going to happen. When Christ, who is our life, appears, you will appear with Him in glory. I'm reminded of this guy who started a business, very successful. He was so successful, he had to change locations. When he changed locations, new office plex, somebody sent him flowers, and he looked at the card on the flowers, and he was a little bit confused because the card said, rest in peace. He thought, uh-oh, there's been a mix-up. So he calls the florist and said, I just got flowers, and it says rest in peace. And the florist said, oh, that's our bad.

We mix things up. But just to humor you a little bit, just think, right now, somewhere in the city, there is a funeral going on, and the flowers read, congratulations on your new location. I thought about that, and I think, you know, that's what our cards should read when we give them out at funerals if they're believers.

Congratulations on your new location. Not rest in peace. You've been promoted to glory, and you will appear one day with Him in glory. So these are spiritual realities. You died, you were raised, your life is hidden, and one day you will be glorified.

Your identification with Jesus Christ is so factual, it is so real, that what happened to Jesus at His death, burial, and resurrection, and coming again, happened and will happened and will happen to you. Now that takes us now to the main directive of this text. After giving us the spiritual reality, He now gives us the personal activity.

And here's the command, and there are two of them. Verse 1, if then, or since then, you were raised with Christ, here it is, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. Two commands basically saying the same thing, think about heaven. Now just a moment ago, I quoted a Pew Research poll that said, most Americans believe that there's a heaven. But according to a LifeWay Research poll, most Americans never think about heaven.

Oh, they'll say if they're oppressed, do you believe in heaven? Yep, I believe in heaven. I believe we're going to see our loved ones.

I believe I'm going to see God. But they just don't think about heaven. When asked, how often do you wonder if I were to die today, do I know for sure that I would go to heaven, almost 40% answered, I never, I never think that.

I never, never crosses my mind. So, what Paul is saying is, it should not only cross your mind, it should be one of the things that dominate your thinking. That our feet might be on earth, but our minds should be in heaven. That doesn't mean we walk around like in a daze or sit in a corner and contemplate our navel and go, um, that we're so heavenly minded, we're no earthly good, as some people like to say. It just simply means that the practical affairs of our daily life, we get direction from Jesus Christ, who is in heaven. The daily practical affairs of our lives, we get direction from Jesus, who is now in heaven. And because Jesus is now in heaven, don't you agree that He has the best view of everything happening on earth?

Better than anybody else? Um, the view from heaven is superior to the view from the White House. The view from heaven is better than the view from the Pentagon. The view from heaven is better than the view from the CDC or the Kremlin. The view from heaven is better than the view from Elon Musk's desk or rocket enterprise. Jesus Christ has the best view because He sees every action.

He reads every mind, and He weighs every motive. So the idea then, perhaps, is this. Let's look at the events of this earth from the point of view of heaven.

Not from a partisan point of view, not from a Democrat-Republican point of view, not from a temporary four-year election cycle point of view. Let's look at the affairs of this life from a heavenly perspective, a heavenly point of view. That's our personal activity. If you were raised, seek the things which are above. Set your mind, that is, program your thoughts. How do you program your thoughts with things above?

There's only one way I know how to do that. Right here, this book. It's why we always do Bible study. It's why I always say, I'm glad you're here on the weekend, but also come Wednesday nights. I find that that, listen, the only thing I know about truth, the only thing I know about God, the only thing I know about Christ, the only thing I know about life comes to me from the Word of God.

It's where I get programmed. So seek and set your mind. Now, I mentioned, and we've sort of already discussed, that unsaved people, though they'll say they believe in heaven, they don't really think much about it, but I've discovered that not a lot of Christians even think about heaven. In fact, Matthew Westerholm studied the difference between worship songs used in American churches from the year 2000 to 2015 and compared those to worship songs used in the church from 1737 to 1960. This is what he said, among many similarities, one difference was striking, the topic of heaven, which once was frequently and richly sung about has now all but disappeared. How is it possible that something so central to the New Testament, so that five percent of the New Testament says hope of heaven, hope of heaven, hope of heaven, think about heaven, be mindful of heaven, how is it that something so central to the New Testament is so far from Christian thinking? So here's a question, why should we seek heaven? Why should we think about heaven?

Well, if you think in terms of just chronology and time, where are you going to spend most of your time, Christian? Not here, but in heaven. You live 70 years, 80 years, maybe you live to be 100 years, you compare that to eternity, not even a drop in the bucket, not even a blip on the screen, so momentary. The Bible says our life is but a, that's it, a vapor, a vapor, it's so transitory. So get this, the moment we got saved, the moment we said yes to Jesus, we established legal residence in heaven.

Now, people that come forward in an ultra call, they don't know that, but the moment they come forward and they say yes to Jesus, they have an address in heaven. Philippians 3 says our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly await our Savior. So then think of this life as like a trip to heaven, this life as like a transit lounge in an airport, or a gate seating area at an airport. You're here on the earth, but you're just making a connecting flight. So don't get so hung up on the airport or the transit lounge, think about where you're going, and by the way, you've just been upgraded to first class. We have a heavenly focus because we have heavenly citizenship, so that's spiritual reality, that's personal activity.

Let me close with a third truth category, and that is authority, supernatural authority. This is how you have the power over your old life, power to live the new life, and power to keep heaven in mind, and that is this. Verse 1, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, now watch this last phrase, sitting at the right hand of God.

Now most of us would just sort of pass over that and go, that's just a nice thing to say, really don't know what it means. Do you know that nine times the Bible says Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father? Nine different times. Once is in the Old Testament predicting that He will have that place of authority and power, eight times in the New Testament, nine times total.

What does it mean to be seated at the right hand? Well, first of all, it speaks of a finished work, a finished work, that salvation is complete. On the cross, Jesus said, it is finished. How do we know it's finished? Answer, because He sat down.

Now follow me here. In the tabernacle and the temple, the priests were always on their feet. They never sat down. There was never a chair in the temple or the tabernacle, because a priest's work was always busy work of another sacrifice, another animal, another killing, morning, evening, festival days, every single day. Priests never sat down. For a priest to sit down meant it's all done, and it was never done in the past.

Now it is. It's done. It's finished. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, when He, Jesus, by Himself, purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The seated position as a priest meant no more sacrifice is needed. Finished.

It's a finished work. It speaks of something else, though. If you were to take a seat at the right hand of a king, a monarch, it simply meant you had the same authority, power, prestige as the king himself. The right hand was a place of honor, status, strength, authority.

So listen to this, Ephesians chapter 1. His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. To be seated at God's right hand is to have all the authority of God the Father Himself.

Okay, so Jesus ascended into heaven, seated at the right hand of God. He's been there ever since. What is He doing up there? Is He on His iPad?

Is He looking at social media feeds? Is He playing chess with the angels? What's He doing?

You know the answer to this. What's He doing? He's interceding for us. He's praying for us. It says in Romans 8, Christ is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. So get this, until we get to heaven, Jesus is praying for us from heaven. That's supernatural authority. He has given to us through His life for death on the cross and life now of intercession in heaven, all the power, all the authority to live a life that says, I'm dead to the old, I'm alive to the new, my life is hidden with Christ and God, and I can't wait until I have a glorified body in heaven.

The power to do all that comes from Him. Now I'm going to close back to verse 1 and 2, where it says, Seek those things which are above, and verse 2, Set your mind on things above. Both of those are in the present imperative and speaks of an ongoing pursuit. It literally means be constantly and persistently seeking, constantly persistently setting your mind. None of this, yeah, you know, I went to church and I lived the Christian life for like a couple months, and I just sort of... Listen, if you've fallen, if you've run out of wind, by God's grace and strength, get back up and get marching and move ahead and be persistent in your Christian walk. Be persistent.

You know, there's something about a persistent life that is very attractive. Did you know that Albert Einstein was kicked out of school in Munich? His teacher said he lacked interest in his studies. Can you just imagine being the dude who kicks Albert Einstein out of school?

You got to live with that. Albert Einstein? Later on, he went to another school in Zurich. He failed the entrance exam. Later on, he became a tutor in a boarding house. He got fired from that, but you know what happened?

You know what happened. He kept going. He kept persisting. Howard Carter had a hunch that there was something very valuable in a clump of dirt in Egypt, and he persisted digging through the rubble and the ridicule and the resistance of all the academic world and even the local field agents who said, just call off the dig. But in 1922, because he persisted, he found the tomb of King Tut. Amazing find.

I have a friend in California. I talked to him on the phone yesterday. He said, Skip, he's a medical doctor. He's a heart surgeon. He's very well known in his field, and he's a believer. And he said, do you know that I was rejected from 29 medical schools before I finally got admitted?

And he was admitted to USC, USC Medical School in California. But he said, you know what it's like to get 10 rejection letters, and then 18 rejection letters, and then 28, and then 29? And you think, I'm done. But he wasn't done. He persisted.

He kept doing it. So Satan wants you to believe you should just quit. You should just stop. The Christian life isn't for you. You're a failure. You'll never break free from the past.

That's a lie. You've died to the old. You've been raised to the new. Your life is hidden with Christ and God, and one day he'll prove it by glorifying your body. So aim at heaven. Think of heaven. Sing of heaven. Preach of heaven. Teach heaven, because it is not only your destination.

It can be our motivation. That's Skip Heuthing with a message from the series, Always Only Jesus. Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now, here's Skip to share how you can bless people around the world with God's word through a gift to keep these teachings coming to you and others. We want more people around the world to find rest and hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ and his promise to return for us one day. And you can help make that happen through your gift today to keep these messages that you love coming to you and to others. One exciting thing that you'll enable is the expansion of Connect with Skip broadcasts into more major U.S. cities on more radio stations around our country. Would you help make that happen with a gift today?

Here's how you can give. Theology is not an ivory tower where people sit around and discuss heavenly truths. We have lives to live and kids to feed and spouses to nurture and people to relate to, jobs to go to. So we need a healthy balance of being heavenly minded, but also responsible on earth. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.