THE POWER OF A NEW AFFECTION

Devotion 7 of 12

"If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." -- Colossians 3:1-3, NASB

THE TEXT #2 There ARE "things above"

How wonderful that there are "things ABOVE" to be sought. We do not have a religion that is merely philosophical; it is also pragmatic, or utilitarian. Believers are not admonished to think about things that do not exist, but upon eternal verities. There is a "wisdom" that comes from "ABOVE." How marvelous it is! "But the wisdom that is from ABOVE is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17). Such wisdom is certainly to be sought (James 1:5)!

Good and perfect gifts come from ABOVE, and are to be sought. We can and must develop an appetite for them. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from ABOVE, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Gifts from so gracious a Father have His attributes, bringing eternal benefit to us.

"Heavenly things" have been "purified," as it were, for us. It is not that they were contaminated, but were inaccessible to us because of our defilement. The blood of Christ, however, has resolved that situation. As it is written, "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb 9:23-24).

These are "things of the Spirit" upon which the godly set their minds. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit" (Rom 8:5). They include glorious affirmations of divine foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification (Rom 8:29-31). These include the "all things" that are given "freely" through Christ Jesus (Rom 8:32). They are "the things that God hath prepared for Them that love Him" (1 Cor 2:9-10).

The "things that are ABOVE" are accessible to us by faith. They are not of this world, even as Christ's kingdom is not of it. They belong to the eternal realm, for which faith is preparing us. These "things" are to us what the grapes of Eshcol were to the Israelites (Num 13:23ff); the first fruits of the promised land. They were real, but from another place, and introduced people to that other realm. Think of "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17). these are "things" from heaven, made available to us by faith and through the Spirit. The grace of God is "exceeding abundant with faith and love," both "things" from heaven (1 Tim 1:14).

Believers are to ponder their "reward in heaven" (Matt 5:12). They are admonished to lay up their "treasures" in heaven where deterioration and plunder do not exist (Matt 6:20). The greater part of the "family" to which they belong is in heaven (Eph 3:15). Their "citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 3:20, NASB). Their "hope" is laid up for them "in heaven," of which they were informed in the Gospel (Col 1:5). "In heaven," they "have a better and enduring substance" (Heb 10:34). An inheritance "incorruptible and undefiled" is reserved "in Heaven" for them (1 Pet 1:4). THESE ARE VERY REAL "THINGS" UPON WHICH OUR AFFECTION IS TO BE PLACED!

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