In this weeks message Pastor Fred finished up the series The Next Advent and the preaching passage is from Colossians 3:1-4. The Apostle Paul tells us if we have been raised up with Christ, we are to have our focus on heaven and everything that is holy and righteous. Here are some observations that I came away with.
My first observation is that we are to keep seeking. It is not a one time thing, but it is a continuous action. Within the last week, I was out at my parents house and I lost my car keys, which also had the key to get into my apartment building. I continued to search for them so I could get home and even got help from my mom. We kept looking for them until they were found on the roof of my van. Heaven is the same way, we need to keep seeking it. Or another way to put it, are we pursuing it like we do our favorite sport team or video game, or the next great online deal. We wont stop pursuing our fandom until that championship is won or that video game is bought and conquered or that great deal is secured on that thing we really need. Just remember, if we stop seeking or our seeking is off, we might miss heaven all together
It is hard to be born again if we don’t die first. This reminds me of when Jesus and Nicodemus met up in John 3. Jesus shares that the only way we can see heaven is if we are born from above, or born again. This has Nicodemus confused, so he ask the question of how can one be born again because they can not reenter their mother’s womb? Jesus response was that we are to be born of the spirit. This means we let our fleshly desires die so that God Spirit can enter our hearts. This is where we desire the things of God and not what this world has to offer. Both Gods desires and our fleshly desires can not coexist and we must choose one and let the other die. If we want our garden to grow and be successful, the seeds we plant must die first before they can reproduce a good harvest. The same is true with our spiritual lives, if we are to be fruitful spiritually and see heaven, we must die to ourselves first. So here is my question, what are we allowing to live in or lives and what are we catering too? Is it Godliness, eternal life and peace, or is it the desires of our flesh that leads to destruction?
My final observation is that God expects and requires our participation. Yes, we are saved by faith and grace alone, but those things require a response. For those of you who are either engaged or married, at some point the question was ask “will you marry me?”. That is a question that demands a response and it usually is done rather quickly. Both parties participate in the planning and execution in anticipation of the big day. Baptism is the same thing. It is us saying yes to Gods free gift and we participate in Jesus death by being dunked in the water and we are raised with Jesus when we rise from the water. Baptism signifies and is an action of dying to self and embracing the Holy Spirits work in our life. It allows God to transform our lives. I love some of the liturgy of the Catholic service, and one of the things the priest often tells the congregation is to remember their baptism. Not only does this remind us of who we belong to, but God is also calling us that we are to keep responding to His grace and to share that grace with a dark and broken world. Also it is a reminder that this world isn’t our home and for those who believe, will be praising Jesus in His presence for eternity, whether He returns and calls us home as a whole, or He calls us home to heaven on an individual basis.
So here is a couple of questions.
What prevents us from dying to ourselves and embracing Gods plan for us?
Do we need to remember our baptism?
How good are we at continuously seeking God and His Kingdom?
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