Heavenly-mindedness

What is Faith?

Habakkuk: The righteous shall live by faith(Romans and Galatians)

In 2 Corinthians, we read: “We walk by faith and not by sight”

We recognize that we are sinners in need of God’s grace.

We put our faith in Jesus as the one way through which we may receive that grace.

But Jesus too exercises faith, but not that aspect of faith, he exercises only the other aspect of faith, which we read in Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11:1–3 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

So, faith consists of two aspects, our trust in God for our salvation through christ alone, and the assurance we have of things yet unseen.

Geerhardus Vos says, in one of his sermons that, “It(faith) is the organ for apprehension of unseen and future realities, giving access to and contact with another world.”

Faith isn’t a feeling, or a commitment, more accurately, faith is an organ, which we exercise, affording us assurance of future realities and communion with God.

It was faith that led the Israelites to follow God out of Egypt, through the red sea, into the wilderness, to mount Sinai, and now, to build the Tabernacle. This lens of hopefully a less mystified understanding of faith is the one through which I want us to survey the next 4 chapters.

On faith, I’ll leave you with one more quote from Vos. “Faith is here but another name for other-worldliness or heavenly-mindedness.”

The Christology of the Tabernacle

Holy of Holies

Ark- God’s presence

Mercy Seat- Atonement Cover

Holy Place

Table of Showbread- God’s provision, fellowship, communion

Lampstand- Ever-present light

Altar of Incense- Continuous prayers of intersession

Outer Court

Alter of Burnt Offering- The sacrifice for our sin

Bronze Laver- The waters of baptism

Giving

In the last chapter, the reminder is to keep the sabbath, even in the midst of the work.

Exodus 36:3–7 “And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.”

These offerings were abundant, and they were not of fear, or obligation, but of love and freewill. That should give us pause to consider the heart with which we give to the Lord. What motivates us to give of the limited resources we have here? I want to offer you a thought today that is worthy of your meditation and prayer. What was the tabernacle designed after?

Why did Israel need the tabernacle? Because God’s presence had been separated from man because of sin. The tabernacle and the Temple were temporary ways that God could come to dwell with His people, but this was by no means meant to be permanent, and Israel knew it. They were looking forward to the promised land. They knew that the promised land was not just an earthly matter. Why would Joseph have given instructions concerning his bones if he didn’t believe something better was coming after his death?

How could anyone in Israel doubt that they would one day be in the presence of God if they didn’t believe that God would keep His promise to bring forth the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent? If they had any doubt before, they could be reassured by the man who went up into God’s presence.

Revelation 21:1–27 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Passages such as this should leave us in awe and wonder. If that awe and wonder is more overwhelming than anything else, know that you’re not alone! Paul felt the same way!

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—”

But let me encourage you not to take Paul’s words as sufficient for your meditation on Heaven. The Bible has much to say about it, and Christians have devoted thousands of years to meditating on the goodness it may contain.

At the core of our theology on Heaven needs to be 2 preeminent truths.

1. Heaven is a real place where God is.

2. We will be there with God for eternity if we put our faith is Jesus

John 14:1–7 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.””

With those two truths in mind, remember that for those who do not put their faith in the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus Christ alone, we will not be in heaven for eternity, but in Hell, eternally separated from God.

Heaven is the place of perfect and eternal love.

Hell is the place of total and complete hate.

Both are real and both are for eternity.

But this is not where our meditation stops. God is not ashamed or offended by your wondering about what eternity with Him will be like.

Randy Alcorn writes a book called Heaven where he shares a story of a pastor who was crippled by the thought of playing a harp and singing for all of eternity. To be honest, that doesn’t sound very good to me either. Alcorn goes on in the rest of his book to lay out his meditations on what eternity will be like. If you do read his book, you will almost certainly disagree with different aspects of his meditations, but you will see just one example of how we are meant to meditate on heaven with joy, hope, and most of all, with faith.

Alcorn lays out the possibility of an eternity that is more similar to what we were originally created to do, back in Eden, than dissimilar. He argues for more continuity than discontinuity. He explores the possibility of a renewed creation with renewed landscapes and animals. Extravagant meals and wonderful fellowship, both with God, and with His Church. You are allowed to meditate like that on heaven, and know that God won’t be offended if we get it wrong, as long as the thing that you’re most excited for is to be in full and perfect communion with your creator, forever.

And no mater what you believe about heaven, I’m reminded of the words of Charles Spurgeon, “God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to make a mistake. When I cannot trace God’s hand, I can always trust His heart.”

And when we consider the awe and wonder of what awaits us, let that faith, that heavenly-mindedness be what drives us to love and give extravagantly here on this earth. Here, we are only sojourners, travelers who are here right now, but only until our Heavenly Father calls us home.

Matthew 6:19–21 ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Philippians 3:20–21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

When we fix our eyes on heaven, we anticipate the marriage supper of the Lamb. The day when Christ will receive his bride. For months leading up to the wedding day, a bride makes herself ready. Especially on that day before when they’re getting their hair and makeup done, putting on their dress, ready to present the best version of themselves to their groom. That bride is us, His church. Lets fix our eyes on heaven in preparation for that heavenly reality. Let’s spend our limited time here getting ourselves ready to be presented to Christ as His bride.