John 8:23-24. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Heaven is the highest link of the saint’s happiness. The lamp of glory will be ever burning, never wasting. As there is no intermission in the joys of heaven, so there shall be no expiration. When God has once planted His saints in paradise, He will never transplant them, -‘they shall be for ever with the Lord.’ – Thomas Watson – Words Old and New by Horatius Bonar
Christ, when talking to the Pharisees, tried to convince them of his diety. He told them he was from heaven and they were of this world. All of us start out as being from this world. We are of our earthly father, the devil. As a result, we are all destined to die “in” our sins. The reason people die “in” their sin is simple. It is because they have not believed that Jesus is the Christ. They may acknowledge him. They may have a form of religion like the Pharisees. What they have not done is put their faith and trust in the one who is not from this world.
When we are born again, we transfer our citizenship. We renounce our citizenship of this world and become citizens of heaven. You are no longer of this world. You might walk around down here, you might buy and sell down here, you might have a family down here but you are an ambassador for another country now, the country of heaven. We don’t want to be from beneath like the Pharisees were. We want to be from above. It would not hurt for you once in a while, to step outside at night, look up into the sky, and think about where you are from. Look toward the North Star (it’s in the handle of the Big Dipper and usually close to straight up). Heaven is toward the north according the Bible.
If you are not of this world, then you need to live like it. You need to not be pulled into all the things of this world. You should use it but not let it use you. You are here to serve the king of your new country. The things of this world should grow dimmer and dimmer to you as you grow closer to the Lord. Christ said he was not of this world. He interacted with people, preached, healed, ate, slept but he never let this world control Him. Make sure your Christian life reflects where you are from and where you are going. One day there is going to be a loud trump and we will be in our country from above. Make sure you are not of this world.
0 Comments