The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Colossians 3:5,
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..."
The completion of this exhortation is to put on the "new self", verse 10. Take off the old sinful nature and put in the new nature the Lord desires for us and has made available to us. It is Paul's answer to those who resort to religion in an effort to restrain the impulse of sin in their lives. He says, "Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Colossians 2:23.
Paul's answer is to set our hearts and minds on things above "where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." The view affords the opportunity for us to be swept off our feet as we marvel at the many perfections of Jesus Christ. It is a view that transforms, that motivates, that changes us from within.
A part of that view must necessarily include the wondrous future that lay ahead for believers. Renewed bodies, elimination of death, sickness, disease and infirmity, eradication of the old sinful nature, neighbors we don't have to think about locking our doors from. "'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4. On the contrary, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." Verse 3. This is beyond exciting to contemplate. And, contemplate it we should! Our "hope", which is what the Scriptures call this future we look forward to, is a part of the view we take in as we set our hearts and minds on our Lord in heaven.
The above quote in Revelation 21:4 is found in Isaiah 25:6-8. Listen to the wonder of what is said there, "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." On that day, you and I, all believers will say, as we are quoted in Isaiah 25:9, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
I am reminded of what John had to say as he considered the impact of this wonderful hope we have in Jesus Christ, the hope that is engendered as we take in the view of setting our hearts and minds on things above. "All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." 1 John 3:3. Here we find accomplished what religion cannot: it enables us to take off the old and put on the new.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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