2. The old dad represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe
dreams!
This is an exciting
topic, This is the battle between the old mans vision and the new mans vision.
Our blindness verses the fresh sight Jesus Christ gives us. New eyes vs the old
eyes, It’s a beautiful moment when we trust in our new eyes but it takes time
and understanding which we get from applying ourselves to God’s Word and
trusting in His Grace.
Let’s set the tone – “Carnal existence” this is all things carnal, so it goes beyond the pleasures but to placing the high value on our own existence. So it’s a survivalist mentality, phrases like “survival of the fittest” fit into this belief easily because it encourages that survival is key and chief above all else. It’s essential seems to me (by my reading and understanding) self above all, even the apparent betterment of self.
“Spiritual pipe dreams” – This for us Christians is the eternal life that Christ promised us, this is that beautiful revelation of Him. John 17:3 Jesus says “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Our dreams or vision is set on the Eternal Father and the Heavenly things. Colossians 3 speaks about this beautifully which we will read at the end.
Let’s set the tone – “Carnal existence” this is all things carnal, so it goes beyond the pleasures but to placing the high value on our own existence. So it’s a survivalist mentality, phrases like “survival of the fittest” fit into this belief easily because it encourages that survival is key and chief above all else. It’s essential seems to me (by my reading and understanding) self above all, even the apparent betterment of self.
“Spiritual pipe dreams” – This for us Christians is the eternal life that Christ promised us, this is that beautiful revelation of Him. John 17:3 Jesus says “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Our dreams or vision is set on the Eternal Father and the Heavenly things. Colossians 3 speaks about this beautifully which we will read at the end.
So the question is this…
Are you carnally minded or spiritually minded? Is your mind set on survival or
set on Eternal Life?
It’s a hard question for some, I believe many Christians are carnally minded I was and battle with the carnal mind often. I know that the carnal mind is lacking and when my vision is set on the carnal lower things, I lose focus of what is truly important. It is like momentarily stepping back into darkness. Maybe not as dark as it once was but certainly not the same brightness and brilliance that comes from looking onto Jesus Christ.
So why did that old dad teach us this? This is speculative thought, but I think it stands to reason. If we are set primarily on our own survival and our own benefits we will not purposely seek out God. Jesus taught us that if we want to seek after Him we must first deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (see Luke 9:23). In essence place death in our beings and seek Him for life but if we seek after our own life then we will never seek after God’s Eternal Life.
Scripture shows us that we were never seeking after God.
Romans 3:11 “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.”
It’s a hard question for some, I believe many Christians are carnally minded I was and battle with the carnal mind often. I know that the carnal mind is lacking and when my vision is set on the carnal lower things, I lose focus of what is truly important. It is like momentarily stepping back into darkness. Maybe not as dark as it once was but certainly not the same brightness and brilliance that comes from looking onto Jesus Christ.
So why did that old dad teach us this? This is speculative thought, but I think it stands to reason. If we are set primarily on our own survival and our own benefits we will not purposely seek out God. Jesus taught us that if we want to seek after Him we must first deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (see Luke 9:23). In essence place death in our beings and seek Him for life but if we seek after our own life then we will never seek after God’s Eternal Life.
Scripture shows us that we were never seeking after God.
Romans 3:11 “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.”
Every believer in
Christ is the product of Grace from start to finish, not one single person can
say that they are a seeker after God by their own hand, it is God’s Grace
working in us that begins that desire to seek after Him.
So how do we battle
with this insecurity of our own life and seek after God’s Eternal Life?
First we need to acknowledge the frailty of our own life. Whether it be a baby or old man, we all have an appointed time to die. We in this world but a breath before we come before God. Our lives in this world have meaning and purpose but they are not found in this world.
We have absolutely no control of the world around us, we have absolutely zero sovereignty over what goes on around us, We can not even control our own lives let alone another’s. What can man do by himself? We can create nothing, we can destroy nothing, we understand that which is unimportant and that which is important we neglect.
We are frail in our beings, but secondly to that is that God has purpose and meaning for us, our greatest source of power is our weakness. Not that our weakness is powerful but that God is powerful in our weakness, We boast in our weakness not to boast in ourselves but to boast in God’s work within the frailty of ourselves.
First we need to acknowledge the frailty of our own life. Whether it be a baby or old man, we all have an appointed time to die. We in this world but a breath before we come before God. Our lives in this world have meaning and purpose but they are not found in this world.
We have absolutely no control of the world around us, we have absolutely zero sovereignty over what goes on around us, We can not even control our own lives let alone another’s. What can man do by himself? We can create nothing, we can destroy nothing, we understand that which is unimportant and that which is important we neglect.
We are frail in our beings, but secondly to that is that God has purpose and meaning for us, our greatest source of power is our weakness. Not that our weakness is powerful but that God is powerful in our weakness, We boast in our weakness not to boast in ourselves but to boast in God’s work within the frailty of ourselves.
So the old dad taught
us to trust in our own survival and prize it above all else but God taught us
to deny our own survival and trust in Him above all else.
Colossians 3:12-15 says
“12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”
Colossians 3:12-15 says
“12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”
How beautiful, this
is not a survival mentality but one of service, one of love, this is what God
has called us to, to walk in His image just as Jesus Christ being God and
revealing God has enabled and showed us to do. Therefore let us do what the
verse above says.
Colossians 3:1-4 says
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
There we have it, seeking those things above, some may mock our “spiritual pipe dreams” but we know that this Eternal Life of knowing the Father and the Son, to know the True God is by far worth any death we may face in this world. Trust Christ above all else.
I hope this message has challenged and encourage you, it has been a blessing for me to write and challenge me in our day to day living. May God continue to Bless you!,
Chris
Colossians 3:1-4 says
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
There we have it, seeking those things above, some may mock our “spiritual pipe dreams” but we know that this Eternal Life of knowing the Father and the Son, to know the True God is by far worth any death we may face in this world. Trust Christ above all else.
I hope this message has challenged and encourage you, it has been a blessing for me to write and challenge me in our day to day living. May God continue to Bless you!,
Chris
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