Three things critical to maintain an eternal perspective
Three things critical to maintain an eternal perspective
People manage their lives in many different ways. Some govern themselves by the standards of others. They compare and contrast their life to family or friends and grade themselves accordingly. Some direct their lives by the standard of society. Their actions mirror culture. And some adhere to a self-managed approach. What seems right at the moment or in a certain situation guides their actions.
But how do followers of Christ manage their lives?
I believe that Christ-followers must live their lives directed by the Word of God.
What does a biblically-managed life look like? In order to answer that question, we need to go right to the source. How does God instruct us to live a life guided by His Word?
Believers who desire to be directed by Scripture must have an eternal “grid” through which life circumstances are sifted, conclusions are drawn, and actions are taken. God has placed us on this earth for a purpose. We are His “workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God has put us on a mission!
The Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). We don’t have time to waste on trivial matters. People with an eternal perspective invest in eternal things.
But here is the challenge—the temporal is all we know. We drag ourselves out of bed when the alarm sounds and fall into bed after a busy day. Everything in between sunrise and sunset is measured in time. How can we possibly live with an eternal perspective?
Let me offer three things that I believe are critical for developing and maintaining an eternal viewpoint.
1. A person with an eternal perspective understands what it means to be “saved.”
Right after the terrorist attacks on 9-11, I remember reading about Todd Beamer who was on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. In the article his wife Lisa said, “I know he is in heaven. He was saved.” I have heard that phrase a thousand times, but that day in that circumstance the truth jumped out at me. It was so definite and simple and yet so full of meaning and significance. Because Beamer had trusted in Jesus as his personal savior, he passed from death to life (John 5:24). The tragic temporal was swallowed up by the glorious eternal.
The Apostle Paul wrote that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). An eternal perspective allows us to live with the realization that although we live in the world, we have been rescued from it. We have been “called out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Living each day in God’s “wonderful light” allows us to see life with an eternal perspective.
2. Believers who live with an eternal perspective understand that their citizenship is in heaven.
The writer to the Hebrews noted that believers who live by faith live as “aliens and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13b). The Apostle Paul said it this way,
Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
-Philippians 3:18-21
When we understand that our citizenship is not on this earth, we hold temporal things loosely. Life is like a layover. We will soon catch another flight home.
Our heavenly citizenship was well described in the second century Epistle to Diognetus, V. The writer clearly explained what a person living with an eternal perspective looks like:
The distinction between Christians and other men is neither in country nor language nor customs. For they do not dwell in cities in some places of their own, nor do they use any strange variety of dialect . . . yet while living in Greek and barbarian cities, according as each obtained his lot, and following local customs, both in clothing and food and the rest of life, they show forth the wonderful and confessedly strange character of the constitution of their own citizenship. Though they are residents at home in their own countries, their behavior there is more like that of transients; they take their full part as citizens, but they also submit to anything and everything as if they were aliens. For them, any foreign country is a homeland, and any homeland is a foreign country.
-Michael Cromartie, “Resident Aliens,” Tabletalk 18.3 (March 1994): 10
3. Believers who live with an eternal perspective understand that one day they will give an account.
Paul wrote these solemn words to all who follow Jesus: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The judgment seat of Christ does not deal with the believer’s salvation or heaven’s assurance. Our eternal destiny has already been settled by the work of Christ. At the judgment seat of Christ our works will be judged by Jesus to determine our heavenly rewards.
The word, “appear” in 2 Corinthians 5:10 does not mean simply to show up. It means “to be laid bare and stripped of outward façade.” Standing before Jesus, our true character will be revealed. All our actions while on earth will be open to Christ’s scrutiny. This will not be a declaration of doom but an assessment of worth. Based on this just assessment, each of us will receive what is due. As we wait for that day, we must remember that Jesus is our spiritual foundation. Our job is to build lasting, eternal things through the strength of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
People manage their lives in many different ways. Some govern themselves by the standards of others. They compare and contrast their life to family or friends and grade themselves accordingly. Some direct their lives by the standard of society. Their actions mirror culture. And some adhere to a self-managed approach. What seems right at the moment or in a certain situation guides their actions.
But how do followers of Christ manage their lives?
I believe that Christ-followers must live their lives directed by the Word of God.
What does a biblically-managed life look like? In order to answer that question, we need to go right to the source. How does God instruct us to live a life guided by His Word?
Believers who desire to be directed by Scripture must have an eternal “grid” through which life circumstances are sifted, conclusions are drawn, and actions are taken. God has placed us on this earth for a purpose. We are His “workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God has put us on a mission!
The Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). We don’t have time to waste on trivial matters. People with an eternal perspective invest in eternal things.
But here is the challenge—the temporal is all we know. We drag ourselves out of bed when the alarm sounds and fall into bed after a busy day. Everything in between sunrise and sunset is measured in time. How can we possibly live with an eternal perspective?
Let me offer three things that I believe are critical for developing and maintaining an eternal viewpoint.
1. A person with an eternal perspective understands what it means to be “saved.”
Right after the terrorist attacks on 9-11, I remember reading about Todd Beamer who was on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. In the article his wife Lisa said, “I know he is in heaven. He was saved.” I have heard that phrase a thousand times, but that day in that circumstance the truth jumped out at me. It was so definite and simple and yet so full of meaning and significance. Because Beamer had trusted in Jesus as his personal savior, he passed from death to life (John 5:24). The tragic temporal was swallowed up by the glorious eternal.
The Apostle Paul wrote that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). An eternal perspective allows us to live with the realization that although we live in the world, we have been rescued from it. We have been “called out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Living each day in God’s “wonderful light” allows us to see life with an eternal perspective.
2. Believers who live with an eternal perspective understand that their citizenship is in heaven.
The writer to the Hebrews noted that believers who live by faith live as “aliens and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13b). The Apostle Paul said it this way,
Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
-Philippians 3:18-21
When we understand that our citizenship is not on this earth, we hold temporal things loosely. Life is like a layover. We will soon catch another flight home.
Our heavenly citizenship was well described in the second century Epistle to Diognetus, V. The writer clearly explained what a person living with an eternal perspective looks like:
The distinction between Christians and other men is neither in country nor language nor customs. For they do not dwell in cities in some places of their own, nor do they use any strange variety of dialect . . . yet while living in Greek and barbarian cities, according as each obtained his lot, and following local customs, both in clothing and food and the rest of life, they show forth the wonderful and confessedly strange character of the constitution of their own citizenship. Though they are residents at home in their own countries, their behavior there is more like that of transients; they take their full part as citizens, but they also submit to anything and everything as if they were aliens. For them, any foreign country is a homeland, and any homeland is a foreign country.
-Michael Cromartie, “Resident Aliens,” Tabletalk 18.3 (March 1994): 10
3. Believers who live with an eternal perspective understand that one day they will give an account.
Paul wrote these solemn words to all who follow Jesus: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The judgment seat of Christ does not deal with the believer’s salvation or heaven’s assurance. Our eternal destiny has already been settled by the work of Christ. At the judgment seat of Christ our works will be judged by Jesus to determine our heavenly rewards.
The word, “appear” in 2 Corinthians 5:10 does not mean simply to show up. It means “to be laid bare and stripped of outward façade.” Standing before Jesus, our true character will be revealed. All our actions while on earth will be open to Christ’s scrutiny. This will not be a declaration of doom but an assessment of worth. Based on this just assessment, each of us will receive what is due. As we wait for that day, we must remember that Jesus is our spiritual foundation. Our job is to build lasting, eternal things through the strength of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
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