Heaven's Pattern for Earthly Living

HEAVEN’S PATTERN FOR EARTHLY LIVING

SERIES: THE SURPASSING VALUE OF KNOWING CHRIST

Scott Grant

In this message we’ll finish our study of Philippians 3. The theme we’ve considered in this chapter is the surpassing value of knowing Christ. We have discovered our identity as the people of God, we have seen that our greatest privilege is to know Christ, and we have found that we must press on to know him fully.

Now we are going to see that this pressing on to know Christ has value not only for us but for the world as well. We must not lose sight of the fact that Paul’s overarching concern in Philippians is the advance of the gospel. So as we take this interior journey of drawing closer to the Lord, of sensing his love for us, of relating to him intimately, the effect on us is transforming, and that effect is designed by God to bring blessing to the world, to advance the gospel.

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is North Beach. It’s the old Italian neighborhood, which is now mostly a tourist trap, but I still like it. As you walk through the neighborhood and through the restaurant district, you can just smell Italy. I’ve been to Italy a couple of times and I loved the place. So as I walk through North Beach I think of Firenze, Montepulciano, Monterosso, Toscano, and some of the other places in Italy that I’ve been to. For me, there’s a link between Italy and North Beach.

Is there a link like that between heaven and earth? In western thought heaven is out there someplace, but it doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with earth. Heaven is probably the place you’re going to go when you die. Your soul is going to sort of float around out there someplace for all eternity. It doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to, but popular western thought puts heaven in those terms. God may answer a prayer or two, but for the most part he is pretty much removed from what goes on down here.

The Scriptures, of course, paint a much different picture. Paul tells us here in Philippians 3:17-21 that we are actually a colony of heaven. Our real citizenship is in heaven, but we are here on earth right now, commissioned to know Christ intimately and to spread the influence of heaven here. We do that through the Christ pattern of self-giving love.

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But 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.

Self-giving love vs. self-exaltation and self-preservation

Paul tells his readers to follow his example and that of others who follow this particular pattern. And what is this example that he is putting forward? It is his re-evaluation of power, privilege, and status for the sake of knowing Christ and then spreading the influence of Christ through love (3:7-11).

Examples are important, aren’t they? Paul puts forth himself as an example here, and in chapter 2 he talked about other people who were examples: Timothy and Epaphroditus, and of course Christ, the ultimate example (2:6-11). So we need to connect with the stories of Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and most importantly, Christ. There are also other figures throughout the Scriptures who lived according to this pattern of self-giving love, and we must take note of them and learn from them. And then of course we would do well to think about the people down through history who have lived according to this pattern. All kinds of people have loved Christ with all their heart and sought to advance the gospel, and have suffered greatly for the cause of Christ. Biographies are a good way to learn about these people and learn from their examples. Perhaps best of all, we can connect with living examples, people around us who are following Jesus with all of their hearts, living according to this pattern of self-giving love. If we can get to know some of them, so much the better.

There is a wonderful mix of ages at our church. Folks who have walked with the Lord for a while are an example to those who are younger. Younger people are just entering a life of following Jesus, and they have something to learn. Now, wouldn’t it be great to get these two groups together? Some who are a little bit older could start thinking about coming alongside those who are younger. Some who are younger could think about finding somebody who is older to learn from. If this is at all appealing to you, let me use two words that Jesus used in the garden of Gethsemane: watch and pray (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38). Pray about connecting with someone in this way, and then watch to see whom the Lord puts on your heart. See if someone crosses your path, perhaps more than once--perhaps the Lord is doing something there.

The good pattern Paul puts forward is important because cultural patterns are out there that are opposed to the cross of Christ. Paul describes certain people as enemies of the cross of Christ. I think these are the same people Paul mentioned in verse 2 (Discovery Paper 4787): Jews who rejected Christ, their own Messiah, and were probably very much discouraged by other Jews’ coming to Christ. He used pagan terms to describe these Jews, so what he seems to be doing here is teaching against both the Jews and the pagans. Both of these groups would have advocated patterns that were different from the one that Paul is advocating. The patterns would have been something along the lines of self-exaltation and self-preservation. Once again, we must be very careful not to accuse Paul of being anti-Jewish, because he himself was a Jew. He speaks about these particular people with tears. In Romans 9:2-3 he also speaks of the tremendous anguish in his heart regarding the state of his Jewish brothers who have not accepted their Messiah, and he even wishes that he could be cursed and cut off from Christ, if it were possible, for the sake of his Jewish brothers.

I don’t think there are many people in American culture today who would identify themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. They would probably describe themselves as more or less neutral; it’s not really popular nowadays to be against anything. They would say, “If that’s good for you, then fine.” They might even wear crosses or demonstrate the cross in some other way. But if you were to explain to them exactly what the cross of Jesus Christ means--the demand that you give up control of your own life and give it to him, and that he now make the calls--most people would find themselves very much in opposition to the cross.

Brennan Manning writes of a man who honestly identifies himself as an enemy of the cross:

“I can’t stand the cross. It is a denial of all that I value in life. I am a proud man, sensual; I seek pleasure. The cross reproaches me. It says, ‘You’re wrong. Your life must take this shape. This is the only true interpretation of life, and life is only true when it takes this form.’” (1)

Patterns of self-exaltation and self-preservation have an appeal that is often very deep. But when we are attracted to these patterns, we must remember what Paul says about the people who have adopted them: their destiny is destruction. Paul gives a fuller description of what destruction means in 2 Thessalonians 1:9: it is being shut out from the presence of the Lord and the majesty of his power. Those who would have to identify themselves as enemies of the cross would never want to spend eternity submitting to Jesus. For them, that would be hell.

I predict, if you ever watch any of the “reality TV” shows, that in the next episode you watch you will see patterns of self-advancement and self-preservation. I haven’t seen one of these shows, but from what I’ve read about them in newspapers and magazines, that’s what they seem to be about. These patterns seemingly seep into our consciousness through the very air that we breathe. So we need to see them for what they are, as being in opposition to the cross of Christ. And of course we need to breathe in the Biblical pattern of self-giving love.

A colony of the future right here in the present

Paul tells us why we are to follow the pattern that he advocates here, and his explanation in verses 20-21 has a future orientation: our citizenship is in heaven, so we should be thinking about heavenly things, not earthly things. The imagery that Paul is evoking here is that of a heavenly colony that is established here on earth. When the Romans conquered a country, they would establish a colony there to secure it, and they would permeate it with Roman culture. And if a colony got in trouble, it could count on Caesar to come and liberate it. Caesar was even called “savior” and “lord.” Philippi itself was a Roman colony, so this imagery was very familiar to the Philippians.

The idea of colonization has always had very negative connotations, particularly for those who are colonized. No one wants to be conquered and influenced by some other country. So are we trying to colonize the world? Well, in a sense, yes. But we are doing it by spreading the influence of heaven through the pattern of self-giving love. We are not demanding anything; we are just loving people. This kind of humble, self-giving love will cut through people’s suspicions.

So Paul is telling the Philippians to spread the influence of heaven in Philippi. He is telling us to spread the influence of heaven in our particular cities, our countries, our world. We can do this because we know that Jesus, who is the true Lord and Savior, is going to come and finish the work and liberate us.

Paul tells us that we can also trust that our Lord and Savior is going to come and transform our bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Right now our bodies are earthly--subject to temptation, sin, frailty, illness, death, and corruption. But one day we will get a body that is like Christ’s body. Do you know that he has a physical body? He had a physical body when he came to earth; and when he was resurrected he still had a physical body, but it was a different, glorious body. We are going to get bodies like that. They will be somewhat like the ones we have now, but they will be transformed. In 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 Paul says that these bodies are just seeds, and later will come the flowers.

Our new bodies are literally going to be like Christ’s “glorious body.” Glory has to do with sovereignty and reigning. Now, that is the position that God designed for humanity right from the start. We see it in Genesis 1. We also see this in Psalm 8:4-8, where David is addressing God regarding humanity:

“You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.”

Hebrews 2:6-9 says that this has been fulfilled in Christ, who comes as the truly human One. What Christ does, then, is restore us to our truly human destiny. That assures us that we too are going to receive new, transformed, physical bodies in which we will reign over the new creation that God is going to bring about.

Some people get confused when they read in 1 Corinthians 15 that we are going to have “spiritual” bodies. “Spiritual” there does not mean immaterial. It means, rather, that they are going to be inhabited and completely controlled by the Holy Spirit so that we will be perfectly suited to do what God has called us to do.

Christ has the power to “bring everything under his control” right now, and he one day will, but he is not yet exercising that power. When he does, all the powers that oppose Christ, everything and everyone that oppresses his people, will be brought to an end--all tyrants, both big and small. So we may ask what on earth he is waiting for! Why all this pain, suffering, wickedness, and evil? In the Scriptures we read that God is good, sovereign, and powerful. The only conclusion we can draw is that God must have an absolutely amazing plan that is beyond human comprehension to turn all this pain, suffering, wickedness, and evil into something beautiful and good! We can’t see it now, but when we have our transformed bodies and transformed hearts that will be able to see clearly how his plan all worked together, we will bow down and worship and marvel. This is important to remember as we face the prospect of war and the possibility of yet more terrorist attacks. God is going to bring everything under control, and when he does we will be able to see how gorgeous it is.

Spreading the influence of heaven

So there is a tendency in us to withdraw or to dominate. This is essentially the pattern that the world offers, and unfortunately, this is the pattern that the church has often chosen. It withdraws, fearing contamination or annihilation. Or it tries to dominate, exert control and power. Church history is littered with some really bad examples of these, from the crusades in which the church sought to dominate, to Nazi Germany where the church essentially withdrew and was assimilated. These issues are very real for us today in so-called post-Christian America, where followers of Jesus are often going to feel increasingly marginalized and on the fringe. We are going to have the temptation to isolate ourselves on the one hand or fight back on the other. But the Scriptures offer us a third alternative. We come together in church services and Bible studies and fellowships and so on, and we worship the one true God, draw near to Christ, sense his love for us. We reinforce the Christ pattern of self-giving love, practicing it among one another. We learn how to love difficult, troublesome people, people we don’t get along with very well. Then we go out and we model it in the world. We seek to influence the world through the power of love instead of the love of power.

If we take this path, we will often feel some tension. We will feel as if we are falling into domination or withdrawal. So we will have to think and pray and use all the wisdom that God gives us in order to take this path that God calls us to. For when we withdraw, we lose our influence, and when we dominate, we corrupt our influence.

There was a man named Matthew, also called Levi, who was an outcast among his Jewish people, because he had sold out to the Romans in order to collect taxes from the Jews. The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with this man. One day he threw a party for all his friends, the tax collectors, the prostitutes--all the sinners. And do you know who else was there? Jesus was. How could Jesus, the Holy One, go to this party? We know from the gospels that Jesus was not contaminated by sinners. His holiness went out of him and cleansed others. Sarna Becker, one of our interns, calls this effect “reverse contamination.” Now if Jesus Christ resides in us through his Holy Spirit, don’t you think that we can move out and be that kind of influence? I believe we can.

Our worship services are kind of like our party, if you will. We hope and pray that others who don’t know Jesus are going to come to our party, but there are going to be some people who never come. So perhaps from time to time, in different ways and in different places, we need to throw a different kind of party, one that perhaps people will come to: an R&R ministry on Friday nights, a recovery ministry, and so on. More significantly, if they won’t come to our parties, we need to go to theirs. That’s what Jesus did.

N.T. Wright says this:

“We need people who will hold onto Christ firmly with one hand and reach out with the other, with wit and skill and cheerfulness, with compassion and sorrow and tenderness, to the places where our world is in pain. We need people who will use all their God-given skills, as Paul used his, to analyze where things have gone wrong, to come to the place of pain, and to hold over the wound the only medicine which will really heal, which is the love of Christ made incarnate once more, the strange love of God turned into your flesh and mine, your smile and mine, your tears and mine, your patient analysis and mine, your frustration and mine, your joy and mine.” (2)

Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the holocaust, writes in his autobiography All Rivers Run to the Sea about a woman named Maria, who served as his family’s housekeeper in the 1930s and 1940s in their town in Transylvania. Elie was fourteen years old when he and his family were carted off and confined to a ghetto in 1944. He writes:

“Maria, our old housekeeper, a Christian--wonderful Maria, who had worked for us since I was born--begged us to follow her to her home. . . . Have I said often enough that she was part of the family? When we went on vacation, she came along. She participated in our festivals and in our mourning, leaving us only when the government forbade non-Jews from working for Jews. . . . In the days of the ghetto, she would thread her way through barricades and barbed wire to bring us cheese and eggs, fruit and vegetables. And that night, a Sunday, she appeared again. . . . ‘I know a safe place. I wanted to come and tell you--to beg you. The cabin in the mountains . . . It’s ready . . . Come . . . There’s nothing to fear there . . . You’ll be safe . . . There are no Germans there, and no one helping them. Come.’

I think of Maria often, with affection and gratitude. And with wonder as well. This simple, uneducated woman stood taller than her city’s intellectuals, dignitaries and clergy. My father had many acquaintances and even friends in the Christian community, but not one of them showed the strength of character of this peasant woman. Of what value was their faith, their education, their social position, if it aroused neither conscience nor compassion?

It was a simple and devout Christian woman who saved her town’s honor.” (3)

Now that’s spreading the influence of heaven through the Christ pattern of self-giving love. Other believers around them apparently did not live according to this pattern. They chose self-preservation or self-exaltation, clinging to their privileges and power and position.

Well, we can seek to be an influence for heaven here on earth because we know that our Lord and Savior will come to finish the work and to liberate us. And when he does, love will be the law of the land, and everyone will gladly assent to it. In a sense then, we are called to live the life of the future today. In a sense, this colony is a little piece of heaven on earth. (Notice that we are not waiting to go to heaven; we are waiting for heaven to come to earth.)

So if you are looking forward to floating around someplace as a disembodied soul for all eternity, that might be fun for a little while, but that’s not what you really want. We are looking forward to Jesus Christ’s returning, transforming this place, bringing about the new heaven and new earth, and transforming us as well in giving us new bodies. When he does we will reign with him, and we will be perfectly suited to this calling to be the kings and queens of all creation. Our wills will be perfectly in line with the will of God, and we will delight in this alignment. We will be what God always intended us to be. And the scent of heaven will be everywhere.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. . . . you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). That’s another way of saying that we are a colony of heaven. We have tasted a little bit of what it is going to be like. Now let’s go out and share that taste with others.

NOTES:

Catalog No. 4790

Philippians 3:17-21

4th Message

Scott Grant

February 16, 2003