“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:1—2).
Christian faith is not just a set of beliefs but involves
experiencing the Lord daily. Growing in faith means experiencing more and more
of our Saviour and Lord and becoming increasingly like him.
The Christian life begins when we recognise the need for a saviour and continues as we identify with him in his death and resurrection in Christian baptism. We are seated with him through the spiritual resurrection, though we are still physically on earth. Paul sums up this experience: “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus….” (Eph 2:5—7).
People who accept God's salvation through Jesus Christ should also know they are destined for life in another world.
They must have a different orientation of mind than the unsaved.
People who have experienced God’s salvation and belong to
the world where Christ is should re-orient their minds from things of this
world to things of that world. Just as a person who plans to immigrate to
another country gets rid of things that are of no use in the new country, learns
the language, culture, and manners of the host country, and lives each day waiting
for the day of entry in the new country, so must we too; feet on this earth,
eyes on the world above with eager anticipation.
Jesus had promised that one day, he would take us to be with
him: “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be
also” (John 14:3).