“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” (1Pe 2:11 NASB)
Journal,
This is one of those ‘above’ and ‘below’ teachings that is at the very heart of true Biblical Christianity. You will find these above/below sayings scattered through the New Testament. You 
also find them in the former testament. Yes, there are aliens on planet earth. Every true Christian is an alien. The Bible says that we are from above.
Consider some variations of the above/below statements:
He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31)
You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.”(John 8:23)
You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:11)
But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” (Gal4:26)
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Col3:1,2)
The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.” (1Co15:47,48)
And then this of believers:
If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (John 15:19)
I’ve placed these Scriptures at the fore of this study as sort of pre-conditioner for where we are going in this study.
Let’s begin with …
The Puzzled Ruler
(Cf. John 18:33-38)
The conversation was not going as he expected. For one thing Pilate’s wife warned him not to
do harm to “this righteous man.” She had a dream about Jesus. So when Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews, the Lord said,
“Are you saying this on your own initiation, or did others tell you about Me?”
Of course Pilate was echoing one of the accusations being brought against Jesus. In his baffled state, he says,
“I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?”
The Lord responded,
“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be turned over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Pilate then says,
“So You are a king?”
This is when he hears,
“You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
Pilate is bewildered;
“What is truth?”
There you have it.
So what is truth
Would you really like to know? I can tell you what truth is not. Truth is not a religion. Religions are all the efforts of man. When you hear someone say, ‘Our church has the truth,” don’t even bother yourself. Truth is not some sort of religious commodity to be attained through a church.
Truth is the story of the cross. Not long after His conversation with Pilate, the rest of the story plays out at the cross. In a short time God’s very own Son will hang on a cross. A sign above His head will read in three languages,
‘Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.’
The languages were Hebrew (possibly Aramaic), and Greek, and Latin. These were the languages of the known world. Pilate had it written in contempt of the Jewish leadership who were responsible for the crucifying of Jesus.
The chief priests were indignant,
Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.'”
Pilate responded,
What I have written I have written.” Cf John 19:19-22
Wise men still seek Him
The prophets wrote about Him. Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel, and countless other righteous men and women of former times had encounters with Him.
Isn’t it interesting how wise men came from the east asking questions about Jesus.
Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Mat2:2)
And there He was, the One of whom the sages from the east were seeking, hanging on a cross.
Do we still have the Jesus haters among us? Some time back I was in dialog with certain people of the Jewish faith. One man retorted, ‘I am not going to worship a Jew on a stick.’
What a sad little man. While all the world is seeking after life and discovering Jesus, included multiplied thousands of Jewish people, and we still have this sort of Jesus vilification.
But of course the story doesn’t end at the cross. On the day of Pentecost we hear the apostle Peter declare quite plainly,
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)
Peter told them that Jesus was the promised Son of David, destined to David’s throne. Now He was ascended into the highest heavens.
What is it about the cross
What is the significance of the Man hanging on a cross? No significance at all if that was where He would be left. He would simply be another prophet of Israel, following the trail of the many prophets before Him.
But of course Jesus was far from being a prophet. He was God manifest in the flesh.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it was to begin its delivery with Jerusalem,
“Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God.'” (Isa40:9)
The one hanging on the cross was the God of Israel.
And the message of the cross points to His resurrection from the dead, to His ascension into heaven, to His being seated at the right hand of the Father, and to the bringing forth of a new creation, those who would be born of heaven.
The significance of His ascension and glorification is that the kingdom of God had entered into its completed redemptive stage. All of eternity would rest its case on the finished work of Calvary. This brings us to the reality of the ‘above’ and ‘below’ truths.
OK, here comes the aliens
When a person is actually born again, which, by the way, literally means ‘to be born from above,’ this person becomes a new creature. This new creature is now a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. Much of what is said of Jesus can be said of every child born from heaven.
Listen:
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Php 3:20-21 NASB)
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Rom 8:16-17 NASB)
The point is that once a person is born again, their spiritual center shifts. One moment they were
earthy creatures, the next moment they have entered into the kingdom of the beloved Son. And this kingdom is “not of this world.” Its center will not be found in this world.
Forget the isms, schisms, divisions, sectarians and all that concerns religious jargon. Those things are not the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. They are of the world.
None of this does away with the flocking of God’s children. We are to congregate in groups that are ordained of the Lord. But the visible church cannot in itself fully represent the full measure of the body of Christ. You will find born again children of God throughout Christendom. And it has nothing to do with church affiliation. It altogether has to do with our being born from above.
When Jesus said, “I am not of this world,” he later said the very same thing about all God’s children. In His high priestly prayer, Jesus reached across time. He speaks of all who will come to Him. Jesus said,
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)
Heavenly citizens in earthly bodies
If we were to take Scripture by Scripture concerning our being from above, it would simply thrill your heart. And this is the idea. Our hearts need to thrill over what it means to belong to Christ. The greatest problem facing many Christians today is that of learning about their true identity as heavenly citizens. We are right now heavenly citizens living in earthly bodies. We have to learn what this means to us on a spiritual level.
What needs to be understood is that every child of God has a spiritual support base that is out of this world. This is exactly what Paul is talking about when he says,
Set your mind [be intent on] the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col3:2,3)
This also what Jesus meant when He said,
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt6:33)
Seeking His kingdom is another way of saying, ‘Seek His direct rule in your life.’ There is no kingdom without a rule. And to the ancient people of God, to seek God’s righteousness meant to look to God’s faithfulness in which He acts as the good Shepherd of His people.
Jesus is not speaking of positional righteousness which belongs to every child of God. He is speaking of our learning to walk in the ways of the Lord. The Lord said if we would learn to do that, then everything else in life, that is, all our needs, whatever they may be, will simply be added to us.
Think about it. Yes indeed, we are aliens in this present world.
Here is a song that speaks to our heavenly life. Let it minister to your heart. ‘Yes, I Know,’ by Gaither Vocal Band
Jesus loves you,
Buddy
Views: 54
