Jesus’ Words in Red “…Earthly things…Heavenly Things”

Jesus’ Words in Red

“…Earthly things…Heavenly Things”

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He said

 

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;

how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? John 3:12

The next conversation in the Book of John that

Jesus has is with the Samaria woman at the well

Jesus again takes an earthly and turns the conversation to heavenly things

"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."  John 4:10

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  John 4:13-14

This is a basic principle, foundational to understanding Jesus

Everything Jesus said and did was to reveal His Kingdom

Changing the earthy mind to heavenly thinking

Earthly Things / Heavenly Things

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 NIV

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He said…

  

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;

how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

John 3:12

The next conversation in the Book of John that

Jesus has is with the Samaria woman at the well.

Jesus again takes an earthly and turns

the conversation to heavenly things.

"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,

you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." 

John 4:10

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water

I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

John 4:13-14

This is a basic principle, foundational to understanding Jesus.

Everything Jesus said and did was to reveal His Kingdom.

As a child, Jesus sat in the temple asking

questions and speaking of His Father. 

(Although no Greek word the KJV says Father’s “business”.)

To the very end of Jesus’ earthly ministry,

 people misunderstood Jesus’ message.

They hailed Him as King but the king

they envisioned was an earthly king.

It was Jesus’ death that put to death

the dream of Jesus being an earthly king.

From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry He spoke of His

resurrection but it was not understood until after it happened.

So what do we learn from this?

Jesus when He spoke took the earthly things

we can relate to, to point out Heavenly things.

Jesus used every day earthly things to get the

attention of others so He could reveal the Heavenly things.

We, too, should have this same view as

we interrelate with other earthlings.

Jesus quickly turned conversations to Heavenly things.

 We should also realize grasping an understanding

of Heavenly things is not easy to understand.

The Apostle Paul tells us the natural came first.

Although Adam was created a living being, he

was a natural being made of the dust of the earth.

Paul wants us to understand we are

like Adam of the natural Earth. 

In contrast Jesus is the second man.

 

Jesus the second man is from heaven.

Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

Flesh and Blood, the natural person, made

from the dust of the earth is “Perishable”…

It will die and return to dust.

But those who take on the likeness of the second

Man, Jesus Christ, from heaven will not perish.

So the mortal must put on Immortality.

Because we were created from the dust of the earth we

have a hard time understanding heavenly things.

The only way we can relate to heavenly

things is through the things we do understand.

  

Jesus was a master at taking the things we

understand and pointing out heavenly things.

He quickly turned conversations to heavenly things.

I am challenged by Jesus’s focus, His ability

to turn every conversation to heavenly things.

God help us turn our conversations to heavenly things.

Help us see the earthly things as

a way to teach heavenly things.

May you develop in us such a heavenly understanding that

we feel as natural with heaven as we do with earth.

Let us be like Jesus.

"Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" 

 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Luke 2:49-50 NKJV

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.

Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, 

because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV

Scripture Reading NIV

John 4:7-14

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"  8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." 

11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

1 Corinthians 15:44-16:1

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural , and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  

55 "Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"  

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Colossians 3:1-4

3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.