When you read the New Testament, there are certain truths that are vitally important. God wants you to grasp the identity of Jesus as God the Son. God wants you to grasp that your salvation must come by his grace alone through faith alone in Christ. God wants you to grasp that a person who is saved obeys the commands of God, loves other believers, worships and fellowships in the church, shares the gospel, and lives for God’s glory in the family. And, of course there are many more top issues.
If we watch throughout the New Testament, we also see an issue of mental perspective that is vital for Christian living. This issue is all over the place in the New Testament, and when we miss it, our lives are significantly more miserable. Wen we get it right, we do far better.
Check out the mindset Jesus wants the people of the church in Smyrna to have.
Revelation 2:8-11 – 8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
This note from the Savior to a church in Asia Minor at the end of the 1st century begins with a hint at the mindset I’m pointing toward. Jesus identifies himself as the one who lives after death. That is a key, the resurrection and eternal life of Jesus. Then Jesus makes it plain that the church in Smyrna is headed for some significant persecution. In fact, this church is headed for the kind of persecution that will cost some believers their lives. At the end of verse 10, the Savior says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
In verses 8, 10, and 11, Jesus points to eternal life after death. Jesus is the risen Savior who lives forever (v. 8). Those who are faithful unto death will have the crown of life (v. 10). The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death (v. 11), an eternal death.
What then is the mindset that is so important? Jesus is calling the people to have an eternal perspective. He is calling for the people to see that their lives are not bound up in the 70 or 80 years that people live on earth. Jesus wants his followers to have their hope firmly set on life after death. Jesus wants us to see that the crown of life and participation in his resurrection, a genuine and physical resurrection, is more important than the sufferings that we might face today. Even should our hardships cost us our lives, they are overcome by the glorious truth that Jesus died and yet lives, and so shall all who are in Christ live eternally.
Christians, check your mindset. Are you focused on eternity? Is your hope in the life after this one? Are you longing for the return of Jesus and the resurrection of the saints? Or is your focus on this life, its’ comforts and heartaches? May we have the mindset that would stand strong in the face of good or evil in this life, because we know that our hope is in eternal life with Christ.
Pastor Travis Peterson 