Hedgemaker Baptist – From Above

We have been talking about things that are above and beyond. One of the things that Jesus tried to get across to the scribes and Pharisees was that he was not from earth, but that he was from heaven. He often called it being “from above.” When he spoke to Nicodemus, he said, “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all (John 3:31). Jesus, of course, was speaking about himself as “from above.” He said it again in John 8:23. “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” In these passages, the phrase “from above,” indicated the deity of Christ. The phrase was an affirmation of his being the Son of God.

From the earliest references in the Bible, we understand that the phrase “from above” has reference to God in heaven. When Job cursed his day, he said, “Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it” (Job 3:4). Later in the narrative, he said, “For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?” (Job 31:2). Isaac spoke to his sons about the “dew of heaven from above” (Gen.27:39). Paul affirmed that Christ came “down from above” (Rom.10:6). So, we understand that Christ came down from the heavens above to the earth below.

There is a practical application that you and I as believer ought to be “from above.” We live down here in the world, but the command is to be not of the world (1Jn.2:15-16). In the high priestly prayer, Jesus prayed for us to be kept from the world. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:15-16). Consequently, we ought to be “from above” and not from below.

Upon responding to King Pilate, when he touted his own power, “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: …” (John 19:11). So, we recognize that even civil powers are authorized from above. Any earthly power is authorized to do what they do from God who dwells above.

You and I, of course, are not from above in the sense that we are divine like Christ. Peter did, however, tell us that we have become partakers of divine nature, although we are not divine. “… that by these [precious promises] ye might be partakers of the divine nature …” (2Pet.1:4). Because of our relationship with God, we are “in Christ,” and in that sense have become partakers of the divine nature. It behooves us, therefore, to demonstrate that we are “from above” and not from below. Our character, our manifestation of godliness, ought to be of a heavenly nature. How do you demonstrate that you are “from above”? (LEH)