The Treasure Makes All the Difference
One of Jesus’s most powerful parables is also one of his shortest:
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).
Fifteen minutes before this man’s discovery in the field, the thought of selling all that he owned to buy it wouldn’t have crossed his mind. Even if it had, it would have seemed ludicrous. But fifteen minutes after finding the treasure, he was off to do it with joy. What made the difference?
The treasure.
This man suddenly found something that transformed his whole outlook on life. The treasure restructured his values and priorities. It altered his goals. The treasure revolutionized the man.
The treasure in this parable is the resurrection to eternal life. It was the same “treasure in heaven” that Jesus promised the rich young man if he would sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus (Matthew 19:21). The rich young man, blinded by short-term worldly wealth, could not see the treasure, but the man in the parable did, and he jumped at it.
Now, there was a cost to obtaining the treasure. Viewed one way, the cost seemed high — it cost him everything he owned. But viewed another way, the cost was very small. Standing in the field, the man did a quick cost-benefit analysis. It didn’t take him long to realize that selling all his possessions was going to make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. He would have been a fool not to do whatever was necessary to buy that field.
The Treasure of Treasures
Now, when the man bought the field and obtained the treasure of eternal life, what specifically did he get? This is an important question, because the Bible makes eternal life a central focus for the Christian, yet provides few descriptions about what it will be like. When the Bible does describe eternal life, it often uses similes, metaphors, and symbols. Why?
One reason is that we simply are not yet equipped to comprehend the reality we will experience in the new heaven new earth age, for “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Through figurative language, God helps us transpose the glories we now see and understand into glimpses of future greater glories.
But I believe there is a more important reason God doesn’t give us more details: Eternal life is more about a Person than a place. What will make the kingdom of heaven so heavenly to us will not be the glorious phenomena of the new creation or the rich rewards we will receive, as inexpressibly wonderful as they will be. The heaven of the age to come, the Treasure of treasures, will be God himself — knowing and being with the One from whom all blessings flow.
Jesus himself said, “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). And Paul expressed his deepest longings like this: “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ… that I may know him and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:8, 10). What we will enjoy most about the resurrection is having the dim mirror of this age removed and finally seeing Jesus face to face, finally knowing the triune God fully as we have been fully known by him (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Remember Why You Sold Everything
The resurrection from the dead is the single greatest hope of the Christian. It is the only prize that ultimately matters, and we make it our one great life goal to obtain it (Philippians 3:14). It is the culmination of the gospel (1 Peter 3:18). The whole reason Jesus came into the world was to give us eternal life (John 3:16). He died for us, that we might live with him (1 Thessalonians 5:10). Jesus did not come to give us our best life now. He came to “deliver us from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) and bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18).
Jesus is longing for this day with all his heart. He expressed this yearning to his Father when he prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
Jesus’s great longing is that you will be with him. And when you are finally with him, “he will wipe away every tear from [your] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Never again will you know any kind of separation from him (Romans 8:39), for you will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
That is the treasure you have discovered in the field of this fallen world. Jesus has paid for it all, and it costs you everything you own in this age to have it. Yet it is such a small payment for such an everlasting, never-ending treasure that only a fool would pass it up.
The treasure makes all the difference.
LIGHT + TRUTH
Understanding Yourself
How can we move from allegiance to self and see ourselves as God does? In this episode of Light + Truth, one turns to Romans 1:18 to help us better understand who we are.
光+真理
了解自己
我们怎样才能从效忠转向自我并像上帝一样看待自己？ 在这一集中的光+真理中，人们翻阅罗马书1:18来帮助我们更好地了解我们是谁。
Bring Order to the Chaos:
God's pastors don’t just work hard to preach to their people; they help people through conflicts with a calm force that brings order to the chaos of life.
给混乱带来秩序：上帝的牧师不只是努力向他们的子民传道；他们还努力工作。 他们以平静的力量帮助人们解决冲突，为混乱的生活带来秩序。
God is most glorified in us
when we are most
satisfied in Him.
God Is Everywhere Now .
宝藏让一切变得不同
耶稣最有力的比喻之一也是他最短的比喻之一：
天国就像藏在地里的宝藏，有人发现了，就把它埋藏起来。 然后他高兴地去变卖他所有的一切，买了那块地（马太福音 13:44）。
在这个人在田野里发现这个东西的前十五分钟，他根本就没有想过要卖掉自己所有的一切来买下它。 即使有，也会显得很可笑。 但找到宝藏十五分钟后，他就满心欢喜地出发了。 是什么造成了差异？
宝藏，宝贝，财物。
这个人突然发现了一些改变他整个人生观的东西。 宝藏重塑了他的价值观和优先事项。 这改变了他的目标。 宝藏彻底改变了这个人。
这个比喻中的宝藏就是复活而得永生。 耶稣向富有的年轻人许诺，如果他愿意变卖自己的财产，施舍给穷人，并跟随耶稣，这就是“天上的财宝”（马太福音19:21）。 这个富有的年轻人被短暂的世俗财富蒙蔽了双眼，看不到宝藏，但寓言中的那个人却看到了，并且跳了起来。
现在，获得宝藏是有代价的。 从一方面来看，成本似乎很高——这让他失去了自己所拥有的一切。 但从另一个角度来看，成本却很小。 站在现场，该男子快速进行了成本效益分析。 没过多久，他就意识到卖掉所有财产将使他变得超乎想象的富有。 如果他不采取一切必要措施来购买那块地，那他就是个傻瓜。
宝藏中的宝藏
那么，当这个人买了田地并获得永生的宝藏时，他具体得到了什么？ 这是一个重要的问题，因为圣经将永生作为基督徒的中心焦点，但却很少描述永生是什么样子。 当圣经确实描述永生时，它经常使用明喻、隐喻和象征。 为什么？
原因之一是，我们根本还没有准备好理解我们将在新天新地时代经历的现实，因为“神为那些人所预备的，是眼睛未曾看见，耳朵未曾听见，人心也未曾想象过的”。 爱他”（哥林多前书 2:9）。 通过比喻的语言，上帝帮助我们将现在看到和理解的荣耀转化为未来更大荣耀的一瞥。
但我相信神没有给我们更多细节还有一个更重要的原因：永生更多的是关于一个人而不是一个地方。 使天国对我们如此神圣的，不是新创造的荣耀现象，也不是我们将领受的丰富奖赏，尽管它们将是难以言喻的奇妙。 未来时代的天堂，宝藏中的宝藏，将是神本人——认识并与从所有祝福中流出的那一位在一起。
耶稣自己说：“认识你独一的真神，并且认识你所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生”（约翰福音 17:3）。 保罗这样表达了他最深的渴望：“我已经失去万有，视它们为粪土，为要得着基督……使我认识他，晓得他复活的大能。”（腓3:8， 10）。 关于复活，我们最享受的就是除去这个时代的暗镜，最终面对面见到耶稣，最终完全认识三一神，就像我们被他完全认识一样（哥林多前书13:12）。
记住为什么你卖掉了一切
从死里复活是基督徒最大的希望。 这是唯一最终重要的奖赏，我们将获得它作为我们人生的一个伟大目标（腓3:14）。 这是福音的顶峰（彼得前书 3:18）。 耶稣来到世上的全部原因就是要赐给我们永生（约翰福音 3:16）。 他为我们而死，使我们可以与他一起生活（帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:10）。 耶稣现在来不是为了给我们最好的生活。 他来是要“救我们脱离现今这邪恶的世代”（加拉太书 1:4），并带我们安全进入他的天国（提摩太后书 4:18）。
耶稣全心全意地渴望这一天。 他向天父表达了这样的渴望：“父啊，我在哪里，愿你所赐给我的他们也与我同在，叫他们看见你所赐给我的荣耀，因为你在奠基之前就爱我了。” 世界的”（约翰福音 17:24）。
耶稣最大的渴望就是你能和他在一起。 当你最终与他在一起时，“他会擦去（你）眼中的每一滴眼泪，死亡将不再存在，也不再有哀悼、哭泣或痛苦，因为以前的事情都已经过去了” 离开”（启示录 21:4）。 你将不再与他有任何分离（罗马书8:39），因为你将永远与主同在（帖撒罗尼迦前书4:17）。
那是你在这个堕落世界的领域里发现的宝藏。 耶稣已经为这一切付出了代价，而你要付出这个时代所拥有的一切才能拥有它。 然而，对于如此永恒、永无休止的宝藏来说，付出的代价是如此之小，只有傻瓜才会放弃。
宝藏使一切变得不同。
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