 |
Taking Every Thought Captive |
 Got Life? Our Ministry Our Beliefs Our Staff Articles Contact Us Resources Bookstore Search Links
|
Christ Our
Life Colossians
3:1-4 By Jay Wegter 1 Therefore
if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things
that are on earth. 3 For
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our
life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (NASB). Our passage is a
“bridge” passage that joins the indicatives concerning our salvation in Christ
(chap. 1-2) with the ethical demands that flow from these grace truths. Colossians 3:1-4
provides the logic for putting to death the old man (3:5). As a bridge passage, our text connects the
work of Christ with the implication of being raised with Christ (Col 2:10-13).
“For you have
died,” (3:3) – our death by co-crucifixion with Christ severed our link with
the old order (the old life; the former life of sin’s dominion). “If then” you
have been raised with Christ, “then” you are seated with Him in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6).
IF refers to a fulfilled
condition; THEN alludes to the
change flowing from your union with Christ.
That change must be realized in your lifestyle because in Christ you
have died once for all to the world, and you are now living another life. The change that
resulted from union with Christ altered your whole nature – now your new life
in Christ must pervade your whole life.
The new life is to exert itself so that it dominates exceptionally in
both the intellectual and practical sphere.
(The false believer keeps religion in a compartment in his life. The truth of God in Christ does not dominate
exceptionally so as to take possession of his affections producing universal obedience.) True believers
live in a new sphere. That means that
the believer has been transferred from earth to heaven as far as purpose, position, destiny, relationships, and
vantage point are concerned. As a new
creation, the believer’s whole standard of judgment has been changed – his new
heavenly life is in Christ. Colossians is
pure Christology. Paul is exhibiting
Christ as preeminent in all things, all-sufficient Redeemer, sovereign Lord, and
God very God. As God-man and
Redeemer, Christ entirely fills the infinite gap between God and sinful man. Consider how
expansive this chasm is between the self-existent, transcendent, holy God of
the universe, and sinful, feeble, defiled humans made of dust. The human race
is created with a spiritual longing for the transcendent (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But carnal reasoning leads men away from
Christ to religious philosophies of human invention (Col 2:8). Paul has written
Colossians to combat the errors that are troubling the churches of the Lycus valley in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The false teachers have introduced doctrines
and practices that prove to be an oblique attack upon the preeminence and
sufficiency of Christ. When sinful man
leans upon his reason in order to attempt to partially bridge the gap between
God and man, he always comes up with an “ism.”
The book of Colossians destroys these dangerous “isms.” Legalism,
asceticism, ceremonialism, mysticism, sacramentalism,
subjectivism, antinomianism, and Gnosticism are all refuted by the powerful
Christology of Colossians which declares the absolute preeminence and perfect
sufficiency of Christ. The dangerous
“isms” prove to be nothing more than will
worship – that is man asserting his fallen will, telling God how he will
approach Him and be commended by Him. Five hundred years
ago before the Protestant Reformation, sacramentalism
(or sacerdotalism), had a strangle hold upon the
Church. Through the Protestant
Reformers, the blessed truth of the Gospel of free grace in Christ was
recovered through the study of the Scriptures. So also in first
century in the region of Colossae, Gnosticism was
harassing the churches seeking for a stranglehold. Paul exposed the false premises of his
opponents. Paul thunders out in the book
of Colossians, Christ completely fills
the entire gap between holy God and sinful man!
He is all and all. All the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. The
believer is complete in Him! Everything in
relation to God needed by the believer is to be found in Christ. In Christ the believer finds acceptance,
favor, sonship, status, right standing, power,
purpose, destiny, bold access, wisdom and knowledge. Our entire life is upheld and provided by
Christ – none of our spiritual needs are provided by us. This is death to the “isms!” (Example: Recently a Jehovah’s Witness woman came to my door; she was training
another woman. I quickly challenged her
as why the founders of her cult had changed the N.T. so as to make Christ a
creation of God instead of God the Son.
She answered back, “Then how do you explain Jesus praying to God as His
Father?” I said to her as respectfully
as I could, “Madam, if you could answer that question, you’d be a saved
person.” The point is Christ lived the
perfect life of a human believer and disciple for our sakes. His life as God incarnate completely filled
the gap between God and man. His praying
to the Father is an argument FOR the Trinity, not against the Trinity.) The moment you
read our text (3:1-4), it’s easy to see what God wants us to do. He wants more of your mind’s attention so
that you meditate on the heavenly life. The benefits of
utilizing our mind to dwell on things above are manifold. When we do so, our fellowship with God
increases; for when God is honored in our truthful and adoring thinking about
Him, we are holding communion with Him and He manifests His presence to
us. When you practice dwelling on things
above, you’ll abide in Christ as a habit.
Your perception of the reality of the heavenly sphere will become
increasingly influential in your life.
Your confidence and comfort in God will increase. And your love and devotion to Christ will be
more consistent. That is our
purpose in studying this passage – that you might gain a greater perception of
your life in Christ and as a result experience the benefits just named. Our text falls
under three points: I.
Our life in Christ is to be pondered
(vv. 1-2) II.
Our life in Christ is presently hidden
(v. 3) III.
Our life in Christ is to be revealed
(v. 4) I. Our Life in Christ Pondered (vv. 1-2). (v. 1) -- If indeed we are members of Christ, we must ultimately ascend to heaven
(Calvin). (Application: If you are a Christian, you do not have to
live in suspense about these things – begin “feeding” your faith, weak as it
is, upon these grace truths found in the book of Colossians.) It takes a
strong faith to “see” Jesus enthroned as Lord of all. He who was made for a little while lower than
angels is now Mediatorial King. He is our enthroned “Forerunner” – where He
is, we are going to be (Heb 6:19-20). As members of His Body, we must someday join
our enthroned Head. This is to be a
controlling truth in our lives. Every public
thing done by the Son of God will from now on include His Church (whether
Second Advent, Marriage Supper, Millennial Reign, or Final Judgment). It takes strengthening of the inner man and an enlightening of the eyes of our hearts and
a spirit of wisdom and revelation to
be able to fully take hold of the remarkable truth that our destinies as
believers are bound up in the Son of God (Eph 1:17-18; 3:16). God is telling
us in 3:1 to actively pursue a God-ward life in our thoughts. We must feed our faith in the Word of
God. Our aims in life will ultimately
flow from what we regard as reality. To
keep on seeking the things above is to have our aims and ambitions shaped by
the heavenly sphere spoken of in 3:1 (“things above”). Therefore to abide above is to live with the
awareness that we live as pilgrims and strangers – we are sojourners with a
heavenly citizenship. The faith
mentality of the saints who went before us is recorded in Hebrews
11:13-16. These men and women were not
bound by things below. By faith, they
saw the City of God with such clarity that they were able to abide in the
heavenly sphere as their course in life. “Things above”
is where Christ is. He is at the right
hand of His Father. Christ must rule
until all of His enemies are put beneath His feet. These enemies pose a threat to His Bride the
Church (Christ will bring her safely past sin,
death, hell, the world, the flesh, and the devil.) When we think of
Christ in the heavenly realm, let us not think of Him as detached from the
events of the physical world. In
Colossians 1:15-18, Paul asserts that Christ is Lord of the cosmos, Lord of the
Church, Lord of history, and Lord of every created thing, whether spirit or
physical creature. Christ is ruling and
reigning. He is holding all things
together in the cosmos and He is active in all of human history. By God’s design,
He is preeminent in every realm. We are
to live with His majesty in constant view.
Whether the physical or spiritual realm; He has first place in
everything. He fills the world. This is the
heavenly sphere – it is the invisible reality that the world is willingly
ignorant of. We are to seek the things
in this sphere where Christ is. We are
commanded to see things from the divine viewpoint (DVP). This is ultimate reality – what we see by
faith is eternal in the heavens. What we
see with physical eyes is temporal; only the heavenly sphere is eternal (2 Cor 4:18; 1 Jn 2:17). (v. 2) – Paul joins an imperative to the
indicative in v. 2 (he links a command with positional truth just stated). Because of the fact that we are risen with
Christ, therefore cogitate, set your
mind upon (assiduously, with intensity), let your whole meditation be on
this. Apply the abilities of your mind
to holy thinking. Adore Christ in your
minds – dwell with Him. Consider, give
your mind to this. Judge, think upon as
a practice. A man’s thinking
and life direction go together. They are
reflected in his goals, his aims which he chooses for himself. To set your mind upon something is to be
mentally disposed towards it. You move
in that direction. (Example: That aim turns like
a little radar, always seeking to fulfill the goal it is fixed upon.) Paul’s
exhortation is to have one basic aim, direction, orientation (Phil 2:5) – the
mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). This requires great effort. But God expects this of you. (Example: One of
my seminary professors corrects his thinking by telling himself, “Higher
thoughts Larry, higher thoughts.” Our
thoughts, like water, naturally flow to a low level of merely sense perception
and carnal reasoning (like a stagnant pond with no outlet). We are to engage our minds in the service of God’s
revelation, especially His revelation of grace in Christ that they might be
lifted to the heavenly sphere.) All of God’s
treasures of wisdom and knowledge are resident in Christ. In order to enter the heavenly sphere in our
thinking, it will involve the diligent application of our intellects. Especially if those thought processes focused
above are to give shape to our lives.
The earthly sphere is always pulling at us. Earth and heaven
are different spheres of living (DVP – divine
viewpoint and HVP human viewpoint). If we obey the command in verse 2, “set
your mind on things above.” it will protect us from being lulled into a
state in which we are infatuated with the trivial, the temporal, the sensual,
and the material. Countless people
around us would never for a moment consider themselves to be enemies of the
cross of Christ – but Philippians 3:19 warns us that those who set their minds
on earthly things are not friends of the cross of Christ. (Of course we know why. It is solely the friend of the cross who has
died with Christ and been raised with Him to newness of life.) The spiritual
man or woman is known by his or her aspirations. Our aspirations arise out of
what and where we set our minds upon.
Romans 8:4-8 (Williams translation) states that the spiritual man thinks
the thing suggested by the Spirit. The
carnal, or fleshly man practices thinking those things suggested by the
flesh. Because of his
union with Christ, the spiritual man rejects the orientation set by the lower
nature. (Application: Paul’s
intent is that setting our minds upon things above will control both the
definition and direction of our lives.
We will behold Christ as “Source Person.” Our affections will be conformed to the
heavenly sphere. The “mind of Christ” is
cross-centered living that keeps us
severed from the world. The Gospel is
the believer’s “food.” He takes in the
grace truths that remind him daily that his life is hidden in Christ.) II. Our Life in Christ is Presently
Hidden (v. 3). “You died” to
the old order, the old vantage point, the old values through your
co-crucifixion with Christ (see 2 Cor 5:14). V. 3 points back to our union with Christ. (In the mind of God, who determines
all reality, the death of Christ counts as our death to sin as much as if we
had been hanging upon that cross ourself.) (Illustration: A friend of mine who is a pastor as well as a
mental health worker, visited a young man who was in lock up in Juvenile
Hall. The teenager had been arrested for
attempted murder. As a mental health
worker, Patrick was one of the few men from the outside, other than an attorney,
who had access to this young criminal. Patrick greeted the teenager by saying,
“I come to you in the name of the Judge.
The teen sighed. Then Patrick added,
“The Judge of the universe.” “He does
not hold your crimes against you because He has charged them to the account of
His Son.” The teen had a puzzled look,
but three days later the teen asked Patrick to come back and tell him the
Gospel again. He was gloriously
converted.) Your life has
been so closely associated with Christ that He Himself is designated, “Our
life.” Because of union with Christ, the
believer is spiritually alive in God (Rom 6:4-5). All the
blessings Christ has wrought for His people are inseparable from His Person (every
salvation blessing purchased by Christ is only given to those who have Christ
by union with His Person -- people want heaven, but not the lordship of Christ
over them). We have eternal life solely
because of our union with Christ. (Application: Risen life in Christ is only
for those who are first dead in Him. One
must be dead to the world to live for Christ -- see Gal 6:14; 2 Cor 5:14. To abide above is to reckon the fact that
your life is bound up in Christ – He is “source Person,” the world is no longer
regarded as source. What He is doing in
the world, in His Church controls the spiritual man. The man with the “mind of Christ” marches
under Christ’s banner and totally identifies with His purposes. He uses his gifts to contribute his part in
“presenting every man complete in Christ” – 1:28.) Our life is
“hidden with Christ in God.” God is
faithful in carrying out what is committed to Him (2 Tim 1:12). For the time
being, we are frequently distressed by trials, sufferings, afflictions, and
weaknesses. Our true identity is
concealed from the world, and apart from faith in His infallible Word, it is
frequently hidden from us as well. Our true
identity is hidden (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2; 4:17). We wait patiently until that day of
revelation. For the time being we live
between the cross and the resurrection (our lives are radically influenced by
both looking back to the cross, and looking forward to the day of revelation.) (Application: Believers are to “abide above”
– Eph 2:4-7. Fellowship with Christ
brings a greater sense of security. What
could be more desirable than to dwell with the “Fountain of Life.” The world has no “spiritual eyes” to behold
the object of our hope – Christ; the Source of all life. A recent trend in TV programming – “reality
TV,” in which a harness and life line protects people from falling to their
deaths. The viewer identifies with the
risk-taker and feels a rush when death is cheated. The natural man attempts to minister to his
fears; he knows not that spiritually he is a walking dead person who is about
to leave the land of the dying to enter the world of the second death. But only the saint knows where life resides.) We’ve seen that
we have died when we were baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit
(2:11-14). Now our lives are hidden
in Christ; the world knows nothing of our new life. Christ is our life; our life is not
just shared with Christ. He is our life
in every sense of the word. He is our
“Source Person.” Christ is the
“north star” so to speak; the whole celestial existence revolves around Him. Positionally, we are seated with Him in this heavenly
sphere. Our lives are shut up – hidden
in Christ until the last day; then our lives will be manifested when Christ is
revealed. III. Our Life in Christ is to be Revealed
(v. 4). Our life in
Christ is to be fully manifested when Christ returns. Then we will share His glorious
epiphany. It was for this great cause
that He called you, “that you might gain the glory of Christ” (2 Thess 2:14). (How incomprehensible apart from the Spirit’s
illumination that we shall “share His holiness” – Heb 12:10.) What is secretly
present now shall be revealed on that day.
Our secret existence now is a mystery (Col 1:27). As we meditate upon these things, we dwell in
this heavenly sphere. This was Paul’s
practice -- his convictions are captured in Galatians 2:20 – those convictions ought
to be the persuasion of every true Christian.
For those who set their minds on things above are ever more cognizant of
their shared life in Christ (a shared existence that will someday soon be
revealed). The glory
shared, spoken of in v. 4, has a special reference to being made like Christ in
moral likeness and in the likeness of His resurrection body (1 Jn 3:2; Phil 3:20-21). (Application: Colossians 3:1-4 sets before us
an “already, not yet” tension of
life lived between the cross and the resurrection. Now, all grace flows from Christ. Because of His cross, intimate, personal
union with Him is already a reality. We
are already crucified with Him, buried with Him, united with Him, and raised
with Him. Therefore we are to pursue the
things of the heavenly realm. We are
dead to the old order – the old orientation of self and the world. So now we must center our whole outlook on
Christ so that our mind, ambition, and aims belong in the heavenly sphere or
‘realm’.) CONCLUSION: How
are we to follow the Lord’s command found in our text? First there must be realism – the ongoing
effort for the mindset enjoined in our text requires labor. The mindset is not automatic. But consider
that the exhortation in 3:1-4 is associated with taking delight in eternal
things. In order to seek the realm above
diligently, we must make it our practice to “preach the Gospel to ourselves
everyday.” May I suggest
that in order to set your mind upon things above, you must be able to take
delight in all that God is toward you in Christ. To be able to do take delight in God and
enjoy Him is a function of fresh acts of faith in the Gospel each day. When you wake up
in the morning, you again take Christ as your righteousness. You “preach the Gospel to yourself” saying,
“By my Savior’s life, and death, and resurrection, I am fully accepted by God
the Father. By my union with His
glorified life, God has cleared away every obstacle to a love relationship with
Himself.” In order to
develop this mindset, we will need to feed our faith upon these heavenly
truths. For the time being, our life is
hidden in Christ. But when He appears
(He who embodies life), we will appear with Him. This truth of
shared existence and shared glory is wonderful beyond words. God will literally synchronize the glorious
appearance of Christ with the glorification of His people and the renovation of
the universe (Rom 8:18-25). On that day,
the “sons of God” will be revealed publicly to the rational universe. God will turn
the tables on the false values of this world (1 Jn 2:17). The world with its temporal vantage point
will be swept away like a dream. This
generation worships youth, beauty, sensuality, materialism, pleasure, leisure,
power, and earthly security. But a day
is coming when the lusts of deceit will be shown for the poison they are. On the Day of
the Lord, God will put the myth of ownership to the lie. When Christ returns, everything loaned to man
will be returned to God for an accounting (life, breath, the faculties of soul,
mind, and body, talents, time, affections, everything). Dear reader,
what we regard as ultimate reality will be the sphere in which we dwell. Our aims will flow from what we regard as
having lasting substance. In order to
diligently pursue the things above, we must stay centered on the Kingdom of
God. The believer is to focus upon things
of the new order. We must stay centered
upon the exalted Christ. Our Savior is
currently hidden from view, but God’s Spirit will strengthen you and open and
enlighten the eyes of your heart to behold your Lord enthroned -- if you will
be make it your occupation to meditate upon things above in Scripture. The truth of
Colossians 3:1-4 is inescapable – the sphere in which we live is the one in
which our thoughts dwell. The benefit of
seeking the things above is immeasurable: “[that
you] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and
length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:18-19).
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries William
Hendrickson, NTC, Baker, 1962 J. B. Lightfoot,
Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians Peter T.
O’Brien, WBC, Word, 1982 Fritz Reinecker, Linguistic
Key to the N.T., Zondervan, 1976 A. T. Robertson,
Word Pictures in the N.T., Baker,
1931 |
