Colossians 3:1-4
I was driving on I-64 a few years ago about 30 or 40 yards behind the car that was directly in front of me. I had not observed anything unusual about the car/driver that would indicate that something was wrong. I noticed that the car began drifting toward the outer edge of the road toward the solid white line along the outside lane. I really didn’t think too much about it at first because I have seen others do that only to correct their position fairly quickly. However, this time the driver didn’t seem to be making any effort to bring his car back into his lane. A couple of more seconds passed and the car was now well into the emergency lane of the interstate and I began slowing down thinking that something might happen that could cause a chain reaction. It was only a second or two later that the car struck the guardrail with a glancing blow and careened back into the lane from which it had drifted. I thought surely the driver would stop in order to check the damage to his car, but he continued on as if nothing had ever happened. I can only assume that the driver must have gotten distracted for a few brief moments either by what he was doing in the car or by looking away at something outside of his car. Either way, I’m sure he was thankful for the guardrails that potentially saved his life and probably the adrenaline rush that enabled him to focus more closely on the road ahead.
This experience serves well to teach us an important lesson about the Christian life.
In the opening verses of this new section of Paul’s letter (3:1-4), he begins by encouraging believers to stay focused on the path they have been called to travel. Why? Because If you get distracted and begin to “drift” from Him/truth the potential exists for you to wreck your life in a matter of seconds. The two commands he gives in these four verses (“seek those things which are above” & “set your minds on things above”) act as spiritual “guardrails” or “lane markers” to help us stay on track and avoid the dangers of spiritually drifting into trouble. We live in a world where we can easily be distracted, as well as being intentionally drawn away from Christ. We need the daily challenge of this text to stay focused on the right path!
The process he describes is...
1. Intentional (“seek” & “set your mind” - 3:1)
Staying on course and avoiding spiritual drift requires that we focus and think about what we are doing. It doesn’t just happen without the effort we expend to see that it happens. Spiritual maturity comes as we determine to pursue it through Christ (cf. Romans 12:1-2).
- The first command (“seek”) reflects the idea of striving after something, while the second (“set your mind”) concerns thinking or concentrating on it.
- The first command concerns the pursuit itself, while the second focuses on the endurance and commitment required for the pursuit.
- The first command deals more with our feelings, while the second deals specifically with our minds.
Just as cars don’t steer themselves, neither will spiritual maturity happen without genuine effort and concentrated focus.
As never before there are a myriad of things vying for our attention. Sunday used to be a day for worship, family and rest, but today it’s just another day like the other six days of the week. It’s filled with all kinds of events that create a smorgasbord of opportunities from which Christians have to choose. And, too often believers choose the wrong things!
Life is about the choices we make. Those choices have outcomes and the outcomes have consequences. And, how are our choices made? They are made according to our beliefs! If you don’t intentionally set your heart/mind on “things above,” your choices may have outcomes you ultimately regret.
We must intentionally utilize the opportunities (such as worship, Bible study, prayer, etc.) God has given us to center our lives on Him and His purposes.
- That is the reason (at least one of them) God gave the fourth commandment to the Jews about keeping the Sabbath day holy. (While it is true that we are no longer under the OT Law as our rule of life, that does not mean we don’t need a day to focus ourselves on God and His worship corporately.)
- That is what all the OT monuments were intended to accomplish...center the nation’s life on God and His goodness to them.
- That is what David was doing throughout the Psalms as he repeatedly cried out to God in prayer for help.
- That is what Daniel was doing when he prayed three times a day toward Jerusalem, even though his life was in extreme peril for doing so.
- That is what Jesus meant when He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
- That is what the early church practiced, “46So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)
If we are going to align our whole being with our “spiritual identity,” then we have to apply ourselves to the matter. God wants us to totally orient our lives around Him, not just give an occasional nod in His direction.
William Barclay summarizes the intent of these commands well: “Sometimes we say of people: ‘Music is her life—Sport is his life—They live for their work.’ Such people find life and all that it means in music, in sport, in work, as the case may be. For Christians, Christ is their life [emphasis mine].
And here we come back to where this passage started—that is precisely why Christians set their minds and hearts on the things which are above and not on the things of this world. They judge everything in the light of the cross and in the light of the love which gave itself for them. In the light of that cross, the world’s wealth and ambitions and activities are seen at their true value—and Christians are enabled to set their hearts on the things which are above.”
The process he describes is...
2. Perpetual (3:1-2)
Not only are these verbs (ζητέω & φρονέω) imperatives, they are also in the present tense. The present tense indicates an action that is ongoing without indicating when it will be completed. Here it shows that this matter of “seek(ing) those things which are above” and “set(ting) your mind on things above” are actions that require perpetual attention.
By “above,” he means Heaven, which is where all believers truly belong by virtue of our identification with Christ (cf. Philippians 3:20).
Examples of things above:
- We are to seek to accumulate the possessions of Heaven.
“...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20)
- We are to value popularity in Heaven.
“...for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)
- We are to long for the pleasures of Heaven.
“...In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
- We are to rejoice in our position in Heaven.
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)
- We are to look forward to the prize of Heaven.
“13Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
- We are to desire the power of Heaven.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)
Utilizing again the illustration of a car: if you have driven very long or very much you know that there are always adjustments that have to be made when steering a car. It may be due to the unevenness of the road, the alignment of the tires, the wind that is blowing, the car’s aerodynamics, distractions inside and outside the car, and/or any number of other similar things. But, the fact is that you have to regularly correct your course to not drift out of your lane.
Spiritual life is very much the same...you are regularly looking to recalibrate your life according to God’s heavenly truths.
A lot of young people don’t remember when you actually had to adjust your watches and clocks so that they’d give the correct time. Those older timepieces could sometimes run fast or slow and they’d have to be reset in order to keep them right. You never guessed at the actual time or followed other people’s clocks to reset your own. You had to get the official time and align your clock/watch to that SPECIAL/OFFICIAL timepiece. That’s an illustration of what Paul is saying here! He wants us to set our lives according to the heavenly timepiece. And, we have to do so regularly! It is unwise to measure ourselves by ourselves lest we get life wrong. The true measure of whether our lives are right or not is Christ and His Word alone.
“Believers ‘seek the things above’ by deliberately and daily committing ourselves to the values of the heavenly kingdom and living out of those values.” -- Pillar Commentary
We should be mindful that there is no one whose spiritual “timepiece” is perfect in its operation! We all need God’s grace to continue making adjustments to our lives. But, it is unacceptable for someone that has experienced the spiritual benefits Christ has to offer, not to evaluate what they do and how they live in light of eternity and Christ’s glory!
Paul wants our heavenly status in Christ to be the standard for all of our thinking and acting. And, this is a lifelong pursuit in the Christian life.
The process he describes is...
3. Functional (3:3)
The adjustments in our spiritual lives are not theoretical, but actual and practical. And, it is God that enables us to change our lives and reorient them to Kingdom values. The following passage (3:5-11) demonstrates some of the changes that take place because of our position in Christ as believers. These are to be worked out daily through our lives as His children. (to be studied next week).
And, where does the power come from to change? It comes from God, in Whom we have been “hidden with Christ.” This phrase primarily refers to our source of strength in living the Christian life.
But, it also illustrates some other important aspects of the Christian life:
- We are hidden as a treasure is hidden in a vault for safety. (cf. John 10:28-29)
- We are hidden as Christ is hidden till He “appears” and all acknowledge Him. (Revelation 1:7) Christ was misunderstood, hated, persecuted and ultimately crucified. Someday that will all change because He will return and everyone will acknowledge Him as Lord. (Philippians 2:9-11) Then unbelievers will understand us and our commitment to Him.
- We are hidden as a seed is hidden in fertile soil to bring forth fruit. (cf. Matthew 13:38)
We must give attention to the “hidden” life, if we are to successfully navigate our spiritual lives.
The process he describes is...
4. Spiritual
Reorienting our lives requires that we acknowledge we have “died” with Christ and are “raised with Christ” to live a new life.
One of the greatest phrases in scripture is found in 3:4 where Paul says, “Christ...our life.” The words “who is” are in italics because they are not in the original Greek text, but were added for clarity in the translation process. We are to live the exchanged life and allow Him to live His life through us.
Everything about the new life is spiritual and wrapped up in Jesus...we died in Him, we were buried with Him, we have been raised with Him, we are ascended with Him, we are seated with Him, and when He returns...we will “appear with Him” (3:4).
Listen to what he said earlier in this Epistle: “11In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses…” (Colossians 2:11-13)
Sinful habits and patterns don’t have to control the believer. Listen to Paul’s admonition about the spiritual life you have in Christ. “1Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Romans 6:1-14 NLT)
The process he describes is...
5. Beneficial
On the day of Christ’s return our transformation will be complete. At that time we will “appear” in glory with Him, share in His glory, and contribute to His glory.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:43; Romans 8:18; Philippians 3:20-21)
Why wait until we see Christ and are ashamed that we didn’t let Him work out His life through us sooner? Why wait until the Judgment Seat of Christ to realize the rewards we forfeited by resisting His work in us?
Yield yourself to Him and let Him work His transformation now!
