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Turn with me in your Bibles,
if you would, to Colossians chapter 3. I'll be reading verses 1 to 4
of Colossians chapter 3. Hear the word of the Lord. If then you have been raised
with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the
things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear
with Him in glory. Let's pray. Our gracious, magnificent, and
holy God, We praise you for the works that you have done in creation
and in redemption. And we pray that as we gather
as your church, you'd be present with us as your word goes forth. And we pray that that word would
be made effective on our hearts by the power of your spirit.
Lord, we thank you for your son. who by his life and by his death
and chiefly by his resurrection, we are made partakers of his
resurrection. God, we pray that you would speak
to us as your word goes forth. Amen. You know, for some time now,
our culture has been kind of obsessed, in a strange way, with
the idea of heaven. I mean, think about all of the
bestsellers over the past number of years about people's experiences
of heaven. You know, but those ideas about
heaven are more often informed by sentiment and a desire for
inner peace than they are by what God has actually said about
heavenly things. I mean, even over just the past
several years, it's astonishing how many frankly, you know, sentimental,
but really blasphemous books have been published You have
innumerable books about people who went to heaven and came back.
And now there's movies and TV shows about experiences of heaven,
all of which show the utterly shallow and vacuous attempts
of our culture to grasp towards something transcendent. But all
of it falls short of what God has actually said about our future
hope. Now, this kind of empty thinking
is all too prevalent around us. It's not the seeking of heavenly
realities that Paul is talking about here in Colossians. Setting
our minds on things that are above is not a vague and empty
peacefulness of mind to get us through the day. For Paul, the
seeking and setting our minds on the things above is full of
substance. And that substance centers upon
Christ and what he has done for us and the hope that we have
in those heavenly realities. Now, as we look at this passage
and seek to understand it better, it's important that we see that
the message that Paul is presenting here comes within the context
of what was taking place in the Church of Colossians. In chapters one and two, Paul
lays out a magnificent portrait of Christ, of what he has accomplished,
of how it is applied to us, and he's doing this in order to refute
a false teaching that's happening in the church. Now, this heresy
that was being purported consisted in a denial of the
full deity of Christ, which also saw a lack in the sufficiency
of Christ's work, so that that in itself would require continued
adherence to the law. Rather than seeing Christ as
the source for beginning and end of all of redemption and
our union with Him, This heresy only saw that we needed Christ
for the beginning of salvation, but that we ourselves needed
to work in order to attain salvation in the end. So what we see in
this passage before us in Colossians 3 is Paul carefully steering
the church away from that error and towards a vision of heavenly
reality that shows the complete sufficiency of Christ. And this
over against the false teachers and what they were purporting.
For Paul, Christ is the sole source and content of wisdom,
and all earthly attempts at wisdom will ultimately fall short of
this heavenly truth. So as we look closely at this
passage before us, I want to look at two aspects that Paul
brings out. First, I want us to look at the
command to seek and set our minds on the things above, and then
second, the substance and content of that heavenly mindedness.
What we'll see is that the command to seek the things that are above
is meant to focus our attention on what is true in heaven and
calls us to relinquish all earthly wisdom as it casts our vision
towards a heavenly hope and an anticipatory hope of what's to
come. Looking at verse 1, Paul says,
if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that
are above. Paul here, when he's saying,
you have been raised with Christ, is speaking specifically about
the present resurrection that the Christian has now. The believer
having been united to Christ by faith has been raised presently
with him. He's been made alive from the
dead by the power of the life-giving Spirit. Paul will also bring
into view the consummate resurrection that comes when Christ returns,
and he'll bring this into view in verse 4, so that the command
to set our minds on the things above is bookended by these two
events of resurrection. The resurrection that the believer
has now, having been united to Christ, and the resurrection
that's to come when Christ returns, and we will be raised with him
in imperishable bodies. But here, like I said, in verse
one, Paul's particularly concerned with our present resurrection
life. He says, if you have been raised with Christ, I know that
some of your versions may say, since you have been raised with
Christ. That's perfectly within the semantic range of the translation
of the preposition that Paul is using here. So the point still
stands. So what we see with this if or
since is that Paul is using this clause here to ground the necessary
consequence of what follows. So if this is true of you, then
this ought to and will be true of you, which he'll go on to
say. So if it is true that you have been raised with Christ,
then you ought and will seek the things that are above. Now
I want to point out something that's significant here, in particular. This is a perfect example of
how the objective reality of our redemption, that is the work
of Christ himself to save us, comes from outside of us, and
that this alone is the basis for the command to action. It's
not the other way around. The obedience to the command
is not the basis for or cause of our salvation. It does not
say, if you seek the things above, you will be raised with Christ.
No. The life of the believer is a
life of resurrection that is seeking for what is already true
of them. They are united to him. They
are forgiven, are righteous before God, and are heirs of eternal
life. The command of this passage is
encased within these statements concerning the objective truth
of the gospel, and particularly of resurrection life. So, as we move on to this command
that Paul offers, We see that grounded in the resurrected life
of the believer with Christ, Paul commands us to seek the
things that are above. Now, what are those things that
are above that Paul is talking about? What is he referring to
when he's speaking of these things? Well, it surely isn't a mystical,
imaginative vision of heaven that is void of any real content. Rather, it's a heavenly perspective
that has Christ and His kingdom as its sole focus. It is a reorientation
of our vision that looks up upon Christ, who is reigning from
heaven and who is building His kingdom here and now. What the seeking of heaven is,
and what it calls for, is a Christward gaze. A Christward gaze that
knows the present resurrection and the future resurrection hope
of glory in Christ. This is not an introspective
gaze looking to have a better life here and now. It's a gazing
and grasping for what is true of us in heaven to become true
of us in our daily lives. So just as Jesus prays that God's
will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, when we seek
the things above, heaven comes to bear upon the things of earth. and heavenly reality of our union
with Christ shapes our lives and comes to define our understanding
of who we are. For those who have trusted in
Christ by faith, our relationship, our unbreakable union and communion
with the resurrected Lord is what defines our very existence
on this planet. Now, as that settles in for a minute, I think that what's abundantly
clear to all of us is that there's a tremendous disjunction between
the accomplished redemption that we've received and had applied
in our union with Christ and our present experience of it
as we live as creatures on this earth. There are things that
are said to be true of us as Christians that we don't necessarily
experience or we don't necessarily feel. We are said to be forgiven,
we're said to be righteous, we're said to be freed from the bondage
of sin, but we don't necessarily feel as though these things are
true of us. especially as we're battling
with sin, especially as we're in the midst of suffering, in
the midst of trials. And the tendency is to allow
our experiences to guide our interpretation of reality rather
than what God has actually said. Now, this is illustrated in a
unique way in Matthew 16, 23, when Jesus rebukes Peter for
failing to grasp the necessity that Christ himself must go to
the cross, suffer, and die. We see that Peter failed to see
this heavenly plan that God was requiring of Christ. And so,
you know, Peter rebuked Jesus And Jesus, in response, strongly
rebuked Peter. He did this because Peter's objection
to Christ's suffering ultimately amounted to treason. Peter was
actually speaking for the enemy at that point, which is why Jesus
said, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for
you are not setting your mind on the things of God. but on
the things of man. Peter was rebuked for his earthly
perspective that failed to see what God was accomplishing through
the suffering of Jesus. And we see in this that there's
a conflict between the things that are above and the things
that are of the earth. What we saw in Jesus' rebuke
of Peter was the fact that both of those things cannot be held
onto. You cannot have earthly wisdom and earthly glory and
also hold on to those heavenly realities. So to be set on the things above
requires that we grasp for the heavenly and let go of the earthly. But this tension between the
resurrection life we live now and the fact that we're still
earthbound It's not in vain. This is actually
the way in which God has chosen to apply the work of Christ to
us, that we would, through faith in Christ, be united to Him,
and that the rest of our lives would be lived aspiring to become
who we have already been declared to be in Christ, as God continues
to apply the work of Christ to us. So when Paul says, set your
minds on the things above and not the things of earth, he is
calling believers to lay hold of the truth of their position
in Christ, which requires that we reinterpret all of life, that
we interpret all of our lives, all of our circumstances through
a gospel lens that sees where we are at this point in redemptive
history, that we have been resurrected with Christ, but we are awaiting
a final consummate resurrection, when we can throw off this body
of death. Now, this can seem highly theoretical
and not very practical, but think about the suffering of being
diagnosed with a serious illness, or think of the joy of welcoming
a new baby into your family. It is through joys, through suffering,
and even the mundane trials of our lives, like getting a flat
tire, or missing a doctor's appointment. This is where the theological
rubber meets the road. Am I going to be set on the things
above or on the things of earth? Am I going to be short-sighted
and selfish and allow the world to falsely
interpret my circumstances? Or is the work of God in Christ
going to have the final say in how I perceive my situation? Now, We saw here Paul's command to
set our minds on the things above, which we saw has an antithetical
relationship with setting our minds on the things below. And
so now Paul shifts in his argument to talking about the grounds
for which this heavenly seeking is possible. So why and how is it possible
that Christians are commanded to and able to aspire to the
heavenly while they are yet earthbound. If we look at verse 3, it gives
us two reasons. I'll read verse 3. For you have
died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. So these two reasons, as Paul
says. First, because we have died. And second, because we have died,
we have been made alive to resurrection life. Remember that from verse
one that Paul had in view. And our lives are now hidden
with Christ in God. Now, let's look at these two
reasons why and how we can seek the things above. Taking the
first reason first, the death that believers have died in Christ
is death to the world. Death that results from the release
of the penalty of sin and also in a decisive break with the
reigning power of sin. The focus of the death that Paul
is talking about here is on the break, this decisive break with
the reigning power of sin in our union with Christ. When we, by faith, trust in Christ,
that reigning power is broken. Listen to what Paul says elsewhere
in Romans 6, verses 5 to 7, he says, For if
we have been united to him in a death like his, we shall certainly
be united to him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our
old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin
might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be
enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been
set free from sin. So what we see here is that the
death that we have experienced in Christ results in this decisive
break from the power of sin so that sin no longer has enslaving
power over us. And this is what Paul has in
view as he's grounding the command to set our minds on the heavenly
and not on the earthly. Reaching for the heavenly and
rejecting the earthly is rooted in the fact that sin's power
has been broken. Now our lives are to be lived
for Christ as we mortify the sin that so easily entangles
us on this earth. I think that one of the most
damaging schemes of Satan is to deceive believers into thinking
that this decisive break has not happened. The last thing
that sin wants you to be confident of is that its power is broken. Yes, the battle with sin is real. It will continue until the day
we die or until Christ returns, but it is surely not a futile
battle. It is a battle that we in Christ
are equipped to fight by the power of His Spirit. And so Paul
goes on in the next section of chapter three, if you look below
the verses that we read, to speak about the characteristics that
must be put off, those sins that must be put off from the believer,
and those characteristics that must be put on. Now, although
this section of Colossians is outside the scope of what we're
specifically looking at in these first four verses, Keep in mind that the command
here, in the beginning of chapter 3, acts as the foundation for
the putting off of sin and the putting on of righteousness.
So what is clear is that the seeking and setting of our minds
is not merely an intellectual endeavor. It's rooted in practice. And there is no merely intellectual
endeavor. Because what we think always
works out in what we desire, and what we desire always works
itself out into what we do. Now, the second reason that grounds
the command of our seeking and setting is that our lives are
said to be hidden with Christ in God. Now, what does that mean, that
our lives are hidden with Christ in God. It means that the center of our
being, having been resurrected from the dead, we were dead in
trespasses and sins. We were raised with Christ. The center of our being is located
and finds its meaning not on earth, but in heaven, where Christ
is. And though our bodies remain
on the earth, where heaven, where Christ is, has become our home. And so this is why Paul elsewhere
will talk about us being strangers, of having a citizenship of heaven,
and of being aliens and sojourners in this world. It is because
we're no longer home here. The old world is not our home
anymore. Having been resurrected, our
home is with Christ. And this being hidden with Christ
speaks specifically of our safety. and our security from all that
may assail us in this life. This life has no say on our life
that is hidden with Christ in God, which will come to pass. And this also speaks to our lives
being hidden with Christ in God also speaks of the fact that
the heavenly center of our being remains hidden. It's hidden to
the world in the sense that what is objectively true of us in
Christ has not yet been manifested fully since we are still awaiting that
final resurrection and our glorification with Him. This otherworldliness
of our lives is hidden so that what is true of us in heaven
has yet to be consummately true of us on the earth. Now listen
to what Paul says of this in Romans 8, verses 18 to 21. I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager
longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation
was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him
who subjected it in hope. that the creation itself will
be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. But this hiddenness of our lives,
of our resurrected lives, though it defines our earthly existence,
is meant to cast our vision on a future hope of glory. So that as Paul moves down now
to verse four, we see that the setting of our minds on the things
above is not only meant to redirect our attention from the earthly,
but it also points us forward to a future goal. A time when
what is in heaven, which is hidden here, will be revealed. So we
anticipate in our heavenly vision a time when Christ will return
and we will be raised with him in heavenly bodies. When death
and sin will give way to peace, to joy, to communion with our
Lord. This is what we were created
for and it is what we look forward to as we aspire to and anticipate
the heavenly. So we here and now are participants
in heaven coming to bear upon the earth as the work of Christ
is manifested in our lives. And as we gaze upon him and long
for his return, we now have a foretaste of heaven that's to come. As we finish up our look at this
short passage, I want to make a few brief applications beyond
what has already been said. First, we need to correct and
not be distracted by the misguided seeking for heaven that we see
in the world around us. Maybe our misconceptions of seeking
heaven aren't so misguided as the culture we live But we must
ensure that our heavenly seeking is rooted in Christ and not in
our imaginative dreams of what we wish our future hope to be.
These are more often informed by conceptions of earthly perfections
rather than Christ-centered realities. I'm sure we've all at times heard
appeals to the gospel that focus on a future hope that is more
sentimental than it is Christ-centered. We ought not to look to heaven
to have things that are earthly and temporary for us to enjoy.
Oftentimes, appeals to heaven can be spiritually clothed appeals
to long after something that is earthly. our heavenly gaze
must be centered upon Christ himself. Now, a second application
that I'd want to make from this is in regards to the church.
As fellow members of Christ, we are united together in heaven
with Christ so that the church itself is an outpost of heaven
on earth. When we gather to worship, Christ's
kingdom is manifested here in our gathering. As simple as it
may seem, as unseemly as it may be perceived by the world, Christ
by His Spirit is present here with us. And this is a foretaste
of heaven. Though it is imperfect, it is
the means through which our heavenward seeking is strengthened as we
are nourished by Christ through his word and sacraments. Let
us not fail to see the heavenly realities that are being manifested
in the church and her worship. And finally, I want to consider
the reality of pain and suffering in our lives in view of this
heavenly perspective that ought to inform everything that we
do. Listen to what Paul here says
of suffering in light of our future hope, laid out in 2 Corinthians
4, 16 to 18. Paul says, so we do not lose
heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self
is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction
is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things
that are unseen. For the things that are seen
are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
Notice that Paul here does not deny the reality of suffering. He does not deny the fact that
we and our bodies are wasting away. Rather, he makes a comparison. In view of eternity, our greatest
pains and struggles are considered light and momentary. Now, this
doesn't diminish the reality of our suffering. Rather, it
elevates the glory of what is ours in Christ. So, what we have seen this morning
in this passage is that the call to seek and set our minds on
the things that are above and not on the things on earth is
rooted in what Christ has done for us in his death and resurrection. The content and substance of
those things is in fact Christ himself and the redemption that
he has accomplished for us. So let us, with resurrection
life, seek the things that are above as we aspire to what has
been brought for us by Christ. And let us wait eagerly for his
return and our resurrection to glory. Let us pray. Our gracious God, we are weak, we are frail, we
are in the midst of struggles, but Lord, You have given us Christ. You have united us to Him by
the power of Your Spirit so that all of our lives can be lived
to him and to your glory. Lord, we pray that your word
would be impressed upon our hearts by your spirit and that we would
be built up in Christ to bring you honor and glory. In Christ's
name, amen. Let us respond to God's gracious
gospel by singing the words of All for Jesus in your hymnal
number 565. All for Jesus, all for Jesus
All for Him, all for Jesus, all for God ♪ All my heart and words and feelings
♪ ♪ All my fears and all my doubts ♪ ♪ Let my hands work for His willing ♪ ♪ Let my feet run
in His ways ♪ ♪ Let my eyes see Jesus only ♪ ♪ And my lips speak for His name ♪ religions of beauty, we give
thee praise and thanks. Most of all, give me thy pleasure,
for in Jesus will I trust. Since my eyes have faced not
Jesus, ♪ His spirit's vision moving as
a crucified ♪ ♪ Our God, Lord, our God, one is He ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, King of Kings ♪ ♪ His
truth, love, and mercy, love, and praise ♪ ♪ His truth, love, and mercy, love, and praise
♪ Hear this blessing from the Lord.
Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of
the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you
may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his
sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's
Things Above
Series Miscellaneous Sermons
| Sermon ID | 10241682594 |
| Duration | 39:15 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Colossians 3:1-4 |
| Language | English |
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