Putting on the New Self
Col 3:1-4
1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
This passage is kind of the balance to the previous passages that talk about not letting anyone else tell you how to live and how to find the motivation to live correctly. It is not an easy thing to say that you should not permit the rest of the world to determine how you should live and then to turn around and say that because you have been raised up with Christ, there are things that will happen because of this change.
I might equate this with the change when I received a new kidney after being on dialyses for a time. No one had to tell me to no longer order all the supplies and to continue to hooking up to the old machines I used to hook up to because there had been such a change in my life that I didn’t need to have those any longer. I not only didn’t want to hook up, but I didn’t need to because of the change in my life. And for a transplant patient, it might read, “If therefore you have gotten a new kidney, quit living like you didn’t and enjoy the new life that you have with your new kidney. Set your mind to live as those who have functioning kidneys, not as those who live with kidney failure.”
The reason the “IF” is there is because there might be some listeners who are not believers, who have not put their faith in Christ. There is a very real point to be made by this small two letter word: Not everyone is a Christian. Even where this letter was to be read, not everyone who was gathered together in that Colossian church was a Christian. You and I know that, but some people need to be reminded that just because you might be forced to stand in a garage, doesn’t make you a car. Just because a person attends a church, doesn’t make them a Christian. A person only becomes a Christian when they have accepted Christ’s offer of complete and total forgiveness by faith.
So what Paul is saying here is not if you have been raised up with Christ as much as this is another way of saying, if you are a Child of God’s Kingdom. If you have been born again, you are to keep seeking the things above, where Christ is.
First there is the principle that if you are a believer, the only way you can get there is there was a time when you sought the things above. You won’t become a believer if you never pursue the things that are above, where Christ is. This is tied to the principle that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God. It is the very beginning of our life with God and without, we won’t even be in the race. There are people who are sad that they don’t have the same desire for the things of God as they used to have, and the fault lies right here. They have quit seeking the things above. What are those things that were a part of bringing us to Christ? I know that all of us believe that God had a remarkable hand in the process, but there were some things that God impressed upon us – and it’s a good idea to think back about that event and ask what were the questions that needed to be resolved when we first came to Christ that were resolved. So just as the Holy Spirit convicted you of these things before you were a believer, it’s the same after you are a believer. Understanding Sin, Righteousness and the judgment to come are refining things in a person’s life.
- I knew that I needed a relationship with my Creator. (righteousness)
- I understood that I needed to deal with sin in my life. (sin)
- And I knew that I would have to stand before God sometime in the future. (judgment)
One thing I thought about here is a little like learning a new language. When you become fluent in another language there are a few intermediary steps. When you first start, you barely even know the sounds of the new language. When others are talking in it, you only catch a few words, a few phrases. Then as you learn more, you catch more. Finally you get to the point where it is a little like math – Hello = Bonjour. But that gets exhausting, but it’s just a step. Then it gets to where you hardly have to think about things unless you get into an area that you aren’t familiar with. Finally, there is a greater and greater fluency. You hardly have to think about how to express yourself in your second language. Maybe you dream in that language. Now think of fixing your 2Setting your mind on the things above. At first, you don’t get those things but as you grow, you get more and more. You know when things sound right and when they don’t. You are developing an ear not for how people speak, but for the doctrines behind what they are teaching. Some things just don’t sound right. But others do. You understand more and more about God. You have spent enough time with the Lord to truly know Him and realize how important He is to you.
It could also be said that we should be seeking the eternal things, the things that are not seen, according to 2 Cor.4:18 – while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Because those are the things from above.
The next phrase is interesting to understand in context. Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. This phrase is also used in Hebrews 10:13-14, Ephesians 1:20-23. It should be known that Jesus sits in this place of honor and authority and power because His offering accomplished exactly what God wanted it to. There is an image here that is very significant to the Jews. By sitting there, He sits on the throne of his father David. (Luke 1:26-33) This means that He is ruler over everything and that the kings of the earth rule only according to His sovereign permission. There is the clear idea that Christ has finished His work. As Spurgeon points out from Hebrews, “every priest stands”. There was always more work to be done and when they were before the alter of God, they stood and they stood alone.
The typical priests stood because there was work to do; still must they present their sacrifices; but our Lord sits down because there is no more sacrificial work to do; atonement is complete, he has finished his task. There were no seats in the tabernacle. Observe the Levitical descriptions and you will see that there were no resting-places for the priests in the holy place. Not only were none allowed to sit, but there was nothing whatever to sit upon.
Under the law, when the priest had done his work, what did he do? He went home. And when Jesus finished His work, He sat down at the right hand of God. He was home. When Jesus sat down, He took possession of the holy place. It is His and He is resting because His work is finished. This right hand of God, represents the highest glory possible. There was no higher place or Jesus would be there. God never invited an angel to sit by His right hand.
2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth – the phrase that comes to mind as well are things of the flesh. I think if we look at Romans 8:1-5, we might get a better idea about the intent of this phrase. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” The things of above are in contrast with the things that are on earth. Paul makes a similar contrast between walking in the spirit and walking in the flesh in relation to our relationship with God the Father. The way the human mind works (or the earthly mind) is that our relationship with God is based on our obedience to a set of laws that could never do because of the weakness of the flesh. So, and perhaps this is up for discussion, I believe Paul is exhorting his readers to live our Christian life by the focus that it is God who is at work in us. We have to remember that everything we can and do accomplish is do through God, not through our own determination and grit. We must focus our attention not towards the outward things, the things that men can see, but the things that God sees and approves of. We can no longer be focusing on getting where we want to in the world, but we should be setting our minds on getting where God wants us to be.
Paul goes on to remind us that “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Hidden from what? What is it about our lives that have been hidden? We are no longer in the reign of the evil one. Well if you are like me, you might feel like the evil one is still taking pot-shots at you. I have a secret for you that we tend to forget. This body that you have right now is not your real life. Remember, your life is hidden with Christ. The “real you” is out of Satan’s reach. Sure, we have this temporary housing but this is not where we will spend forever. This body might be the only one we have known, but it will not be the one we spend eternity with. Our real life is with Christ, where neither moth nor rust nor where thieves break in and steal. This is how Paul can so boldly proclaim that we can be crushed, but never destroyed. Who is going to defeat Christ because remember where He is seated. No one else is seated at God’s right hand. No one else dares sit in the presence of the Almighty God. This is not the real you. Don’t get too attached to this body. That makes total sense when we read the next verse.
4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Who you will be for all eternity has not yet been shown to you. Truthfully, it has not yet been revealed to the entire world who Christ is yet. If Jesus has not yet been revealed, why should we be surprised that it has not yet been revealed who we are? And where or how will it be reveals? It will be revealed with Him in glory. Not before He is revealed, and not after but with Him. Could God be any more gracious to His children, who are carried by His grace and mercy, but that when He brings His own Son into His kingdom, He will bring you and me with Him? Don’t lament for what you don’t have in this life, but rejoice that your REAL life is hidden in Christ and will be revealed with Him in glory.