a Transformed Mind

Colossians 3:1-4

We will become fully formed followers of Jesus who live intentionally seeking to share Jesus and invite others to join us in becoming fully formed followers of Jesus.

Being ‘born again,’ experiencing the Transformed Heart is not simply restoration.

Rather, when we are born again our entire being is transformed - we are literally made new.

Peter, one of Jesus’ earliest followers explains this heart transformation like this:

1 Peter 2:2–3 HCSB

Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation, since you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Having a transformed heart is not the ‘end of the story.’ When an infant is born all sorts of things are going on.

Recently I’ve been learning about what is called ‘NEAR’ science.

Neuroscience

Epigenetic's

ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Resilience.

What all of these fancy words means can be simplified by saying:

Our brain is growing, and a growing brain is impacted by everything going on in the environment.

That is certainly true for our physical brain, but it is also true for the transformed heart - the new life we receive when we are born again.

A TRANSFORMED MIND

Colossians 3:1–4 HCSB

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

It is very unfortunate that our English translations don’t capture the full nuance of the original language.

Paul in no way is suggesting that those believers who are reading and listening to his letter might not be born again.

A better translation, capturing the intent of the original language would read:

‘Since you were raised with Christ...’

Paul is writing specifically to believers - men and women living in Colossae who have expereienced what we are identifying as a transformed heart, a new birth.

The two commands - to seek what is above and to set your minds on what is above - are set in the context of two powerful realities.

We are One with Jesus

The transformed heart, the new life we are given, is nothing less than the life which God intended each of us to live at creation.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now working in us, transforming our heart, granting us new life.

Though earth-bound, our identity is in who Jesus is, and who God is transforming us to be.

Jesus IS coming again

Paul lived with an almost breathless anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ.

He writes with an unshakeable conviction that Jesus will return.

This confidence and assurance shapes all Paul says and does.

Now to the commands...

Seek what is above

This is not a new idea. Jesus challenged His hearers with a similar request, found in His message called ‘The Sermon on the Mount.’

Matthew 6:33 HCSB

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

What did Jesus mean? What does Paul mean by using the same word?

‘What is above...’

For Paul and those living in the first century, heaven was conceived of as being ‘above’ the earth. Though the OT and those living in the NT era wee not flat-earthers (they did understand that the world God created was a globe), they could only conceive of heaven as the place of God as being far above them - beyond even the stars.

What kind of ‘things’ are above?

While Paul doesn’t specifically provide an itemized list, by pulling together Jesus’ teaching about heaven we can begin to discover what ‘things’ Paul - and even Jesus had in mind with this challenge.

The prayer Jesus shared with His early followers includes the phrase:

Matthew 6:10 HCSB

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We are to seek - as we pray, as we order our lives, - those things that reflect the reality of God’s kingdom and the circumstances that reflect His will.

While this is not an exhaustive list, I would identify these kinds of ‘things:’

equal standing for all humans in the presence of God (see Rev 7:9-10)

a fair judgment based on God’s nature and character (see Rev 20).

an environment of pure peace and contentment (see Rev 20-21).

I could go on and on...

To ‘seek’ the ‘things’ above calls us to stop focusing on our daily needs and wants - “give us this day our daily bread....’

To ‘seek’ what is above is to allow God’s presence and power change how you look at life, how you experience life.

To ‘seek what is above’ is to experience a new way of looking at life and the world in which you live.

A quick example, drawn from Luke’s gospel. As two believers were making their way home after the events of the crucifixion and resurrection a person joined them on their journey. Luke tells us that

Luke 24:16 HCSB

But they were prevented from recognizing Him.

As this ‘stranger’ spoke with them about the things written about Jesus in all the scriptures, they said to one another:

Luke 24:32 HCSB

So they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”

Set your minds on what is above

The second command is similar to the first.

A transformed heart will re-orient us to heavenly realities -seeking what is above.

And a transformed mind will be patterned after the mind of Jesus,

Philippians 2:5 HCSB

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,

Paul uses the same Greek word in both texts:

‘set your mind on what is above’...

‘Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus...’.

One scholar shares this explanation:

The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (The Perspective from Which the Christian Life Should Be Lived (3:1–4))

Φρονέω means not merely to think but to have a settled way of understanding, to hold an opinion, to maintain an attitude

Transformed Mind = New Patterns of Living

Paul illustrates a transformed mind in the paragraph directly after vs 1-4.

Look at that section:

Colossians 3:5–9 (HCSB)

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another...

These are the evidence of a mindset resulting from the Fall - the choice Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden.

The mindset that is ours through God’s gracious gift of a transformed heart is identified in

Colossians 3:12–17 HCSB

Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Those passages clearly indicate the difference between an mind that is still operating under the power of the adversary and one that has been transformed.

Reflect and Respond

Take a piece of paper and sketch your hand...

On the thumb write the word:

HEAR

On the index finger write the word:

EXAMINE

On the next finger write the word:

ANALYZE

On the ring finger write the word:

REMEMBER

On the little finger write the word:

THINK

And across the palm of the hand write the word:

APPLY

Here you have an easy to remember strategy to allow God’s Holy Spirit to transform your mind!

(Taken from MASTERLIFE:Discipleship, Training for Leaders, Avery Willis (Nashville: The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1980, 1982), Vol 1, p 179.)