The Art of Seeking, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Colossians 3:1-4.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Paul gives us two commands: “seek” and “set”. These commands are in parallel. These two commands speak to our heart and mind.
With our heart we are to seek the things that are above. With our mind we are to think about the things that are above.
We are to seek and set our hearts and minds on the things above because we have died and been raised with Christ.
What does it mean to be raised with Christ?
Being raised with Christ speaks to three realities that we live in. These realities form what we are seeking and thinking about.
The first reality is that we who were dead in our sins have been made alive with Jesus through his resurrection (Colossians 2:13-14; Ephesians 2:5).
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
We therefore are not bound to seek or think about the futility of sin.
The second reality is having been made alive - we die to sin through the cross and live for God through the resurrection.
Good news! Sin no longer masters us, for Christ has set us free from sin and death through his death and resurrection.
Romans 6:4-8 makes this present reality of resurrection clear.
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 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.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We are able to seek and think about the things above through death to the values and systems of the earth.
Though we live in the world, we recognize that we are not of world, for “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20.
The third reality is that we share in the future of the new heaven and earth enjoyed with our new bodies. I love the way Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 15:50-56.
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sharing in Christ’s resurrection reminds us that this life is not all there is.
We who are mortal will, by the power of Christ’s resurrection, put on immortality.
We seek and think about the things above in practicing these truth in the daily grind.
Now that we have established why we are seeking and thinking about “the things that are above”, we need to define what is meant by “the things that are above”?
This is defined well by Jesus when he said in Luke 12:29–31,
29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
The Kingdom of God can be defined in three areas:
The first area is the rule of God. He has chosen to rule this world differently through the different dispensations.
The day of his ultimate rule is coming (1 Corinthians 15:25-28). Come, Lord Jesus, come.
When we seek and think about the things above, we pursue God’s rule in our hearts.
The second area is the economy of God’s Kingdom. Jesus describes this economy in Mark 10:42-45
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
When we seek and think about the things above, we pursue the economy of service to one another rather than lording over each other.
The third area of God’s Kingdom is the character of it citizens. Paul gives us a list of those character qualities in Colossians 3:12-14
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
When we seek and think about the things above, we pursue these character traits. These are to be our defining characteristics because we have been raised with Christ.
He is seated at the right of of God, reminding us that he is Jesus, the All in All, who is above all.
We have died with him through the cross and are alive with him through the resurrection.
We are enveloped in the work of Christ, hidden in him, our source of life.
Through his death and resurrection he is bringing about God’s kingdom in our lives and on the earth.
We then embrace God’s kingdom fully with heart and mind, and on that blessed day we will share in his glory. Come, Lord Jesus, come!