Life in Accordance with the Risen Christ

Scripture Reading

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV84

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Introduction (3:1a)

We are starting this evening on a new series that I’ve entitled “The Daily, Practical Christian Life.” In this series, we will be looking together at Colossians 3:1-4:6. This is really a study on the Gospel application to life. In other words, when the Gospel transforms someone, it really ought to transform.

The Gospel brings about real, practical change in the daily life of a believer. At least, that ought to be the case. But very often I find that Christians struggle to actually apply the Gospel to daily life. There’s a disconnect between what we hear on a Sunday, and what we profess to believe, and the actual manner of life that we live.

I’m not going to delve into all the possible reasons for that… there are a number of reasons… but at least one of those is that the preaching doesn’t make the connection between doctrine and practice.

That’s one of the reasons that I’m delving into Colossians 3:1 without preaching through Colossians 1-2. Because what often happens with expository preaching is that we take so long to get thorugh the foundational doctrines (which is what Colossians 1-2 outlines) that by the time we hit the practical, we’ve begun to lose sight of those doctrines.

My approach then is not to abandon the foundational doctrines, but to bring them to bear through our look at this chapter. As we’re preaching through chapter 3, we’ll constantly be looking back to chapters 1 and 2 to remind ourselves of the basis and foundation for our transformation.

Further to this, I do hope to make this a very practical study. In other words, my hope and aim is to bring real practical examples and scenarios and use those to apply the truths to our lives.

My call to each one listening is to approach this study with a deep sense of urgent need to apply the Gospel to life, and to help and encourage others to do the same.

As we do this study, pray that the Lord would truly work these trutsh deep into our hearts such that our hearts are radically transformed, and we can live to the glory and praise of Jesus Christ.

As we begin then, I would like to do so by pointing out the important truth that the practical application of Scripture is most certainly founded upon glorious doctrinal truths.

In Colossians 3:1a we see this immediatley…

Colossians 3:1 (NIV84)

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ....

"Since then..."

Paul introduces this section with a direct link to the former.

All that he says in the next two chapters - particularly what we will be looking at... flows out of the Gospel realities and truths that have been established in chapters 1-2.

What is important to see here is that there are most certain implications that flow out of the Gospel.

The Gospel will never leave any one of us as we are.

The Gospel reaches us in the blackness of darkness, but it transfers us into a kingdom of light.

This is the reality of every believer.

None of us seated here, no person listening to this message, can claim to have grasped hold of the Gospel truths, and responded to the truth of the Gospel, without there being a radical change in their life and conduct. It simply cannot be!!

That doesn’t mean that we have attained perfection immediately. Rather it means that there is real positive change that is evidenced over time by the bearing of real, lasting spiritual fruit.

“You have been raised with Christ..."

Here Paul in a sense summarises the Gospel hope that belongs to the Christian.

The Gospel hope is a living hope.

The Gospel hope is that which makes those who were dead in sin and unrighteousness to become alive in Christ.

They have been raised with Christ.

There is life in them.

Just as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day, having conquered death, so the Christian has been made alive.

The spiritual death that once held sway over him has been stripped of its power, and the Christian rises forth to walk in the power of the Spirit.

Implications

Now, all that will follow in this study that we are doing through Colossians 3 is predicated upon, is founded upon the necessary requirement of rebirth.

If you have not been raised with Christ, the stipulations, the requirements, the truths, the implications, the applications, the exhortations of Colossians 3 will have no bearing on you.

In other words, you will not be able to carry them out, try as you may if you have not been born again, raised with Jesus Christ.

And most certainly, you will not be able to carry them out in a god-glorifying manner.

Indeed, these exhortations are given because God believes that they are at least in some measure to be strived towards, and at least in some measure to be attainable.

Not perfectly... certainly not perfectly. But there is at least some measure in which proper, significant progress forward should be found in the redeemed of God.

With that in mind, let us consider firstly…

1. The Call (3:1b-2)

Colossians 3:1 (NIV84)

1 ....set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your heart

Notice that Paul directs his attention at the heart of his readers.

The heart is the place where the desires of a person reside.

Speaks of the core of a person... who are they and what motivates and drives them.

Proverbs 4:23 NASB95

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Luke 6:45 NASB95

45 “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

These verses speak of the heart being the seat of the affections, desire, and the very being of a person.

In light of this glorious Gospel, and the radical truths associated therewith, Christians are called upon to have their hearts set in a particular place.

The word used here means to “seek after.” It means to diligently seek after something…

Thus what Paul is saying here is that a Christian’s affections and desires are to be directed in a particular way.

Where to?

On things above

Paul immediatley directs his readers to set their hearts on the things above. HE is calling them to actively and continually seek the things that are above. Keep in mind that Paul has already elaborated and outlined that our hope is one that is fixed in glory.

The "above" that is referred to here speaks about the dwelling place of God. It speaks about the dwelling place of Christ our Lord.

Since you have been redeemed through this glorious Gospel, the affections of your heart ought to be set and firmly established and grounded in one place - that which is above, that which is to come.

However, we need to understand clearly what is being said here. One the commentators that I read was helpful here:

Colossians and Philemon 1. Heavenly Thinking (3:1–4)

Paul is not saying so much that believers should seek to possess “the things above” as that they are to seek to orient themselves totally to these heavenly realities. We are not to strive for a “heavenly” status, since that has already been freely given us in Christ. Rather, we are to make that heavenly status the guidepost for all our thinking and acting. And, by using the present tense, Paul indicates that believers should be constantly occupied in striving for this orientation

In other words, setting our hearts on things above means that in our daily Christian walk in the here and now, we are living in such a manner that we are seeking to live out the heavenly realities that are true of us positionally.

Let us think a little further, then, on...

The things above...

We need to pause there and ask ourselves if our own hearts affections are deeply rooted in that which is above?!

Are our hearts captivated by the deep desire and longing to live as true citizens of our heavenly home?!

It is not enough to say here, "I want to go to heaven."

That's not the point. The point of Paul is that our hearts must be captivated by God through Christ such that having come to know of His glorious character, we desire and eagerly anticipate being in His presence, which manifests itself in how we live right now.

Further to this, what Paul means through this is that we are to be setting our minds upon, and living daily in light of all the promises that God has given to His people...

It is the setting of one's heart upon the spiritual blessings that are to be found in Christ through obedience to Him.

In other words, it is not merely a future oriented perspective. Rather it is a perspective that looks to the present state, and longs for the kingdom rule of Christ in the heart, even now.

Where Christ is seated

Why set our hearts here?

Because Christ is seated there.

In other words, this is the place that our redeemer king has gone ahead of us to prepare a place.

No longer are our hearts to be captivated by the things of this world and this life, but we look forward to what our Lord has prepared for us in eternity.

Christ is the forerunner, and we are looking to Him, pursuing Him, and making it our life's goal and ambition to please Him, because He has done great things for His people, and He is worthy.

At the right hand

Notice that Paul includes the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

This is the position of prominence and power in the heavens, at the right hand of God Himself.

In this thought, Paul is referring back to Psalm 110:1.

Psalm 110:1 NIV84

1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

Thus Paul has in his mind the authority and power of the risen and ascended Saviour.

Paul now reiterates the call in verse 2...

Colossians 3:2 NIV84

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Set your mind

Paul now reiterates this call by focusing on the mind.

We must not think that the mind is something that is distinct from the heart.

The heart and the mind speak of the same reasoning capacity, and the desires of the person.

They are the same faculty .

What Paul does, then, is that he reiterates his call to the church to be fully devoted.

The word used is slightly different to that used in verse 1.

Colossians and Philemon 1. Heavenly Thinking (3:1–4)

It refers not to a purely mental or intellectual process, but to a more fundamental orientation of the will

On things above

This needs no repeating, other than to say that as we live our lives in this world, as professing believers, our minds are to be so set upon God and His glory and His worthiness, that our minds and thinking must be shaped entirely by His character, by Kingdom values.

Douglas Moo notes…

Colossians and Philemon 1. Heavenly Thinking (3:1–4)

Believers “seek the things above” by deliberately and daily committing ourselves to the values of the heavenly kingdom and living out of those values.

Not on earthly things

As if this were not clear enough, Paul emphasizes the fact that our minds truly are to be captivated by heavenly things, by kingdom values, by contrasting things of heaven, with, “no on earthly things...”

In other words, our hearts and affections and desires are not to be captivated by the things of this world.

We are not to be seeking after the things of this world, but rather to be seeking after the things of heaven.

Our minds and hearts are not to be caught up chasing after, or seeking to gain, that which is of this world.

And I don't mean that we can never make any plans in this world. Certainly we should do that.

But even then, the focus and the goal of our plans in this world is to bring glory to the God and to prepare us to worship God in the life to come.

Even then, our minds are not to be taken captive by the things or the teachings of this world. We are not to be seeking the thiings of this world, but rather, actively pursuing and seeking the kingdom of Christ.

2. The Basis (3:3)

Colossians 3:3 NIV84

3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

For you died...

The first half of the basis of the newness of life that ought to mark the Christian is the fact that they have died.

What is this referring to?

I think quite obviously Paul’s not referring to physical death.

Firstly, we should recall that the Scriptures clearly tell us that we have "died to sin."

When a believer is made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ, their old manner of life controlled by sin and self-centered living is put to death.

It simply does not belong any longer to the Christian.

When a Christian lives their life in pursuance of sin, they are living antithetically to the faith they profess.

Romans 6:2 NASB95

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 NASB95

14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Also, however, it refers to dying to the system of obedience to all kinds of rules and regulations of man.

Already, Paul has made this clear in this Epistle.

Colossians 2:20–23 NIV84

20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

What should we take from this?

As those in Christ, we are to consider ourselves as utterly dead to old works, to old manners of life.

When a temptation to sin comes our way, we are to actively take steps to not engage.

And the Gospel makes it clear that we are able, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to do this.

We are not powerless in overcoming sin and temptation in our lives.

In fact, by the power of the spirit that sin is to be, and can be, put to death.

Further to this…

Colossians and Philemon 1. Heavenly Thinking (3:1–4)

Setting our hearts and minds on “the things above” and not on “earthly things” is both necessary and possible. It is necessary because our union with Christ means we no longer belong to the realm of this earth but to the heavenly realm; and it is possible because our union with Christ severs us from the tyranny of the powers of this world and provides us with all the power needed to live a new life (cf. 1:10–14).

You Life is Hidden with Christ

When Paul writes this, I think the immediate thought of most is that it speaks of a sense of safety and security.

Because our lives are hidden with Christ, we can have a sense of security to pursue this life that we are called to.

But there is more to it than that.

Paul is emphasizing the fact that although you have died in one sense, you also have life in another.

We have life in Christ.

Our lives are hidden in Christ who is the very source and wellspring of our lives.

This becomes clear when Paul says in verse four that "Christ, ....is your life...."

Note also what Paul previously said in chapter 2...

Colossians 2:11–13 NIV84

11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

In other words, your entire existence as a Christian is bound up, and flows out of, the very life of Jesus Christ.

When Paul says here that it is hidden, he is saying that it is a present reality, although it is not physically seen right now.

Perhaps we don’t look any different to the people in the world around us in terms of our physical appearance. But the reality is that we are vastly different.

While we look like the people around us, our bahviour ought to be vastly different. There is a present, fundamental difference between the believer and the unbeliever!!

3. The Goal (3:4)

Colossians 3:4 NIV84

4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

When Christ...appears...

Paul now points his readers in their minds to the future.

Keep in mind, the context here is that our lives are presently bound up in Jesus Christ.

Think about these references...

“Because I live you too will live” (John 14:19);

“(We are) always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10);

“It was the good pleasure of God … to reveal his Son in me” (Gal. 1:15, 16);

“Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20);

“My little children, with whom I am again in labor, until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19);

“But we all … are transformed into the same image from glory to glory as from the Lord the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18); and

“For to me to live (is) Christ, and to die (is) gain” (Phil. 1:21).

This looking forward to the return of Christ is so relevant and significant in the life of the Christian because the Christian's very life-source is Christ.

The Christian looks forward to the coming of the very one in whom He lives and moves and has his being...

Paul's encouragement here for the Christians assumes that Christ will return.

You will appear with him...

In other words, what is now a hidden reality will become a revealed reality. While we are to live out our identity in Christ now, knowing that our lives are hidden with Christ in glory, there is coming a day when Christ will be revealed, and our true identity in Him will become fully known.

Here is the goal of the Christian life. Paul is not afraid to tie the motivation and drive behind the Christian's changed conduct to the future goal to which they look forward.

Certainly the motivation for a changed manner of life is far more than the ultimate goal, but it certainly doesn't exclude it.

The goal of the Christian life transformed is union with the very one who gives you life.

Scripture References

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17)

"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:7–8)

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20–21)

"For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” (1 Thessalonians 2:19–20)

"May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13)

"on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:10)

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7–8)

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is Revealed.” (1 Peter 1:13)

"And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28)

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)

"They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”” (Revelation 17:14)

Application / Conclusion

Set Your Heart…

One of the reasons that our Christian lives may seem powerless and ineffective / unproductive is that we have failed to set our hearts upon that which is above. Our affections are divided, and thus we live with divided allegiance, and find ourselves to be ineffective.

I don’t think any one of you sitting here today will disagree that the most powerful and effective and God-glorfying people in all of history are those who have lived with a resolute and determined hope of glory.

They set their hope fully on their identity in Christ.

They lived with a resolve to have Christ formed in them, even while in this world, as they looked forward to Christ’s return.

Dear brothers and Sisters, this ought to be our resolve.

As we delve in the coming weeks into Colossians 3, and look together at the daily, practical Christian life, we must recognise that our lives as Christians is radically different from that of any unconverted person.

Our lives must be radically different from that of our former manner of life.

This is true because of the Gospel realities that are ours in Christ!

Are you expectant as we delve into this study?

Are you ready to put into practice these truths, so that your life is lived in eager anticipation of Christ’s being formed in you?!