Colossians 3:1-4: Setting the Mind Above

Colossians 3:1-4 : Setting the Mind Above

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Colossians 3:1-4. It says:

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.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Lets pray: Heavenly Father, you tell us in your Word that “a man cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven.” So, Lord, we pray that you would give us understanding, perspective, and hearts that are filled with your Spirit this morning. And it’s in Jesus’s name that we pray, Amen.

“Some people are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” Again, “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” This quote comes from American poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes. It serves as a warning against focusing so much on God that you ignore the practical needs of life. But does Holmes correctly understand “heavenly mindedness”? For if you are not heavenly minded, you will be of no earthly good. 

CS Lewis said, “You will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were those who thought most of the next.” If we are not “heavenly minded”, the “earthly” is all we have, that is not good. The things of the earth change. The things of the earth fade away. It’s the heavenly that proves unchanging, everlasting, and truly good. And anyone who does “earthly” good without “heavenly mindedness” is borrowing from God’s standard of goodness, even if they don’t acknowledge it. Being focused on God tells us what good is. If we want to produce anything good in this life, we must be heavenly minded. We must set our minds on things above, fixing our attention on Christ. Which brings us to the main idea of today’s passage.

Make Christ the point of your life by seeking and setting your mind on things above. Again

Paul, writing to the church in Colossae, begins his letter in chapter 1 thanking God for their genuine faith. In vv.9-10 Paul prayed that they would “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” He then spends several verses in chapters 1 and 2 laboring on what Christ has done for them; making them holy and blameless through His death on the cross. But then in chapter 2, Paul warns us of false teachers entering the church, “passing judgement”, “disqualifying” Christians not meeting certain criteria. Requiring Jewish dietary restrictions. Mandating observance of Jewish holidays. Insisting upon private angelic visions. Paul reminds them that the knowledge of Christ’s glory and the glorious offer of the gospel does not come through these things. It comes through His death on the cross for our sins. It comes through the power of His resurrection, after which he ascended into the heavens. So as we come to Ch 3, God instructs you, in verses 1 and 2, to…

 Set Your Minds on Things Above

Paul begins in v1 by presenting an if/then statement, “If then you have been raised with Christ”, essentially saying, “If you have been raised with Christ, then this applies to you”. Which begs the question…

Have you been raised with Christ? 

The word “raised” translates more precisely to “risen with”. Have you been “risen with” Christ? A variation of this word can be found in the Gospels, when Christ heals the paralytic man. The paralytic is in desperate need, completely bed-ridden, unable to stand. Christ heals this man and tells him to “rise” and walk. The paralytic’s ability to “rise” flows from Christ having “raised” him. This man was “raised” by the power of Christ. We too find ourselves in desperate need. We too need that power poured out on us. Thankfully, Scripture says that through faith, Christ raises us. Colossians 2:12 tells us, that we were “raised with him” referring to Christ, “through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” The same power that raises Christ from the grave raises us to new life in God. 

Imagine you are drowning, being dragged under by the strength of the ocean’s current. Then, in the next moment, a lifeguard pulls you out of the water, saving your life. You open your eyes, see that lifeguard, and say, “Why did you help me? I had everything under control”. Or you say, “We did it”. NO. There’s no “we”. The lifeguard saved you. The appropriate response is gratitude and thankfulness for the one who saved you. If you are a Christian, you did not raise and save yourself. Therefore, you show gratitude to the one who did. Which prompts the question, do you properly show gratitude to Christ who saved you? Do you turn away from the patterns of life that are dragging you under? Christ’s victory over death through His resurrection becomes your victory. Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ and made His victory, your victory? Have you been raised with Him? If you have….

Then seek and set your mind on things above

Paul gives instruction in the second half of v1, into v2, saying “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Paul commands us to “seek” and “set our minds” on the things above. He calls us to desire, to pursue, to keep our vision on the heavenly. Which implies that we have vision, in the first place. One commentator puts it this way, “Their interests are to be focused on Christ; their minds, aims, ambitions, in fact their whole outlook, are to be centered on that heavenly realm where he rules and where their lives truly belong.” Christ reigns in the heavenly places, He reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth. If Christ raised you, Christ must reign over you. You see, the Colossians knew the gospel. But they did not keep their minds fixed on it. Before they knew it, they had fallen asleep at the wheel, swerving off the road. Our walk with Christ requires we keep our eyes open. Matthew 7:14 tells us, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” God warns the church, both then and now, to stay awake. To stay on the narrow path. To keep our minds renewed, and continuously correct our course towards Christ. 

The danger of distraction attacks from every direction. It comes in many forms. Being overly concerned with every divisive politic story. Being overly devoted to work and productivity. Being sucked into mindless swiping on our phones. It happens so subtly that we don’t see where we have drifted off to. To be clear, being informed about politics, being productive with your day, even enjoying some time on your phone, are not inherently bad things. But often, they end up replacing time that we should be devoting to God. We fill our minds with so much worldly information, that we don’t remember the Bible passages we’ve read that same morning. We get so caught up in busyness, that we don’t remember to read our Bible that day. And we drift so far, that we can’t remember the last time we’ve even read our Bible. Where have you drifted off to? What steals your attention away from Christ? Will we set our minds on the things of the world? Or will we set our minds on the one who reigns over the world?

As many of you know, my wife, Nicolette, and I had our first child last year. Well, Nicolette actually had the baby…but I was, I was there too. But since then, I’ve noticed something. Aside from family, who have a natural interest and love for her, typically, two kinds of people ask me, “How’s Maria doing? How’s the baby?”. 1) People who have a strong desire to have children of their own. 2) People who already have children of their own. Now, I’m not intending to shame anyone who hasn’t asked me about my daughter. But as I’ve thought more about why this is the case, I’ve realized the reason is simple. If you are single, or don’t have a current desire to have kids, you do not think about kids. That’s not part of your life. So, when you see me, your mind doesn’t immediately go there. But for someone trying to have a baby, and especially those already parents, they can’t help but think about children. Having children changes your life. And being a good parent requires a tremendous amount of love and effort. You want your children to learn the right things and grow up the right way. It requires intentionality. It requires a genuine relationship. All our most meaningful relationships demand meaningful attention. 

And our relationship with God is our most meaningful relationship. Therefore, it demands the most attention. We know parents should think about their kids. In the same way, Christians should think about their Savior. We wouldn’t expect a non-believer to be thinking about Christ. Christ isn’t part of their life, in a way that they acknowledge. But for us, He should be everything. If we are true Christians, we should set our minds on Him. In verses 1 and 2, Paul calls you to set your minds on things above. Which leads to verses 3 and 4, where Paul calls you to…

Live a Christ-Centered Life

And to

Hide Your Life in Christ

Paul starts verse 3 similarly to verse 1. Where verse 1 starts with us raising, verse 3 starts with us dying. “For you have died”. Essentially saying, “Because you have died”. You now seek and set your mind on Christ, because you have died. So, what does it mean to have died? Well, we’ve already talked about raising with Christ. Being raised to new spiritual life in God through the power of His resurrection. But before Christ was raised, He died on the cross. In the same way, we must spiritually die before we rise. Before living for God, we must die to ourselves. Die to our old ways of thinking. Die to our old ways of living. Instead, we live for Christ. Our lives are now alive in Christ and alive for Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” We go from being “our own”, to being Christ’s. We go from living for ourselves, to living for God. Your life is not your own, “For you have died”. As Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Paul goes on to say, in the second half of verse 3, because you have died, “your life is hidden with Christ in God”. The word Paul uses here for “hidden” also translates to “conceal” or “to cover”. But what does it mean for our lives to be “hidden”? My dad once gifted me a fire-proof safe. With the purpose of setting aside my valuables and putting them where others can not get to. Even if the house catches fire, destroying everything, that safe secures my valuables. Well, Christ provides this for us. Eternal security, where nothing can snatch us out of Christ’s hand. Without Christ, we live exposed. Hebrews 4:13 says “…all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Without Christ, we stand before God exposed in all our sin. We stand before God guilty, destined for fire, destined for destruction, fully exposed to the wrath we deserve. But hidden in Christ, we are like the valuables in that fire-proof safe. He sets us aside; secure in God where the fire can not touch us. Why? Because we come before God with a righteousness that is not our own. We come before God wrapped in the righteousness of Christ, covered by what Christ has done, concealed from the judgement, hidden and safe in our savior. But we must die to ourselves to be hidden in Christ. Having this security in Christ should give us great comfort for the present, and great hope for the future. Which leads to verse 4, where Paul says we will…

Appear with Christ in Glory

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Knowing that we are hidden in Christ, that we’ve died to ourselves, that we are raised with Christ, Paul sets his sight on the great hope ahead. He talks about Christ being our life, but where we are hidden in Christ now, we will one day appear with Him in glory. The word “appear” means to “reveal” or “make clear”. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” We are already a new creation. But we have not yet appeared with Christ in His full glory. This is often referred to as the “already, not yet” paradigm. Our lives are already Christ’s: dying and being raised with Him. The old has already passed away. But our identity in Christ has not yet been fully realized, as we appear with Him upon His return. 

In Exodus 33, Moses meets with God on Mount Sinai, and asks God, “Please show me your glory.” God explains that nobody can directly look at God’s full glory and live. If Moses saw God appear in the fullness of His perfect glory, he would die. And yet Paul says that we will not only see God’s glory, but that we will appear with Him. Christ alone makes us worthy. He makes us holy and blameless. His righteousness counted for us, uniting us to God, that we would partake of His glory with Him. 

We sometimes struggle to understand this because we don’t always feel united to God. We look around at our culture and think, “How is God at work here?” We look at ourselves and our many flaws, and think, “How is God at work here?” We struggle to seek Christ, to see His glorious hand at work. We struggle to set our minds on Him, to remember His promises. For both now and the future. 

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and mainstay of our joy down here today.” Again. “Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and mainstay of our joy down here today.” Spurgeon says that our future hope in Christ should produce joy! It should be the main source of our joy. 

But we have a real struggle with instant gratification. And we can be so short sighted in ways that set us up for failure in the future. Growing up I never really appreciated the value of opening a retirement account. It was only a little later in my 20’s that I opened one up. There are a lot of people who simply do not have a retirement account. Maybe they were like me, not appreciating its value. Or maybe they neglect to put money aside because retirement seems so far away. They think, why would I put money aside for later when I can use it now? They don’t have that vision for the future. Having a vision for the future tells us what we should do today.

Just as we set aside our retirement accounts to grow for that future day of retirement, so too, Christ sets us aside; growing us and preserving us for that future day of Christ’s return. Where we look forward to a day where our economic needs are realized, Paul looks forward to a day where our eternal need is fully realized. We often lack this vision of the future. We don’t see that glorious day of Christ’s return in our minds. We don’t see that Christ sets us aside. Having a vision for the future tells us what we should do today. Our future, in Christ, is one of hope and glory. That should shape our perspective. That should motivate us to live a Christ centered life. So, what areas of your life need centered on Christ? Are you gracious with people, or do people burden you? Are you joyful, or do you find yourself complaining and angry all the time? Do you love people, looking for ways to serve others rather than being served? Do you display hope? Sharing the hope you have with others, by sharing the gospel with others. People should know the grace, joy, love, and hope that we have in Christ. We won’t do this perfectly, but being a Christian shouldn’t be a secret to those around you. It shouldn’t be shocking to people if you start talking about Christ. And people should see that you are living a Christ-centered life. We are set aside in Christ for this glorious day ahead, now we must set our minds on Him and live for Him until that day comes. 

CONCLUSION

So, are we so “heavenly minded” that we produce “earthly good”? Do we set our minds on the earth, or on Christ above? If we focus our minds on the earth, we will lose our heavenly perspective. If we focus our minds on the heavenly, it will give us perspective. We will live lives on earth that reflect Christ. Make Christ the point of your life by seeking and setting your mind on things above. We must remember the King we serve, the one who has all authority, and be that glimpse of Christ’s glory in the lives of others. If we are to produce anything good in this life, we must be heavenly minded.