Turn to one of my all-time favorite chapters in the Bible, Colossians 3. If Romans is the king of the epistles, Ephesians the queen, Philippians the princess, then Colossians is the prince. And Colossians 3 is the most compressed teaching of the Christian life anywhere in the Bible.
God told us in Colossians 2:3 that all the treasures of wisdom and understanding are hidden in Christ. In verse 6-7 He told us to be rooted, grounded, and built up in Christ. In verse 9 God says all the fullness of deity is in Jesus Christ and that we are complete in Christ. Christ is your sufficiency. You don’t need human philosophy or worldly psychologies. You don’t need legalism. You don’t need mysticism, visions, voices, weird experiences. And you don’t need asceticism, beating your body or starving yourself. We need Christ and Christ is all we need, and that’s what God is teaching us in chapter 3.
Colossians 3:1-4 lays the foundation for true spiritual growth in Christ. Paul focuses on four truths we need to understand to grow and become more and more like Christ, which is why God saved you. God didn’t save us just to fill empty seats in heaven. You’ve been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. First you were justified when you came to Christ; finally you’ll be glorified with Christ in heaven and get a new body just like His glorious body. But in between your justification and glorification, you’ve got the whole growth process of practical sanctification, becoming more like Christ as you walk with Him on this earth.
#1 First, you need a good understanding of your union with Christ.
Colossians 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ…
Colossians 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
You need a good understanding that you are in Christ. That means that you died with Christ and you have risen with Christ. This is your new identity, your new position. You are no longer who you were. You’re a new creation in Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Verse 3 says you died. You aren’t making new resolutions or joining an organization or trying to fix the old you. You aren’t just trying to ratchet up the quality of your life, or picking yourself up by your bootstraps. You died. Not you “must” die, but you died. That’s a fact. When you came to Christ, who you were ended and now you have this completely new identity. “You have died.”
Verse 1 says you’ve been raised up with Christ. You are a new creation in Christ. Paul said the same thing in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me!” Imagine you were a slave. One day you’re a slave when suddenly you are emancipated; you are no longer a slave but a free man. Or think about marriage. One day you’re single, the next day you say “I do” and you’re joined permanently to your spouse in a one-flesh relationship. Your identity completely changes.
Your union with Christ means one day you were dead in your sins, alienated from God, ignorant and blind, and suddenly, when you came by faith to Christ, the old you ended, God joined you to Christ, you are raised up with Him, and now your life is now hidden with Christ in God. This is your new identity. This is the most important thing about you. You are in Christ. Some people can’t figure out who they are. They have an identity crisis. Believers do not have that problem. You have one identity. You are in Christ.
You see the exact same teaching in Romans 6. Paul poses the question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” His answer is “Are you kidding? Don’t even think about parking there. How can you continue in sin since you’ve died to your old life and are now walking in newness of life?” You are in a new, eternal relationship in Christ. This is the difference between morality or legalism and your relationship with Christ. Every change of heart, motive, attitude, thought, word, deed, or habit for the Christian comes from who you are in Christ. .
Are you struggling to conquer an addiction? Or sexual lust, greed, anger, anxiety? Don’t start by focusing on your sin. Start first with who you are in Christ. Maybe you are fighting bitterness and lying and holding grudges, acting like a Tasmanian devil, or growing claws and fangs at home. Start with knowing, “You’ve been raised up with Christ.” You’re a “raised up with Christ” husband, wife, parent, child, or worker. Go to work as a spiritually resurrected being! You are in Christ! That’s why you gladly and joyfully submit to your boss, even if he’s a real pill. You’re no longer the old you. You’ve been raised up with Christ! You are living a completely new life in Christ. And Paul says your new identity in Christ will make a major difference in your life, changing what you seek and what you think.
#2 Make pleasing Christ the goal of your life.
Col 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Keep seeking, keep going after, and keep setting the direction and daily purpose of your life to the things above because that’s where Christ is. Everybody seeks and goes after something. What do unbelievers seek? They seek things below, things of this world. I want to be popular. I want to impress other people. I’m seeking wealth. I just want peace, security, fun, pleasure. I want other people to respect me. I want to achieve something great, to leave a legacy. I want to be known as the greatest pickle ball player of all time.
To seek the things above means living to please Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:9 Paul says the believer’s goal is to please God. Every day when you get up, your goal is please Christ. Christ has conquered sin and is exalted to God’s right hand. You are complete in Him. You died and were resurrected with Him. He’s your sufficiency. So now, keep on seeking to please Him. Christ said, “Where your treasure (or highly value) is, that’s where you heart is.” You seek what you value. If you value Christ, you will seek Him. If you love Christ above all other loves, you will seek Him. Matthew 6:33 uses the same Greek word for seek: “But seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.”
Thomas Chalmers was a well-known Scottish preacher in the 1800s. He preached a sermon called, “The Transforming Power of a New Affection.” A young man’s life is filled with nuts and bolts and wrenches and engines and grease under his fingernails until suddenly a charming young lady invades his heart and the bolts, nuts, wrenches, and torn up engine lie vacated on the garage floor. He’s actually brushing his teeth and scrubbing that grease out of his nails. The more we understand Christ’s work of grace and how God has saved us by His sovereign mercy and raised us up with Christ and that we are in eternal union with Him, the more our affections are torn away from loving this world’s mud puddles and are turned toward seeking and pleasing Christ. Our affections are focused on Christ. All you do down here is to please Christ up there!
#3 Learn to think like Christ.
Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
The Dutchman says, “Throw the cow over the fence some hay.” Why? I have no idea. But the Greeks put what they wanted to emphasize right up front in the sentence. And “the things above” is first in this verse. Verse 2 literally reads, “The things above set your mind on.”
The verb “set your mind on” is present tense; keep on setting your mind on. Setting your mind has the idea of your way of thinking, your mindset, and your inner attitudes about things. Paul uses the same word in Philippians 2.
Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
God is telling you to have the same way of thinking that Christ had. Esteem others above yourself. Regard others as more important than you regard yourself. Stop the “me” talk and take interest in the other person. Learn their concerns. That was Christ’s way of thinking. He humbled Himself, became a servant, even to the point of death! That’s one example of setting your mind on things above.
Also, “set your mind” is a command. We are to take charge of our minds. We are responsible for our thoughts. I know; that’s really scary. But Scripture is clear that we are accountable for where we let our thoughts go. We can’t just let our thoughts run wild through the neighborhood. We had a dog named Shuppiluliuma, named after a Hittite king. We called him Shuppi. If Shuppi got out the door, he took off running wildly around the neighborhood. Our kids would grab a bowl of dog food and run after him in hopes of luring him back home. You’ve probably seen a dog on a chain when suddenly a squirrel appears. The dog takes off full speed and hits the end of the chain. Wham! How often I have to yank on the chain of my thoughts. “No, buster, you’re not going there. That is not pleasing God. That is sinful thinking.”
We all struggle here, right? You can let your thoughts go back to that person who did you wrong and play the video of exactly what happened. And those thoughts can stir up anger or resentment or lust or evil desires or just make you miserable. When you get discouraged, you can rerun those self-gratifying thoughts you had from some sinful pursuit, and soon you may give in. Thoughts easily turn into actions. We need to replace those mental video clips of our old life with new, godly ones. And that only happens as we set our thoughts on Christ, His Word, and how we’re going to love and obey him.
By the way, setting your mind on things above doesn’t mean you sit around reading the Bible all day or try to think about heaven or angelic harps or pearly gates. Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to through Him to God the Father.” That’s what thinking on things above means. You live with a Christ-aware eternal perspective. You begin to see everything in the light of eternity: your own life, your family, spouse, friends, work, education, church, entertainment, country, your place in history. Every day has eternal significance. And every day counts with Christ.
#4 Your union with Christ will be revealed when He returns.
Colossians 3:3-4 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Your union with Christ has been hidden from the moment you came to Christ. Imagine if we had a heavenly detector at the entrance of the church. Whenever a true believer walked in the detector would sound, “Beep, beep.” The fact is if you are a believer, you are hidden with Christ in God. God knows who you are. Christ knows who you are. You know who you are. But this world doesn’t know who you are. Who you are in Christ is hidden from the world. As you walk in the mall you blend in with most of the other people, unless you let them know you’re a believer by your words or actions.
Being hidden with Christ in God also means you are totally secure. Christ assured us in John 10:28-29 that He gives His sheep eternal life and no one can pluck them out of His hand, and He adds that no one can pluck them out of the Father’s hand. That’s double security!
Verse 4 says Christ is your life. That’s a deep fountain of truth. Christ is your life. You are no longer you. He is your life. Like the branch on the vine, He provides you with everything you need to live for Him. He’s your life. He is the reason you get up in the morning. He’s your purpose, your motivation, your reason for doing what you do. He is why you submit to your husband, love your wife, provide for your family, and live to be a blessing to others – because He is your life. You no longer live; Christ lives in you! What an amazing truth.
You are hidden with Christ in God in this life. But watch this: when He’s revealed at His coming, you’ll be revealed with Him! When He returns, you’ll be just like Him because you’ll see Him as He is. He’s going to transform these humble bodies to be just like His glorious body! We will all get new bodies that will never age! Does Christ’s return influence our battle with sin and growing in grace? It should. 1 John 3:3 says “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure.” He’s your life. You’re hidden in Him now, but when He returns all true believers will be revealed with Him.
In these four short verses God has given us the foundation for true spiritual growth. It’s not legalism or mysticism or asceticism, but understanding and living out your union with Christ. You have died and rose again with Christ. So seek to please Christ, learn to think in a Christ-like way, and look forward to Christ’s imminent return. That’s where we start.
Take some time to read through Colossians 3 a few times this week. You’ll see that it really is the Cliff Notes to the Christian life. And we end with this question. Are you in Christ? Is Christ your life through faith in Him? Would that hypothetical alert sound when you walk through that door? Christ came to save sinners like you and me. Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!”