Heavenly Mindedness (68)

 

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And that city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the throne of God and the Lamb are therein: and his servants shall do Him service, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  [G. Vos using excerpts from Revelation chapters 21 & 22]

 

“…and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.”  

 

Now let’s ponder Colossians 3:1 – 4. What do we see? How is it related to 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18? How are both of these passages related to 1 John 3:1 – 3?

 

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1; see also Ephesians 2:4 – 7).

 

In order to capture an element of context:

 

We are to be pleasing Him “in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power according to His glorious might (Col. 1:10 – 11)”…living in the knowledge that in Christ we have “all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3)…and that “in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9) and that in Him we “have been made complete” (2:10).

 

While in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 there is a contrast between the Law of Moses as the letter that kills and condemns, and the New Covenant that gives life and transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ, in Colossians the dangers have a swirling complexity:

 

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). I think we could add the social sciences to this, in that we have exalted social science to be the arbiter of much of what we do, how we think, and what we trust; we have replaced God’s Way with man’s social and therapeutic understanding. We have brought idols into the Temple.

 

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day…Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind…If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why as if you were living in the world do you submit yourself to decrees, such as Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch! (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) – in accordance with the commandments of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self – made religion and self – abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” (These are excerpts from Chapter 2).

 

Thus we have the lead – in to Chapter 3, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

 

In light of the foregoing, we are to “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity…” We are to live as those who are being “renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him,” and to realize that we are “chosen of God, holy and beloved.”

 

In Colossians 2:20 we have “died with Christ.” In Colossians 3:3 we have “died and your life is hidden in Christ in God.” In Colossians 3:5 we are “to consider the members of our earthly bodies” as dead to sin. (See also Romans Chapter 6, and Galatians 2:20).

 

Can we begin to grasp the context of Colossians 3:1 – 4? How are we thinking about ourselves? Do we see ourselves in Christ, and do we see Christ in us, our hope of glory? (Colossians 1:27). Do we see the work of Jesus Christ as complete, or do we think we need to add to the work and Person of Jesus Christ in one of the many ways the Colossians were tempted to do in Chapter 2? Is Jesus Christ truly our treasure house? Is He our all in all? (Colossians 1:13 – 20; 2:1 – 10).

 

O dear friends, these are not just words, nor are they simply ideas – Jesus Christ is our source of life and the one and only source of our inheritance. These images and teachings and paradigms in Christ open our souls, our hearts, our minds, our spirits, and our bodies to be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19), calling us into the koinonia of the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3).

 

The pores of our skin should be oozing the glory of Colossians, we should be saturated with the Word of God, with Jesus Christ. We are called to be “a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:14 – 16). How can it be that we can be among others and no one sense the aroma of Jesus Christ? How can it be that the professing – church blend in with the world, looking to the world for legitimacy and acceptance? Can we hear Paul saying, “why, as if you were living in the world...”? (Col. 2:20).

 

Can we see the heavenly – mindedness of Colossians? Are we setting our minds “on the things above, not on the things that are on earth”? Are we living heavenly – minded lives in Jesus Christ and with one another? What does the story of Colossians look like in your life? In the life of your congregation? In your denomination or movement?

 

We’ll pick Colossians 3:1 – 4 back up in the next post, the Lord willing.