Seek Christ as Your Life
Colossians: A Letter from Jail
Seek Christ as Your Life
Colossians 3:1-4
Let’s turn to Colossians 3. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you. Colossians 3 is on page 984 in the Bibles we are passing out.
In this letter Paul wants to blow us away with who Jesus is, and with how deeply we can know Him. Paul makes it clear that Jesus is not just a good teacher or a holy man. Jesus is fully God and fully man; He is the second person of the Trinity. And Paul tells us that we can actually know Jesus – experience Him – and that this is what life is all about.
For example, look at what Paul says in Colossians 1:27 –
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Paul says that his whole message is Christ in you, the hope of glory. If you have been saved from your sins, then you know what it is to have Jesus Christ living in you, giving you such a taste of His glory that you are full of hope in being with Him forever.
Look also at Colossians 2:6 –
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
When you repent of your sins and trust your life to Jesus, you receive Christ Jesus the Lord – God the Father gives Him to you, and Jesus comes to live inside of you. And as a result, you can walk in Him – your life can be lived in close, personal, experienced relationship with Him.
So think about how close your relationship with Jesus can be. We can have Christ in us; could anyone be closer to you than being in you? And we can walk in Christ; could you be closer to anyone than walking in them?
So here in this letter Paul tells us that we can have a relationship with Jesus that is close, deep, constant, powerfully felt and experienced. So what might this look like in real life?
Let me give you a couple examples from the life of Henry Martyn. He lived in the 1800’s, was one of the first missionaries to India, and he wrote a journal which describes his relationship with Jesus. Here’s what he wrote one day:
In prayer I had a most precious view of Christ, as a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. I hardly knew how to praise enough His awesome excellencies. I want no other happiness – no other heaven. (142)
And another day:
I am born for God only. Christ is nearer to me than father, or mother, or sister – a nearer relation, a more affectionate friend; and I rejoice to follow Him, and to love Him. Blessed Jesus! You are all I want! (140)
Wouldn’t you love to have a relationship with Jesus that close, that real, that first-hand? If you’ve repented of your sins and are trusting Jesus, that’s what you want more than anything else. So – how can we grow in our relationship with Jesus? What can we do?
Paul tells us in Colossians 3:1-4. In last week’s passage, Colossians 2:16-23, Paul told us not to pursue commands, practices, or prohibitions not connected with Jesus. Those are not the way to grow closer to Jesus. Then in Colossians 3:1-4 Paul tells us how we can grow closer to Jesus. Look at what he 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.
First, understand that you have been raised with Christ. Before we were saved, because of our sin, we were spiritually dead. Our hearts were not able to connect with Jesus; we could not feel and experience Jesus. Jesus is the prize of the universe, the purpose of life, but because of our sin we could not know Him.
But the moment you repented of your sin and trusted your life to Jesus – God changed you. Read v.1 again --
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…
After Jesus died on the Cross, God raised Him from physical death, and gave Him physical life. In the same way, the moment you trusted Jesus, God raised you from spiritual death, and gave you spiritual life. And for the first time you knew Jesus – you felt love for Jesus, you worshiped Jesus, you glorified Jesus.
Now here’s why this is so important. This side of heaven, we not only have new spiritual life; we still have the old sinful life. It’s been mortally wounded, it’s dying, but it is not dead yet. And at times our old sinful life will assert itself so much that we feel little spiritual life; we feel little connection with Jesus, little experience of Jesus. And when that happens we are tempted to think we can’t connect with Jesus, and so we don’t even try.
But at that moment you have to understand that you have been raised with Christ. You have received new spiritual life, whether you feel it or not. And so no matter how you am feeling, you can turn to Jesus, cry out to Jesus, trust in Jesus. And as you do that God will subdue your sinful life and strengthen your spiritual life and you will connect with Jesus and feel Jesus and experience Jesus.
So understand that you have been raised with Christ. You have received spiritual life which can connect with Jesus. So no matter how you are feeling – you can always turn to Jesus, trust Jesus, connect with Jesus.
Second, seek the things above, where Christ is. Some Christians make a huge mistake. They hear that they have been raised with Christ, that God has given them spiritual life, but then they just sit there. They don’t understand that the point of being raised with Christ and receiving spiritual life is to now go on and actually seek Christ.
That’s what Paul says in v.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.
So Paul calls us to seek the things above. What are the things above? They are “where Christ is.” So Paul is calling us to seek Jesus, and all that it means to know Jesus.
So let me ask you: this last week, have you sought Jesus? Not just have you read the Bible – but have you sought Jesus in the truth of the Bible? Not just have you prayed – but have you sought Jesus as you prayed. Have you taken time to actually seek Him, to pursue Him?
Paul is telling us that, because we have been raised up with Christ, we can now actually connect with Christ, if – if -- we will seek Him. If we don’t seek Him, we won’t connect with Him. But if we do seek Him, we will. We will experience Christ in us, the hope of glory. We will experience walking in Christ.
But the key is seeking Christ. Let me illustrate it like this. Here I am sitting in this chair. Am I seeking anything? No, I’m just sitting. Don’t think you can be a Christian and just sit. No. Christians are those who seek Christ – we get up out of our chairs and seek Him. We put out effort to seek Him. So this coming week – are you going to sit? Or are you going to seek?
So that’s the second step – seek Christ. But how? How do you seek Christ?
That’s what Paul tells us next -- set your mind on Christ. You can see this in v.2 –
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Here Paul tells us how to seek Christ. We seek Christ by setting our minds on the things that are above. The things that are above is a reference to Jesus Christ – to the truth of Jesus as He is revealed in His Word.
So what this means is that we take time to open God’s Word, see who Jesus is, and set our minds prayerfully and thoughtfully on the truth of Jesus. As we do that, we will meet Jesus in the truth of His Word, we will see Him, love Him, know Him, fellowship with Him.
For example, notice in v.1 that Paul tells us that Christ is seated at the right hand of God. So to one way to seek Jesus would be to set your mind upon this truth thoughtfully and prayerfully. Think and pray about the fact that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God. And as you look at other places where Paul says this, you find that Paul is telling us that Jesus is in sovereign control over everything (Eph 1:20-21) – including your finances, your investments, your job, the stock market. Jesus is in sovereign control.
And Paul is also telling us that Jesus is interceding for us before the Father (Rom 8:34) – bringing before the Father our every need, our every fear, our every insecurity. And the Father always listens and responds to Jesus’ pleas on our behalf.
So that’s how we seek Jesus – by setting our minds prayerfully and thoughtfully on the truth of Jesus as revealed in God’s Word. And as we do that – Jesus will come to us, we will meet Jesus in the truth of His Word, we will find comfort, security, strength in Jesus.
Next Paul tells us – take your mind off of sinful things. See, there are times when we seek Jesus, we pray, we read the Bible, but nothing happens. Sometimes that’s because God wants us to persevere. But at other times, it’s because there is unconfessed, unrepented sin in our hearts. That’s why the rest of v.2 is so important – read the whole verse –
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
This does not mean that you should never think about your job, or the economy, or your leaky faucet. Notice that phrase “things that are on the earth.” Paul uses this exact same phrase in v.5 –
Put to death therefore what is earthly [that’s the same phrase] in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
So “what is earthly” is “things that are on the earth” and it’s clear that that phrase refers to sin. So what Paul is telling us is to take our mind off of sinful things.
See, if you are holding on to bitterness towards your boss or lust towards the woman at your office, and you try to pray and read the Bible – you will not meet Jesus because you are holding on to sin. Not that you have to be perfect to meet Jesus. But you do need to repent of all known sin, lay down all known sin, confess all known sin – then when you seek Jesus, you will find Jesus.
But now that’s not easy. It’s not easy to repent of sin, lay down sin. And so sometimes we can give up and just not seek Jesus at all. But that’s why what Paul tells us next is so crucial – understand that you have died to sin’s power. You can see this in v.3 –
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
The moment you repent of your sin and trust your life to Jesus God puts to death your sin nature. That’s what he means when he says “you have died” – he means that you are now dead to sin’s power.
So you are dead to bitterness about your boss. You are dead to lust about that woman at the office. You are. But that doesn’t mean that you are never tempted with these things. Notice in v.5 that Paul says we must “put to death” sin. Even though we have died to sexual immorality, even though sexual immorality has no power over us, we still have to put it to death.
It’s like the story of David and Goliath. David’s first stone hit Goliath in the head and knocked him out. But David could not stop there. Goliath could have regained consciousness and killed David. So David still needed to pull out his sword and cut off his head. That’s how it is with us. Through the Cross God has knocked out sexual immorality – but if I don’t cut off its head – it could regain consciousness and kill me. But the good news is that it has been knocked out – so I can cut off its head – and I will need to do that again and again and again.
So when my mind is filled bitterness or lust, understand: you have died to that sin, that sin has been knocked out, so you can cut off its head, you can set your mind back on Jesus. And when you do so – you will experience rich fellowship with Jesus.
Sixth, understand that your life is hidden with Christ in God. You can see this in v.3 –
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
This means that if you have repented of your sins and trusted your life to Jesus, then God has cut the pipeline that connected you to things that can’t give you life – like greed or lust – and God has established a pipeline between you and Jesus. Your life has been placed with Christ in God. So listen. There is no fulfilling life, no lasting life, that can be found anywhere except in knowing Jesus. All life is to be found in knowing Jesus Christ.
So next time you find yourself channel-surfing, or bored, or clicking on YouTube favorites, say – I have a pipeline to Jesus – who is really life. I could be seeking Christ; I could be enjoying life in Christ. And ask God for help, open up God’s Word, and set your mind on things above – seek Him and you will find Him.
But there’s something that makes this really hard. If you seek your life in money, people can see your money. If you seek your life in possessions, people can see your possessions. But if you seek your life in Jesus – people can’t see that. People who don’t know Jesus can’t see that you have any life at all. And that can you wonder if it’s really worth it.
But Paul has something to say about that –
Seventh, understand that when Jesus appears, you will appear with Him in glory. Read vv.3-4 together --
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.
Now your life is hidden with Christ in God. You will have rich experience of Jesus – but people who don’t know Jesus won’t understand that. Which means that your life is hidden from them.
But the day is coming when Jesus will returns to earth – when Jesus who is your life will appear. And on that day you will appear with Him in glory. Everyone will hear Him say -- “Dave – I know you – well done, good and faithful servant. Everyone will hear Him say – “Darla – I know you – well done, good and faithful servant.
And if you have sought Him and set your mind on Him and known Him and worshiped Him – at that day everyone will see Him say to you – by name -- “I know you. Well done, good and faithful servant. I saw every prayer, I saw all your effort to seek me in My Word, I saw all your persistence in prayer when you felt little of me. I saw it all.”
And he will welcome you into His glory, and it will be worth it all.
Questions?
Which of these seven truths is most important to you – why?
So between now and your home group this week – use these seven truths to help you seek Jesus – know Jesus – experience Jesus. And then when you meet in your home group, talk about how it’s gone. How has Jesus met you? What obstacles did you face?
And think about this --
If Jesus came back today – what would he say to you?
You never sought me.
You sought your life in money, not in me; in sex, not in me; in career, not in me.
Or will He say –
I saw your prayers, your tears, your labor in the Word.
I saw how you sought me, how you persisted in pursuing me.
I saw you trust me when you sensed little of me, and thank me when you experienced me.
I saw you pursuing me as your life. Come – be revealed with me in my glory.