Over the last few weeks, I have begun memorizing Colossians 3:1-17 with a few close friends. This passage has been meaningful to me for some time, but it has been through the process of slowly memorizing each and every word that God has begun to grant me fresh insights that have ministered to my own soul. This post contains a few devotional thoughts on verses 1-4 which read.
“3 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.”
The Initial ‘If Statement’: The Apostle begins this section with an ‘If Statement.’ “If then you have been raised with Christ. This language hearkens back to the previous chapter where he has dealt with the idea of our own death to our former lives and life in Christ. Colossians 2:12 contains both burial and resurrection language, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:13 contains both death and resurrection language, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses…” Verse 20 contains the idea of dying and being alive, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations…”
This is not the only place in scripture that the Apostle uses this strong language. There are a few places in the New Testament, but Ephesians 2:4-6 comes immediately mind. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” This was not just a common theme and image that Paul used, rather the idea of death to our former life, and new life in Christ is a central thread of his Christian theology.
Therefore, the initial ‘If Statement’ is a test of the legitimacy of our faith. It is as if Paul is saying, “If then you are a legitimate Christian…” All legitimate Christians, have truly died to their former life, and have been born again (spiritually resurrected) to a new and living hope in Christ. Paul makes the radical statement in verse 3, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” We are not who we once were! We have a new nature, a new core identity, a new master of our soul, a new direction for our lives, a new ethic for our conduct, and a new hope to sustain us. “If” this is true of us… then we must fix our gaze upon heaven. “If this is true of us… then the evidence will be in our “seeking” and in our “setting.”
Hidden With Christ: Verse three is a fascinating little verse. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” I have already described the “you have died” part above. But what does it mean that “your life is hidden with Christ in God?” John Calvin writes of this phrase that “our life is said to be hid, that we may not murmur or complain if our life, being buried under the ignominy of the cross, and under various distresses, differs nothing from death, but may patiently wait for the day of revelation.” John Chrysostom offers this commentary, “If therefore we shall then be manifested, let us not grieve, when we enjoy not honor: if this life be not life, but it be hidden, we ought to live this life as though dead.
It is interesting that both Calvin and Chrysostom connect the idea of this verse to our suffering. Our true nature, our “new life” in Christ is hidden from those in this world. Just as Christ is hidden from our sight, so is our new birth often hidden from the sight of those who view us from a distance. Yet, just as Christ is “with God” seated at the right hand of the Father, so is our life “with God.” No matter what happens, we are as secure as Christ Himself, for we are hidden with him “in God.” God Himself has secured us.
Seeking and Setting Your Mind Upon: Paul uses two verbs to call us upward into our theological reality (our new life in Christ). The first is “seek.” The word means “to devote serious effort to realize one’s desire or objective, to strive for, aim (at), try to obtain, desire, wish (for).” This is an activity of the heart; it penetrates down to our desires. Then, in the very next few verses he uses another similar phrase “Set your minds…” In the Greek this is one word and its definition is something like this, “to give careful consideration to something set one’s mind on, be intent on.” Or another translation might be “to develop an attitude based on careful thought.”
To both of these verbs, the object is “the things that are above.” Paul’s counsel is to set our whole minds, our hearts, the very posture of our souls towards godliness. He is after the “desires” of our heart. It is more than simply an observation of a law, “Do this.” No, Paul is sharing what the Christian heart, when functioning properly ought to be like. It is to “desire” God and godliness. It is to hunger and seek after the things that are above.
Reflections on “Seeking the Things that are Above”: With that framework, I have been wrestling through the ‘how.’ How might I more fully and wholly seek and set my mind on “the things that are above?” Certainly, Paul’s words throughout the rest of Colossians 3 put some meat on the bones. We are to “put to death” what is earthly in us. And we are to “put on” the things of God. The entire chapter becomes one great tutorial in “seeking” and setting our minds” on the things that are above. And yet, I have been reflecting on what God is teaching me through these four little verses quite a lot. A few reflections are worth noting.
First, I am realizing how prone I am to losing sight of the larger storyline. In the midst of my individual trials and hardships, I can sometimes find my own prayer life filled with requests and petitions for those things that are immediately in my path. In one sense, it could be said that this kind of prayer is exactly what Paul is describing as “setting your minds on the things above.” And yet, I wonder if in the abundance of these personal prayers, and in the lack of prayers regarding God’s great mission to rescue for himself a people from every nation, my eyes are a bit more fixed on my own circumstances than they are on “the things that are above.” Certainly the “things that are above” include my own needs—God is deeply compassionate about our hardships—but “the things that are above” also include all that is part of the larger storyline of Scripture, His Kingship, His glory among the nations, His victory over sin, Satan, and death itself.
Second, I am being reminded as I memorize this passage, how scripture memorization causes me to continue to come back to God’s Word throughout the day. Over the course of a year, I often have seasons where I am intentional with scripture memory, and other seasons where scripture memory takes a back seat. I am discovering right now that the actual process of memorizing scripture, which includes mulling a passage over in my mind many different times throughout the day, actually causes me to seek the things that are above. Viewed from the opposite end, when I am not actively working on memorizing scripture, I am realizing that my mind is not as consistently set on the things that are above. Memorization, as it turns out, is one of the primary ways I can put these verses into practice in my own life.
Third and finally, the two imperatives to “seek” and “set your minds” are written in such a way that they are commands we are to continue doing. I actually think the NET translation draws this distinction out excellently, “Keep seeking the things above…” “Keep thinking about things above.” We cannot simply do this each morning in our devotional, and leave the rest of the day in auto-pilot. We must continually train our minds to seek Christ and His Kingdom. All throughout our days we must train our hearts to process our entire reality through God’s Word, and to see Him reigning over every circumstance.
Final Thoughts: Memorizing is so good for my soul. If you want somewhere to start, I encourage you to begin with Colossians 3:1-4.
