Kaleo San Diego Church

INTRODUCTION

This passage stands as a bridge between what Paul has declared regarding the full sufficiency of Jesus the Christ and how we are to live out that reality on a practical basis.

Chapters 1-2 show us the person and work of Christ and Chapters 3-4 will then show us the way in which we are to respond to this new reality of Christ as Lord and Savior.

Let’s review some of what Paul has taught us about Jesus over the last 2 chapters:

Who is He ?

• He is the image of the invisible God (v. 1:15)
• He is the firstborn of all creation (v. 1:15)
• He created everything in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities (v. 1:16)
• He is before all things (v. 1:17)
• He holds everything together in this universe (v. 1:17)
• He is the head of the church (v. 1:18)
• He is the beginning (v. 1:18)
• He is the firstborn from the dead (v. 1:18)
• He holds first place in everything (v. 1:18)
• God’s fullness dwells in Him (v. 1:19)
• He is God’s mystery (v. 2:2)
• In Him is hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (v. 2:3)
• The fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form (v. 2:9)
• He is the head over all rule and authority (v. 2:10)
• He is ultimate reality (v. 2:17)

What has He done ?

 

• Through Christ we are qualified to share in the inheritance (v. 1:12)
• He rescued us from the domain of darkness (v. 13)
• He transferred us to His Kingdom (v. 13)
• He redeemed us (v. 14)
• He forgave our sins (v. 14)
• He reconciled us through the blood of His cross (v. 1:20)
• He presents us as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach (v. 1:21)
• He works within us (v. 1:29)
• He made us complete (v. 2:10)
• He spiritually circumcised us (v. 2:11)
• He has buried us with Him in baptism (v. 2:12)
• He has spiritually raised us from the dead (v. 2:12)
• He made us alive with Him (v. 2:13)
• He forgave all our transgressions (v. 2:13)
• He cancelled our debt (v. 2:14)
• He nailed our record of wrongs to the cross (v. 2:14)
• He disarmed the rulers and authorities (v. 2:15)
• He made a public display of our enemies (v. 2:15)
• He triumphed over God and our enemies (v. 2:15)
• He caused us to die with Him (v. 2:20)

How are we to respond ?

• We are to be filled with the knowledge of His will (v. 1:9)
• We are to possess spiritual wisdom and understanding (v. 1:9)
• We are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (v. 1:10)
• We are to please Him in all respects (v. 1:10)
• We are to bear fruit in every good work (v. 1:10)
• We are to increase in our knowledge of God (v. 1:10)
• We are to be strengthened with all power (v. 1:11)
• We are to attain steadfastness and patience; joyously (v. 1:11)
• We are to give thanks to the Father (v. 1:12)
• We are to have encouraged hearts which are knit together in love (v. 2:2)
• We are to attain all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding (v. 2:2)
• We are to have a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself (v. 2:2)
• We are not to be deluded with persuasive arguments (v.2:4)
• We are to demonstrate good discipline and stability of our faith in Christ (v. 2:5)
• We are to walk in Christ (v. 2:6)
• We are to be built up in Him (v. 2:7)
• We are to established in our faith (v. 2:7)
• We are to overflow with gratitude (v. 2:7)
• We are to see to it that no one takes us captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men (v. 2:8)
• We are to let no one condemn us (v. 2:16)
• We are to let no one defraud us of our prize (v. 2:18)

Colossians shows us the pattern of how we are to see any forward progress in our life with Christ.

God demonstrates for us how we are to respond to Him. We are to hear of His greatness and beauty, His might and magnificence, His holiness and justice. Then we are to see how He has displayed His glory through what He has done. The pattern of this letter is the same of the letter to the Romans, Galatians, Philippians, and Ephesians. It is first a declaration of Who God is and what He’s done. Then it is a call to respond to this reality. This is the beauty of the gospel. It is good news about God; about His faithfulness to His righteousness, His commitment to His glory, His perfections, His beauty and majesty, His love and grace which is manifested in the person of His Son Jesus. It is good news because it shows us that though God is Holy and just, in sending His Son into this world and taking our sin upon Himself, He is also the well-spring of love and life. Without the unveiling of God and the hearing of what He’s done and promises to do, we are without any understanding of how to respond in faith.

The study this week helps us again to unpack the gospel and it’s implications for the whole of our lives. It helps us to move from the demonstration of Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency for all things, to the practical living out of that truth.

This passage is a guide for us to keep our compass pointed to true north. It plays off of what was discussed in our last study regarding our death with Christ.

STUDY

Verse 1 - Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ (resurrection), keep seeking (motives, heart, desire, passions, will) the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (King and Lord).

This is best translated ‘since you have been raised with Christ.’ It verb means to be “co-resurrected.” It’s something which is an accomplished fact. Again this follows the announcement of what has truly happened within history. This is important to the gospel because we place our hope on the resurrection which actually occurred.

The Resurrected Jesus

This is not a philosophy or religion of advice, it is a fact of history and it is by grace. Those that don’t care about what has happened in actual history are those that are not saved by grace. Our faith is rooted in history- an accomplished act in time- which we have applied to us within time. As Paul puts it ‘If Christ is not raised, our proclamation is empty and so is your faith; if Christ is not raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins’ (1 Cor. 15:14, 17).

Without the resurrection, the crucifixion carries no good news announcement about a royal victory, and that would mean we have no salvation.

This is why the gospel refers to what Christ has done again and again and again. It is the turning point of all of history. History reached its climax upon a Roman cross on Calvary. The death and resurrection is central to New Testament preaching. It is absolutely relevant because we are saved by grace. We are saved by God’s unmerited favor which is poured out upon us through what He did within history. Since we are saved by grace and not advice, we bank our hope on what God has done, not on what morals to follow, or advice to heed, or philosophy to comprehend.

When someone says doctrine doesn’t matter, what they are actually teaching is a doctrine of works because if Christ didn’t die, we are in our sin and doomed. If all we have is good advice, then we have no grounds for hope.

Sin and death are bound together in a tight nexus. If Jesus defeated sin, death could no longer hold him. If he rose from the dead, it meant he had dealt with sin on the cross. The most important event which took place in Paul’s thinking and writing was Jesus resurrection from the dead.

Paul knew that Jesus had gone through death and out the other side. This meant that the Age to Come, for which Israel had longed for, was arriving through Christ’s death and resurrection. Through this resurrection, Jesus of Nazareth showed that he really was Israel’s Messiah, the truth, God-given, anointed King, who would bring hope to the entire world.

With all other religions, you are saved by the teachings of their leader, with Christ you are saved by Him. You aren’t saved by His advice, you are saved by His work upon the cross.

Since it is by grace we are saved, and since it is by what Christ has done for us and our identity with both His death and resurrection, we are to keep our hearts fixed upon “the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

The things above

 

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

The qualities of self-giving love are the chief characteristics of the life of heaven because heaven is where Christ is. The source of this love, and the supreme object of this love, is Christ Himself.

King Jesus

 

…where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God

This is an allusion to Psalm 110 which is echoed in Hebrews 1:

Psalms 110:1-5 A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." 2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

 

What is the significance of Christ having finished God’s work and now sitting upon a throne?

First, we need to understand that ‘Christ’ is not a name. It is a title. It becomes a name at some point in early Christianity, as its Jewish meaning is forgotten by Gentile converts. Equally, ‘Christ’ in the first century does mean ‘a divine being.’ That, too, is a later development. ‘Christ,’ for Paul, means ‘Messiah.’ And ‘Messiah,’ of course, means ‘the anointed one.’

Paul’s gospel is ‘the gospel of Christ’: not so much a message which is the property of king, as a message about the king. It is through this king that the true God has made himself known. Paul’s preaching of the gospel involved him in portraying Jesus Christ publicly as ‘the crucified one.’ The reason why there is good news at all is that in and through the cross of King Jesus the one true God has dealt decisively with evil. The prisoners can only be comforted if it true that the jailor has himself been locked up.

Jesus is upon His throne, ruling in beauty and glory. No longer does he appear as a marginalized Galilean peasant to was beaten and murdered. He is now King. He was crowned at His ascension and if we are to have an appropriate view of Him now, we must turn to the vision John received when he was exiled to Patmos.

Revelation 19:1-16 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER." 3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER." 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he *said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God." 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

Verse 2 - Set your mind (exercise of mind, commitment to pursue) on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

We should not only seek heaven, we should think heaven. The believer’s entire disposition should orient itself to heaven ‘where Christ is.’

Our minds should be transformed and renewed.

Because of Christ’s coronation and exaltation to the Father’s right hand, He is the fountain of all blessing for His people.

Verse 3 - For you have died (crucifixion) and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

We have died! Do we believe that? We no longer have any rights except that which Christ gives us.

What does this mean for believers? Obviously we did not die physically, so what is this speaking of? It is speaking of Jesus death upon the cross.

There is a real danger in our day when we speak of the cross. Because of its central theme in the New Testament we can be easily lulled into insensibility to what Paul is saying and to what actually happened 2,000 years ago on Calvary.

Crucifixes appear regularly as jewelry in our post-Christian culture. It seems as if those who refuse to trust Christ are the very ones who purchase this piece of jewelry most. The wearers are often completely unaware that their pretty ornament depicts the ancient equivalent, all in one, of the hangman’s noose, the electric chair, the thumbscrew, and the rack. There are unaware that the cross is something which combines all four but went far beyond each of them. Crucifixion was so horrible and so feared that the word was usually avoided in polite Roman society.

Every time Paul spoke of it- especially when he spoke of it within the same breath of salvation, love, grace and freedom, I am sure his listeners would have felt the slap on the face of their sensibilities. We need to be reminded of this every time Paul mentions Jesus’ death, ours with it, especially the mode of that death- the cross.

If we are willing to attempt this exercise, it should produce in us a desperately needed slap in the face to our own desensitized emotions. It gets right to the point. God has reversed the world’s values. He has done the impossible. He has turned shame into glory and glory into shame. His folly outsmarts the wise, his weakness overpowers the strong. The cross is for Paul the symbol, as it was the means, of the liberating victory of the One True God, the Creator of the world, over all the enslaving powers that have usurped His authority.

The announcement we make of ‘the crucified Messiah’ is our key to everything because it declares to the rulers of this age that their time is up; had they realized what was going on, ‘they would not have crucified the Lord of glory’ (1 Cor. 1:18-2:8). We declare to the world that ‘in Christ’ God has won a victory and ‘if you have died’ with Him, you share in His treasures.

Paul relates the crucifixion of Jesus, His cross, as the very means that peace with God was made, and then the very means of how we make progress with others and with self.

What did Christ death do and how did we die with Him?

How did God fulfill the promises to Abraham? Through the cross.

How are we to treat someone who is an ex-pagan who at one time ate meat sacrificed to idols? We should be concerned for their growth for those ‘for whom Christ died.’

What happens in baptism? People demonstrate they have died with Christ.

How did God overthrow the rule of evil powers? The cross was his triumphal procession.

What is the supreme revelation of God’s love, and his unshakeable commitment to his people and this world? The death of Jesus on the cross.

How are Jew and Gentile reconciled? Through the cross.

Why are Christians no longer ‘under the law?’ Because ‘they died to the law through the body of Christ.’

What has God done about the seemingly all-powerful rule of sin and death? God condemned sin on the cross, and has undone the power of death.

What about all our sin which acts as our condemnation before God? God took our record of wrongs which was against us and nailed it to the cross.

The death of Christ upon the cross was both the most horrific act of judgment and yet the most loving act of grace. It was the clearest demonstration of God’s hatred for sin, and yet the most profound expression of God’s love for those who call upon Him.

It is ugly and disgusting and yet beautiful. It is shameful and yet the way Christ was to receive honor and glory. It is the most torturous act of agony, and yet the most comforting act of peace. It stands as a sign of terror, and yet as a declaration of security.

To say that we have ‘died’ is to say that we identify with what occurred upon the cross and we look at our old self as dead. It the greatest of paradoxes for you and I we must confess that in order for us to live, we must have died. And if we ‘have died’ with Jesus, then and only then will we have a life ‘hidden with Christ in God.’

It is kept secure, away from thieves, no longer a property of our last masters, but now is esteemed as ‘hidden,’ concealed and since it is with Christ it is ‘in God.’ Christ takes us into himself and lays hold of us as His own possession. He brings us into the Trinitarian relationship with His Father and with the Holy Sprit. Since we are in union with Christ, identified as true Children and heirs of the promises, since we are co-inheritors of the Kingdom, since Christ is our brother redeemer, we are now God’s.

Verse 4 - When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

As Christ died, was risen, and will appear in glory, so we too share in this as we are united with Christ.

The Christian hopes not merely for the coming of the Lord, but for the full revelation of what we already are (identity). One day we will then see what we truly are in fullness. Those that seemed outwardly unsuccessful and forgotten but who have served their Lord will be raised in glory.

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