If You’ve Been Raised With Christ

Introduction

Thank you, Dean. Appreciate your good song leading this morning, good song selection. And especially that last song, one of my favorites, and of course, that is all of our goals is to get to heaven. And hopefully what I have to say this morning will help us each in that endeavor. He would be turning your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3, and we’ll be studying from there for just a few minutes this morning. Colossians chapter 3.

If you’re here this morning, I want to ask you, are you a Christian? For most of us in the audience, the answer to that question is yes. For the majority of us. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be here. But if you are not a Christian and you’re here, we are so glad that you decide to worship with us this morning. We hope that we can admonish you to make that decision to become a Christian. Here in this passage, if you’re a Christian, Paul is talking to you. A few weeks ago, Scott gave us an invitation on Wednesday night about programming. We were all very enlightened by that discussion. About programming. And then in programming is a bunch of if statements, a bunch of if, then, else.

And my dad, he’s a programmer too, so he was right in there with that. but they can talk about that. I’m not going to. I didn’t get that gene. But here in Colossians, this is exactly what Paul does. He makes another one of these if-then statements. See what he says in verse 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. And here’s another Ben statement. Then set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For if, or for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Paul is talking to those who have been raised with Christ.

And he tells us what to do about that. If you’ve made that decision, what are you going to do? And you know, we’ve all had those moments in our lives. When those of us who have put on Christ in baptism and have been raised to walk in newness of life with him, we all have those moments when we go, okay, great. Now what? Now what do I do? How do I be more like Christ? How do I walk daily with him? How do I get better? How do I do this every single day in and day out? We all have those struggles. And what I want this morning is to help you. By using this short passage that Paul talks to us here in Colossians chapter 3.

Paul is transitioning here in this context from warnings about false teaching and about people that were trying to get them to these Christians here in Colossians to digress from that which Paul had taught them in a latter part of chapter 2. And this teaching here in verse 20 says, if you with Christ you died, this is chapter 2, verse 20, 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 these regulations, all these different things, these Paul’s teaching that they were being pressured to submit to? Paul is confused as to why. When they’ve died to Christ, they would still submit to these lowly, worldly, physical human teachings that we should be opposed to.

So how do we combat that? How do we combat going back? The temptation that Satan puts in front of us to go back to the person that we were before we put on Christ, before we put to death the old man, because that’s that’s a struggle that we face every day. Going back to that. He says, Why would you do that? I’m going to help you not to do that. We do that, he says, by setting our minds on and searching the things of Christ. The Christian life is a continual quest, day in and day out. And Christ is our example to follow and our goal to pursue. The new life in Christ requires an entirely new mental orientation. And that is something that is very difficult to find.

To change our minds completely from the physical, from those worries, those struggles, from the sin that we formerly were a part of. And to something that is new, that is spiritual, that is heavenly, that is pure and righteous, and focus on the things that are above. So Paul helps us here. How do we stop thinking these worldly thoughts? Every day when we get up and we try and make these decisions today, and when I get up, I have to decide I’m going to think spiritual thoughts. I’m going to think heavenly thoughts. I’m going to set my mind on the things that are above. I have to be different, think differently from the world about my aims and my goals and my actions. And so he tells us, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek that which is above.

Paul here again is addressing Christians specifically. That’s us. That’s who he’s talking to. Those who have already been raised with Christ. They’ve been baptized and thus risen to walk in newness of life. If that’s you, these are the things that you ought to do. And why? Because you’re no longer that old person. You have put to death that old man. And you have risen to walk in newness in life. And of course, he talks about that in a couple different passages. Romans chapter 6, of course, one of the most prominent examples of rising to walk with Christ. Romans chapter 6, and begin in verse 5. Verse 4, rather, we were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

So the old man is dead. We have rise something new. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin for one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. Verse 11, so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

That old person is dead. He is gone, he is not coming back. And of course, again, the same imagery there in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, when he says, that I have been crucified with Christ is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. That dead person is gone. He’s telling us, don’t go back to that. It doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t profit you. It is only going to bring you death. You’ve been set free from that. You’re no longer a slave to sin. You’ve died to sin. And now you are alive in Christ. Don’t be a slave again to that. So if you have been raised with Christ, then what do I do? I seek the things that are above.

1. Seek the Things Which Are Above

Where Christ is specifically. He’s going to outline the things that the Christian must do now that they are a Christian. And he says, first, one, what do I do? How do I come back to this? How do I not go back to being the old man of sin and death? He says, first, you seek the things which are above. Brother, we have to stop thinking like the world. We have to stop being the person that we used to be, because all too often that’s what we try and do, isn’t it? Oh, yeah, I’m a Christian. I’ve been saved from my sins. I’ve been forgiven. Now, how do I do this and be as much like I was before? And still be okay with God. That’s what we want to do, isn’t it?

But he says you can’t do that. You have to set your mind on things above. You have to be holy, totally, entirely different from the world and from the person that you were before. He says, seek. That word there is extremely important. When he says to seek, that means that we have to go out looking for it. It means that we can’t be waiting for it to come up to us. Christianity is not a passive thing. It’s not something that we just wait for these opportunities to come to us. We must go out searching for them. We can’t just sit back and wait, okay. Well, you know, I’m Christian, so now I’m just going to wait around for Sunday roll around so I can go to worship and check that box.

I’m going to wait around for an opportunity to serve. I’m going to wait around, you know, to take the Lord’s suffering. I’m just going to wait and passively participate in some of these things. No, he says you got to seek it. You’ve got to go out and find it. You have to seek those opportunities to serve. You have to seek people that you can help. You have to seek ways to spread the gospel. Christianity is not passive. We have to seek, to have a spiritual mind, a heavenly mind, no earthly mind. That seek the things that are above the heavenly things, the heavenly wisdom that James talks about in James chapter 3. And James chapter 4. If you turn with me there, James chapter 3 and 4.

It says, who is wise in understanding? Among you, verse 13, by his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but it’s earthly, unspiritual and demonic. These are the things that we used to be like. Focus on the world. Things that the world tries to tell us. Things that those in Colossae, they were trying to get them back to those kinds of things. Worldly wisdom. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice. But the wisdom from above. This is what we must be seeking. That which is above.

The wisdom from above. It’s first pure, then peaceful, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And he goes on to talk about in chapter 4 of quarrels and the things that causes that. It’s all of this jealousy. You fight and you quarrel. You ask, you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. These are those Christians who are sitting there trying to be who they were before. Constantly concerned about the physical instead of the spiritual. We must seek the things that are above. Why? Because that’s where Christ is. These are Christ’s things. We seek that which is above. Seated at the right hand of God. That’s where Christ is. We’re seeking his things. We’ve got to think about what is going on in heaven.

What is going on where Christ is? And you think about the throne room of God, where Christ is sitting next to the Father. We think about heaven. We think about righteousness and holiness and purity and goodness. And we think about the worship that is going on there. And that means that’s the things I have to be focused on. I have to be focused on being like him. I have to be focused on what is going on in heaven. If I want to be there, then that means I have to form myself into a person that is able to go there.

Christ has been given rule and authority, and as his subjects, we are under that authority, and therefore it makes sense that we must seek to serve him who brought us from death to life in the most spiritual way possible. If we back up in Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23, Paul talks about the preeminence that Christ must have in our lives. And how we cannot move from that. Colossians chapter 1. Verses 15 through 23. He says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. There’s that old man again. He is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless. How are we going to be holy and blameless? We have to set our minds on his holiness and above reproach before him. If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.

2. Set Your Minds on Things That Are Above

So we must be stable and steadfast. He says, We cannot move from the preeminence of Christ in our lives. We must seek Christ’s things, seek his preeminence in our life. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And then he goes on to say, then set your minds. Verse 2, set your minds on things that are above. What are we supposed to be concentrating on, meditating on? Spiritual things, righteousness, good works, the fruit of the Spirit, heaven. You know, all these things that Paul mentions again over in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8, he says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Brother, when we need to remind ourselves of this verse. Every day, if I’m going to concentrate on higher things, I need to remind myself of what is pure, what is just, what is peaceable, what is true, what is lovely. I need to concentrate on the fruits of the Spirit that he writes about in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 24. I need to think about him in all that I do. Back in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 17, further on down in the context, it says, Whatever you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. If I’m going to set my mind on the things that are above, I have to think about Christ and all that I do.

Everything I do must be done through his name. And backing up then to verse 11. Here, there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all in all. When I can think about the fact that we are all the same in Christ, it helps me get my mind off of the petty differences. If I’m thinking if I want to think truly higher thoughts, spiritual thoughts, I cannot be focused on the petty differences that are between me and you, and my brothers. The more we think about spiritual things, the more spiritual we will be. The more we think about heaven, the more we will want to go there. The more we think about and study and read about Christ, the more Christ-like we will be.

It says our minds must be set on the things that are above. To be set on something. I get my mind a picture of like a dial. You’ve got you’ve got totally worldly, kind of worldly, somewhere in the middle, and then you’ve got, okay, kind of good. And then all the way. You know, turn it up to 11 on your spiritual, right? You’re set there. This is where your mind is set. That is its mode. Not worldly mode, not kind of bad, but all the way. I am committed, and I am set, and I am not changing that doll. It is locked in. So, what do we think about? Not the things that are on the earth. These things are polar opposites. They are set against one another.

3. Not on Things That Are on the Earth

I cannot think about the things that are on the earth. I cannot be immature in my thinking. If you look over in with a couple verses with me in Ephesians now, Ephesians chapter 4.

We’re not to be immature in our thinking. Ephesians chapter 4, 11 through 14.

Of course, there he gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, pastors, who flip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, but to mature manhood, to the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. Again, going back to Postos chapter 2. They were trying to pull them away. This is the same thing that he writes about here in Ephesians. Don’t be led astray by all these worldly things. You can’t be focused on that.

You can’t be led astray by that. You have to be building up into the mature manhood, to the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ. You cannot continue on in your life being a child. You’re not going to make it to heaven. If you keep being a child. We must have a goal of maturity. The same idea is given in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 12 through chapter 6 and verse 1. We must long for spiritual meat, not just spiritual milk. We’re not to be worldly in our thinking. Secondly, Ephesians chapter 4, continuing on in this context, verses 17 through 24. I won’t read the whole thing for sake of time this morning, but now you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.

Again, don’t be the person you were before, that Gentile, that sinner. They were darkened in their understanding. And I love what he says in verse 20 when he says, but that is not the way you learned Christ. You’re a Christian now. What do I do? Not that. You did not learn Christ that way. When you learn Christ, you learned not to be that man anymore. You put him away, you put him to death. You put off your old self, he says in verse 22, which belongs to her former manner of life and is corrupt. But you were renewed in your minds, verse 23, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. We’re not to be worldly in our thinking.

We don’t focus on the cares and the sins of this world. And finally, we are not to think about only the world. We’re to lay up our treasures in heaven, as Jesus teaches us in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21. That is so hard to do. As Steve just said before we gave this morning.

As we all should. Regardless of our situation, to have provision. And realize that it’s not about this world.

As Daniel said in a Bible class. You know, oh well, I gotta make this certain amount of money to support my certain kind of lifestyle that I want to have that I really don’t need. But I’m gonna make, you know, I’m going to, I’m going to make work an idol so that I can do that. Brother, that’s laying up treasures in this world. That’s not laying up treasures in heaven. That is not seeking the things that are above, setting our minds on the things that are above. And I keep coming back to this.

4. For You Have Died

Why should we do that? Verse 3 is the answer. For you have died.

You have died. The me that I want, the me that I focus on. The me that is selfish. That man has died. When I put on Christ. I think all too often we neglect, forget, or don’t realize the gravity of this and the many light statements in the New Testament. In the Greek, there’s more tenses than there are in English, which serve them well and is a disservice to us, unfortunately. And I’m not in any way claiming to be a Greek scholar or anything, but this is pretty basic stuff. In the Greek, their words could have conveyed, you die. You are dying. You did die, but you could come back. And you have died. And that death is permanent. The word that is used here is that last one.

It’s the word that you have died permanently. You have died once for all, and you cannot come back. That is the kind of death that we ought to have to this old man. He ought to have been put to death in such a way that he can never return. Paul is very clear in his choice of the tense here. Our old man is dead. It is gone. It cannot come back. It has been crucified with Christ. That phrase there, be crucified with Christ. Dying the worst, most gruesome kind of death possible is used twice by Paul. That means he’s serious about it. Twice he says, You have been crucified. That old man. He cannot come back. You know, we use this word, this phrase in our colloquial terms.

Joe, you know, somebody does something and we don’t like it, then well, you’re dead to me. And what you’re saying when you say that is, it’s like I never even knew you. It’s like you never existed. I’m just going to pretend I never knew you at all. That’s what our Gentile self needs to be when we put on Christ. It needs to be dead to us. It’s like they never even existed. Because guess what? That’s what God sees. He no longer sees that old man. He forgets about it. We need to forget about it too. We can’t go back to that. You’re dead to me. And what is put to death? What is the what is it that we have to put away? Well, the answer is there in Colossians 3, verses 5, 8, and 9.

He says, put to death, therefore what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Verse 8. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, and slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. You’re not lying to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. In verse 10, have put on the new self. All those things have been put to death. And they are renewed, verse 10, in the knowledge, in knowledge after the image of its creator. And then verse 12, put on then as God’s chosen ones. Something has to take the place of that old man, and it’s it’s the new man in Christ. Verse 12, put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.

5. Your Life Is Hidden With Christ in God

Again, we’re thinking about holiness and righteousness and purity. Put on compassion and kindness, humility, make meekness and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above this, all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. You have died. And your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is the head of the church, and we’ve gone through that very several times already. He is to have the preeminence. We are to grow up into him. Where the head is, there the body must be also. And our life is hidden with Christ in God. That idea is also found in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful, and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

We are to grow up into him who is the head. If he is our head, and we are his body, we must act and think as he thinks.

I like that phrase. What does that mean to be our life to be hidden with Christ in God? I think that it gives us a sense of security. It gives us a sense of security, and when we trust and have faith in him and follow him, he is going to protect us. We are a part of him. The Son has ascended to the throne of the Father, and our life is secured by Him. My life no longer exists. I now exist for Him. And He lives in me. Because I have died. And he concludes the section by saying when Christ, who is your life, He is our everything. When He appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. And that’s just saying Christ is our life.

He is everything to us. Our life is hidden in His. And when He appears, of course, the second, referring to the second coming of Christ.

6. You Will Also Appear With Him in Glory

We are looking to glory. You will also appear with Him in glory. What does that mean? Does that mean we are going to be able to partake in His glory? Yes. That is something that every Christian looks forward to. That’s why we go through these struggles of putting off and killing this old man is so that we can have glory. And that sounds selfish, but man, it’s got to be worth it. And it’s going to be worth it.

We are looking for eternal glory. And he promises us that. The believer shares in Christ’s life and glory when he comes again. We may have difficulties and trials in this life, but eternally, we are looking to glory. So we set our minds on the things that are above. So that we might appear with him in glory. Paul’s argument for the Christian putting on the new man is the glory that we will share. He’s not ashamed of that. There’s nothing wrong with looking to that. That should be our entire goal. It’s the glory that we will see and that we will partake of and share in around the throne of God for eternity. How do I not go back to the man that I was before? How do I make sure that all my efforts are not in vain?

Conclusion

I look to his glory. I focus on heaven. I set my mind on things that are above. Not on the things that are of the earth. Is that what you want in your life? Is that what your goal is? To be with him in glory. It will require a radical change, as we said, in one’s mental orientation. Can no longer think about, focus on the things of the world. They are of no concern. We long for a better home, a heavenly one, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And those who were found in him will be raised once again to glory. But if you’re here this morning and you’re not a Christian, know that you do not have that hope of glory, that you have no hope at all.

Christ will say to you, depart from me, for I never knew you. Workers of lawlessness.

Yes, it’s sacrifice. Yes, it’s difficult. Yes, the world will mock. But when Paul tells us we will partake in his glory, he’s telling us it’s going to be well. So if you were here this morning, you need to die. You need to put to death your old man. By putting Christ on in baptism and rising to walk in newness of life, to be part of his family. To be part of this family, we’d admonish you to make the best decision that you will ever make in your life. And do that right now while we stand in the same way.