Guest written by Mark Shideler

In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul takes us through a progression of “If, Then, Why?” to teach us how to live our physical life on this earth with spiritual things in mind.

IF…

Paul writes in verse 1, “If then you have been raised with Christ…”

This question is pointing back to what he shared with the Colossians in chapter 2:13 , “…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…”

The Bible paints a very bleak picture of our spiritual state without Christ. Although we are born into this world physically alive, we are spiritually dead. We have no ability to come to God or desire to do so. Our sin separates us from God and actually makes us God’s enemy (Romans 5:10).

Modern religion often incorrectly portrays God as a sort of doting grandparent. But God doesn’t just adore us no matter what we do. He is a righteous judge who must punish sin. He is actually angry with our sin and can’t overlook it just because He loves us. However, He displayed His love by providing a way for our sin to be forgiven (even though we didn’t deserve it).

When we could never get to God, God came to us. Jesus Christ died to fulfill the legal transaction necessary to forgive sin – an innocent life dying for a sinful life. When we repent of our sin and place our faith in Christ’s sacrifice, we are forgiven, raised from death to life, and brought into fellowship with our Creator.

Paul didn’t take for granted that this transformation had happened in the life of every person in the church of Colossae. He says “IF” this has happened…

I wonder, would we be shocked at how many spiritually dead people attend church every week? Going to church, doing good things, getting baptized, and even believing in God cannot raise a dead soul to life. Only repentance of sin and faith in the finished work of Christ’s sacrifice can do that. All of us should heed Paul’s admonishment in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith.

THEN…

After first questioning IF this spiritual transformation has happened in our lives, Paul then moves to what the proper response should be if that transformation has happened.

Colossians 3:1-2 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Paul says that if this spiritual transformation has indeed taken place in us, then our response should be to value and pursue SPIRITUAL THINGS that pertain to our NEW LIFE instead of focusing on EARTHLY THINGS that pertain to our OLD IDENTITY.

Our spiritual life and identity is from Christ, but our physical life is here on this earth. Sometimes our old identity can feel more familiar to us than our new identity does. These factors make it difficult not only to remember who we really are but also to care about what actually matters. We all tend to get distracted with temporal things instead of living for spiritual things.

It’s ok to live our life, steward our resources, and enjoy what God gives us. We shouldn’t feel guilty about living here on earth, because God put us here in this place at this time. But we shouldn’t set our affection and our focus on those things. Our hearts should be focused on spiritual things, and the things we enjoy in this world should revolve around our spiritual identity.

WHY?

Paul communicates that IF we have been raised with Christ, THEN our response should be living for spiritual things. But he doesn’t stop there, he also reminds us of the motivating factor for WHY we should do this.

Colossians 3:3-4 – “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

If you are saved, then you have died, and your new life is hidden with Christ! Although you may struggle with seeing and understanding the mystery of this new spiritual identity, you can have confidence that it is protected in Christ. One day when you see Christ you will also see the fullness of your new identity in Him. So have faith in that and live for that!

Notice he says “Christ, who is your life.” If you’re saved, then you have no life of your own – you were dead, and the life you have now is Christ’s life. But practically speaking we can fail to live this out. It’s easy to make other things like our spouse, our children, our job, our hobbies, our appearance, and even church or ministry our life. We often try to fit Christ into the rest of our life instead of revolving everything in our life around Christ.

But when we understand that Christ is to be preeminent in all things (Colossians 1:18) and that our life is a gift from God through Christ, we can say with the apostle Paul “For TO ME to live is Christ.” (Philippians 1:21) In other words, if my life is a gift FROM God, then my life should be lived FOR God.

Christ + Nothing = Everything but Christ + Anything = Nothing.

If you’re like me, this can be a struggle. But I love how the NLT version phrases Colossians 3:1. It says “Set your sights on the realities of Heaven.”

In this life, our sights can get off. But the target doesn’t change. Whenever we sense our focus or priorities are wrong, it’s time to recalibrate our sights on Christ, from whom we draw our life.