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Colossians 3:1-4
Where are you looking? Where are the eyes of your soul fixed tonight? Or more pointedly, who? Who are your eyes fixed upon? Let's turn to Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4, and let's stand together as we honor the reading of God's Word.
I'm going to be reading from the LSB. Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory. Let me pray for us. Lord, you are our life.
We have no life apart from you. Help us to listen to your word tonight. Help us to humbly submit to it. Help us to seek lives of godliness for the sake of Christ.
Amen.
You may be seated.
So, tonight, I want to give you some encouragement. I want to give you some practical knowledge. I want to give you some rebuke. I want to give you some comfort, some practical application from this text for our church, Providence Baptist Church.
And I want to hold before you this evening all the glorious treasure we have in Christ. We have been given mercy and grace in Christ, the God-man, Christ Jesus, the King of Heaven. We have been given Him.
So, I have three points this evening, and one person at the focus, Christ. One, raised with Christ. Two, ruled by Christ. And three, revealed with Christ. So, point number one, raised with Christ. It says in the LSB, if you have been raised with Christ.
A better word would be since. I think the NASB says since. It is not portraying if you have been raised with Christ. This letter is to Christians. This letter is to the church. Since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above.
Because you have been raised with Christ. Why do we seek the things above? Because we have been raised. Because we have a new life in Christ. Because Christ now is our life. So, I wanna bring before you the reality that we have been raised with Christ.
Yes, we have been raised with Christ. He lived pure in heart and obedience. He was nailed to the cross of Calvary. He died hanging on a wooden cross, bearing my sin, bearing my shame and my guilt, all my transgressions.
God nailed them to the cross. God nailed them to Christ. Christ bore God's wrath against my sin. And he died. Christ died. He didn't just die a figurative death. He didn't just was an example of death or something like that.
He actually died. He was put in a tomb. He died for three days. But he was raised. God raised him. God raised Christ up from the grave after punishing him instead of me. And Paul makes this connection.
Just like Christ was raised, you are raised with him. Those who are his. Those who have put their faith in Christ. Men, women, boys and girls. If you have put your faith in Christ, if you are a new creation, the text says you have been raised with Christ.
That's a glorious reality. It's a gift. We have been raised with Christ. But before I talk about what it means to be raised, I first wanna talk about is what's plain. Because we have been raised, we're also dead.
We're raised from what? We were dead at one point. We were all dead. Saint, you thought you were alive. You thought your life was okay. Nothing needed to change. And you were oblivious to the fact that you were a dead man headed for execution.
But then God raised you up. Like Christ said to Lazarus, come out. Essentially, come alive. Come awake. Lazarus could not call out to God. He could not reach for God. Christ came to him. Christ raised him up.
He made him alive again. He clothed me in his righteousness. What it means when he raised me up. He loved me and he rescued me from the darkness and brought me into his marvelous light. He has forgiven me.
I, a wretched sinner, following after the devil, skipping my way to hell. God said, come awake. Come awake. When I could do nothing. I don't deserve it. You don't deserve it. That's why it's grace. And I am astounded at this marvelous grace that I have been given in my Lord Jesus.
Why would God save a wayward sinner like me? I was needy of the strength of God. Poor of spiritual life. Deaf to the voice of God. Dumb to the knowledge of God. Blind to the beauties of God. And mute.
I would not call out to him. The dead man curses God with his life. You cursed God with your life. And what does Christ do? He brought you to life. When you were cursing him, Michael Sanchez said this, and I am so appreciative of it, of Revelation, but he says this of the man.
God brought the man out of dust who rebelled against God, and he redeemed him. I'm dust. I was brought out of the dirt. And God saved me. God redeemed me. He brought me to life out of the sheer mercy of his will.
And my response, your response, thankfulness. I'm thankful to God for what he's done. He nailed my sins to the cross, Colossians 2 .14. Says, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, he also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
He didn't just take our sins. He didn't brush them under the rug. He didn't just say, you're forgiven. He nailed them to the cross. He nailed them to Christ. Christ robed in human flesh, set aside, as it were, the glories of heaven.
He humbled himself and came to bear my sin and shame and pay my debt. Our king is worthy. All I have I owe to Christ. So let's look at Colossians 2 .12 really quick. So you were dead in your trespasses, your transgressions, and you were buried with him in baptism.
Colossians 2 .12 says, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. So I was dead to God, but now I'm dead to the world.
I was buried with Christ. Just as Christ physically died, I died spiritually to the world. As real as Christ laid in the grave, the reality of my new birth is that I have died to this world. I am now a new creation.
I have died to the world. I have died to this law. Colossians 2 .12 says, or 2 .14 says, this law was hostile to us. This law only served as our condemnation. This law only served as a mirror. I am in need of grace, and I have died to that.
And I've been raised through faith. The law only served as our accusation. It said you are guilty. You owe God a debt that you can never pay. You must keep these things perfectly to be justified. And the law was hostile towards us.
And we died to that. We died to the decrees that were set before us. He nailed that to the cross, and now we've been made alive. Not by the law. We have not been made alive by the law. Some, a note of application.
Even as a Christian, the law cannot make you more alive. The law cannot make you more justified in His sight. Only grace. The only way we're saved is by grace through faith. The only way that we continue in that is by grace.
The only way that Christ loves us is by grace. The only way that Christ is pleased with our work is because of grace. We cannot set anything before God and say, look at what I've done. That's what the gospel does.
The gospel sets aside all our pride. The gospel sets aside all our boasting because it is of grace that we have been saved. It is of grace that we have been made alive, and we have died to sin and the world.
We have been raised to godliness, to a new hope. So we have been raised with Christ, but where is He? Well, He's at the right hand of God, the text says. This means two things. One, Christ is seated because the work of salvation is complete.
The works that were required for atonement and pardon, they're done. The Father's wrath, it's fully satisfied in Christ, not in you keeping the law. Remember what Christ said on the cross in John 19 .30.
He says, it is finished. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Your sins are forgiven totally and finally. There is no more wrath left for you. We have a glorious gift in Christ.
All my sins were paid for. There's not one stitch of sin that is left to be atoned for. Christ paid it all. There is no more wrath left for you. The wrath that was hovering over you as a sinner, as someone who rejected God, it doesn't rest over you anymore.
You are justified. Every drop of blood that was shed was not in vain by Christ. All that Christ accomplished will come to be. Every sinner that he pardoned will come to him in faith. Every name in the Lamb's book of life will be present and accounted for on that last day.
What a glorious reality. All that Christ purchased, he'll get. All my sins are forgiven and I have an unwavering hope. You have an unwavering hope. If you have taken hold of Christ by faith, you're secure in Christ.
It's finished. You don't have to worry about that Christ will let me go. You don't have to worry about that one day I could sin so badly, Christ will cease to be my salvation. If you have faith, if you have been given new life, you're saved forever and finally.
May that be a comfort to you. And it means another thing. Because Christ is seated, it means that he's king. So he's seated because it's finished, the work of salvation is finished, and he's seated because he is king.
He reigns over all of the earth. All the earth is governed by his hand. Every person is under his kingship. He is king, period. You can't make him king. You can't accept him as king. You can't invite him to be king.
He is king. What is your response? Your response is to humbly and enjoy, submit to his kingship. That's the only response that you can give. My gracious redeemer reigns. So when the sinner comes to faith, he submits to his kingship and obedience.
And because Christ is king over us, and we have been purchased by him, by his blood, we now follow his will for our life and live unto him and not to this world, which brings me to my second point. So you have been raised by Christ, and now you are ruled by Christ.
He raised us up. He made us alive. We have now victory over death, hell, and the grave with Christ. And not only has he done that, but now since he has raised us up, we now have the honor and joy of service to our king.
But what does that look like, big picture? It's this in verse 1b. So you have been raised up with Christ. Keep seeking the things above where Christ is. Keep seeking the things that are above. Seek the things that are above.
Set your mind on the things that are above, not below, not the things on this earth. This is to believers. This letter is to believers. Keep seeking the things that are above. The people that have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, this letter is to those people.
And this can only be obeyed by his people. Only believers can seek the things above. Only those who have been born from above can seek the things above, that want the things that are above. Yes, the unregenerate can stretch out his neck to heaven.
He can look above, but it will always end in futility because they aren't seeking God, really. They're seeking themselves. This is live, but I'll say it anyway. My dad is a spiritual person. He says that I believe in some higher power.
He might even say God. He might even do things that attempt to be moral. Many in this town seek to be spiritual. That's not enough. You're not strong enough. You think that sticking out your neck to heaven is good enough?
It's gonna end in futility. Only those who are born again are truly seeking the things that are above. This is an exhortation to all believers, not just the pastor, not just the deacons, every believer, seek the things that are above.
And it's a reminder. You think to yourself, well, this letter is written to believers. Why do they have to be told to seek the things above? Shouldn't it come natural? We have a new creation. We have a nature that loves God.
Why do we have to seek the things above? Why do we have to be reminded of this? Because we too often seek the things that are below and we find solace in those things. We seek the things below because we think that we'll be satisfied in them.
And maybe for a short time we are. But we have to be reminded because of this passage. That the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We want Christ, but because we live in this fallen world, because we have this body that is not glorified yet, we seek the things that are below oftentimes.
But we need to be reminded. Seek the things that are above, where Christ is.
Why?
Because Christ is your life. Because Christ has purchased you. Because Christ has died for you. This is a reminder to us because we need to be reminded of all we have in Christ. Christ is our portion forever.
Christ is our gain. Christ is our treasure. Christ is the gift. And because we come to terms with this reality, because we recognize all that we have in Christ, we seek the things that are above because we're thankful for what he's done.
We don't seek the things to get more from God. We don't seek the things above because we think that God will love us more. We seek the things above because we know we have all we need in Christ. Christ is everything to us.
And we're thankful for what he has done. So in this verse it says, keep seeking the things above where Christ is. Is Christ in heaven? Amen, he is in heaven. Is Christ here? Yes, he's here. So it's not that we seek heaven.
It's not that we seek the place of heaven. It's not that we seek things that are in heaven. We seek the inhabitant of heaven, which is Christ. We don't come to Christ because we get heaven. We don't seek the things of Christ because we get heaven.
We seek the things of heaven because we get Christ. We seek these things that are above because Christ is there. We seek Christ. So the Christian wants Christ in his mind. He wants nothing without first seeking the will of Christ.
The end goal of the believer, the vision of his life, his future, his choices, the life of his children, his church, all of these things is for the honor and glory of Christ. God as his only aim. Not the end being, I'm doing these things because it'll give me satisfaction.
Which school should my kids go to? Because they'll be most popular. What job should I take because I'll get the most money? How should I act in church because people will like me more? We do these things because our aim is for the honor and glory of Christ.
Why do I act this way in church? Because Christ is worthy. Why do I preach this gospel? Because Christ is worthy. Why do I send my kids to this school? Why do I work this job? Because Christ is worthy and I'm aiming to please him.
I'm not aiming to be pleased. I'm not aiming to please others. I want to please Christ. And if it means that my family leaves me, if it means that I have no friends, if it means that I'm ostracized, so be it.
I've pleased Christ. Christ is my aim. And that's why in Colossians 3, this is applied to wives and husbands, children, fathers, slaves, masters, because in everything in our life, our aim should be the honor and glory of Christ.
Not just church, not just when people are looking, but in our whole life, the honor and glory of Christ. But we fall in this, don't we? We too often don't look to the things above when we make decisions.
We too often, when we come to church, maybe sometimes we're looking for affirmation in our jobs or maybe doing things because we'll get the most money or whatever. What will we do when we fall? We repent.
We repent and we come to Christ again. What is the remedy for our sin in this way? Only Christ. So look again unto Christ and live unto godliness. Don't double down. Don't be prideful. Repent. I need to repent in this.
I need to repent of so many times looking to the things below and not looking to the things above. Not having Christ as my aim. I need this. I need to repent in this and I need to look again to Christ.
So the Christian is a slave to Christ. He is our master. He owns us. It's not my will be done, but it's thine. I'm not mine anymore, but I'm the king's. But we don't have a bad king. We have a lovely king.
We have a gracious and merciful king. Rich in loving kindness and goodness. A king who takes care of us. A king who loves us. He doesn't just pay for our sin. He didn't just forgive us. He didn't just bless us.
He didn't just give us these things. He loves us. Have you thought about that? The God in heaven who pardoned me, he loves me. Lamentations three. His loving kindness never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.
There never be a day when he stops loving you and no one, your family, your mother, your father, your children will never love you more than Christ loves you. Be comforted in that tonight. Christ loves you.
He does not leave us or forsake us. It's his pleasure to give us the kingdom. In Luke it says that. We serve God because what he has done for us in the gospel. So we serve God because of two things. We've already kind of went over that, but I'll just say it again.
He is king. The first one, he's king, he's chief. He's our commander, as it were. And because of what he has done for us, he sent Christ and I'm thankful. I serve him out of a thankfulness in my heart.
Oh, saint, if not for Christ, your commander would still be the devil. You would still be chasing after the things of this world. You'd still be chasing after the devil. But Christ being rich in mercy, he saved you and you have inherited eternal life.
Why would God do that? My only answer is Jesus, the God of my salvation. That's my only answer to this question. So you were saved, but you weren't saved for nothing. You weren't just saved to be a floating amoeba living out your days until you get to glory one day.
No, you were saved unto service. Your life is now Christ, verse four. When Christ, who is your life? He is your life. Colossians 1 .10. Let's look there really quick. Colossians 1 .10 says, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God.
So you were saved to walk. The word walk has the connotation of a way of life. It's not just your conduct, but it's your behavior. It is your posture towards God. It is your posture towards the life that you have been given.
It is your disposition to the life you have been given. I seek the things above. And that's a active and it's a conscious thing. So big picture, that's what it looks like. Practically, these are some things that I could put before you.
This is what it looks like practically in day-to-day life, giving Christ the preeminence. And they're simple things. I'm not looking to teach you anything new tonight. I want to give you a refreshment.
I want to teach you what's already been taught by our pastors and some things that you can do. One, giving Christ the preeminence and looking to the things above, it's in our evangelism. I share the gospel because I am not propagating my own kingdom, but seeking to propagate the kingdom of Christ, being part of the local church.
And I'm saying this to people that are already doing this, but I just want to reaffirm these things. I seek to obey the scriptures to give worship to the king that he deserves in accordance with his will.
That's why being a part of a local church matters. Like prayer, I seek the communion of my heavenly father. I depend on his strength day-to-day. How are you doing with that? How are you doing in your prayer life?
Are you dependent on God's strength from day-to-day? Do you seek communion with God? I think I can speak for everyone. We need to pray more. We need to be more dependent upon Christ and his strength from day-to-day.
Number four, digging into God's word. I cling to its every word. It's a lamp under my feet and a light unto my path. Without it, I am stumbling and I'm defenseless without the word of the spirit. And what helps us with these things?
What helps us in our evangelism? What helps us in our being involved in the church? What helps us in our prayer and loving the Bible? What helps us? The more we become more in tune with the will of God, chiefly knowing his word, right?
Reading his Bible. The more we become more in tune with his will of God, we behold the glories of Christ who is above, the more the things of this world that once claimed our affections, they'll become hideous to us.
I don't mean that we won't wanna work anymore. I don't mean that we won't want our hobbies anymore. I don't mean those things. What I mean is, is that our aim before self-satisfaction, we won't want that because we are satisfied in the glories of Christ.
We are more in tune with what the will of God is for our life, chiefly seeking Christ. Christ as our aim. But it's not easy, I know. I know it's not easy. And with these seeking the things above, it's not only seeking the things above, it's not seeking the things below.
It's not just putting on, but it's putting off. It's extinguishing the old flames that would pop up and would seek to bring you back to this old way, to the old man, right? The soul, I've heard this once in a sermon.
These are not my words. Our soul is clinging like Velcro and we have to daily rip off the things that would seek to bring us back to the old man, continually ripping off the things that would latch onto us, the worldly things.
That's the Christian life. It's suffering, it's a battle, it's war, it's waking up every morning, clinging again to Christ because I am defenseless without Him. It's going into a minefield every day. Every day it's like that.
But we have this assurance. We have been raised with Christ. We have this assurance. Christ is our life. He has given us faith. And so we can go out into the world. We can seek the things that are above.
We can tear the things off that seek to latch onto us, the things that are below, because we have God's strength. We don't have our own strength because we have been raised, because we have been given faith.
We have been given His strength and we have the ability to fight these things for the glory of Christ. So, and as we fix our eyes on Christ, we know that our necks are not strong enough. To keep holding our eyes to heaven, God's strength is what does it.
To keep our eyes fixed on heaven and the glories and goodness that is there. I wanna give you a couple things, some comfort, some encouragement, some exhortation, and then our final point, and then I'll be done.
But, and let's go to verse three. For you have died and your life has been hidden with Christ and God. I wanna give you some comfort. You have a great comfort for your soul this evening. Think about this.
Think about the words that I'm gonna say. Think about what has been revealed to us in scripture. Christ has saved us, but not only saved us, but He will provide for us everything that we need to continue and will keep us by the power of His might to reach the end and to finish well.
Our life is hidden with Christ and God. It is secure. Our life is secure in Christ. So the Christian has not died physically, but spiritually to this old life and raised with Christ. Your life is hidden with Christ.
It's with Christ. It's secure, safe, held by God. And you're not that old man anymore. You are called saint and not a sinner. I have a problem with this kind of language. And I think I understand what they mean, but I have a problem with it.
When others are preaching the gospel or evangelizing, they'll say things like this. I'm a sinner just like you.
False.
I'm not a sinner just like you. I have a refuge in Christ. I am called saint. Now I understand that we are guilty of sin just like them, but they don't have a refuge. Their life is not hidden with Christ.
I have been called saint. Think about that. You're not just a regular old person anymore. Think more highly of your salvation. I'm a saint. I've been given new life. So you're not lost. You're declared justified and righteous.
So the nature of your life is new. Your spiritual life, though hidden and invisible like God, manifests itself in your physical life, okay? I can't see the act of your new birth, but I can see the effects.
And this life, it's all for Christ. It's for his glory. It's for his kingdom. And let me give you some encouragement. The life lived for God, it's worth it. This life that is tearing off these things that are below, putting on these godly things, seeking the things that are above, it's hard, but it's worth it.
Christ is worthy. Christ is worth it. It is a good life. It is a life well lived. It is time well spent. A life forsaking your habits that would take you away from Christ. Your life forsaking the appeasement of men, it's worth it because Christ is worth it.
He is worthy. And I wanna give you some exhortation. Forsake the things that are below. This is a command from scripture. Forsake them. They aren't worth it. They will not satisfy. Haven't you found that gossip won't satisfy?
Haven't you found that money won't satisfy? And I'm thinking about my own wife in this. A perfect home won't satisfy? A perfectly cooked meal won't satisfy? Popularity, perfectly well behaved kids will not satisfy?
Affirmation will not satisfy? Only Christ will satisfy. I'm preaching to my own soul. Only Christ will satisfy me. Too many times I've walked into this church and I'll be honest. I've sang songs hoping to show you my talent.
That's not gonna satisfy me. Christ isn't pleased with that. Christ is pleased with a life that seeks to honor him above all. Christ is pleased with a life that is satisfied in him. If I have no money, if everything that I have is taken away, if my kids die, if I get cancer, if the church explodes, I am satisfied in Christ.
Are you satisfied with Christ? Think about that. Are you satisfied in him? Do you have all that you need in him? Oftentimes, saints, we are fixed on certain things that offer no hope, that no relief. We worry about money.
We let small words or gestures from a brother or sister offend us. And we find that if we're honest, there's no peace that can be found in chasing these things. But the one who seeks the things above, the one who's satisfied in Christ, he'll find peace.
Because they know that they ultimately have peace with God through Christ. I have peace with God. I'm not at enmity with him anymore. I have a peace now. And my third and final point, this will be a quick point.
Let's look at verse four. When Christ, who is your life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with him in glory. Until we are risen with Christ physically, with God in glory, the only way that we behold his glory now is by faith.
That's the only way that we see him. That's the only way that we look to heaven. It's by faith. But one day, because your life is hidden, because your life can't be seen, Christ can't be seen, one day, your eyes will no longer behold him with eyes of faith, but with eyes of sight.
We'll see Christ. We'll see him. I wanna end with a passage in First Thessalonians, verse four, 13 through 18. I wanna just think about these things as we think about being revealed with Christ, being manifested with him in glory, seeing Christ.
I wanna read this.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will be not grieved as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not perceive those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. All that I'm doing, all that I'm, all the faith that I have seeking Christ, I can't see him, I'm hoping.
One day you won't have to do that anymore. You'll see God. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. This is a comfort to us. To live is Christ, to die is gain. We get God. So I pray that's your hope tonight, that you're satisfied in Christ, that he is your vision, and you'll be satisfied with him.
