It’s truly precious that when we accepted the Lord, our sins were forgiven. This enables us to enjoy the Lord and His love, and we can also love Him and live with Him. The Lord desires us, wants to be the closest to us and live with us day and night, sharing the deepest union with us. We should also desire the same: to love Him and live with Him day and night. In fact, it’s impossible for us to live our lives without living with Him. To live with Him is the same as to abide in Him, as the Lord said on the night before His crucifixion. He also said when we abide in Him, He will be in us, and we are united. He lives with us by living in our hearts. So, the Lord living with us is actually the same as Him living in our hearts. If we don’t live with Him, we are like lost children in a shopping mall, separated from the parents. Psalm 73:23-24 say, “…You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel…” We should never let go of His hand!
Colossians chapters 2 and 3 should not be divided as such. In chapter 2, Paul talks about the wrong path of pursuit in the Church in Colossae. They strayed to the wrong path. They pursued after many outward things and were much affected by the wrong teachings. Wrong teachings enter through the mind and have a great impact on a person. It’s good to have a fervent heart to pursue, but following the wrong path is detrimental. We must follow on the right path which the Bible has already told us about.
Let’s read Colossians 2:20-23: “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—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch (referring to things that all perish as they are used)— according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom…”
These are man’s wrong teachings. They seem to make sense, but in fact, they are misleading and are of no value.
Let’s look at one of the verses in this passage: “in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, …”
Physical self-denial is no use. Of course, we should not indulge our flesh, but following the wrong way is useless. We must walk on the right path.
This is what the Bible says about man’s own ways of overcoming sin: “but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
They are of no value because the path is incorrect.
Paul corrected them in Colossians chapter 3. The content of this chapter is of foremost importance. Without it, we cannot continue.
Let’s look at Colossians 3:1-4, Verse one reads “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above,”
This is different from the things that are on earth or under the sun. The passage continues with, “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.”
This is the only way.
Verse three reads “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Even our lives are hidden with Christ in God, who is in heaven. That means we are connected to heaven and we don’t belong to this world. Worldly things cannot help us. Otherwise, if they had helped us, there would’ve been no need to believe in the Lord. The help provided by this world is very limited.
The passage ends with “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
This is very important. We have already been raised with the Lord and have become a new creation. Our baptism declares that we were baptized into the death of the Lord and His resurrection. We have life.
“Seek the things that are above,” Being a new creation, we are totally different from before. However, this new creation needs nourishment. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) This new creation cannot live on his own or by relying on his own ways, He can only live by Christ who lives in him.
Paul continued that he lived in the flesh by faith in the Son of God. Therefore, the new creation must use faith to rely on the Lord so that he can truly live. Otherwise, there is no way we could live out the life that the Lord intended for us. We must live by faith in the Son of God, count on Him, and we will not be ashamed. It’s not complicated at all to trust in Him! When we first believed in Him, we didn’t know much about Him or the Bible, but we were still able to rely on Him. This is nothing else but faith. Now that you’ve known Him more deeply, you can enjoy more, and your faith can increase. It’s not complicated, or else you wouldn’t have been able to believe in the Lord. On the day you believed in Him, you simply accepted Him as your Saviour, asked Him to save you, to forgive your sins, and to save you from all bad habits. We need to hold firm to our original confidence, continue to exercise our faith, and continue to believe. Our faith will become stronger, and we will enjoy Him more. The more we know, the more we can enjoy. This is actually simple.
Let’s look at Colossians 3:1-4 again.
Verse one encourages us to “Seek the things that are above”: our hearts should desire the things that are above— the spiritual blessings and God’s will.
It then says, “Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God”: It’s so precious! The fact that the Lord is in glory, at the right hand of God, is beyond words . He has already gained the most glorious victory of love. He has gloriously solved the problem of sin. He ascended to heaven with a gesture of blessing. He also prays for us.
Verse two reads, “Set your minds on things that are above”: This includes many things, but the Lord has to be our center. All spiritual blessings are in Him. You can also think about you being with Him and the things in heaven. Yet, the center has to be the Lord. His riches are beyond words. He is the center of our thoughts. If you want to overcome the lusts of the flesh and gain victory, you ought to think of the Lord Himself. Nothing is more precious than the Lord Himself when it comes to “the things above.” Therefore, what we set our minds on is very important.