Welcome back to our big summer Bible study on Colossians! Before we even talk about where we have been so far or where we are going today, I would like to ask you something. Now I’m not sure it’s the easiest question to answer, but it’s something that hopefully gets you thinking as we start to study scripture today. So, here’s my question…What is your real life according to Scripture? What makes all of this God stuff, and our faith real? Yikes Sam, what a way to start a talk, right? Well, I think it’s worth asking, and it’s something we need to be able to answer and my hope is that today we will not only be able to answer that question, but we will also know how to step into that real life in Christ! So, we have a lot to do as we dive into this study today. But think about it. What makes it real? Is it about going to church, is that what makes your faith real? Does having a lot of knowledge about Scripture make it all real? What makes our spirituality real? This is where we are headed today but before we do let’s think about what all we have been building on before we jump into our study today which focuses on Colossians 3:1-4.
So, by now you probably know that Paul is making sure we understand the supremacy of Christ in all things. Remember what Paul is helping us do is center or recenter our lives on Jesus as ALL and Enough…it’s all about Jesus. All through chapter one that theme built, everything centers on Jesus…EVERYTHING. This is what it’s all about and we have talked about how simple that sounds yet how challenging it is for us humans to stay centered on this very freeing, reality that Jesus is ALL and ENOUGH in our lives. Then in Chapter two Ken helped us see Paul’s big prayer for us, that we not only understand that Jesus is everything, but that we can truly experience Jesus in our lives. Not only have we seen the importance of experiencing Jesus in our lives, but Paul also gave us the practical tools to accomplish that…then last week Ken took us through the rest of Chapter 2 which really was Paul pushing against religion…which is important for us to see, because it’s the very thing that so many people slide into which keeps them from experiencing Jesus in their lives. Ken’s talk really set the tone for today and is so important. He was not only exposing religion to us, but he was showing us the difference between walking in religion and walking in a true relationship with Christ. This is so important for us to see because so many good, God loving people fall into religion and never truly experience Christ in their lives. So, if you couldn’t be at church last week to hear Ken’s talk, or read or watch his talk, please go back and do so before you jump into today’s study with me because it really sets the tone for what Paul says next here as we open Chapter 3. I think this is one of the more popular areas of Colossians so you may have heard this before, but it’s so important, and gives us a lot to break down and apply to our lives! So, let’s look at this section of Scripture, first in the NIV and then we will move to the Message.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. NIV
Ok, this is so important for us to see. It starts with Paul doing the thing He seems to continue to do over and over again, which is to tell us what Christ has done for us! Over and over again he comes back to this point, and I really want you to remember how important something is when it comes up over and over again in the Bible. Then he gives us two important things to do, and then talks about this real life that I was asking you about as we were getting warmed up today. So, let’s read it again in the Message.
Colossians 3:1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ — that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. 3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life — even though invisible to spectators — is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too — the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. MSG
I love this! What an incredible piece of Scripture with so much going on…in those first two verses we are seeing Paul do a couple of things. First, Paul reminds us that Jesus is ALL and ENOUGH in our lives, which he brings up all the time, so he we get it, he is thorough! Ha! Then, we see two very important and challenging things that we must do, and I would like to take some time and talk about them.
First, we are to set our hearts on God and Spiritual things. So, let’s focus on verse one for a moment.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. NIV
We are to set our hearts on things above, well, what does it really mean to set your heart on things above? Remember how we want you personalizing Scripture and asking questions like this! We also encourage you to read the Bible in multiple versions because it can really bring things to life, and that can really help us understand what it means to set our hearts on things above when we move to the Message version…
Colossians 3:1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. MSG
The Message takes that idea of setting our hearts on things above and paints the picture for us by saying we should pursue the things over which Christ presides. So, we are to set our hearts on Godly things, eternal things. We are to pursue or desire Eternal things. This is what it means to have a heart that is set on things above. So, it leads to the question, what do you desire? What is it that you are pursuing? Really this is heart check time. What are you pushing towards in life? In other words, Paul is saying our highest priority and deepest desire should be God, so the question has to be asked. What matters to you most? What do you spend your time, your resources, and your energy pursuing? I could list out examples of so many things right now that we pursue or desire in our lives from material possessions and wealth, to popularity and people approval, to status and positions in work and society, but instead I would just say that a person who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior who believes in God and loves their Heavenly Father, and acknowledges that God is in the Heavens and does what He wishes…well they would set their hearts on God. They would prioritize God as first in their lives, and hopefully their desires as God’s children would match God’s! I think this leads us to another question that we should ask here and it’s this. What does God want? Do you know what God desires? This is important, and Scripture does tell us what God desires…it’s love, He wants to know us for us to know Him! God desires us!
Hosea 6:6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. NLT
Jesus quotes this Scripture in a confrontation with the religious leaders who were upset with the company Jesus kept while He was eating one evening with his buddy Matthew.
Matthew 9:10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” NLT
We are to set our hearts on things above. We are to pursue and desire what is Godly…and a great way to see what truly would be worth pursuing, is to see what God wants, desires, and is pursuing Himself. And I want you to clearly hear me know, God is pursuing us, His children. His desire is for all of us to know Him. He isn’t into religious rules and shows, and we continue to learn that we haven’t nothing to earn from God because He loves us so much that He took care of all of it for us through Jesus. So, His deepest desire is that you would come to know Him and walk in a true, loving relationship with Him!
You know for some of us, we hear what I just said and think, “Sam, that’s great in concept, but I can’t pursue God over all things because life is real and keeps happening. I have a demanding job and I need to pay my bills and provide for my family. I have a lot of challenges, and a ton of relationships, some good and some bad and it all demands so much from me…I just don’t see how it’s possible to live my busy life and be successful in the real world, while living this all out.” My answer to that would be, how is your life going for you on your own without God in it? Doing life without God is harder than doing life with Him. If you follow Godly principles and live out this pursuit of Him, you will find success. In fact, I will say that following Scripture and pursuing God will take you to levels of success in ways that you didn’t dream possible before…it’s all there for you as you set your heart on things above.
Second, Paul says we are to set our minds on things above.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. NIV
So, first Paul told us to set our hearts or desires on things above and now we see that it isn’t just our hearts, but our minds are also to be set on things above. So, let’s ask our question, what does that mean? What could that look like? Well once again let’s switch to the message and read verse 2.
Colossians 3:2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ — that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. MSG
What do we see here? I will tell you what I see, I see a challenge to focus on God and not on all these things around us that seem to take our focus away from God. And there is a lot around us that takes our focus off God. This idea of focusing our thoughts on God is something Paul brings up a lot, you will see it in a couple more verses we read through this talk, but here in Corinthians he tells us to hold every thought captive.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV
You know, to take every thought captive sounds like a good plan but it would take some serious intentionality, wouldn’t it? I mean who really has time to think and focus this much on anything. Well, this is something else that we really need to think about, just like there are so many things that we can desire and pursue other than God, our minds and thoughts are assaulted all the time with messages, information, things to do, places to be…so I can see how challenging it would be to focus on God let alone hold all our thoughts captive. Let me ask you something, what do you think about the most? What thoughts fill your mind? Do you want to know what matters to you? Do you want to know where your priorities are…well, that thing you think about most is telling you what matters most to you! I would be willing to bet that the thing you desire most and pursue the most is also the thing that you’re thinking about most…which is interesting isn’t it? Paul ties the heart and mind together…challenging us to set our hearts and minds on things above…and it’s interesting because the odds are pretty good that your answer to both what your heart is set on and your mind is set on…will be the same. The heart and the mind are running the show, aren’t they? Reminds me of something Solomon says here in Proverbs…
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. NKJV
We are to set our hearts and minds on things above because our hearts and minds are who we are. So, before we move on, what controls your thoughts? What is distracting you from God? Have you ever taken the time or intentionally thought this all through before today? It’s important because the heart and mind are who you are. Now they may not be who you project to be to the world, or who you pretend to be to your friends or on all your social media platforms but Paul is challenging us here because our thoughts and minds…the private parts of our lives come out and are the reality of who we are…which after we established the heart and mind we see Paul turn right to this idea of our real lives in verses 3-4 and where that life is found…I love the way this section of Scripture keeps building!
Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. NIV
That’s a pretty intense statement, isn’t it? You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God and when Christ appears you will also appear with Him in glory. It is intense but if you think about it, it’s exactly who Christ is for us, our old life is gone and our new life is found in Him. We also know that Jesus through that final work on the Cross took care of our sin problem, and that once we have asked Christ into our lives, God only sees Jesus when He looks upon us! Which is so awesome, but when we look at these last two verses in the Message version it really gives us some fun stuff to talk about.
Colossians 3:3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life — even though invisible to spectators — is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too — the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. MSG
So, when we started this talk, I asked you something that is important. Do you remember that? What is your real life according to Scripture? What makes all of this God stuff, and our faith real? Paul answers this question for us here saying that this new life in Christ is our real life. So, let’s talk for a moment about what is real and what is not when it comes to our faith. Just about every week you hear us pray for this to be real. We want our Spirituality, our church experience, our faith to be real…and what makes it real? Well, what makes it real is life change. It’s accepting God in our lives and having our hearts and minds shaped in such a way that we live differently moving forward. This is what it’s all about, because if we just are showing up and doing church and telling people we are Christians without our hearts and minds (which would lead to our actions) changing then all of this is a really empty exercise…it’s meaningless…and a gigantic waste of time. Now to those around us, it may look like something really special or holy or nice…but what did Paul say? He said that this real life is invisible to spectators…it’s seen by God! Now don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely products of this real life that are seen in how you live your life, but this real faith is found in Christ and it’s between you and Him. We will come back to that in a moment or two but this idea of our real life, that leads to us thinking through real spirituality, reminds me of something Paul says in Romans 12…
Romans 12:1: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. MSG
We can draw a lot of similarities to what we are studying today and that section of Scripture from Romans. Take all your life and give it to God, live for God, focus on God. Fix your attention on God, live differently than the world and focus on the things above! What makes things real is how we live our lives now that God is in them…it’s life change! Let’s look at another one of Paul’s letters that seems to continue this same theme…
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. NIV
Do you see it? Think, focus, pursue Godly things…and put into practice. This new life you are learning about is your real life; this is real religion. How do you live and act from what you are learning and receiving…remember that heart for what God desires? And we know what He desires right?
Hosea 6:6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. NLT
You know James talks about real religion and it’s interesting because he does the same thing…
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. NLT
So once again we are right back to this reality of our real lives, this new life is found in how we live now that Christ is in us. We set our hearts and minds on God, we live differently, we no longer live as the world lives and we don’t let it pull us backwards, we live differently pursuing God. Our hearts follow God’s heart. Our thinking and focus is to be on God, and we live out all that we are learning and experiencing. We line our thinking and hearts up with God and we learned what matters to God is love and while our real lives aren’t visible to spectators it’s this new life lived in love that is seen, and let’s others see God. It’s how people will know we are His disciples. Jesus told us that right?
John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” NLT
So, what does your version of faith or spirituality look like? Is it this real religion that we read about in Scripture, or has it been more about the things we do, like going to church, reading some of the Bible, and attending different Christian events? Do you see and understand why those things are of no interest to God if you aren’t drawing near to Him? God’s deepest desire for us is intimacy and relationship with Him…it’s love. He desires you and wants all of us humans to come to know Him…which is interesting because as clear as that is in Scripture we tend to drift to the opposite. We lose sight of this freeing reality of what God is after and pursue the very things that are of no interest to God…but if you think about it, while they are of no interest to God, they probably may make us look really good or important to the world, or the people of it…and I think that is why Paul ends this section of our study with this phenomenal statement…
Vs 4 …Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. MSG
Meanwhile be content with obscurity like Christ…wow. I will tell you this statement has been on my heart a lot lately. When you really think about living this way, (content with obscurity) it just feels so peaceful…doesn’t it? Imagine being ok with people not knowing all you were up to, content to just be you, obscure to the world full of people but known by God intimately. There is just something so peaceful in that. When I think about this, it has to be an amazing way to live, content to just be the person God created me to be, not worried about popularity, perceptions, public opinions, what everyone else has that I don’t have…not needing to push my name, my ministry, my reputation, not needing to compete with anyone or anything, just content with obscurity as Jesus was. Nothing to earn, nothing to live up to, just doing His Father’s will. Which is interesting since I’m sure Jesus understands better than the rest of us just how important His message and ministry was! He knows why He has come and what He has come to do…which is to save the world, so yeah, it’s a big deal! He just didn’t need to make a show of it, or prove himself to anyone, or push his own name forward…content with obscurity like Christ…wow, there is some peace and depth to that statement. And let me ask you this, what would it look like for you to be content with obscurity like Christ? What would change in your decisions and behaviors if you were ok with obscurity like Christ? Think about how opposite this is from the world today.
So, as we close this talk down today, I would really like you to just think with me, try to slow down and think, personalize this as we dive into some questions.
- This first one is a big thought – Why would Paul end a section on setting our hearts and minds on God and what our real life in Christ looks like with this encouragement to be content with obscurity like Christ? I would really like you to take some time and think that through.
- Paul said we should set our hearts on things above so let me ask you this; Do you pursue the things of God? Do you desire what God desires, which is love and a close relationship with us? What do you pursue? What is your heart set on if it isn’t the things from above?
- Paul said we should set our minds on the things above, so we have to ask the question; Do you live with a focus on God? What do you think about? What takes your focus from Him?
- Do you see how the mind and heart tie together and direct how we live our lives?
- Paul says that our real life is the new life we have now in Jesus, and we talked about the reality of what makes our faith real…which is our life change, so the question needs to be asked; What’s changed in your life because God is now in it?
- How would you define real and true spirituality?
- What would need to change in your life for you to find a God focus, and live as God would desire you to live? What would you need to put into your life? What would you need to stop doing to truly live out this real faith as we see it in Scripture?
- Could you even picture a day when you could be content with obscurity like Christ? If not, you must ask yourself who you are living for and what this is all about.
Listen we love you and are so thankful to dive into Scripture with you, and we want you to see that our prayer, our passion for you is that you truly experience Christ in your life. We want this to be real and not just some weird an empty exercise that may make your feel a little better or look better to others, we want this to lead you to that abundant life that Jesus came to provide for you all along and I believe Paul is really showing us how to get there…so I leave you with our four verse we studied here today.
Colossians 3:1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ — that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. 3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life — even though invisible to spectators — is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too — the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. MSG