One of the most fascinating themes around which a number of books have been written and a number of movies made is that of time travel. Either you have a story where someone goes into the past and is able to do certain things or make certain decisions that allow them to alter how history actually plays out from that point forward, or they go into the future so that they are able to see how their decisions in the present are going to affect the years to come. Sometimes stories include both elements. But whichever aspect (going backwards or forwards in time – or both), I find such stories fascinating. And, I would guess, in light of the fact that movies and books around this theme keep being written or made, so do most people.
The reason I think this theme of traveling into the past, for example, grips us is because it’s intriguing to consider how we would live our lives in light of seeing what the future holds. We all think to ourselves, “Oh what I would have done differently if I’d only known what was going to happen.” I wouldn’t have told my sister that she’s a bad driver when I was a seventh grader and she was a senior if I would have known she was going to punch me and make my jaw click for a week every time I opened my mouth. And that’s just one small example. There are certain stocks that we would have invested much money in, no matter how risky anyone else said it was because we would have known what they didn’t know. We would have seen what they did not know was coming.
Paul reminds the Colossians and us in this text that this reality of living in the present in light of certain future realities isn’t restricted to the realm of science fiction novels. Having just told the Colossians that they’ve died to the elemental principles of this world, he reminds them in our text this morning that they are not to set their minds on things that are on earth.
And in one sense, this sounds crazy doesn’t it? I mean, as I wrote out the sermon manuscript this week, I was sitting at a wooden desk, typing on a computer, with the lights on, looking over my shoulder periodically to see if it was raining or the sun was shining. For a number of you, going to work tomorrow morning will involve getting into vehicles, driving to work, taking a seat somewhere, and dealing with tangible realities that have come from the earth. What in the world does Paul mean? All of our lives are lived in dealing with the things of this world. This world is where we live. So, what does Paul mean, when he says that we are not to set our minds on things that are on earth?
Certainly, Paul does not mean that we are to ignore the world. That is, Paul does not want us to say to our bosses on Monday when he tells us to take inventory of our products in the store that we refuse to do so because our products are of the earth, and we’re thinking about more heavenly matters. If that were our answer, we’d probably be fired and mocked, perhaps our boss telling us try not step on the ground or let the door hit us on our way out, since both the door and the ground are made of earthly matter. Paul does not mean that we are not to live in the realm of the world on which God has put us.
But Paul is saying that just as the person who travels back in time knows more than those around him in that day and time, so we know that there is more than what we can see. We know what awaits us. We know where history is going and where it ends. And we should live accordingly. In some sense, then, we are very much like that individual who travels back into the past and gets to live in light of knowing what the future holds. Therefore, this morning, I want us to think together about what is true of us today, how we should live in light of that truth, and what will be true of us one day.
So, first, what is true of us today? In our text this morning, Paul bases his exhortations to the Colossians on a reality concerning their present state. He says, “If then you have been raised with Christ” (3:1). That is, Paul reminds us that . . .
Before I explain what I think Paul is saying when he says, “If then you have been raised with Christ” and moves on to tell us not to set our minds on the things that are on earth, let me point us to a parallel text. In Philippians 3:19-21, Paul has been talking about individuals who do not have faith in Christ and are living their lives as enemies of the cross. He tells us that their end is destruction – obviously meaning that they will end up in hell. He tells us that their god is their belly – meaning that they are driven just to fulfill their fleshly desires. He tells us that they glory in their shame – meaning that things that should cause them shame, they actually boast about and think exalts them. And then he tells us that their minds are set on earthly things. This sounds very much like the verses we’re looking at this morning in Colossians 3:1-4, where Paul tells us not to set our minds on things “that are on earth,” doesn’t it?
Then, beginning in Philippians 3:20, Paul says, “But our citizenship is in heaven” and he ultimately concludes by reminding us that Christ will one day “subject all things to himself.” That is, one day, Christ will reign as king over a new creation – one which, Paul tells the Philippians, we’re already citizens of.
Well, it seems that Paul is simply stating that same reality for the Colossians using different language. By reminding us that we’ve been raised with Christ, he is reminding them of a few things. First, he’s reminding them that Christ has been raised and is “seated at the right hand of God.” That’s how Paul ends verse 1. That is, when Jesus was raised from the dead, it wasn’t as if he was simply raised to never die again – though that is true. When Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into the heaven to be seated at the right hand of God, it meant a couple of things.
It meant, for one, that the new creation had begun. In the midst of this world that is subjected to futility and where death, there is a new creation that had begun, one that would not be perishable. And that new creation began when Jesus rose from the dead, and his earthly body was transformed into a body that could not die.
This thought always makes me think of standing in Rome with William Marshall as we decided to travel Europe for twenty days during our junior year of college. We had started in Scotland and worked our way to Rome when we found ourselves standing, looking at the Roman ruins, and thinking we wished we’d paid more attention in our world history class. But then, like a gift from heaven, a tourist group walked up beside us and their tour guide started telling them (and William and me – because we shut our mouths and opened our ears) what we were looking at. And one point she made is that when Rome grew into its present day look, they decided that instead of trying to get rid of ancient Rome, removing all the ruins, etc., they would just build the modern city around it so that in one square block you could look at a brand new hotel that had been built in the last few years and an ancient building of ruins that had been built hundreds of years before. The new Rome and ancient Rome were both there together. In the same way, the new creation has begun. However, the corruption of this world has not yet been removed or the dross of this old age consumed in the fires of judgment.
It meant, for two, that Jesus was reigning as king over this world, and that he would reign until every enemy would be conquered – something we do not yet see, but something that is definitely going to happen.
Paul also reminds us that because we’ve been united with Christ by faith, then what is true of Christ is true for us as well. What that means is, that if he’s already entered the realm of the world to come, then in a legal sense, then that’s where we were citizens as well.
One of the most trying and moving experiences of my life to this point was in a courtroom in Samara, Russia. We were trying to adopt Nick, and our translator told us that the last case this judge had ruled on had last for two full days. For us, this was painful news. First, we were anxious about actually getting Nick, then if the court case lasted two days, we would have to reschedule our flight – having already spent more money than we had. And besides that, there was another couple waiting, so we were hoping that they weren’t called in for their court case first, it take two days, and us not even be able to start court for a couple of days. After anxiously waiting through that time, though, we were called in, and then went through questions, anxious the whole time that the judge might determine that something should prevent us from getting Nick.
Then, the moment came when the judge, who’d walked out of the courtroom to make her decision, entered again, said some legal stuff I wasn’t following and finally said, “And his name will be Nicholas Daniel Tankersley.” At those words, I think Lili and I both had tears rolling down our cheeks. He was ours. He was legally a Tankersley. Yet, crazy enough, we wouldn’t be able to bring him into our home for two weeks. He would continue to eat, sleep, and live in an orphanage in Russia for a few more days, but he was our son. His last name was Tankersley, and nothing was going to change that.
In the same way, Paul is telling us that because we’ve legally been united with Christ, then though we may live in this world, our citizenship is in heaven. In one sense, it’s as if we’re already there, and we can start living accordingly.
So, the first thing Paul wants us to see is that this world is not our eternal home. Our eternal home is a world is going to be a world where all things are new, nothing is perishable, and where Christ reigns. And this new world already has begun. It began when Christ was raised from the dead and was seated at the right hand of God. And because we are united with him, then we are citizens of that world, simply waiting for the day when it is made a reality. And this brings us to the application Paul wanted the Colossians to hear, then. Because we are citizens of the new creation – because we’ve been raised with Christ – . . .
That is, for Paul, this truth that we’ve been raised with Christ isn’t some neat concept to think about. It means we should think differently and live differently. Paul wanted the Colossians to orient their minds to this truth and live their lives accordingly. That’s what he tells them in verses 1-2 when he says, “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.”
You see, the person who only lives as if this world and this life is all there is, is doomed to a life of vanity. They could say, “I will pursue fame,” but Solomon reminds us that ultimately, “There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after” (Ecclesiastes 1:11). Ultimately, people will forget you. We feel so special now and sometimes so important, don’t we? But we’re not – in the grand scheme of this world as important as we think. And even if you did do something that caused people to talk of you years down the road, is that really enough to make pursuing fame worth it. Does someone say on their deathbed, “Well, I take comfort in the fact that people will mention my name at times in the future”? Of course not.
And, you could pursue riches and pleasure, but ultimately pleasure is fleeting and all the riches of the world you’ll ultimately just pass on to someone else who may squander them or use them on pursuing fleeting pleasures. If all that is, is what we see under the sun, then life is just vanity – vanity of vanities – chasing after the wind.
However, we know better, don’t we? We don’t have to be tied to the things that those whose citizenship is not in heaven are tied to. Our bellies don’t have to have to be our gods. Our fleshly indulgences don’t have to dictate our lives.
Paul is reminding us that we know what is coming. And we must seek the things of that world, of that kingdom. What it means is that we must orient our minds always to consider what is coming and what is real and what is lasting. Therefore, we must always remind ourselves that greatness is this world is passing while greatness in the kingdom is real and lasting. And then we live lives according to that reality. Jesus tells us that the greatest in the kingdom is the one who serves in this life.
But if you don’t orient your mind to that truth, you won’t serve. Why? Because your flesh fights against service. It doesn’t feel good to your flesh to serve. We don’t watch videos on the lifestyles of the rich and famous and say, “Oh, if only I could get to carry their luggage,” do we? We say, “I want to be the one who is served.” So, you won’t live as you should live if you don’t orient your mind to what is true and remember that you are no longer captive to serve the indulgences and desires of your flesh.
We could multiply these examples, couldn’t we? If we do not know that there is a world coming where we can have treasures that moths nor rust destroy, then we will be held captive by pursuing the treasures of this world. We will say to ourselves, “I want more, better, and nicer things.” Our flesh is always going to say, “That’s a good idea.” But if we realize that we can have real treasure and lasting treasure that we actually store up for ourselves by pouring our earthly treasure into the things of Christ in this world, then we handle our earthly treasures differently, won’t we?
Why would anyone leave their home in the U.S. and move their young children to Botswana to live as missionaries? It’s not because somehow they’re grown weary of having the comforts of this world. It’s because they realize that this world is not their eternal home, and they’re living this life in preparation for the next.
People around us are pursuing all of these things – riches, fame, honor, greatness, pleasure, etc. And if we allow those things to be our goal in this world, then the Bible says to us, “You fools!” That’s like running after a small muddy puzzle in the desert when you know that just over the next dune is a fountain of fresh water. We understand why the guy who doesn’t know that fountain is there would make such a foolish decision to throw his face into the muddy puddle, but how do we explain the man doing that who knows what can be his just over the next dune?
You see, Paul wants the Colossians (and us, by extension) to know that they don’t have to be captive to this world. They’ve died with Christ, and they’ve been raised with him. And so they can orient their minds to what they know is to come and live their lives accordingly.
Finally, Paul reminds the Colossians that …
Paul ends our verses, writing in verses 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.”
Now, when Paul says that our life is hidden with Christ, I think there is a connotation of “safety” in that image. That is to say, Paul is letting us know that our lives are secure, hidden in Christ. But, I think he also uses this word to remind us that we do not yet see all the blessings of our union with Christ in this life.
We’ve legally been declared righteous, but we still battle and struggle with sin. We are heirs with Christ and yet still struggle with needs in this world. We are raised with him and yet still live in a body that aches, gets sick, and dies. Our Lord is the king, and we still suffer in a world where Satan, sin, and death are alive and well.
You see, we could go two wrong directions with this truth this morning. One wrong direction would be to convince ourselves that we should have all the blessings that are ours in Christ right now because our king is reigning over all the earth. And it is true that Christ is reigning, but it is also true that we will not see and know the manifestation of that until his coming. This is why the health and wealth message is deceptive to so many. It’s because preachers can rightly point out that Christ is reigning and that we’re raised with him, even citizens of a heavenly kingdom. But they are wrong to think that we experience every one of those blessings in this life.
No, we still live in a world where husbands leave their wives and leave them to raise their children. We still live in a world where we have bills coming that we don’t know how to pay. We live in a world where instead of people praising you when you’ve done well they might look for any opportunity to pounce on you to highlight your failure and humiliate you.
You see, the reason Paul has to remind us that we’ve been raised with Christ and exhort us again and again to set our minds on the reality of that coming kingdom is precisely because we don’t yet see these things in this world. It’s easy not to not to pursue fame when you’re being honored and praised all the time. It’s easy to serve when people are all the time praising you publicly for being a good servant in front of others. It’s easy to give of our money when we have no needs or desires to get more. But that’s not the world we live in. We live in a world where we are overlooked, ignored, insulted, and have needs and even wants that we don’t have.
Our eternal reality is presently hidden from us. We don’t yet see it. And therefore we make decisions to orient our minds and live our lives according to what we know is coming by faith, not by sight. We decide that we will not run and plunge our faces into the muddy puddle in the desert not because we’ve seen or can hear the fountain over the next dune but because we trust that it’s there. Because our life is hidden, we walk by faith, not by sight.
So, this is hard. And Paul reminds us of these truths because he knows it’s hard. The reason, no doubt, that Paul delighted in reminding us that the suffering of this world was not worth comparing to the glory to be revealed is because his suffering had been immense. And much of it was a result of his choices to live in a way that honored his Lord. In fact, Paul had made so many self-denying decisions in obedience to the Lord that resulted in such suffering that he said if there was no resurrection, then he was to be of all men most pitied.
William Carey went to India and suffered through his son dying in those conditions and his wife going crazy. And all of that happened as he was alone, surrounded by pagans. If there is no resurrection, he is a fool.
But, Paul reminds us that what is now hidden is indeed certain. He says that when Christ, who is our life appears, we will also appear with him in glory. It is certain. Because there is a resurrection, William Carey stored up treasures that will last and pursued greatness that cannot be taken away. As Jim Elliott said, “He is no fool who gives us what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
As believers, we are like people who have traveled back in time, know what is coming, and get to make choices and live our lives accordingly. In our case, it’s not because we’ve traveled back in time but because our Lord, who has been raised from the dead and already entered into the world to come, has revealed to us what eternity holds and how we might live in this life to prepare for that day.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will see Paul spell out for us what our lives should then look like. But let us this morning orient our minds and live our lives with the reality that we are citizens of another world, and though the blessings of being united with Christ are not all revealed in this life, they are certain because the one who lived, died, and was raised for us is certainly returning. And when he appears in all his glory, those who placed their faith in him in this life will appear with him in glory as well. Amen.