Chapter 2
Paul makes an assumption – the person who is a Christian is someone who has a totally new identity – they have been “raised with Christ” [verse 1]. The resurrection of Jesus is what lies at the very heart of the New Testament – indeed of all history. It is true to say that there would be no Christianity, no Gospel, no eternal life without the resurrection of Jesus. Why is this?
In and through the resurrection Jesus overcame death. I have often used the following illustration at funerals and found it helpful to so many people. When I was younger, I was brought up in Drumchapel in Glasgow – an area with quite a reputation! My father was a policeman and that marked my brother and I as potential targets for bullies. I was given the task of looking after my younger brother [he was nearly 5 years younger than me]. Callum was being bullied by a boy 2 years older than him. In those days you did not tell your parents or the teacher that you were being bullied – this was the early 1960’s. It was left to me to deal with the situation and sort out the bully. My brother was weaker and younger than the bully, but I was older and stronger, and so the bully was dealt with in typical Glasgow fashion and never bothered my brother again!!!
The point of the illustration? Death is like a bully and we are helpless to deal with its power – it is simply too strong for us – always was and always will be. Jesus was and is stronger than the bully of death. One of the things that Jesus accomplished for us in and through His Cross and Resurrection was the defeat of our bully death. Paul put it this way:
“O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting? Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power through the Law. But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 Corinthians 15:55-57].
In other words it is because of our sin that the Law of God legitimately accuses and condemns us. We cannot argue with the findings of God against us and the ultimate sentence of death is both legitimate and irresistible. It took Jesus to draw the sting of death into himself and by his eternal power, to destroy it, and for us to confidently stand in the face of death and now know that for us it is defeated forever.
The Christian is therefore someone who has consciously come to Jesus Christ, realised their helplessness in the face of sin and death and sought God’s solutions through Jesus Christ. The Christian is not just therefore someone who is forgiven and has received that benefit through the Cross and death of Jesus: the Christian is also someone who is risen with Christ. We already have eternal life through faith in Jesus and his power is at work in us. What Paul will argue in Colossians 3 is that because we have this power through Jesus it is now possible for us to live a new and godly life. However, like all power we have to:
- Realise it is there, and the extent of its potential.
- Literally switch it on. Just as I have got to switch this computer I am working on every time I need to use it, we too have got to consciously switch on to the power of Jesus every day and within every day to benefit from his power.
- Accept that His power at work in us does not guarantee that we will not have to struggle against sin and temptation. As in the car engine going up a steep hill, greater effort will be required from us sometimes in order to work with the power of God to overcome sin and Satan in our lives.
- Realise that if we are to live in the power of the Resurrection then there are underlying principles that will help us to achieve this. We need to have the right aims and objectives.
Paul tells us that we are to
“Aim at and seek the things that are above”
What does he mean by that?
When we aim at something, we have a target in mind. At the moment I am trying to lose weight. A few months ago when I stood on the scales at 18 stones, I was appalled – my blood pressure was high and I was advised that unless I lost significant weight I would have serious future health problems. I set myself a target – to get down to at least 15 stones. I hold myself accountable to that target because without the target it becomes easy to be complacent.
However, as well as having a target one has to have a clear plan as to how one is going to reach or achieve the target. With regard to my weight loss I set myself the target or regular walking as exercise with badminton at least once a week. I also set myself a target for food reduction and the elimination of bread and chocolate from my diet – I knew that they were the main impediments to weight loss.
As well as having a clear aim and objective one has to watch the danger of simply becoming legalistic about something and therefore losing the joy of living. Losing weight can become obsessive and therefore just an added pressure.
How does any of the above relate to what Paul is saying here about “aiming at the things that are above”? I suppose that it means several things:
- Avoid falling into the trap of believing that what we have here and now is what gives meaning to life. I believe that we are to enjoy life here on earth and all that it has to offer, but never to see any of it as an end in itself. Enjoy a nice home, but never allow ourselves to get carried away with what we own or possess – remember that one day we will have to give it all back. That principle has to apply across the whole of life.
- Always remember that the most important things in life lie in our relationships. It is more important than anything else to love our spouse and invest time in our relationships with our children, family and friends. I speak from the vantage point of someone who loves to have a significant time on my own. The great secret of Jesus’ ministry was that he always had time for people. One of our aims should be the cultivation of positive relationships with Christian friends and non-believers alike.
If our relationship with people is important [love your neighbour] then so too is our relationship with the Trinity – our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It should be a clear aim, for us to cultivate a meaningful and life-changing relationship with God in all of His three persons.​
To aim for the things that are above?
What are the things that are above – that are permanent and outlast this world?
Surely love is the greatest of these things? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that the one things that will endure after everything else has ceased, is love. I have just left a church having spent six years as the minister there. They were the most theologically correct of people who had a high view of scripture and a desire to see people converted to Christ. But it was the most unloving and unforgiving place I have ever been in, and it almost destroyed me. Love is not just important, it is everything. To aim for the things that are above is to aim high and to aim high is to aim to possess the same quality of gracious love that Jesus showed here on earth and still has in abundance. It is to strive to love my wife, my children, my Christian brothers and sisters, my friends and neighbours and even my enemies. There are other aims – aim at joy and peace and so much more beside – but they all come out of the root of love. My one eternal treasure is to know that I am loved by Jesus and to try and love him and others – everything else is small beside that great aim and ambition.
If that is my ambition, I therefore have to put into place the building blocks that will make that achievable. What must I therefore do to build a life that is in essence one of gracious love – an eternal treasure here on earth? The answer to that lies in taking what Paul says in Colossians 3 seriously and building it into my life. The plan is very clearly laid out, but lots of rubble still has to be cleared away before proper construction can begin.
Paul also hints at in verse 1 that we have to be properly focused. Over the last few years, as I have moved into my 50’s I have noticed a huge difference in my eyesight. I would not be able now to read or work with my computer without wearing glasses – I need them to be able to focus properly – indeed, focus would now be impossible without them. I need a lens to be able to focus properly on life. What is that lens? That lens is Jesus – he is the lens through which I must see all things in life. I am not just to aim at heaven, but the person who is there and has made it possible for me to be there – Christ. This is how Paul finishes verse 1 – “Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
First of all my aim is to be like Jesus. I have said this already, but I keep having to say it to myself – that is the clear aim. How can I achieve that aim? By constantly looking to him. What did he think? How would he act? How did he treat people? What would he have felt? What were his priorities?
My second aim is to persistently do what he did. I have to keep my focus and look at life and people through his eternal and gracious eyes. When my sight is blurred I need to see through the correct lens – the divine lens of Jesus.
My third aim is to realise that there is nothing that is impossible. There is a treble emphasis in verse 1 – the Resurrection of Jesus – the new life that comes into me through the resurrection of Jesus and the fact that Jesus is seated in the place of absolute authority. When I look to him, I see him on a throne with ultimate authority. As I look to him I see all power is resident in him and I can benefit from that power. The power to be personally changed, resist temptation, be delivered from destructive habits and sins, and be given the grace to forgive and love even when humanly speaking that might appear impossible.
Of course it is all a matter of seeing this. As I look beyond my immediate experience , the opinions of other people and see through the lens of faith to the risen, glorified, ascended and reigning Lord Jesus, life takes on a different perspective – I see things differently and possibilities arise that seemed out of reach.