Risen With Christ

Colossians 3:1-4

Have you ever noticed how earthly minded we are? Most of the time our attention is centered on things right around us. And this should not be surprising. After all, we are earth dwellers. We live on this planet at a certain time and in a certain place. We are physical beings in a physical world. It’s natural for us to think about our jobs, our material possessions, our finances, our health, and the people who are important to us. We live in the dimensions of time and space, and we must function in this natural world by the physical principles that define it.

But there is a certain sense in which we can become trapped in this dimension. If we are not careful, even as Christians, we will lose our ability to see beyond the natural into the supernatural. And make no mistake about it, as Christians, we have been given the ability to see into the supernatural.

I want to see more of that realm. It reminds me of the story in 2 Kings 6 of Elisha and his servant. Hostile forces were surrounding them and the servant was terrified. All he saw were the forces that the King of Aram sent out. Elisha saw the forces as well, but he also saw far more. He saw not only the natural but the supernatural as well. And he prayed for his servant, that God would give him eyes to see the supernatural reality of the situation. And this is what the Bible records: Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:17 NIV).

There is a spiritual reality that most people are totally blind to. I want to see that reality. I want to be more aware of what God is doing in that invisible, unseen realm of the spirit. Like Elisha’s servant, I need to have my eyes opened so that I can see.

This is one of the fundamental problems with the current condition of Christianity. Even though we have been placed into a supernatural realm, we still see through natural eyes most of the time. We are either not taught, or do not discover on our own, how to see into that supernatural realm of the spirit and behold the powerful activity of God. So, many Christians live their entire lives without ever understanding who they are in Christ and what is the provision Christ has made for them.

In our text today, the apostle Paul is reminding us of who we are in Christ and of how important it is to see ourselves from that perspective. He’s showing us that how we live our lives on earth depends on our having a heavenly perspective. As we look at it together, let’s pray that God would open our eyes to see into the spiritual realm.

So many Christians do not understand exactly who they are in Christ. Our understanding, obviously, must come from the Bible. In other words, we are who God says we are, and we have what God says we have. His word is the determining factor, not our feelings, or what someone else has said about us. The beginning point of understanding our new identity is the infallible word of God. It tells us the truth about us.

And we learn from the Bible that we have a new identity in Christ. Our text tells us that two important things have happened to us–– we died and we rose from the dead.

But how can this be so? What exactly does he mean when he says that we died and are now raised with Christ? Exactly how did we die and precisely how are we raised?

According to the Scripture, when Christ died on the Cross for our sin, we died there with him in a spiritual sense. Christ died as our substitute, in our place. But we entered into that death vicariously. That means that when he died, we died with him. We died to sin. We have been set free from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. In theological terms, this is called the substitutionary atoning death of Christ.

And then, when he rose from the dead, we rose with him in a spiritual sense. Because of his resurrection, we have been raised to a new life of the Spirit. The Bible calls this being born again. We have been born from above by the power of the Spirit to live an abundant life in a new spiritual dimension. According to our text, we dwell spiritually with Christ in a heavenly realm. The old you has been put to death and the new you has been made alive. You are now a new creation in Christ.

The exciting truth here is that we have been united with Christ. We are identified with him and he with us. As Christians, we should never see ourselves apart from Christ. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. We are thoroughly identified with Christ. He is our life. We are one with him. We dwell with him. We’re not simply earth dwellers. We are heaven dwellers.

Now, it is easy to say these things. It’s harder to see them. But we must see them, even though we may be dealing with all of the problems we face in this physical dimension. You see, that is the point of it all. The point is that if I see this new reality, it will change how I feel about my current reality. If I see myself as dwelling with Christ, it makes all the difference in how I deal with the affairs of this life. It makes all the difference in how I see myself, and my self worth. That is why Paul reminds us that we have a new identity in Christ and we should never see ourselves apart from him.

In order for us to appreciate our new identity, we must develop a new focus. We must learn to concentrate our attention on eternal realities.

Just look at the things we identify with or let define us. None of this should surprise us because we live in a material world. We focus on money. And we allow money to define who we are and how we see ourselves. The same is true for our material possessions. The kind of house we live in or the kind of car we drive portrays a certain image. The kind of work we do defines us as well. We identify ourselves as an engineer, or lawyer, or doctor, or contractor, or businessman, or steelworker. Now that may be what we do, but is that who we are?

Family heritage is important to some. The level of education attained is important to others. Even our associations, and their level of importance can be used to define who we are and our level of importance. We allow these things to define us, but we should not.

The problem with all these things is that they are not secure, therefore, they can’t be our security. None of these earthly things will last. They are all temporal. Our investments can and do fail. Just look at the current condition of the stock market. Look at what happened at the Enron Corporation. Just the other night they profiled a gentleman on television who had over $1 million invested for his retirement. Today it is worth less than $8,000. At first I thought to myself, "He must feel robbed." And then I thought to myself, "He was robbed!" He was a millionaire one day and starting over the next. All of these earthly things are temporary. We need an eternal hope.

The other problem with all these things is that they don’t ultimately fulfill us. Yes, they do give us pleasure. But they don’t ultimately give us the kind of fulfillment that provides security and true peace. You see, you can have all these things and more. But it is all just window dressing. Underneath, you are still there–– the real you.

This is why we must have a new focus based on a new identity. We must discover exactly who we are in Christ–– that is, what the Scriptures teach concerning the identity of true followers of Jesus Christ. We have been made part of his family. Do you know what that means? Do you know what are your privileges? Do you know what are the promises of God that are effective on your behalf? Do you know how God views you?

Our text says that your life is now hidden with Christ in God. In other words, something has happened to us in the spiritual dimension of our lives that has placed us in Christ. And there is a certain sense in which we are now dwelling in heavenly places. We are identified with Christ. Therefore, we identify with him in our journey through our earthly existence. But we do this in light of our heavenly citizenship. This world is not our home. Our true dwelling place is with Christ in God. Remember, we always need to see ourselves as joined to Christ. Never see yourself apart from Jesus. He is our life.

Because of this, we are exhorted to seek him. In our text, Paul says it twice: set your hearts on things above; set your minds on things above. In other words, concentrate your attention on eternal realities. Don’t simply look at what’s happening around you. If you do, you will miss the big picture. You have a new focus. Concentrate on that which does not pass away.

The call is to seek Jesus with all of our heart and our entire mind. We must seek him earnestly and actively. And the connotation of the command here is to seek him continually.

So, what are these things above we are to seek? Well, they are our spiritual blessings in Christ. They are the spiritual blessings that enable us to live a life characterized by his nature and power. You would include things like the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV)

You would also include the blessings that you receive from daily and intimate fellowship with Christ. There is nothing that can substitute for your personal relationship with him. By spending time with Jesus everyday in prayer and meditation upon his word, you develop a strong sense of communion with him that cannot be received in any other way. And by doing so, you begin to reflect his character. You begin to look and act like him–– in a spiritual sense. You focus on his grace and his mercy and become more gracious and merciful yourself. You focus on his love and humility and become more loving and humble yourself.

We need to let this interconnectedness define us. We have come into union with Jesus Christ. We identify with him and he identifies with us. Our text says Christ... is our life. Having that identity has the potential to change how we see everything.

One more thing. Christ has so identified with us that, even when he returns, we will be with him. When he comes again in glory, we will appear with him in glory. Not only does he include us in his life, he will include us in his ultimate victory. He loves us. He has made a place for us... with him... forever.

Let me close with a quote from Warren W. Wiersbe that in many ways sums up what we’re talking about:

While attending a convention in Washington, D.C., I watched a Senate committee hearing over television. I believe they were considering a new ambassador to the United Nations. The late Senator Hubert Humphrey was making a comment as I turned on the television set: "You must remember that in politics, how you stand depends on where you sit." He was referring, of course, to the political party seating arrangement in the Senate, but I immediately applied it to my position in Christ. How I stand–– and walk–– depends on where I sit; and I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies! (Be Complete [Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1981], pp. 101-102)

We are seated with Christ in a place that is above all that is on earth. Jesus has received us to himself and holds us close to himself, lovingly providing for our every need. We are loved. We are accepted. We can boldly proclaim that we are his children. And that is what we need to see. Open our eyes Lord! We want to see Jesus! 

Copyright © 2002 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

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