Search for the Things Above (Col. 3:1-6) (WYJ ) (devotional time class)
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.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
Introduction:
What is the life to search for the above things? It means to search for the hidden things, that is, to search for the hidden life in Christ. So, longing, taking troubles, waiting for, struggling in the Christian life are very natural. To run away something and to find something in the life is what we always pursue in Christ. It is difficult that we find out the hidden treasure of wisdom and knowledge in our lives. Here are the tension and delight and sorrowfulness. Now, we think that the meaning of finding the above thing in our lives.
First, We have to stand firm on the foundation of Christ.
- The above thing means Trinity God, Christ who occupied all things, all spiritual blessing that belongs to the heaven on the source and foundation of death and resurrection of Christ. (1-2) And to searching action need passion, true work. (Mt7:7-9) We have to run toward the above as Paul did. First, it is important to stand firm on the gospel of Christ.
- What is the foundation for your life? What do you stand firm?
The Word of God, Christ
Second, We have to think the above things. In order to search for something we need to think something.
- Thinking is the worst conflicted point and the the first fighting place between the world and our soul. Here happened the much warfare to influence to all areas. The function of Soul includes the intellectual function, the emotional function and the volitional function. Among them the intellectual function means the thinking function. So the Scripture says that Satan put the thought to sell Jesus. And Paul emphasized that you do not think flesh thought but the spiritual thought. So the text teaches not to think the visible thing but the invisible thing , the spiritual things. When we accept the new things as mine, we can see the new world. We have to discern whether the sinful thought or, the spiritual thought.
2) In Christian life we have to submit our thinking to the Word of God. God’s thinking faithfully any time, any place. (II cor.10:4-6) 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.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.6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Third, we do not think the earthly things.
- What are they? According to verse 5-6 says “5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. “ among them the representative is the covet. When our function connects to the sin, we can fall down into the miserable situation. The adultery come out of the adultery thought and the idotery come out of our sinful desire. Therefore we have to cast our worldly thought to the earth. We have to weapon us with the biblical thought. Oh, how I love your law!
- Ex: confession of the Psalmist
I meditate on it all day long.(Ps119:97)How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!(103)
Conclusion:
What is the life to take full armor of God mean? It points that we do not think the earthly things but the heavenly thing that we already had received in Christ. How can we demolish the worldly things in the earth? We have to look at the world of revelation and the world of grace.