The
Apostle Paul states a key commandment in Col. 3:2: “Set your mind on things
above, not on things on earth.” Paul expanded on this thought using slightly
different terms in Romans chapter eight: “For those who live
according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit.” Note: Paul was speaking to “brethren” in these passages.
Saints, we have a choice between two lifestyles, two ways to “walk” or live out
our life before God. Those who live
according to the flesh are controlled by Self’s desires and set their minds on things
on earth, seeking those things which gratify their fleshly nature. Those who live
according to the Spirit are controlled by the desires of the Holy Spirit and set
their minds on things above, seeking those things which gratify the Holy
Spirit. Those who continually live according to the flesh will, spiritually,
suffocate and die, as the Sower Parable states (i.e., seed sown among the
thorns).
The
context of Col. 3:2 is very important, setting the criteria by which we can
obey this command. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is ... For you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God.” (verse one and three). “If
then”: For the saint there is no more important “If” for to be “raised with
Christ” is co-resurrection, which can only occur after co-death and co-burial
of Self. As far as the world is concerned we have died – our fleshly nature
Self has been crucified with Christ – and we have been raised with Christ --
sharing His resurrection and His nature -- to a new life hidden with Christ in
God.
The
focus of our mind will remain earthbound until we willfully take the pathway to
Golgotha… presenting our bodies as “living sacrifices.” Self will not die
easily, rather bit by bit, making our co-death and co-resurrection an on-going
process. This is why Col. 3:2 is in the present imperative, a command involving
continuous action. We must moment by moment day by day yield to the Holy Spirit’s
work of removing the tentacles of Self from our heart and replacing them with
the resurrected nature of our Lord, as we refocus our mind on things above. Paul’s
command in Rom. 12:2 fits nicely here: “Do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We must stop allowing the world’s
culture and customs to mold and shape our mind through an earthbound mindset.
Rather, we must submit to the Holy Spirit who will renew our mind in
conformance to the principles and values of God’s Kingdom. Renewed minds… minds
made new again, will, by nature, focus on things above…
But
there is more: We are not only partakers of Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection, but of His ascension, for God has “raised us up together, and made us
sit together in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.” You see, believers and Christ are one – where He is we are!
Here is how the Amplified Bible explains co-ascension in Eph. 2:6: “ And He
(God) raised us up together with Him (Jesus) and made us sit down together, giving
us joint seating with Him (Jesus) in the heavenly sphere by virtue of our being
in Christ Jesus.”
Co-death,
co-burial, co-resurrection, and co-ascension are the spiritual potentials of those
saints who are being “conformed to the image of His Son”, molded into the
nature of Christ… sharing inwardly His likeness (Rom. 8:29). Of course,
submission to the Lordship of Christ, and the willingness, no, the desire to
put Self to death are the critical foundational steps for anyone forsaking all
to become Christlike. These spiritual potentials become realities when we learn
to possess our possessions and appropriate by faith what God’s word has
entrusted to us. And as our experiential position is brought into conformance
with our judicial position – as we become what God says we already are –
Christ’s victory will become our victory in the fullest sense.
WHERE HE IS… WE ARE…
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