Seek, Set, Subdue.
Sorry Albert! We wanted a little "girl time" =D Okay next time definitely invite you. Haha. Glad to hear your uni life's improving. Mine is kind of at a normalised level. I am still looking forward to the summer break.
Had a very good message this afternoon. I typed out what I took down to share with you guys (and added some afterthoughts while I was typing). Hope this will help you in your walk with the Lord.
Inward Change: Seek the Heavenly
Colossians 3:1-5
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
The theme of Colossians is the preeminence of Christ. Evidence of this is found in the following verse:
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
As it is natural for man to want to take control of his own destiny, so to speak, there is then an ongoing struggle between the natural man's desires and giving Christ the preeminence in all things. But you may ask, why should Christ have the preeminence in all things? What right has He got, that He should require preeminence in all things?
Colossians 1:20-21
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
and Colossians 2:6-7
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
The foundation for everything in a Christian's life - success, happiness, whatever - should be Christ. You can only find fullness through Him and Him alone.
Logically, we owe this preeminence to Christ in all things in our life because our life belongs to Him - He paid for it with His blood (Colossians 1:20 ...through the blood of his cross...).
Chapter 3 is basically about how are we to live in view of Christ's preeminence.
3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
The If... in verse 1 translated means "since". It is not a question - it is an affirmation of a fact. It is indeed a fact that we, as the elect, are risen with Christ. The basis for this verse goes back to the previous chapter:
in Colossians 2:20
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Christ died in our place, that most of us are aware of. However, He also arose in our place, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for us daily.
In the Gospel of Mark we are told that after Jesus had arisen from the grave and had spoken to His disciples, He ascended into heaven, and sat at His Father's right hand: Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Jesus is interceding for us daily, which is to say that our prayers, prayed in Jesus' name, are brought to God, made righteous because Christ intercedes for us, and we are covered with the blood of Christ (for that is the only way which God can hear us; David says in Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:); and Christ and the Father are one - as is shown here in the following passage:
John 17:9-11
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
We are dead with Christ (Colossians 2:20) - dead to our old ways (...from the rudiments of the world... - rudiments means ways). So why are we subject (or following) the ways of the world?
As Paul says in Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above... because, if we are indeed one in Christ, as the Father and Son are (John 17:11 ...that they may be one, as we are.) then, we are already risen with Christ, in heaven, at the right hand of God.
Colossians 2:13 says, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
So, since we know we have been crucified with Christ, as Paul says in Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me., and we know we have been ressurected with Him, then we are bound by the obligation of such knowledge to attribute our redemption to the saving grace of His blood, and that we owe our lives to the redeemer, which is Christ Himself.
The implications of such knowledge are that we MUST act differently. It should not come as a surprise to us that the rest of the world sees us as foreigners, because we ARE foreigners. Having been ...quickened together with him... (Colossians 2:13) we are henceforth His, and that also is to say, not of the world. We can never be of both.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
We are then to seek the heavenly. This is not an emotion, it is a choice. We have to earnestly want it, but not just want it - not just feel that we have to, but we must also follow through with it. Seek is an action, a verb.
Also note that ...things which are above... does not mean that we just only look forward to heaven, but bear in mind the purpose of the seeking of heavenly things - which is the preeminence of Christ. The believer's life should therefore be dominated by a pattern of the heavenly, because that is where Christ is. We must always be conscious of our desires, whether they are earthly, or heavenly. We become worldly because we are not constantly seeking the heavenly. As Christ is perfect, so should we strive to be perfect in all things. Earthly things cannot be perfect. There is always something that will corrupt its beauty. But heaven is where your heart should be.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:19-21
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The next verse,
3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
While seek is a decision, a making up of your mind to do it, set is a heart response. It's something that takes time.
But if you do not first seek, you won't set. Without conscious effort, your affections will not change.
The verse further outlines positive: what you should set your affection on - things above, and negative: what you should not set your affection on - things on the earth.
The state we are in is the state of the 'natural man' (1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.). We have this natural tendency towards the earthly. While having your affections set on the heavenly does not mean your affections for the earthly will disappear, it does mean that they will be in subjection to what Christ wants, ...that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)
Verse three:
3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
All that we have, all that we are, all that we will ever have, and all that we will ever be, is all because of Christ. We have been set free by His death and ressurection. We can enjoy all things that are heavenly, but not all things that are earthly. Just as a foreigner in a country cannot enjoy everything that the country has to offer to its citizens unless he does so illegally, a Christian cannot enjoy everything this world has to offer, unless he does so sinfully, disobediently. And we are foreigners in this world, because we have been made dead to the world, and hence, sin (...ye are dead,... Colossians 3:3).
Jesus said in John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Our lives are hid with Christ in God, and no one, nothing, can pluck us out of God's hands.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Christ is our life - what does this mean? We have an heavenly inheritance and wealth. We are rich in Christ. Right now, we have only partaken of a very small measure of our future inheritance, and we will see the full measure of it at His second coming.
So why should there even be a question of regret at giving up the earthly for the heavenly?
Many Christians are either unwilling to change, or unconvinced of the necessity for change. They don't see the worth in the heavenly things. An example that the speaker gave was that of a pot of gold and a pot of dung. Many Christians are holding on to the pot of dung, blind to the gold in the other pot, and not willing to work towards the path that will bring them to that pot of gold.
At this point, the well-known parable of the wise man and the foolish man in Matthew 7 came to my mind.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
1 John 5:11-12
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Paul also says in Philippians 3:10,14
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
What kind of mark are we pressing towards? We are told to seek the heavenly, to set our affection on the things above; to come to a realisation, to have a change in mindset and perspective.
3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
In my previous entry I wrote about being the lights of the world. We are chosen, a royal priesthood, and being priests, are therefore holy, and being strangers on earth, a peculiar people - the world will not know us, because they do not recognise the sons of God; they knew not Christ.
1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
The speaker talked about a very pertinent point: having this knowledge of our inheritance and position as the children of heaven, verse 5 is not a suggestion. God is not saying, "Please..." It is in fact, a command. We are to put to death sinful thoughts and desires, the affections we have set on earthly things that are displeasing to God - the lust of the eyes, pride of life, and lust of the flesh. It is again, not a request, suggestion, or plea. There is no excuse, no 'but's.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Seek. Set. Subdue.
