Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The most decorated athlete in Olympic history is American swimmer Michael Phelps.
[00:00:11] With 28 medals, Phelps holds the record for most Olympic medals ever won by an athlete, and 23 of them are gold or at least gold plated.
[00:00:25] His mindset on success has been a model for athletes around the world.
[00:00:31] Phelps once said about his mindset, I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.
[00:00:48] So at the peak of his career, Phelps had one thing absolutely consuming his mind, and that's winning the Olympic gold medal.
[00:01:00] Well, tonight Paul is going to show us that Christians are also called to have an all consuming mindset, one that is completely focused on Christ our King.
[00:01:12] So let me read our passage in Colossians 3:1, 4 and then we'll dive in. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
[00:01:29] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
[00:01:35] For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[00:01:40] When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
[00:01:49] So the main point of our passage tonight is seek and set your minds on Christ because you are united to his death, life and glory.
[00:02:01] Seek and set your minds on Christ because you are united to his death, life and glory.
[00:02:10] We'll break this passage up into two sections. First the command seek and set your minds on Christ verses 1 and 2 and then the reasoning for the command because you are united to his death, life and glory, verses three and four.
[00:02:23] So first let's consider the context. Paul is writing to believers who are being tempted to add to Christ through traditions and religious practices, mystical experiences.
[00:02:39] So he writes this letter ultimately to uphold the supremacy insufficiency of Christ in a simple way to think of. Like the chapters before, this section is Colossians one is about the supremacy of Christ, and then Colossians two is about his sufficiency as a savior.
[00:02:59] Everything after these two chapters explains how Christians are to live in light of these two truths.
[00:03:08] And our passage tonight is the hinge between the doctrine of Christ and living in light of Christ.
[00:03:16] So let's look at that first point. Seek and set your minds on Christ verses 1 and 2.
[00:03:22] In Colossians 2:12, Paul explains how Christians are those who have been buried with Christ in his baptism, raised with him through faith. And here Paul picks up on that train of thought in verse one by saying, if you have been raised with Christ, seek The things that are above.
[00:03:42] Meaning, since you are a true Christian, seek heavenly things.
[00:03:48] He'll repeat himself in the next verse saying, set your minds on things that are above. And I love this dual command of seeking and setting that we see in verses one and two because they go hand in hand.
[00:04:01] To seek means to actively pursue something and to set means to direct our thoughts, desires and attention towards that thing.
[00:04:12] And look at what Paul does here. He directs the Christian's attention to something specific.
[00:04:18] He directs our attention to Christ seated at the right hand of God there in verse one.
[00:04:25] So Paul's primary aim here is to lift the Christians eyes from the things of this world and place their gaze on the glorious Christ.
[00:04:37] So Paul does this by painting Christ as the fulfillment of the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament, Psalm 110:1, which says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
[00:04:58] So Christ is the one seated at the right hand of God.
[00:05:03] And this has crazy implications.
[00:05:06] This means that Christ, his reign has begun.
[00:05:11] It means that his sacrifice is complete.
[00:05:16] It means that his authority is universal and his enemies are defeated.
[00:05:22] Paul directs our attention up to Christ, who is seated on his throne in heaven because he knows if this reality sinks in for us, then it will drive us as believers to seek Him.
[00:05:37] And then Paul doubles down in verse two, saying, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on this earth.
[00:05:46] Direct your attention towards Christ.
[00:05:50] So, like Martha's sister Mary at the feet of Jesus, stay with Him.
[00:05:56] Let's not allow ourselves to get distracted by the things that so easily take our attention away from Him.
[00:06:05] So I'll ask you tonight, what things are competing for your attention?
[00:06:12] What do you spend most of your time thinking about?
[00:06:16] Or where do you run when you get stressed?
[00:06:21] These are helpful questions that reveal the idols of our minds.
[00:06:27] Because ultimately what occupies our minds will shape our heart.
[00:06:35] So we should fill our mind with Christ and let thoughts of Christ shape our desires, our decisions in our direction.
[00:06:45] We should seek him diligently in the quiet place so that he will be set on our mind in the loudness of the day.
[00:06:55] For he promises that he will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is stayed on him.
[00:07:03] Isaiah 26:3.
[00:07:06] So after commanding believers to seek and set their minds on Christ, Paul gives three of the most powerful reasons why we should do this.
[00:07:18] First, verse three says, you have died.
[00:07:23] Actually, I'll back up the three reasons. If you haven't caught it before, or because. Because you're United to His death, Life and glory, verses three and four. So first you have died.
[00:07:35] So get Paul's logic here. You should seek and set your minds on Christ because you have died.
[00:07:42] Paul is writing to a church that's alive, so how can he say you have died?
[00:07:50] Well, all those who are united to Christ are united to his death. We have died with him. And all of us must be united to Christ's death in order to see him for who he truly is, a sufficient Savior and supreme ruler.
[00:08:08] Because naturally all of us place ourselves in those positions, right? This is simply displayed in My 1 year old son Ezra, whose favorite word right now is mine.
[00:08:20] He says it all the time.
[00:08:22] We're all born seeking our own desires and setting our minds on ourselves.
[00:08:29] That's why we need Christ desperately.
[00:08:32] For Christ is the only righteous one who perfectly set his mind on the Father.
[00:08:39] Even as he set his face towards Golgotha, where He knew he was going to die, he prayed, not my will be done, but yours be done.
[00:08:50] Christ died on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave so that we could be united to him in faith.
[00:08:59] So now when we repent of our sins and believe in him, we die to our old life and come alive in Him. Those old patterns of sin no longer rule us because we have a different Master now.
[00:09:14] And this reality leads us to the second great reason we should seek and set our minds on Christ.
[00:09:21] Because you're united to his life.
[00:09:25] Paul says in verse three, your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[00:09:32] Meaning while the Christian lives on this earth, our true life and identity is found in Him.
[00:09:40] The world doesn't get to define us anymore. Christ does.
[00:09:45] And this also has some wonderful implications.
[00:09:50] This means your salvation is in Christ, so you don't have to earn your righteousness anymore.
[00:09:57] This means your sanctification is in Christ, so you don't have to seek the world's approval anymore.
[00:10:05] And this means your satisfaction is in Christ, so you don't have to chase the world's pleasures.
[00:10:12] Christian, your life cannot be found in the things of this earth.
[00:10:18] So seek and set your minds on Christ.
[00:10:23] Lastly, Paul says, seek and set your minds on Christ because you're united to his glory.
[00:10:32] So he says in verse four, when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
[00:10:41] So though Christ is hidden from our sight now, he will return in unveiled glory.
[00:10:49] And when he does, those who are united with him are promised to share in his glory with him.
[00:10:58] So Philippians 3:20 expands on this idea when it says Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to Himself.
[00:11:24] If we could wrap our minds around these realities, around this reality that Christ will return, that he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his, and he will bring us into glory forever, then it would completely change how he lived.
[00:11:42] We would not entangle ourselves with worldly things that are perishing, but we would fully give ourselves to things that are eternal, things that last.
[00:11:54] Jim Elliot, the Christian martyr, famously said, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
[00:12:07] Elliot understood something Paul is teaching us here.
[00:12:11] The temporary glories this world offers are insignificant compared to the eternal glories that we have in Christ.
[00:12:21] So let's seek the glory that lasts.
[00:12:25] In conclusion, at the pinnacle of Michael Phelps career, when he had received all the medals, all the accolades and money and fame, everything he had spent years training for and focusing on, he reflected on his life in this way, saying, I was at the point where I didn't want to live anymore.
[00:12:47] I didn't want to see anyone, and I didn't even want to see myself.
[00:12:54] Phelps story is a helpful reminder to us all that even achieving the things we spend our lives pursuing cannot ultimately give us the satisfaction our hearts desire.
[00:13:08] And that's the point Paul is making.
[00:13:11] The problem isn't that earthly things are always bad.
[00:13:15] The problem is that they were never meant to rule our minds.
[00:13:20] So church, family, seek and set your minds on Christ tonight, because you have died with him, you have been. Your life is hidden with Him. And one day Christ will appear, and we will appear with Him.
[00:13:37] Let me pray for us.
