Life In A Risen Lord
LIFE IN A RISEN LORD
COLOSSIANS 3:1-4
Do we set our sights on heavenly patterns of behavior since heaven is our destination?
Paul had sufficiently exposed the fallacies of the new teaching at Colossae (2:4-23). The task now before him is to display the character of the hope set before the believers (see also 1:5), and the obligations which such a prospect imposes. In contrast to the negative approach to Christian existence urged by the false teachers, Paul points to the reality of life in a risen Lord. He had earlier said that in baptism a person is united with Christ in his death and his resurrection (2:12). He now returns to that affirmation as an encouragement for believers to act in accordance with the position they enjoy. Since you have experienced resurrection life, he writes, let your concerns be those of the risen and exalted Christ (3:1). Paul’s point is supported by spatial imagery.
The false teachers, in spite of their concern for heavenly visions (2:18), were really concerned with the lower sphere of the world (2:20). Christians, on the other hand, through their union with Christ, already belong to that heavenly sphere where the Lord now lives and reigns. When Paul says, “Seek the things that are above” (3:1f.), it is probable that he again echoes a catchphrase of the false teachers. But here it is an appeal for believers to conform their whole will and attitudes to the heavenly world to which they now belong through Christ.
Consistent with his emphasis on baptism as a death to the old style of life, Paul now speaks of the new heavenly life which is hidden “with Christ in God.” The life of Christ which distinguishes Christians from others is a profound reality (see Galatians 2:20). Its full character has not yet been unveiled, but Paul’s language in 3:3f. suggests that it is a “concentric” life. It is a life which draws its existence from the very center of all reality as opposed to the “eccentric” life of a person who has no vital relationship with Christ. When Christ returns to celebrate his triumph (see 2:19), his people will share his glory (3:4). They will appear in their true character as those whose life has become one with Christ’s life (see also Philippians 3:20f.; 1 John 3:2). Throughout this section, and the appeals which follow, the perspective is controlled by the thought of the full life which belongs to all who are in Christ.