Today we want to start our reflection on the
question: what does it practically mean to have ‘a Christlike mind’?
I.) FIRST WE WANT TO SEE HOW THE
APOSTLE PAUL DESCRIBES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE CONVERSION IN HIS LETTER TO
GOD’S REBORN CHILDREN IN COLOSSE (TURKEY)
“Since you died with Christ...” (Colossians 2:20**)
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ...” (Colossians
3:1**)
Like in his other letters, Paul reminds the
followers of Jesus in this letter of what happened at the time of their
conversion:
-- “He (God the Father) has rescued us
from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness (Satan), and he has brought
us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (Jesus Christ). God has purchased our
freedom with his (Jesus’) blood and has forgiven all our sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14*)
-- “Once you were alienated from God and
were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has
reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in
his sight, without blemish and free from accusation...” (Colossians
1:21-22**)
-- “In him (Jesus Christ) you were also
circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision
done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been
buried with him in baptism (into Christ’s death, see Romans 6:4) and raised
with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”
(Colossians 2:11-12**)
-- “And now, just as you accepted Christ
Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him.” (Colossians 2:6*)
-- “You have been given fulness in
Christ, who is the Head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:10**)
From these texts it
is clear what the characteristics of true conversion are:
-- we have received
freedom from the dominion of sin.
-- we have received
forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus’ sacrificial death.
-- we died and have
been raised with Jesus to a new Christlike life by the power of God’s Spirit.
-- we are
reconciled with God and have become his children. We have received Jesus’
character: holy, innocent and blameless!
-- we have accepted
Jesus Christ as our Lord.
-- we have received “Jesus’ fullness”: his
Spirit, his life, his heart, his will and his mind (see Meditations 114-117).
This is God’s incredibly exciting news about
the start of true conversion, not about ideals to strive for after our
conversion! It is all about God’s undeserved, gracious giving.
True conversion is about trusting that God
has acquitted me of my past, present and future sins as he pronounced Jesus
guilty of them and sentenced Him to death in my place! That is what Paul means
when he writes to the Christians in Corinth: “God made him (Jesus) who had
no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21**)
I wonder how obvious this God-given start of
the Christian life is for many followers of Jesus. It is surely the
starting-point for overcoming the power of sin and growing into Christlike
maturity. It has everything to do with knowing our true Christian identity!
Yet, although a baby has all the potential
to develop into a mature human being, it is quite a long and complicated
process to reach it. The same is the case for God’s reborn children. With our
conversion and rebirth by God’s Spirit, we receive all the potential to grow
into Christlike maturity; yet, it might be a long and complicated process to
attain it.
II. ) NOW THAT WE HAVE SEEN HOW
PAUL DESCRIBES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE CONVERSION, WE NEED TO KNOW HOW THESE
CHARACTERISTICS DEVELOP ‘A CHRISTLIKE MIND’
Paul encourages the Christians in Colosse,
saying: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds
on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you
also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4**)
We need to ‘unpack’ this text to understand
it better.
“Since, then,
you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above...” (Colossians 3:1**)
The more literal rendering of this
originally Greek text says: “... seek what is above...” This
Greek verb for ‘seeking’ implies passionate searching and trying to find or to
obtain what it looks for. Indeed, it is
a matter of the heart.
We can find the same verb in Jesus' command:
“Seek first his (God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33**). The
New Living Translation tries to catch the meaning of the verb ‘to seek’ by
rendering this text: “He will give you all you need from day to day if you
live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”
(Matthew 6:33*)
We see how Jesus set his heart on the things
above, when he said: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me...” (John 4:34**). Concerning His intense devotion to God’s cause, we read in John 2:17*: “Passion for God's house burns within me.”
So, back to Colossians 3:1. Paul writes this
letter to God’s reborn children who at their conversion died and had been
raised with Jesus to a new Christlike life by the power of God’s Spirit.
Therefore, Paul urges them to let Christlike passion drive them to search and
obtain ‘things above’!
What does Paul mean by ‘things above’? Let
us continue reading his text:
“... things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1**)
The New Living Translation renders this
text: “... set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at
God's right hand in the place of honor and power.” (Colossians
3:1). What does the apostle mean with these words? Does he urge us to forget
all about our world and its suffering and
to fix our gaze on the heavenly realms? Is Paul in fact a first-century
mystic?
The apostle seems to respond affirmatively
to our questions when he carries on, saying: “Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)
However, when we read Paul’s pastoral
letters to the various churches and when we study his life’s story in the book
of Acts, we don’t get the impression at all that he is a first-century mystic.
On the contrary, he comes across rather as a passionate, down-to-earth follower
of Jesus who presupposes that his readers have
the knowledge of the realities of heaven.
What then does Paul mean in this text with
‘the realities of heaven’? First of all, it is the place “where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God.” We remember Jesus’ declaration before his
enthronement in heaven: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth.” (Matthew 28:18***). In other words: since his
resurrection and enthronement, Jesus is the supreme and cosmic King who reigns
with absolute power and authority over heaven and earth!
Consequently, the primary concern of Jesus’
followers and subjects is to set their hearts and minds on obeying their King
and knowing his directives.
“...for you
died when Christ died...” (Colossians 3:3*)
Here the apostle mentions another reason for
setting our hearts and minds on ‘things above’. These words are linked with
verse 1: “you have been raised with Christ”. We already came across this
teaching of Paul about dying and rising with Jesus Christ at our conversion,
earlier in this article and also in Meditation 116.
“... and your
real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3*)
For the apostle Paul, it is clear that with
our rebirth by God’s Spirit, we have received Jesus’ resurrection life and with
it “Jesus’ fullness”: his Spirit, his heart, his will and his mind. That is now
our real life! Our sinful nature is still there, but it has lost its dominant
place!
We find Paul’s famous catch phrase for this
resurrection reality in his letter to the Christians in Corinth: “If anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17**)
In fact, the New Testament mentions this
resurrection reality more often. Here are some examples:
-- Jesus Himself testifies: “I am the
resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he
dies...” (John 11:25**, see also John 14:6)
-- Paul challenges the Christians in
Corinth: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test
yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course,
you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5**)
-- He declares to Jesus’ followers in
Galatia (Turkey): “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20**)
-- He proclaims to the church in Philippi: “For
to me, to live is Christ...” (Philippians 1:21**)
-- After all we read in Colossians 3:1-3
about dying and having been raised with Christ, Paul repeats this resurrection
reality again in verse 4: “... Christ, who is your real life...” (Colossians 3:4*).
-- The apostle John points to this
‘resurrection fact’ when he writes that “whoever has God's Son has life;
whoever does not have his Son does not have life.” (1 John
5:12*)
“Set your
minds on things above...” (Colossians 3:2**)
We read earlier that the apostle says to the
Christians in Colosse: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things above...” (Colossians 3:1**). For the
same reason he continues by saying: “Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things.” In other words: let Jesus' life within you direct and
control your way of thinking!
I remember what Paul said to the Christians
in Rome: “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God
transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will
know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and
perfect his will really is.” (Romans 12:1*). See Meditation
117.
“Set your
minds... not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2**)
What does the apostle Paul mean with this
instruction? We need to think about that carefully in our next meditation.
(to be continued)
Translations: *
New Living Translation; ** New International Version; *** New King James
Version
For more on ‘rebirth by God’s Spirit’, see
Meditations 27 and 44.
For more on ‘who is the Holy Spirit’? see
Meditation 28.
For
more on ‘Christlike transformation by God’s Spirit’, see Meditations 29 to
34, 45, 49 to 56 and 105.
For
more on ‘How to overcome the power of sin in my life’, see Meditations
101-117.
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