RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER Part 2 Christ is seated. Colossians 3
A battle for the mind is fought in the life of every believer. The devil knows that when he controls the mind of a person, he bullies that life. Hence, Paul’s command,’ set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.’ ( v20 ) Some commonly criticise the believer, declaring,’ He is so heavenly minded, as to be of no earthly good. ‘ The Lord Jesus’ perfect l.ife contradicted that assertion, for our Lord healed the blind and maimed, cleansed the lepers, and cast out devils. Surely that was earthly good, while He communed with His dear Father in heaven.
You have a hidden, secret life, ‘for you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.’
( v3 ) This is a spiritual mystery, for beyond our natural life, is this spiritual, eternal life. Your life is hidden or concealed with a covering, Just as Rahab the prostitute covered the Israelite spies with flax, so the blood of the passover Lamb covered the children of Israel on that decisive night. God has covered us with His secret life. You cannot assess the value of such a concealed life, which no earthly currency can secure.
A beautiful promise followed, ’When Christ who is our life shall appear, then you will also appear with Him in glory.’ (v4). When did Christ, the Messiah appear?
Firstly, in Genesis 1, He appeared as Creator; then in the third chapter, as ‘The seed of the woman, He shall bruise the head of the serpent.’ To Moses, He revealed Himself in the ‘bush that burned with fire and was not consumed. ‘ He appeared to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace; John the Baptist announced Him as ‘The long-expected Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ On Palm Sunday, he appeared as the King, ‘Behold your King.’ On the cross, he became the Saviour of the world. He next showed Himself as the Risen, exalted Lord at the throne of God.
Christ has a progressive appearance, ‘for when He shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.’ When the heavens are torn aside, Christ will be revealed in the Rapture, to call and raise the dead from the grave and ocean, and to transform the living into His glorious likeness. He appears to His church as the heavenly Bridegroom.
He will take His Bride home to heaven ‘to be forever with the Lord.’ In eternity, the church will be satisfied with His likeness and will gaze on Him in His beauty.
In the Revelation. John tells how the Messiah actually appeared, when ‘I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. He continued in the 6th verse, ‘Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ , and shall reign with Him a thousand years.’ ( 20:4-6 ) He shall be our Monarch. ( sole Ruler). We shall see Him as he is. All the Old Testament prophecies shall be fulfilled in this Millenial reign.
Paul, the writer of Colossians somersaulted when He had shown His Lord’s beauty in the heavens, ‘to write of stern realities of earth. Such truth as ‘ Therefore put to death,
( crucify ) your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.’ ( 3:5 )
The latter part of this chapter tells of the order and beauty of sexual oneness in marriage, while we observe his strident warning concerning sex sins, hated by our God yet treated so lightly by the unconverted world; unclean literature, films, TV shows, language condoning such impure living; passion for life foreign to godliness; evil desire from a heart estranged from God; and the cardinal sin of our age, covetousness, or materialism. Or worship of the possessions of this passing world. Real stuff. Full-blast warning. Thank God for His frankness and loving concern for holiness. The Holy Spirit takes this truth and drives it home mercifully to our hearts.
Paul reminded the church that ‘ Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.’ (v6) God’s truth of eternal love and anger is well balanced, for God hates the alternative or rival gods- He is jealous over His own. ‘You also once walked when you lived in them ‘ reminds us of the old life-style.
Paul tells us to divest or PUT OFF. ‘all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy ( either of God or man ) filthy language, out of your mouth, may be heard from media or print.
With Christ enthroned in the life, ungodliness must go. Anger and wrath give way to His love; malice is replaced with good-heartedness; filthy language is turned into the language of heaven. When Bob came to Christ, his foul language was silenced. But Bob had to relearn the Queen’s pure English. Six weeks passed before he could put one sentence together. A generation later, I rejoiced to hear him preaching with chaste language the glories of His transforming Christ. Bob really did put off the old.
The Spirit of God continued, ‘ Do not lie to one another, you have PUT OFF the old man with his deeds.’(v9) Lying leads to deception, ( as in an extra-marital affair ), which destroys trust. In the process of reconciliation, many lies, innuendoes, deceptions surface- and must be confessed and forgiven. The devil is a liar from the beginning.
Scripture is balanced as we are commanded to invest or ‘PUT ON ( that is, sink into garments such as operating gowns, or wet suits or fire-fighting apparel or astronaut space equipment )the ‘ new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him’ ( v10 ) . This renewal takes place when we participate in Christ as the object of our longing. Let me illustrate. When we put on ‘His imputed righteousness’, we sink into Him with His attribute of imparted righteousness. Our friends will see the quality of Christ in our daily life. Putting on a surgeon’s gown does not qualify us for surgery. However, the trained surgeon is recognised by his gown.
God has dissolved all distinctions. For example, He removes all racial differences, so that we do not favour Greek above the Jew ); nor discriminate over religious rites,
( whether circumcised or not ); we become sensitive to cultural differences ( barbarian or pagan ); nor differentiate on the status of freedom or slave. Recently we enjoyed sweet fellowship with dear ones in South East Asia. Only when we boarded the 747 for home, did we realise we had spent 3 weeks with beloved Chinese brethren. While we were Australian, we were biblically one in Him. We all belonged to our risen Lord.
The secret was that ,’Christ is all, and in all.’ Yes, He is Supreme, and ruling over all. This was the reason that made Oswald J. Sanders, General director of OMF walk so closely with God. ‘He is my all’. Our home was enriched when this distinguished gentleman graced our table. We must contend for the precious Sovereignty of God.
Our final investment in this chapter is that we ‘ PUT ON as the elect of God, holy and beloved, tender mercies , kindness, humbleness of mind meekness, long-suffering. (v12)
Bearing with one another, forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.‘ For example whole families are upset when one will not forgive another member of that family. Contrary-wise , how beautiful when we put on such characteristics as in the life of our dear Lord Jesus.
While this study began with the hidden life of Christ, it showed the putting off of the things of the flesh, and the putting on ( or investing ) the life of our Lord. So, we believers in our Saviour are a greatly privileged people. Let Him be all.