If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, siting at the right hand of God.  (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (4) when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians from prison in Rome. He was addressing the heresies troubling the church there by false teachers trying to impose the fruitless laws and traditions  of men on the Christians.

Our verses today teach us that secular life is of this world and the faithful are to set their wills and minds on things above.  This exhortation goes hand in hand with forgiveness and obedience. We are to let go of what keeps our hearts earthbound. The sacrifice of Christ and His glorious resurrection which we ponder this  Easter weekend tells us that Christ’s finished work is wholly acceptable to God.  Christ stands in for us and we are hidden in Him and our sins are forgiven.   At the moment of belief in this truth we become new men and women in Christ. We have hope which is certain so that when Jesus appears for the second time we faithful will appear in Him in glory.  Wow.

We must live our lives with our hearts and will on Christ and things above. As c.s.lewis wrote “aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at earth and you get neither.”  Happy Easter.

(5) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men.  (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death  of a cross.  (9) Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10)  that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul. The verses we study today are the most profoundly Christological in the bible.  Doctrine as in these verses is thought by many to be academic and impracticable and difficult to understand.  But it is important to remember that Paul was writing to ordinary people and they understood what he was telling them.

The doctrine of incarnation and the failure to understand the full implications of it is perhaps the central problem of Christianity.   God chose to manifest Himself through humanity – not by angels appearing as men, not by prophets or by fire and clouds, or through godly men living godly lives but  by the ultimate incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ as true man while also being true God. Jesus voluntarily set aside His essence of God to assume the lowest position on this earth to rescue people who didn’t deserve it.

Jesus did not cease being God but took on true human nature – but without sin. In this form He was subject to aging, hunger, thirst, weariness and death. And the death he took on was considered by the Jews as cursed by God – this death on a tree.  It was considered so terrible and so shameful that Roman citizens and Roman soldiers were exempt from such a death.  Jesus could not come from any higher  place to any lower. And there is no greater a model of love, humility and obedience than our Lord. We are not to become subject to others whims or desires but we are to be obedient to God no matter what the cost – compared to Christ that cost is nothing.

In Mere Christianity, c.s. Lewis writes  about pride – “as long as you are proud you cannot know God.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people:  and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”  We are told in today’s verses that every knee shall bow to the Lord and every tongue will confess Him as Lord. Maybe that is what hell is; those in hell will acknowledge Jesus as Lord but will forever be denied His presence.

Yet indeed I  count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faithin Christ, the righteousness which is from God y faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being confirmed to His death, (11) if, be any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.  (12) Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay ahold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  (13) Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul to encourage the Christians at Phillipi to know Christ Jesus.  Christianity is not a religion of rules and rituals but a personal growing relationship with Jesus. When we meet Him we change and He initiates this – He marks us and the more we know Him, the more we change.

Paul was a Pharisee – he belonged to the strictest sect of Judaism and strictly observed the Mosaic Law. He was sincere, zealous, faithful and committed but when Christ choose him, Paul realized he was utterly wrong in trusting to his good deeds to earn salvation. Paul had to write off everything in his past  as not just loss but “garbage”.  We only gain the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ – all human effort is hopeless and worthless. The principle here is the foundational fact that Paul was apprehended by Jesus Christ.

Paul uses the metaphor of running the race to reach the goal. Christians need to press on – that running the race with our eyes fixed on the goal of the upward call of God in Jesus is a lifelong process but that sanctification will be completed. And only if we continually train do we grow and learn to deal with the obstacles of life, large and small. We are encouraged to forget the past while running our race and to keep moving – live daily in the Lord as tomorrow’s problems are sufficient to themselves. Our goal is to know Christ and to become more like Him.  Whatever we do we should do it all in the name of the Lord

Therefore,  anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  (18) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, (19) that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (20) Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us:  we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.  (21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The second letter to the Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul. There had been significant problems in the church at Corinth and in this letter Paul is – among other things – addressing  his integrity and authority as an apostle. Paul writes that he has renounced “hidden things of shame” and is preaching the truth of the light of the gospel.  Paul writes that his transformation into a new man is not by himself but by God – he teaches that God uses weak vessels to show His power – “that the life of Jesus also at be manifested in our mortal flesh”.

This second letter to the Corinthians is also an intensely personal letter. Paul writes of his personal suffering and trials for the gospel but he counts his suffering as “light afflictions” knowing that “while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord”.  He tells them further that he no longer regards anyone according to their fleshly present appearance; he sees them as men/women as new creations in Christ. All things are seen in the light of Jesus Christ and the reconciliation of this world to God.

Verse 21 of our study today is the heart of gospel and Paul implores the Corinthians to accept Christ and to be reconciled to God.  For he made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, (2) all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (3) all ate the same spiritual food, (4) and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.  (5) But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.  (6) Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not list after evil things as they also lusted. ………(10) nor complain, as some of the, also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  (11) Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul. The verses we study today were written to warn the Christians in Corinth that their lack of self control and overconfidence could be leading to crisis and a failure of faith.  Paul writes in chapter 10 of this letter to show the Corinthians that their characteristic conduct of open immorality, division and strife and cults of personality -the Corinthians were known as a morally corrupt population – were not new but a repetition of problems faced by the ancient isralelites with disastrous consequences.

Pauls warning to the Corinthians links the experience of Israel and the conduct of  the Christians at Corinth. He makes it clear that what happened to Israel was written for the instruction  all – we should be warned by the sins of our fathers. Paul makes it clear that the one who thinks – mistakenly – that he/she stands in faith is in the greatest danger of falling from faith in times of peril.

Times of testing exposes what is in our hearts. How we feel about something does not always determine how things really are.  But how things really are should affect our feelings. The clear message is that spiritual pride and overconfidence nudged by lack of self control will lead to a terrible fall.

The Israelites were divinely delivered, divinely fed and watered and were constantly in the presence of God – yet still they lacked  ability to persevere and control themselves. With this terrible example Paul warns the indulgent and prideful Christian Corinthians – and us – to beware so that we are not also destroyed.