The obligations of the risen life.
We have here a transition to the practical part of this Epistle. "If ye then were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God."
I. OUR RESURRECTION WITH CHRIST. We are not only "dead with Christ," but "risen with him;" "not only planted in the likeness of his death, but planted together in the likeness of his resurrection;" "that we may walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:2-4). This translation has altered our standpoint. We are "quickened together with Christ, and raised together with him" (Ephesians 2:5, Ephesians 2:6). We have now an entirely new sphere of intellectual conception and moral aspiration. "Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
II. THE PRACTICAL DUTY INVOLVED IN THIS RESURRECTION. "Seek those things which are above."
1. "The things above" are all things pertaining to our true home—"the new Jerusalem" and "the heavenly citizenship," in contrast to "the things upon the earth." They include
(a) by our fuller knowledge of him (John 17:3),
(b) by our growing love to him (1 John 4:16), and
(c) by the manifold expressions of his love to us (Zephaniah 3:17);
2. The excellence of "the things above." They are
3. They are to be sought, implying
III. AN ARGUMENT TO INCITE AND ENCOURAGE US TO THIS DUTY. "Where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God." There are two facts here stated.
1. Christ our Head is in heaven. Therefore heaven must be the objective point of our thoughts as well as our hopes. We look up because he, who is our Hope, is there—"within the vail." The thought of Christ's presence gives definiteness to our ideas of heaven. "Where our treasure is, there will be our heart also."
2. Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. This implies:
Heavenly things the true object of Christian contemplation.
"Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth; for ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." We must not only seek things above, but think them.
I. THE OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATION.
1. Not things upon the earth, because
2. "Things there are above." (See hints on previous verse.) We ought to set our mind upon them, because
II. THE DUTY OF SETTING THE MIND UPON RIGHT OBJECTS OF THOUGHT AND AFFECTION. This is the secret of heavenly mindedness. "Tell me what a man thinks, and! will tell you what he is."
1. It is our duty not to set our mind on things on the earth, because
2. It is our duty to set our mind on things above, because
III. THE REASON FOR OUR SELECTING SUCH OBJECTS OF BELIEVING CONTEMPLATION. "For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." The thought is twofold—it refers to a past act and to a continuous state.
1. Our death in Christ. This involves
2. Our hidden life in God. "Your life is hid with Christ in God."
(a) in its origin (John 3:8);
(b) it is hid, as an experience, from the world;
(c) it is hid from the believer himself in times of spiritual desertion;
(d) the full glory of this life is hidden even from the believer (1 John 3:1).
(a) It is hid with him as our Representative; this marks its security; this is the sheet anchor of our spiritual existence.
(b) It is hid with him as its constant source; "For he is our Life," in whom we realize a growth in all the graces of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22); "Because I live, ye shall live also; I am come that ye may have life.., more abundantly."