Scripture Reading: Col. 3:1-3; Heb. 2:9a; Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25; 6:19-20; 8:1-2; Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:20-23; Rev. 4:1, 2, 5; 5:6
In 3:1 Paul tells us to seek the things which are above, and in verse 2, to set our mind on the things which are above. In this message we shall consider what it means to seek the things above and to set our mind on them.
Paul wrote the book of Colossians in a very concise way. In only four chapters he presents many riches. In 1:12 he indicates that Christ is the portion of the saints. The One who is our portion is the image of the invisible God, Firstborn of all creation and also the Firstborn from among the dead (1:15, 18). Paul also tells us that Christ is the mystery of God (2:2) and that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (2:9). As the mystery of God and the embodiment of the Godhead, He is the reality, the body, the substance, of all positive things (2:16-17). The more we enjoy Him as this reality, the more we hold Him as the Head of the Body and thereby become Body-conscious. Then we shall experience Him as our life (3:4) and as the constituent of the new man (3:10-11). In the new man, Christ is all the members and in all the members. In this Epistle Paul mentions all these great matters without defining them. However, he does indicate that those of us who enjoy Christ and partake of Him, those who are being constituted into members of the new man, have our life hidden with Him in God. Now we should seek the things which are above and set our mind on them.
Although Paul charges us to seek the things above and set our mind on them, in Colossians he does not define what these things are. However, in other New Testament books, namely, Hebrews, Ephesians, and Revelation, there are some windows through which we can see into the heavens and come to know what is taking place there. If we look through these windows, we shall know what are the things above.
Paul and John wrote along very similar lines. In Colossians Paul presents the Christ who is the fullness of the invisible God. After mentioning aspect after aspect of such a Christ, he speaks of the new man. Between Christ as the fullness of God in chapter one and the new man in chapter three we have the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Him. The issue of our experience and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ is the church as the new man. Hence, the new man comes out of our enjoyment of Christ as the fullness of God. As we enjoy Christ daily, He is wrought into us, constituted into our very being. In this way, Christ becomes our constituent. Day by day, Christ is being constituted into us. Eventually, we all shall be thoroughly constituted of Him. As a result of being constituted of Christ, we become the new man. In this new man there is no place for any natural person; there is room only for Christ. Christ is all and in all in the new man. To repeat, in the new man Christ is all the members and is in all the members.
The only way Christ can be all and in all in the new man is for Him to constitute Himself into us. The process of being constituted of Christ takes place through our enjoyment of Christ. We need to say, “Lord Jesus, I love You, I treasure You, and I enjoy You. Lord, I am here on earth for You and for You alone.” The more we open to the Lord and contact Him in this way, the more He infuses Himself into us and fills us to the brim. As we call on the Lord, praise Him, and offer Him our thanks and adoration, we are filled with Him. Through such an enjoyment of Christ and experience of Him, we are gradually constituted of Christ. It is as we enjoy Him that He constitutes us of Himself.
Eating and digesting food is a good illustration of how Christ is constituted into our being through our enjoyment of Him. Through a process of digestion and assimilation, the food we eat becomes part of our constitution. If we realize this, we shall be careful of what we eat. Some dietitians say that we are what we eat. If we eat an extraordinary amount of any one particular food, we shall become a constitution of the elements of that food. Years ago, I noticed that the daughter of our family doctor in Taiwan had developed a yellowish complexion. The doctor explained that this coloring was the result of eating too many carrots. His daughter had eaten so many carrots that she was eventually constituted of them to the point that it affected the color of her skin. This case is evidence of the fact that the food we eat becomes our constitution. The principle is the same in our experience of Christ. As we enjoy Him by eating Him, He is constituted into us.
At this point we may ask how we can enjoy Christ and have Him constituted into us when He is in heaven and we are on earth. The answer lies in the fact that there is a transmission taking place from Christ in heaven to us on earth by means of the all-inclusive Spirit. By means of this transmission, the electricity from the heavenly power plant flows into us, just as electricity flows from the power plant into our homes and into the meeting hall. Hallelujah for the transmission from the third heaven into us! “There’s a Man in the glory Whose Life is for me” (Hymns,#505). Christ is the Man in the glory, but His life is for us. We all need a vision of the heavenly transmission from the glorified Christ into us. Furthermore, we need to stay open to this transmission so that it will not be cut off. Even a small amount of insulation will cause this transmission to cease. Between Christ as the fullness of God and the one new man, there is our experience of the heavenly transmission. May there be no insulation to hinder this divine transmission.
John’s writing is like Paul’s in this matter. John 1:16 says, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” The fullness of Christ is the very fullness of God. Of this fullness we have all received grace upon grace. Ultimately, the issue of our receiving of Christ’s fullness will be the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem revealed through John’s ministry will be the ultimate consummation of the new man revealed through Paul’s ministry. On the one hand, Paul begins with the fullness and goes to the new man; on the other hand, John goes from the fullness to the New Jerusalem.
In Hebrews, Ephesians, and Revelation there are windows through which we can see the things above. The first aspect of the things above is found in Hebrews 2:9. According to this verse, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. On earth, He was crowned with thorns. But on the throne in heaven, He is crowned with glory and honor. As the One crowned with glory and honor, Christ is far more precious than Judaism or Greek philosophy. To set our mind on such things is to set it on “the things which are on the earth” (Col. 3:2). Judaism and Greek philosophy are things on the earth. Let us look away from these things and look to the resurrected and ascended Jesus who is enthroned and crowned with glory and honor. Since we have been raised with Christ, we should seek the things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (3:1). Let us forget our natural virtues and look at the Lord Jesus. Instead of appreciating our natural attributes and character, we need to appreciate the One crowned with glory and honor. According to Paul, our attention must be concentrated on the Lord Jesus. We should not be attracted by anything else.
In Acts 2:36 we find another aspect of the things above. Here Peter declares, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, has been exalted by God to be the Lord over all and the Christ. How marvelous! If the believers in Colosse truly had realized this, they would not have been distracted by Judaism or Greek philosophy. Today Jesus is God’s Christ, God’s anointed One, the Lord of all.
In Ephesians 1:20-23 Paul says that God raised Christ from among the dead; seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule, authority, power, lordship, and every name; has subjected all things under His feet; and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, His Body. The power exercised by God in raising Christ from among the dead has made Him Head over all to the church. Christ has been crowned with glory and honor, He is the Lord of all and the Christ of God, and He is the Head over all things to His Body, the church. To be sure, the vision of such a Christ should cause us to forget our natural virtues and characteristics, all of which are things on the earth, not things which are above.
In Hebrews 6:19 and 20 we see that the Lord Jesus is the Forerunner, the Pioneer, who has cut the way into glory within the veil. To be within the veil is to be in glory. As our Forerunner, our Pioneer, Christ is now in glory.
The book of Hebrews also reveals that Christ is our High Priest, the One who “sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1). In Hebrews 4:14 we are told that we have “a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” As our heavenly High Priest, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, seeing He is always living to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:25). When we call on the Lord and have fellowship with Him, we sense that something from the heavens is being transmitted into us. Often this divine transmission causes us to be beside ourselves with joy. Since we have such a High Priest interceding for us, we should “come forward with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for timely help” (Heb. 4:16). The things which are above include the ministry of intercession of our High Priest. Because of His intercession, we may receive mercy and grace for our timely need.
Because of Christ’s intercession in the heavens, we are also stirred up to seek the Lord. Our path is under the direction of the transmission from the heavens, the transmission which comes from the intercession of Christ. When we are tempted to pursue some worldly entertainment instead of attending the church meeting, this heavenly transmission may direct us to the meeting. Many of us can testify that we have been under the direction of Christ’s intercession. The intercession of our High Priest is another aspect of the things above.
Furthermore, according to Hebrews 8:1 and 2, Christ is also a Minister of the “true tabernacle” in the heavens. Christ is our heavenly Minister. When we are asked what church we go to and who our minister is, the best answer is to reply that our church is in the heavens and that our minister is the heavenly Jesus, who is ministering in a tabernacle pitched by the Lord and not by man. This tabernacle, this sanctuary, is the third heaven, the heavenly Holy of Holies. Praise the Lord that the Holy of Holies in the heavens is connected to our spirit! Therefore, in experience, our regenerated spirit is also the Holy of Holies. Our spirit is thus connected to the third heaven, where Christ is ministering on our behalf.
In the book of Revelation we see even more of the things which are above. What we have in this book is not merely a window, but an opened heaven. Heaven was opened to John, and he saw “a throne set in heaven, and One sitting upon the throne” (Rev. 4:1-2). This throne is not simply the throne of grace, but is the very throne of authority, the throne of the divine administration. In Revelation 4:5 John goes on to say, “And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders; and seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” John also tells us that in the midst of the throne he saw a Lamb: “And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6). John’s vision in chapters four and five of Revelation is related to God’s administration today. From John’s vision we realize that heaven is neither silent nor without activity. On the contrary, from His throne God is carrying out His administration over the entire universe. The Lamb, the Redeemer, the very One slain on the cross for our sins, is now on the throne and has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God.
The first vision in the book of Revelation is of the seven golden lampstands, which are seven local churches (1:12, 20). Thus, the first vision is of the churches on earth, whereas the second vision is of what is taking place in the heavens. When considered together, these two visions indicate that what is happening in the churches on earth is related to the activity in the heavens. Just as an electric meter indicates that the transmission is still flowing from the power plant, so the Lord’s move in the churches corresponds to the action on the throne in heaven. This means that what takes place in the local churches should be under the direction of the throne of God in heaven. In order for the recovery to be the Lord’s recovery, it must be under His direction. As long as there is a transmission coming from the heavens, there will be the divine flow in the churches. Praise the Lord that according to the book of Revelation, the churches are going on under the direction of the heavenly administration!
The Lord Jesus, the One crowned with glory and honor, the One who is the Lord, the Christ, the Head, the Forerunner, the High Priest, and the heavenly Minister, is executing God’s operation in the heavens. He is the Lamb with seven eyes, with the seven Spirits of God, carrying out God’s administration through the local churches. Actually, the churches are God’s embassies. For this reason, the world situation is not under the control of any earthly head of state, but under the churches through which God is executing His administration. Just as the American embassy in a particular country is an extension of the United States, so the churches as God’s embassies are an extension of the heavens. Our headquarters, our administrative center, is in heaven. When I am asked about the headquarters of the Lord’s recovery, deep within I say, “The headquarters of the Lord’s recovery is in heaven.”
We should not be distracted, as the Colossians were, by Judaism or Greek philosophy. Look toward heaven, where there is a throne on which God is sitting and where the Lamb with seven eyes is standing to execute God’s administration through the churches as His embassies. Because the churches are God’s embassies, the enemy hates them. In Revelation 4 and 5 we have a vision of our central government, and in Revelation 1 through 3 we have a vision of the local churches as the embassies. Through the seven Spirits there is a transmission going on from the heavenly headquarters into the embassies. Through the seven Spirits what is in the headquarters is transmitted into the churches.
Now do you have some understanding of the things which are above? If we know these things, we shall see that the Lord Jesus has been crowned with glory and honor, that God has made Him both Lord and Christ. The fact that Christ is Lord of all means that the whole earth is the Lord’s. The enthroned and glorified Christ is also the Head, the Forerunner and Pioneer, the High Priest, the heavenly Minister, and the Lamb on the throne of God’s administration. From the throne in the heavens, the divine transmission brings the things above into the local churches.
Seeing a vision of the things which are above will revolutionize our daily living. It will cause us to turn our attention from the things on earth to the things in heaven — to the glorified and enthroned Jesus, to the heavenly High Priest, to the Head over all things to the church, to the One executing the divine government. Let us seek these things and set our mind on them.
We have pointed out that our natural virtues and characteristics are elements of the world. This is true, for example, of our self-imposed humility (2:23). Instead of caring for our own virtues, we should care for the Lord Jesus as the crowned One, the Head, Forerunner, High Priest, and Minister. We should care for the throne in heaven from which Christ, the Lamb with seven eyes, is executing God’s administration through the local churches.
I can testify that day by day I am strengthened by the divine transmission which flows from the throne in heaven to the churches on earth. The more I minister in the churches, the more I am supplied and the more I rest. Something from heaven is transmitted into my spirit.
In 3:1 and 2 Paul tells us not only to seek the things which are above, but also to set our mind on them. This means that we need to forget earthly things — culture, religion, philosophy, and the natural human virtues. Instead, let us lift up our eyes to the heavens and set our mind on the wonderful, excellent things, the things that are above. These are the things which can cause us to be transformed, for they transmit a heavenly element into us. Let us learn to open our spirit and our whole being to the heavens and keep the “switch” turned on so that the transmission from the divine power plant may flow into us unceasingly. Do not be distracted by religion, philosophy, or anything else. Focus your attention on the things above and stay open to the heavenly power plant. Then the riches of Christ’s heavenly ministry will be transmitted into you, and you will be transformed and constituted of Christ.
