THINGS ABOVE

If then you have been raised with Christ, the things above you will seek, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

-Colossians 3:1

Christ truly is the Beginning of all things. We see that first in Genesis 1:1. We also see it throughout the entirety of Scripture. In the New Testament, it is explicit in places like:

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

-Colossians 1:16-17

...He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe… upholding all things by His powerful word.

-Hebrews 1:2-3

Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

-John 1:3

We would be remiss if we failed to connect the reality of Christ as The Beginning with the overarching Bible narrative. It is an intentional narrative that has a definitive terminus. It is a narrative that goes well beyond entertaining bedtime stories for children, moral code, or social pacification. It is God’s revelation of Himself and it ushers in abundant life.

God’s vision eclipses corporate vision statements, which are little more than wishes attached to coins flipped into fountains. Contrastingly, God’s vision is a love story of the past, present, and future - all rolled into one. God shares His vision with us through Scripture. His vision is one of humanity’s eternal destiny - simultaneously a foregone conclusion and continually unfolding.

As we have read in the passages above, Christ is the Almighty Sovereign of creation. Everything (reality, time, space, etc.) is made, sustained, fulfilled, and perfected in, and by, Him.

In Romans 8 Paul wrote about all of the forces, powers, and principalities that are incapable of separating us from the love of Christ. But there is one thing within the entirety of creation that God chooses not to control, and it is the will.

In Eden, our will was unmarred by, and free from, sin. Only then were we truly free to choose either to remain in the presence of God or autonomy. Adam chose for us, sin entered, and we have reaped the harvest of death ever since. That condition of total depravity and hopeless inability wrecked our ability to freely choose, and have faith in, God. We see this articulated throughout Scripture in places like:

The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

-Genesis 6:5

All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

-Psalm 14:3

And because we are born into this world as hopelessly depraved, broken, and faithless beings - everything we are, everything we think, and everything we do categorically falls under “sin.”

... and everything that is not from faith is sin.

-Romans 14:23b

True, it is impossible for us (on our own) to choose Christ. If we were simply required to make a logical, or even a spiritual, decision on our own (regardless of the mountain of evidence before us) we, like Adam, would choose faithless sin and death each and every time. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit transcends logic and circumstance. Graciously, encounters with Christ cause the scales to drop from our eyes, thus allowing us to recognize our depravity and inability. The reality of Christ gives us the unmerited opportunity to respond in humility.

Once we are in Christ, truly, nothing can separate us. Prior to the endowment of the gift of faith and permanent seal of the Holy Spirit, there is only one thing that separates us - and that’s us. We choose to ignore. We choose to deny. We choose faithless sin as our residence, our prison, and our destiny. But God decided not to leave it there.

Numerous times in Scripture (SEE HERE) the LORD made statements about making things “new” or doing a “new” thing. Over sixty times in the New Testament there are references to producing “fruit.” The point of them is the “newness” of Christ alive in us changes everything. His wellspring of life overflows within and beyond us. Those who are born again adorn Him as His ambassadors to every family, tribe, and nation on earth.

In Colossians 3:1 Paul said, “If then you have been raised with Christ, the things above you will seek, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.”

Does that describe you?

Have you ever recognized your absolute hopeless depravity apart from Christ? Have you asked to receive His gracious gift of faith? Have you been born from above by the washing of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you producing fruit in keeping with repentance? Are you recognizable to Jesus through the fruit of unity and selfless love manifest in a life poured out for Him? Are you actively seeking things above? Or, are you still stuck down below?

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com