“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  (Col. 3:1-2, NIV) 

This is the significance of the death of Christ. The cross works in us the ultimate victory over sin, and allows us to be focused on the things of heaven. The resurrection of God’s Son from the dead, and every one of the divine blessings connected to it, is the channel through which God commences and accomplishes all of the things He designs for our lives. But the sentence of death must be felt in the soul; that is, we must see ourselves as dead to sin and taken out of the way, for it is only then that God’s powerful life of resurrection power can begin to work in us the complete transformation of our souls into the image of Christ. The "natural man" must give way to the "spiritual man." True spirituality is based on a union with Jesus. So that we do not miss the point, we must stress that everything connected to the world of the evil one must be put off.

How is this done? How do we put away the things that are so natural to every part of us? The Bible gives the answer in Romans 8 where Paul says that we must “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.” The body refers to the nature of the flesh—the natural man. And it is only by the Spirit that the natural man can be conquered. In the context of Paul’s statement—and you should read the context carefully for yourself—Paul ties the power of the Spirit who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead to the power that works in us to conquer the natural man. It is the same power because it is the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit brought Jesus back from the dead, and the Holy Spirit works in us to conquer every aspect of our nature that is in accord with the natural realm—that realm where the devil holds sway—and to connect us with Christ and allow us to live the resurrection and ascension life that He accomplished for us.

It is through the reckoning of ourselves crucified, resurrected and ascended with Jesus that all of the glory of Christ’s life becomes a reality in our experience. This is the reason that the Bible says so much about our dying to self in order that we might live for God. Carrying the cross of Christ daily, sharing in the sufferings of Christ, being crucified with Christ—these are the divine descriptions that accompany salvation. And it is important to notice that in these passages which abound in the Bible, the statements are descriptive rather than prescriptive. In other words, the Bible does not tell us that we must die with Christ, but rather that we have been crucified with Christ. The believer is not to die; he is to recognize that he is already dead. God describes in the Bible what has happened to the believer. Our responsibility, then, is to accept the realities of it by faith. We believe that what God says is true, and by believing it, it becomes a reality for us. What Christ did is objective; for whom He did it, is subjective, being true only for those who believe it and respond to it.

This is why the Bible says that the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. The good news of Christ’s accomplishments is true, but it is only true for those who believe it. It applies to those who accept it and rely on it.

To be a devoted believer in Christ, one must appreciate that the most significant thing about them is their mind. It is the mind that directs the conduct and the course of one’s life. We could hardly give too much emphasis to the importance of the mind of man and its need to be controlled by the Spirit of Christ “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:1). The mind of Christ becomes the mind of the believer through an act of the will. We decide that we are going to consider the natural man dead with Jesus, so that we may have the Spirit’s power released in our souls to control our minds, which in turn controls our behavior.   

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col. 3:1-2, NIV) In this passage, the apostle tells us where our minds should be focused. The things of the world are in constant clamor for our mental focus, but the believer is called to set his mind on things above. The reason is given: that is where Christ is. Since Jesus is our life, and Jesus is seated at the right hand of God in proof of our accomplished salvation, then it is sensible that we would have heaven dominating our thoughts. The things above are the things of the Spirit; the spiritual realities associated with Christ. The things below, here on earth, represent all that is of the natural man. Our attention is in heaven because our acceptance is in heaven. Jesus “now appears in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24). He is at the Father’s right hand, and our salvation is there with Him. He represents the finished work which sets sinners right with the Father, and all that is true of Him is true of us. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).

            There is no reason for us to continue to dwell on the things below, for we have died with Christ and our lives are hidden with Christ (Col. 3:3). We have left the old way and the old life behind. Through the faithfulness of God, we are living the ascended life. This is not true in the experience of the natural man. It is only experienced by faith. Faith is our only connection to the things of the Spirit. We are now the possession of God, and our only aim is to be well-pleasing to Him. Like a young man who is separated from the woman he loves in time of war, but whose heart is continually back home with her, we are fighting our battle in this present world for the Lord, all the while homesick for heaven where our Savior and Lord is forevermore enthroned.

            Wherever the heart is, the mind will be. Let us endeavor to see Jesus through the eye of faith seated in heaven, even as we ourselves are on the journey homeward to be with Him forever. And more than that, we are living in the heavenly realms right now; so certain in fact, it is as though we were already there. In God’s divine perspective, we are seated with Christ. So having our affection set on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, is simply a matter of believing in the promise of God concerning our position with Christ. It is recognizing the spiritual reality of our union with Jesus. And from this perspective—although it makes no sense when analyzed from the natural perspective—we enjoy the experience of the things of Christ, both now and forever more.  

Bryan Dunaway