There are many good things this earth have to offer…but they pale in comparison to the heavenly realities of Jesus Christ. Join us in Colossians chapter 3 as the Apostle Paul points us to the greatnes of Christ and encourages us to set our minds on Him.
So, you want to go through Army Jump School, or the Basic Airborne Course, to become a parachutist. What will happen to you over the next three weeks? Here is what Google AI tells us:
Ground Week
Focuses on building basic skills, confidence, and muscle memory through intensive training.
Parachute Landing Falls(PLFs): Training on how to land safely without injury.
Mock Door Training: Exiting from a simulated aircraft door.
Harness Training: Proper donning of the T-11 parachute and reserve.
Apparatus Work: Using the lateral drift apparatus (simulating wind).
Tower Week (Team Effort/Mass Exit)
Focuses on mastering, in-air procedures, and building comfort with heights.
34-Foot Tower: Practicing jump commands, exiting, and proper body position (mock door).
250-Foot Tower: Simulating a real parachute jump to practice canopy control.
Swing Lander Trainer(SLT): Practicing landings from a swinging harness.
Jump Week (Qualification)
The final, high-performance phase where students perform five parachute jumps from C-130 or C-17 aircraft at 1,250 feet.
Hollywood Jumps: Jumps without extra combat gear.
Combat Equipment Jumps: Jumps while wearing a MOLLE rucksack and weapon case.
Night Jump: Executing a jump in the dark for full mission training.
Recovery: Learning to gather and recover equipment on the drop zone.[1]
Sounds exciting. I’m just thankful for the multitude of soldiers in our church who have been through this training. Because of you, we not only have one of the most premier fighting forces on the planet, but also a spiritual application to the book of Colossians. How so? Let me show you.
Note how the military properly gives you jump school doctrine first, and then practice second. If it had occurred the other way around, we’d have a whole lot of soldiers in the infirmary. Learning the philosophy of jumping must always precede acting on the philosophy for things to go well.
The same is true spiritually. Spiritual doctrine always precedes spiritual practice. Paul understood this, and this is why his books, like Colossians, are purposefully written like a jump school training manual. First, you learn who Jesus is and what He has done for you (chapters 1-2), and then you jump out of the door of the spiritual C-130 to go and live your Christian life to His glory (chapters 3-4). We know that Paul moves in chapter 3 to the practical application of doctrine because of what he teaches here. His main idea in the first four verses introduces us to the nitty-gritty side of belief with this personal challenge:
Because of Who Jesus Is to You, Live Like You’re Heavenbound, Not Earthbound (Col. 3:1-4)
See how the main motif switches from doctrine to practice? How Paul sets up this pedagogical transition in these opening four verses involves two movements:
The Rules (Col. 3:1-2)
If Christ is fully God and fully man, if He is the Creator and glue of the cosmos, if He is the only one qualified to die as our sin substitute and thereby defeat sin and death, then, by definition, this information, once embraced by faith, should change how we live each day as saints. To motivate us to put these grand doctrinal themes into real action, Paul starts with a command:
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Col. 3)
Permit me to show you the Greek text, which, I believe, will enhance our understanding and appreciation of what Paul teaches here.
Εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ, τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, οὗ ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ καθήμενος·
The first word in the Greek sentence is not “therefore.” It is the conjunction “Ei,” which introduces a conditional clause. Now, please, follow me on this. In Greek, there are four ways to set up a conditional sentence. From the first to the fourth, we move from what is most likely, or assumed to be true, to that which is not known. Put differently, it moves from “Let’s assume this is true,” to “Let’s assume this is probably not going ever to happen.”
The kind of grammatical conditional clause Paul sets up here is what is called a First Class Condition. This type of sentence is identified by the first part of the sentence (the protasis) containing the “if” marker plus any tense or mood, followed by the “then” half of the condition that contains any tense or mood.[2] Why identify this? We do this because it indicates that the sentence should not be translated as a conditional, as if it were not true, but rather as “since.” Hence, since Jesus is everything Paul just taught in chapters 1 through 2, and since we, as Christians, believe this teaching is true for ourselves, then it logically follows that we “have been raised up with Christ.”
What is this in reference to? It denotes our physical baptism, which was an outward illustration of our spiritual baptism that we experienced at the moment of faith. Paul just taught about this in chapter 2, verse 12. Going under the water, therefore, illustrates that our old, sinful, spiritually dead self was buried, as Christ was buried, and now our new, holy, spiritually alive self is risen to real life as Jesus raised Himself from the grave.
Paul talks about this magnificent transition from spiritual death to life in Ephesians 2:
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2)
Before faith, we were spiritually dead. At the moment of faith, God made us spiritually alive. Our physical baptism, therefore, merely graphically shows what happened in the spiritual realm. We passed from death to life. The fact that Paul says in Colossians 3:1 that we “have been raised” is what scholars call the consummative use of the aorist, or past tense, in Greek. According to Wallace, “the stress is on the cessation of an act or state.”[3] Ostensibly, this means that once you were spiritually raised from death to life, you will never return to a place of death. This is yet another grammatical reason why I believe in eternal security.
Now, in light of this doctrinal truth, what should occur? That is denoted by the first word in the English sentence of Colossians 3:1, “therefore,” oun (οὖν). When used with a command, as here, it is, according to BAG, highly intensive.[4] So, because we have been raised to a new spiritual life, we should follow Paul’s command. And what is that? Here it is:
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Col. 3)
“Keep seeking,” (ζητεῖτε), is a present active imperative that should be classified as a customary present used to “describe a regularly recurring action.”[5] Put differently, it is a command that calls for the perpetual attention of every believer at all times. What are we commanded to seek? Answer? “The things above” (Col. 3:1). “Above” ano (ἄνω) is, according to BAG, used substantively to denote heaven, or more precisely Christ, who is the rightful focal point of the heavenly city (Rev. 21:1-22:1-5).
While on earth, we, as believers, are constantly to be locked like a laser-guided missile on Jesus Christ. Eadie, a skilled Greek scholar from the 1800s, couches the command like this: “Having been brought up, they [Christians] must still look up.”[6]
Because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we should be constantly thinking about Him and heaven. Why? Because the more you do this, the more you will come to look, act, and think like Him, and the more others you come in contact with will have an inkling you are from somewhere else. I might study great leaders like General Stanley McChrystal, who wrote Team of Teams, or devote my reading time to biographical books on the lives of Bible characters, as written by Charles Swindoll; however, none of this should eclipse my focus on Jesus. I should think of Him throughout the day. I should speak with Him about anything and everything. I should listen for His voice in the Word as I read. I should study His character as displayed in the gospels, and seek to emulate it. I should study His discipline regarding prayer and seek to model it. I should read great systematic theologies that teach me about Him. Yes, when the eternal Lord is my focus, your focus, then the temporal things of this old world fade into a secondary status. Being famous, powerful, knowledgeable, well-known, having thousands of followers on a YouTube channel, and being first-string on a Lacrosse team, while admirable, slowly becomes less of a super-important quest. Life has new, lasting meaning and significance because I’m focused on the Creator, Master, and Sustainer of life, Jesus, the Christ. Is He your focus? Is He whom you think about? Is He whom you study and meditate on? Is He whom you speak to about your life? If you are a saint, seeking Him will grow as you mature in the faith.
A second command naturally follows the first:
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Col. 3)
The imperative, phroneite (φρονεῖτε), again, is a present-tense command denoting a perpetual activity. Throughout your entire Christian life, you should be known as a saint whose mind is consumed, locked on, and concerned with heavenly things, as opposed to the earthly. Lightfoot, the great Greek grammarian, puts it this way, “You must not only seek heaven; you must think heaven.”[7] I like that.
Heavenly Earthly
Eternal Temporal
Sinless Sinful
Unlimited vantage point Limited vantage point
Christ is our Advocate Satan is our accuser
Angels are seen Angels are unseen
No corruption Corruption
Joy & Peace Sorrow & Unrest
Lofty character Low character
Forgiving Unforgiving
Kind Unkind
Unlimited beauty Limited beauty
No adversity or trials Adversity & trials
Fulfillment Disappointments
Mind of Christ Mind of man
Selfless Selfish
Contentment Advancement
Giving away things to others Acquiring things for yourself
Unconditional love Conditional love
Fight for the bottom Fight for the top
Serving others Being served by others
I’ll stop there because the contrasts between heaven and earth are endless. You can, I’m sure, think of your own contrasts between the two, and the longer you walk with Jesus, the longer your list will be because you will be constantly desirous of living in light of the eternal as opposed to the temporal. Hence, you will frequently see new earthly concepts that are not that important when contrasted with those of heaven. Regarding this new viewpoint, I like what William Barclay says:
But there will be this difference– from now on, the Christian will view everything against the background of eternity and no longer live as if this world was all that mattered. This will obviously give him a new set of values. Things which the world thought important, he will no longer worry about. Ambitions which dominated the world, will be powerless to touch him. He will go on using the things of the world that he will use them in a new way. He will, for instance, set giving above getting, serving above ruling, forgiving about avenging. The Christian standard of value is will be God’s not man’s.[8]
So, what about it? Is your mind set on heaven or earth? A growing, maturing disciple is more concerned with heaven than with this old earth, and his thinking and life reflect this.
How do you discipline your mind to think of the heavenly as opposed to the earthly?
Read the Word. It gives you a glimpse of heaven and heavenly values.
It ushers you into the throne room of Christ (Heb. 4).
Bible memorization. It places the life-giving Word into your mind.
Read theological books.
Relate the things in life to the things above. For instance, gardening teaches us much, spiritually speaking. Pruning off dead wood makes a tree more productive. Complacency with scale leads to greater destruction. A wise man acts quickly with the right chemicals. Scale, like sin, can and will jump to other bushes if not addressed. Take definitive action. Children are like the plants in your yard. Each is potentially different and needs to be fed differently. For instance, acid-loving plants (gardenia, azalea, hydrangea, rhododendrons, camellias, and holly) need acidic soil and fertilizer to be healthy and beautiful. Each child, likewise, needs to be treated differently to be productive.
Music can help you focus on heavenly/spiritual things. What spiritual songs do it for you? What artists help you connect? I have an old hymnal sitting on my piano, and I love to play the music to connect with the Lord.
Study about heaven. Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven, is a good starting point.
Take an honest look at your life. Does the evidence show you are following Paul’s command in verses 1 and 2? Does your life reflect a heavenly look or an earthly look? Perhaps a few course changes are in order right now to get you moving in a healthier spiritual direction. And while you are thinking about this, why not read and study the next two verses where Paul lays out the reasons why you should make this mindset, worldview change:
The Reasons (Col. 3:3-4)
The conjunction, gar (γὰρ), gives us the first of two reasons for the previous two commands:
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3)
3 ἀπεθάνετε γὰρ καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κέκρυπται σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ ἐν τῷ θεῷ·
Why should you live a life focused on Christ and heaven? The answer is simple: You should do this because you are spiritually dead to your old, sinful life. Paul says this much in his powerful letter to the Roman Christians:
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom. 6)
My late good friend, Alan Reasoner, spent many years in San Quentin Penitentiary. While there, he became a believer. I have his prison Bible that was presented to him on January 31, 1980. I ran into him not long after this and secured him a job with the landscape company I worked for (Ireland Landscape). For the next six or seven months, I discipled him before I headed off to Dallas Theological Seminary. Alan became a new man. He left his motorcycle gang behind, his partying, his love of dropping acid, and his skill at committing crimes. He committed his whole new life to living like a godly man.
Imagine if he said this to me one day in the work truck, “Hey, Marty, I know I’m doing well, but I’m thinking about going back to my old ways, you know, doing all the dark, dangerous stuff I used to do. What do you think?” I would have told him he was crazy. When you realize you have died to the power of sin because of the redemptive work of Christ (Rom. 6:19ff), you’d be out of your ever-loving mind to think it wise to head back into the spiritual graveyard. Now, you are free and empowered to live for Christ, and not yourself. And, oh, by the way, your life is hidden in him, so you are safe and secure. What a blessing.
A final reason why you should fulfill Paul’s two commands is this:
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Col. 3)
Paul covers a whole lot of theological ground in this one statement. We know that at the moment of death, believers go to be with Christ in a spiritual body of sorts.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5).
To die here is to wake up there. Death is immediately replaced by life, life eternal.
What Paul is talking about here is the Rapture of the Church, which occurs before the seven-year Tribulation (Dan. 9:24-27). Paul talks about this spectacular event in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4)
When Christ comes, whether we are dead or alive at the time, we will be instantly and gloriously physically resurrected, transformed, and fitted with new bodies, ready for the glory of His dimension. As John says:
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (1 John 3)
Paul’s words to the Philippians are worth repeating, too:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Phil. 3)
What a day this will be! In an instant, a body of decay traded for a body of perfection. In an instant, a body that will never age, never know pain, never have to take a medication, and so forth. In a moment, a body that will not be constrained by this limited dimensionality and gravitational pull. In a moment, a body that will have eyesight beyond 20/20, and thinking that would make Einstein jealous.
In light of this future event, what is Paul saying about the present? Here is what I think Paul is getting at: Live a transformed, heavenly life rather than an earthly one, in light of who you will be in eternity. Put differently, let your life reflect now what it will reflect for all of time, viz., the values of heaven and the person of Jesus.
How are you faring with this challenge? Get real with yourself. Is your life an illustration of heavenly or earthly values? Is Jesus your focus, or is it someone or something else? For those feeling the Spirit of God speaking to them right now, we will have an altar call. Its sole purpose is clear: To allow you a moment to come to the front and, before all the saints who care about you, so you can tell the Lord you are going to become more heavenly-minded from this point forward.
And if your life is still in the spiritual graveyard and you know it. If your life is all about this old earth and its values, as opposed to those of heaven, then right now is the perfect time to come to the Savior who will save you and give you life as you’ve never known it.
[1]https://www.google.com/search?q=What+does+the+army+teach+you+in+jump+school&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS1140US1140&oq=What+does+the+army+teach+you+in+jump+school&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRigAdIBCTk5OTBqMGoxNagCCLACAfEFnTzjcQvNMJY&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
[2] Daniel Wallace, Selected Notes on the Syntax of New Testament Greek, (Dallas Theological Seminary: Unpublished Class Notes, 1980), 205.
[3] Ibid., 184.
[4] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 736.
[5] Wallace, p. 164.
[6] John Eadie, Greek Text Commentaries: Colossians, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), 209.
[7] Kenneth West, Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1953), 217.
[8] William Barclay, Colossians (Philadelphia: the Westminster press, 1975), 147.
