The Fight for Joy

A Daily Focus of Living for Christ

Colossians 3:1-4

In verses 1-4 we see a set of biblical realities that encourage every true believer to launch a daily war against Satan, our flesh, our circumstances to pursue joy in Jesus Christ! It’s a war! It’s a war to combat all the false teaching that Paul talks about in Chapter 2. It’s a war to flee the world-view that is being sold to us daily! Paul gives the Colossians a pre-battle pep-talk! Rejoice in these realities and you will be fine! You will not see these realities if you are not saved. If you do not have a saving relationship with Jesus you will not see and feel the warmth and certainty of Colossians 3:1-4. If you don’t see this and be encouraged by it, plead with Christ to save you! This is so very encouraging today and for the rest of our lives until Christ calls us home! 

Remember Your Victory is in Christ (Colossians 3:1a) “If then you have been raised with Christ…” There is a reality of the fact that we have been raised to new life through Jesus Christ and we will be raised eternally through Christ. Paul is talking to the church, those who have committed their lives to Jesus, about the current action of the church, not the future. We are to ponder the future, not get tied up in which we become paralyzed, but connected to fight for joy while here on earth. Paul mentions this earlier in Col. 2:12 “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” I chose the word “victory” in this point because of the word Paul uses, “raised”! We have been given victory over sin and death because of faith in the resurrection of Christ. 1 Cor. 15:55-57 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Resolve to Seek Christ Daily (Colossians 3:1b-2) “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Seek! No one gains the mindset of Heaven passively. Diligently seek Christ! Revere the Word of God! Love the Word of God! You will never dig out all the treasures from the Word of God! Don’t waste your life sitting around allowing entertainment to shape you! Allow the sole saturation of scripture to shape you! Those who think the most about the Kingdom of God do the most for the Kingdom of God!  Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God you’ll be at rest.” – Corrie Ten Boom

Reflect on the Reason to Live for Christ (Colossians 3:3) “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Two specific items stick out in verse 3. 1) “you have died” those who have placed faith in Christ have died to sin. Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” 2) The word “hidden” here means secure. We are secure in Christ. The image here is that God will hide away that which is most valuable. He will shelter or secure and keep away from destruction. Old Testament examples of this are found in Isaiah 49:2 “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.”  Psalm 27:5-6 “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.”