Series: Renewal
Colossians 3.2 ESV
John 2:7 (‘ano’ to fill)
Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
We’ve commonly thought of “things above” being in outer space above the earth.
The initial problem with believing that God lives in the sky is that we live on the ground…it creates a thought process that we are separated from God.
Therefore, when we are in a desperate situation we look up in order to find God.
Colossians 3:2 tells us, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
We need to look at the ancient text in order to get clarification from Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae.
Colossae was located in the Lycus valley in the district of Phyrgia in western Asia Minor. Today that is south of the Black Sea (with the Ukraine to the North, west of Russia, north of Syria, and east of Greece across the Mediterranean Sea.) Today Israel is around 800 miles south of Turkey. To put that into context, by foot it would have taken someone about six weeks to travel from Israel to Colossae.
Specifically ancient Colossae is located in what is western Turkey today.
While there were various local languages spoken in ancient Colossae, nearly all of the Apostles spoke Koine Greek. The Apostle Paul spoke Koine Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Modern scholars believe he predominately spoke Koine Greek.
At one time (5th Century B.C.) Colossae was known as being a wealthy city known for their wool trade. It’s generally believed that Paul did not visit Colossae but at the time Paul wrote to them there were influences from Jewish, Gnostic, and pagan sects in that region.
When Paul wrote telling them to keep their eyes on God and not on earthly things, he was advising them to focus on Jesus as creator and redeemer. Paul wanted the people in Colossae to realize there’s more to life than what they ‘see’.
Because the city was influenced by other religious sects Paul was writing to connect Jesus in the beginning of the Hebrew text.
What’s interesting about the letter Paul wrote and the history of the city is that Paul was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote to them. He wasn’t actually in a cell that we usually think of as a prison but he was under house arrest In Rome.
See…Paul was a Roman citizen and because of that he was given some privileges. It wasn’t because Emperor Nero wanted to treat Paul with dignity and respect. More than likely it was because Nero knew Paul had many followers and he was ‘biding his time’ and waiting for the right moment to seize and kill the leaders of the people of the way of Jesus.
Paul was a genius and he understood Nero’s position.
Paul would have known what Nero was planning.
He also would have known that Nero was not a reasonable man.
When we look at Paul’s meaning of “things above”. The Greek words for things above are ‘ta ano’ and can mean things higher or things fuller. The Greek word ‘ano’ is used in John 2:7 to mean ‘fill to the brim’.
It’s highly possible that what modern man thinks of as thinking of God ‘above in the heavens’ was actually Paul’s way of saying we need to seek a higher purpose, or we need to seek God’s fullness.
Isn’t it possible that Paul wanted his readers to seek a higher calling?
Everything we think, we digest and we become or we reject it and find a better way. Paul was feeding his readers the fullness of God. He wanted them to understand there is life after life and it is better than good.
And even if the reference was to seeking heaven, don’t we need to really consider the presence of God IS heaven.
Consider today, where is God today for those who seek God?
How do we come to a point of finding God?
Who can come to God and how do they come?
I don’t know about you, but the people I’ve encountered who are truly seeking God will find God. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
When we ask to see the fullness of God, will we not see?
When we genuinely seek a higher purpose will we not find it?
When we knock, won’t God open the door?
For sure, Jesus ended with a profound promise.
He assured them that everyone who asks will most certainly receive and when we seek we will find God. When we knock at the door, God won’t leave us standing outside! God will open the door to the fullness of God.
Spiritual Practice: So, Ask, Seek, Knock
Ask either for yourself or for someone else. God will honor your prayer.
In God, Deborah