3:2
We are to set our minds on things above. It is interesting that while Paul’s objective here is on our moral behaviour on earth he starts with telling us to focus on things above. From verse 5 onwards he will focus on specific behaviours, what we might normally expect in a section on moral behaviour. But the foundation is having our minds and hearts focused on things above. Why? It is the difference between being God-focused and man-focused. In our rebellion against God everything became man-focused, and even as Christians there are still many vestiges of this in our lives. And man-focused thinking will never lead to life. We need to be God focused if we are to have life.
3:3
“You died...” Before we knew Christ our lives were all based on ourselves. We had to achieve our own “righteousness”, however we chose to define that, it was all about me. That has now changed. We died with Christ, it is no longer all about us. So if we focus on ourselves we are going to get the wrong answers. Am I good enough? How do I get through this? How can anyone love me? With these sorts of questions our natural reaction is to look first of all at ourselves, but this is the wrong thing to do. For our life is now hidden with Christ. So we must look first to Christ. We are “good enough” because of Him, or, to put it in more theological language, He is our righteousness. How are we going to get through a situation? Through the strength that Christ gives us. How can anyone love me? God so loved the world (including me) that He sent His one and only Son that we might not perish but have eternal life. Why does it say our life is hidden in Christ? Because when we focus on ourselves the answers to the sorts of questions listed above are usually pretty grim. When instead we focus on Christ the answers will surprise us with joy.
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