“If then you have been raised with Christ, 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. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4).

One of my favorite scenes in Dead Poets Society comes when Robin Williams has students stand on their desks. Because when you change where you stand, you change what you see. It came back to me recently while teaching a group of high school students at a camp. My goal, too, was to help them see life differently.

That’s what Paul does in Colossians 3, but instead of making us climb a desk, he invites us to see life from heaven. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above … set your mind on things above … your life is hidden with Christ” (Col. 3:1-3).

Your Life Hidden Above

If you’ve died with Christ and been raised with him, your life is already “hidden” above (Col. 3:3). A baby laughs when you disappear and reappear because object permanence hasn’t developed yet, but we know that just because you can’t see something, it doesn’t mean it ceased to exist.

Think of Elisha’s servant, surrounded and overwhelmed, until God opens his eyes (2 Kings 6:15-17). The heavenly army was always there, and so is our hidden life above with Christ. Like so many of the most important realities of our lives, it’s tucked away beyond our sight. Hidden, but not unreal; unseen, but not imaginary, like a seed buried in the soil, waiting to sprout into sight.

Your real life has already begun when you were raised with Christ. The new age has already broken into the present, and we live in the overlap between already and not yet. And when Christ appears (Col. 3:4), then what is now hidden will be revealed in glory.

Daily life comes into focus from that eternal, heavenly vantage point.

Your Life Seen From Above

I remember the one time I went skydiving, the freefall was chaos. The wind was so loud, a total sensory overload. Then the chute opened, and suddenly it was quiet and so peaceful to glide above that beautiful vista, seeing it all.

That’s what happens when we lift our eyes to see from above. Daily life comes into focus from that eternal, heavenly vantage point.

Prayer helps with that. When we pray, we step into the throne room of God. Scripture helps us do that, too. This chapter says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16). As Christ’s word fills us, it’s easier to keep perspective when we’re stuck at ground level.

Your Life Lived Out Below

If our life is hidden above, then it has to reshape how we see life below. So “seek the things above” and “set your mind” on those things (Col. 3:1-2). It’s an intentional, daily re-orientation, a recurring decision about our focus.

As we change our perspective, we must “put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:5). This whole passage comes right after he described a false way to holiness. “’Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ … according to human precepts” (Col. 2:21-22). All that has “an appearance of wisdom” but it doesn’t work. It pushes “self-made religion” thinking the answer is making more rules. But the Bible says all that “severity to the body” is “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh*” (Col. 2:23). We don’t just cage it or manage it, taming the beast. We kill it. Real change comes from a higher perspective, a transformed identity — not tighter, man-made boundaries. It’s not enough to know what *not* to do. You need to know who you are in Christ. And with that change, let the old you die so that Christ can live in you.

Jesus isn’t a spoke on the wheel; he’s the hub.

So strip off the old garments — anger, greed, immorality, lies — and “put on the new self” made new in God’s image (Col. 3:8-10). Are new clothes come full of compassion, humility, gentleness, peace, and love (Col. 3:12-15). Because perspective changes behavior.

Christ, Who Is Our Life

“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him. in glory” (Col. 3:4). What are you all about? We all have so many different responsibilities and interests, like spokes on a bicycle wheel. Family, work, school, recreation, health, finances, and even church — all are important parts of a life. But here Paul talks about “Christ, who is your life” (Col. 3:4), not Christ who is part of your life. Jesus isn’t a spoke on the wheel; he’s the hub. I can’t be all the other things, and “by the way, I’m also a Christian.” For us, all the other parts of life revolve around him. Elsewhere Paul says it different ways, like, “To live is Christ and to die is gain” or “it is no longer I that lives but Christ lives in me” (Phil. 1:21; Gal. 2:20). Later in this chapter, he says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).

Three final questions to consider, as you apply this passage: Is your mind set above with Christ? Are you living it out in the ordinary corners of your day-to-day? And is Christ the hub that all your life revolves around?