07 What It Means to Seek the Things Above (Colossians 3:1-7)

Krisan Marotta: Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word. What the Bible means and how we know. This is the 7th o'clock in our series on the book of Colossians. Today we'll be looking at Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. If you'd like to follow along with the lecture notes, you can find them at wednesdayintheword.com slash Colossians 7. wednesdayintheword.com slash Colossians 7. Thanks for joining us. This section of Colossians that we're looking at today, which is chapter 3, verses 1 through 7, this is one of those passages that underscores the importance of good Bible study. And one of the most common mistakes in interpreting the Bible is kind of picking up word or phrase and kind of riffing off of it at the expense of context. And no one thinks they fall into this trap, but everybody does. And if you listen for it, you hear it everywhere. And there were two versions in Colossians in this section of Colossians that have been particularly subject to this kind of methodology. So one of my mentors explained it this way. So some of you who've been with me a long time have heard this analogy before, but it's the best one I know of to explain it. So suppose you found a new religion. You don't mean to, but hundreds of years after your death, people find your blog on this archaic device they called the Internet, and they recognize your wisdom and your incredible insight into reality, and so they form a cult religion around your writings, and they read your blog as a companion to scripture. And one of your letters or your blog post, you're writing to a friend and you're worried about the path that your friend is taking. You think she's about to make a seriously wrong choice, and so you say, think twice before you take any action. So all your followers in the distant future say, Oh, I urge you to think twice. Eureka, that's the key to finding peace, fulfillment, and happiness. Our founders urged us to think twice. So they develop all these disciplines where they don't ever make any decision without thinking twice. And they write books about it and they create, you know, mnemonics that all begin with the letter Q, you know, and they develop they develop a 12-step plan that teaches them how to think twice. So everyone comes, you know, a thought comes into their head, should I get a cup of coffee? Wait, that's once. Okay. Should I get a cup of coffee? And now they've thought twice, and so their actions are blessed. And then some innovative group comes along and says to the twicers, well, if thinking twice is good, then three times is even better. So now we have thricers. Well, is that what you meant? When you said, I urge you to think twice, did you mean to found a set of religious disciplines that are the key to life's fulfillment? Well, obviously not. You meant I want you to consider the foolish way you've been thinking and reconsider. Stop and think about it again and reach a different conclusion, because your words were written in a specific context to a specific person warning about a specific course of action. Now, all of us would recognize that my think-twice stuff is foolishness, but it's very common. Listen to people today and you hear it all over the place. It's precisely the kind of mistake we make when we come to the Bible. So when Paul says, set your minds on the things that are above, or put on the old self, put on the new self, or put to death what is earthly, those passages have been treated to this think twice kind of methodology. People start looking at that and go, well, how do I set my mind on the things that are above? Or here's three easy steps to putting on the old off the old self and on the new self. And yet, if you look at these verses in context, it doesn't take very much effort to see that's not what Paul was talking about at all. So we have to be willing to let the biblical authors set their own agenda and let them tell us what's on their mind. So to go to a passage and say, I'm looking for the answer to this question and I'm gonna find it there, regardless of what the author intended to say, that's just wrong methodology. Now, all of us are guilty of that. We have uh I think all of us have done it. I that is actually the first methodology I learned when I was starting to study the Bible, and thankfully I got corrected. So the key to avoiding that mistake is context. Context. Context, everything is context. So let's review where we are in the book and talk about what Paul is saying when he says, set your minds on the things that are above. So you'll remember a false teaching has crept into the Colossian Church. And in chapter one was Paul's introduction to the letter. He expressed gratitude for the evidence of faith he's seen in the Colossian Church. He prayed that they would grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding, specifically that they would fully understand that the way to know God is through Jesus Christ and only through Jesus Christ. So some folks in Colossi were teaching if you want to know God, if you want to be spiritual, you have to obey these certain rules and practices like asceticism, dietary rituals, etc. So if you want to be a true Christian, this is how where you're gonna do it. This is how you're gonna find the essence of spirituality. And Paul says he rejoices over their evidence of faith, but he's concerned about these practices taking hold, and he's urging them to hold fast to the true gospel. So in chapter two, he began his main point, which I think can be summarized by 2.6. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. So he's urged them to continue believing the gospel that first saved you, as you receive Jesus, as you learned about him, that gospel you first learned, that you are saved by grace through faith in the blood of Christ, don't turn away from that. And he is writing primarily to urge them to hold fast to the gospel that they first believe. So he's saying, don't be suckered in by these other ideas, don't get taken into these, what he calls the philosophies of men or the traditions of men and abandoning the truth about Christ. In chapter two, he also talked about those other ideas make sense in a worldly sort of way, in that they are focused on the here and now and they control your outward behavior, but they don't square with the gospel. So the problem that we face is our sin and guilt before a holy God, and the only solution to that problem is Christ's death on the cross. There is no other solution to be found. So these outward rules and behaviors hold out the promise of solving that problem, but they don't. So in the section we looked at last week, he sets faith in Christ in opposition to these religious disciplines, and he argues that they are incompatible for two reasons. The first was that these religious rituals hold out the promise of being the way to please God, but in fact they are not. They, as I said, they only curb our outward behavior. They do nothing to solve the problem of our guilt or to change us from the inside out. And the second point was that there is a solution for that, that Christ is the real solution to our problem of guilt, that is the place where we can find real reconciliation, forgiveness, and begin to make those changes from the inside out. So by turning to a message that says true spirituality is found in keeping these rules, not eating some foods, eating other foods, restricting your practices, enforcing certain other practices, any message that says, these are what you do to grow in wisdom, these are what you do to be spiritual to God, if you turn to that, you have walked away from the only way to be acceptable to God, which is faith in Jesus. So it's into that context he's set is our passage today. It's in that context that he's gonna say, set your mind on the things above. Okay, so let's look at the passage. We're only gonna do seven verses today. Three chapter three, verses one through seven. 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 mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. And these too you once walked when you were living in them. So these exhortations in here, like seek the things that are above, is in the context of what he said, don't be deluded by plausible arguments back in 2.4. And when he says, set your mind on things that are above, that's in the context of 2.8. Don't be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, or put to death what is earthly, in contrast to submitting to rules and regulations, as he said in 220, or human precepts and teachings in 222. So that's the context. And the picture he paints is like a seed that's planted in the ground. So you have this seed that's died in a sense. It's buried in the ground, it's waiting to bloom into full maturity, and he's saying, that's where you are. You have been metaphorically dyed with Christ, and you will be metaphorically raised with him. Set your mind on that. Focus on that truth. Let that be your guiding principle. So, like a seed that's waiting to sprout, your life is hidden with Christ in God, and it will burst into glory when he returns. The inheritance is coming. It's not here yet, but it is coming. And so his exhortation is don't focus on the here and now, the things of this world, like the religious rituals, the practices, the disciplines. Focus on the hope and the glory to come. Seek those things. Because we're living in a world that's destined to perish, a world that's corrupted by sin, where death reigns, and we're infected with it, but at the same time, eternal life has begun. We have been reconciled to God. God is now at work in us through his spirit. That's true, that's a fact, the process has begun, but we don't have the full inheritance yet. That fullness is still hidden with Christ and God, and yet when he returns in glory, we will be revealed with him. So then we will see and understand and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, we'll know him, we'll be what we were meant to be, we will be in that full place of maturity, being everything God intended. And he says that's where real life is to be found, because that's how the problem of sin and death and guilt and futility is going to be solved. That's what Jesus will bring with him when he returns. So we want to keep those, these two exhortations, three, two, set your mind on the things that are above, not on things of the earth, and three, five, put to death therefore what's earthly in you. We want to keep those in the context of the letter. Paul is writing to people who are on the verge of abandoning truth for a lie. So he sees some evidence of faith in them, but on the other hand, he sees this teaching spreading among them that involves these rituals and disciplines, things you eat and don't eat, denying what you things you denying your body, ascetic practices and so on. And he says that's a false promise. That teaching that says these practices make you really spiritual, they're lying to you, they're deceiving you, they won't keep you acceptable to God, they won't make you grow spiritually, and they won't mature you. If you don't do them, you are not in danger. That's, as he said last week, that's a false promise. It has the appearance of wisdom because it does curb my outward behavior, but it does nothing to change my heart, does nothing to change who I am on the inside. So this is not a letter to Christians teaching them how to find power over sin. So let me repeat that because there are many teachings out there that come to Colossians 3 and say, here's how you find power over sin today. In a specific moment, this is how you do it. And they have these formulas based on setting your mind on things above. But that's not what we'd expect Paul to be saying. We would not expect him at this point to say, Oh, and by the way, if you want to avoid sin in the next moment, here's how to do it. We wouldn't expect him to start saying, okay, here's the ritual you really want to practice. You know, forget about the eating and the drinking stuff. If you really want to be spiritual, set your mind on the things above, or think twice, kind of thing. When you're tempted, you know, stop and set your mind on that, and that will give you victory. That we would not expect that from him in the context, and I don't think that's what he's saying. Because this is a letter that's torn, two people torn between two versions of the gospel. They heard this one thing from the apostles, and now they're hearing this other thing, and they're going, how do we know it's true? How do we know which one's right? How do we know what which ones to embrace? And Paul's writing into that choice to saying, this is the one that is right. Follow this path. If you embrace the apostolic gospel, you will find life, fulfillment, all those things that you're hoping for. The other path is a is a false promise. So from his perspective, the story is all about what Christ did on the cross. God has accepted me, he's begun work in me, he's renewing me and changing me, he's promised me a place in his kingdom and life without sin and corruption and futility. And that's what I'm hoping for. So there's a sense in which this life is like the lobby, like we're in the lobby of a theater and we're waiting for the show to start. We're waiting for the curtain to go up and act one to start. Now there's a lot to do in the lobby. You know, we've got people to meet and greet and buy your popcorn, get your tickets and all that, but it's not the real deal. This is just the lobby. When Christ returns, that's like the doors opening, the curtains going up, and the real show fully beginning. And Paul's saying that's the kind of perspective the gospel gives me. Or as we talked about in 1 Peter, this world's not my home. I'm an alien and a stranger here. This world's not what I'm counting on. All those rules and rituals, they're counting on the things here and now. But I ought to be focused on the real show. There's a sense in which this is only the lobby. I don't want to get too carried away with it. It's the waiting room, not the main event. And I don't see it as the main event anymore because I've understood the gospel. So, in that sense, I think he's saying, set your mind on the things above is to continue my analogy, set your mind on the show, not the lobby. Focus on that. That's where real life is to be found. That's where the promises will be fulfilled. It's not going to be found in all these kind of rules and rituals now. So, with that perspective, then what sort of relationship do I have to the things of this world? I think that's what he answers in three through five. Three, five through seven. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetous, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming, and these you two once walked when you were living in them. So he gives us this list of vices in three-five, and you'll probably notice they're all about desires, the things you want and don't want. And it concentrates on the place of desire. Now, just to review walk when he talks, walk is I think in Paul's usage is frequently how you live your life. So living your life in such a way that it's clear what governs you. So you formerly lived your life such that it was clear you were a slave to sin, you were under the wrath of God. Now, as a believer, you live your life in such a way that it makes it clear you're a slave to Jesus Christ or who your father is now. So walking is living your life in such a way that it's clear what governs you or who your father is. So why does he pick then on these desires and particularly sexual immorality? I think we have to be clear on that, because in the past, and this may be so far distant past that it's not an issue yet, but it was actually, I remember when I was first a believer hearing this, uh, hearing the church teach that sexuality in and of itself is evil, and the highest life is celibacy or to abstain from it, and that is not a biblical teaching. God created sexuality, he created it for a purpose, it he intended it to be a good thing, and part of the reason I think Paul picks on it here is because it's such a powerful motivating desire. It's something that we all feel. So desire of any kind is not in and of itself bad. The Bible never says that. Desire's part of being human, it's the way God made us. The scripture doesn't look down on desire or condemn it as if having any desire is wrong. Rather, what scripture teaches is that our desires fall into place when we embrace the gospel. So the Bible gives me this kind of hierarchy of values. Once I decide to follow God, then all those other desires become subject to following God. And it's much more important to be obedient to God, to submit to truth, to follow it, and then I let my desires find their place in God's scheme of things. So there are times and places when fulfilling my desires is absolutely appropriate and right, and there are times and places when fulfilling my desires is sinful, and sexuality is the case in point. So sexuality is intended by God to have a certain place in human life. He cre intended it for marriage, he intended it to be a way of communicating a permanent, secure, self-sacrificing commitment between a man and a woman. He intended it for the raising of children, he intended it for intimacy and this commitment of making two lives into one. So that means when I use sexuality the way God intended it, I am fulfilling my desires in a right and proper way. If I use my sexuality in a way God did not intend, then I'm lying. I'm using something that was intended to communicate this life commitment to someone, and I don't mean that at all. So I'm using the language of sexuality to mean something it doesn't mean. And lying, of course, is one of the fundamental sins. So I'm I'm taking a truth and I'm perverting it so that I can have my desires fulfilled now, and that's rebellion. That's a sin against God. So what he's saying is now that you have this belief in the gospel, put to death those earthly desires. Let them fall into the grand scheme of things. Where before, as a as a pagan or a non-believer, you you may have thought you were just free to follow them wherever they go. Now you know there's a purpose for these things. I know where desires fit into the kingdom of God. I know when I'm faced in a situation, what whether this is right or I ought to know, whether this is a right or wrong way to express my desires. And the promise of the gospel is when you submit your desires to God, so you know, all those seek ye first his kingdom, then you find deep fulfillment because you're using things the way God intended them to be and the way he intended them to be. And that's the goal. That's where we were finding life. So part of what life in Christ means is I can't just live in the world as if I can fulfill every desire I want whenever I want it in whatever way I want to. Now I understand there are important things like loving my neighbor as myself, like expressing truth and not a lie, like saying God says this is right and that's wrong, and living within that, and if I have desires that conflict with that, submitting to God's will and not my own. So he's saying, I consider myself dead to these immoral desires. Once I followed them without any self-control, without any thought of the consequences, and that kind of life brought me under the wrath of God. That's how we used to live, but not anymore. Now we have hope where we had no hope before. We have a different view of sin, we have a deeper understanding of righteousness and what's right, and we're no longer ruled by desires in the way we used to be. So it's all part of that. I realize I'm in the lobby. Life's not to be found in the lobby or the desires of the lobby. Real life is to be found when the curtain goes up, Christ returns, and that and really act one begins. And so when my desires conflict with what I know to be true, I say, wait a minute, this is not the right thing to do, and you don't act on them. He has this interesting phrase, covetousness, which is idolatry, in three five. And that to me, that that really struck me in this passage. It's such a profound phrase. Because I always think of oh, idolatry is like, you know, like you make a religious mistake or you know, you offer it to the wrong God in the wrong temple or something. And I when he says covetousness, which is idolatry, I think the essence of that is covetousness is wanting something. It's almost like greed. It's a lie that says God is not enough. I have to have that other thing. So whatever it is, the hope God's offering, the inheritance, the way he says the world works, that's not enough. I have to have that other thing to fulfill me or protect me. Maybe it's money or success or materialism or beauty, intelligence, pride, it could be anything. But if when I start thinking, if I don't have that, then you know, life is just flat or not worth living, or I have to have that to give me fulfillment. That's covetousness and it's a Essentially idolatry because it's saying at some level, what God's promised isn't enough, what He's offering isn't enough. I have to have this other thing. Now it's true that the stuff of this world gives you immediate feedback and often immediate pleasure, but the gospel tells us there is something bigger at stake. There is something more important coming, there's something better coming. So pleasure and gratification now are not the ultimate reality. They're not the ultimate fulfillment. So denying that, that there is one God, He's the one and only one that we have to fear, that's idolatry. I can negotiate with all the other gods of this world, like fame, money, beauty, health, success, materialism, but one day they're gonna leave me flat. One day I'm gonna face my creator, and if I'm counting on them, I'll be lost. So whatever the gods of this world give me prestige, money, materialism, career accomplishments, that's gonna fail in the end. Okay. So the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and Paul's perspective is that's the important question of this life. When that day comes, how are you gonna stand before him? What are you counting on to get you there? Several months ago I was driving in the car and I was scanning through the radio stations and I came upon a station playing this song, and the chorus was, Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that God is love. And I was like, wait, oh, it just made me so mad. That's a false gospel. That is not what the Bible says. And I think that's precisely the kind of nonsense that gets taught in the name of Jesus that Paul would say, No, the message is not God is love. It might be God loves you in spite of who you are, but it's not just God loves you no matter what, and you don't have to worry about this little problem of sin. So it just drove me crazy. Every time I think of that now, every knee confess, I hear that I don't even know what song it was. I've never heard it again. But I was like, oh, that's just so wrong. So anyway, sorry, I digress. Idolatry is looking to anyone else or anything else other than God to meet my needs. And that's why he pairs it with covetousness, because covetousness is essentially saying, God's not meeting my needs, I have to have that. God's not enough, what he's offering isn't enough, his promises aren't enough, I don't want to wait for them anymore, I want that. So looking to something other than the cross to save me, looking for something other than the hope of the gospel to give my life meaning and significance, that's idolatry. And covetousness is in essence believing something other than God is essential. I must have that other thing. And I think Paul would say the outward rules and regulations then are dangerous because they can cloud our minds to that issue. They can distract us from the uncomfortable truths that we must eventually confront. Because the rituals may in fact keep me from looking at my sin in a real healthy kind of uh honest way. And they may give me a false sense of security because I think I'm doing this right. I've got it all made. Look at how good I'm doing. And that can distract me from the real issue of who am I counting on. So he's saying, when you were devoted to your own pleasure, to greed, selfishness, uh, your preoccupation with your own desires, that puts you under the wrath of God. And of course, you know, the end of that story, all that self-effort effort will only get you the wrath of God in the end. Um, but there is a solution. So he's saying, remember who you were without Christ and what you can become with him. The wrath of God, I think, puts life in perspective. It tells me what has value and what doesn't. It tells me the place of sin and the value of holiness. Because once I understand the wrath of God, I can't pretend that sin is no big deal anymore. I can't excuse it as oh, I was just tired, or that's human nature, or everybody does it. Because the wrath of God is coming and its target is sin, and the only way to escape that is the cross of Christ. And all those other things that I used to desire, I treat them as useless, as if I'm dead to them because they are only going to bring me wrath. One implication of this passage, I think, is the perspective it ought to give us on worldliness. And by worldliness I don't mean materialism, I mean how we view this world versus the next. And I think that's often what uh the New Testament authors mean by worldliness. It's one of the great kind of scourges of the New Testament. And the truth of the gospel is firmly focused on the ultimate outcome of human life, that God is coming to judge, redeem, and glorify, and you can believe it or not, but it's going to happen, and the choices you make now affect your eternal destiny. So the big question of this life is not how do I fix it or how do I achieve social justice or how do I make the world a better place. The big problem of this life is how do I gain eternal life? The big issue of this world is really the lobby of what how am I going to get into the show? How do I know when who my father is and what I'm counting on? So this is their arena, this is the time period when we are supposed to decide that issue. And there is a sense in which Christianity is a pie in the sky religion. And I I make no apologies for that. And I mention that because if you follow any of the emergent theology or the spiritual formation movements of today, one of their big criticisms of what I would call the real gospel or the apostolic gospel is they say, Well, your gospel is two pie in the sky. You've missed the boat because you're just focused on heaven and eternal life, and you should be focused on soup kitchens, feeding the poor, social justice, racial reconciliation. And I would say to that charge, absolutely, Christianity is a pie in the sky in religion. The gospel claims there is salvation out there to be had. You need to embrace it now before it's too late, because it is everything and it is not to be found in this world. And if you gain this world and you lose that, you've lost everything worth happing uh worth having. If you lose everything else and you gain the gospel, then you have everything. And now is the time to decide. So remember what we talked about in chapter one, how hope changes us. What we hope for does have an impact on our lives today, but it's uh it's still a hope. I'm still looking for something I don't have. So remember we talked about what if I had a lottery ticket waiting at home worth millions of dollars, and all of a sudden you told me, oh, it's at home on your coffee table, and when you leave here, you're gonna see it, and it's guaranteed you have it. All of a sudden your whole outlook on life would be transformed. The way you feel, everything would look a whole lot better because you knew that thing that was really wonderful was coming. Your spirits would be lifted, your outlook would change, you'd have this joy in the midst of hardships because you have this hope. And that's what Paul is saying the gospel is. We have this hope. It is there, it is waiting for us. It's not here now, but it's coming, it's guaranteed. It will change you from this moment forward. It will change what you value, how you act, what you say, what you think, because it's there and it's coming and you believe it. But there's a sense in which that's pie in the sky. You have this hope, you have this ticket, but you don't have it yet. When you get home, it will be there, it will be great and wonderful. You can't touch it yet, you can't see it, but it's there and it changes you nevertheless. And you could call that hope pie in the sky, because you're looking forward to getting something you don't have in your hand yet, but the Bible says that's the hope of the gospel. And they're very clear that's the situation we're in. We're we're waiting for that ticket, or we're in the lobby waiting for the show to start. We are looking forward to something. So I would say when they say, well, you're just too pie in the sky, you need to be focused on the things of the world, my answer to that is you're too worldly. There is a hope. And when Paul says, set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are earth, I think that's what he's talking about. Focus on that hope of the gospel, not these rules and rituals and law keeping. Understand the hope and let that change you from the inside out. Change how you speak, how you act, how you see each other. So the gospel is that lottery ticket waiting for me at home. Why would I mess around hunting for coins in the gutter when I've got the lottery ticket? I mean, that's Paul's perspective. You're messing around with rules and rituals and law keeping when you have the blood of Christ. Why would you why would you mess around with that stuff? Set your mind on the blood of Christ. Focus on that. Don't focus on festivals and Sabbath. Focus on hope. If I'm really a citizen of the kingdom of God, then I know that's where life is going to be found. Yes, it changes me now. It changes what I desire, it changes how I act on those desires. It changes what I think about and what I want and what I value. It changes how I view my sin when I sin. Instead of being uh trying to justify it, I'm mortified and I regret it and I want to run to God for forgiveness. All those things are real valid changes in the gospel, but they all come about from our hope. So the point of Christianity is not how do I make this world a better place? It's not how do I make my life easy, how do I uh achieve racial reconciliation or social justice. The point is where am I gonna spend eternity and how do I know? And now is the time to decide. Because the day is coming when it will be too late. And the fundamental real meaning of life is not art, beauty, peace, love, and reconciliation now, it is the hope of the gospel. Because real meaning, the real meaning of life is found in answering that question. Who's your Lord? Who's your father? What are you gonna count on when you meet your Maker? Now that's very unpopular today to talk about the wrath of God. Um people just it's amazing. You can just Google it and you'll find all kinds of blog posts about how you just don't want to mention that anymore because it's just too offensive. So, in my worthless opinion, I think the American Church is turning very worldly in that sense because we're all about making today better. We talk about God, but we're thinking about now. And God becomes the way I transform today and make my life better, or the gospel becomes the tool I use to make life easy, and we're looking primarily for benefits now, and I think that's worldliness, and that's something we ought to avoid. Because as kind of an American church, I think we become afraid to say, no, the point of this life is the hope that is before us. And yet it's hard to find a New Testament letter that doesn't talk about hope and emphasize our hope, and we lose sight of that. So remember kind of the flow of thought of this letter. Paul repeatedly prayed for wisdom and understanding in chapter one. What did he want them to understand? The hope of the gospel, who Jesus was, what he did for you. So the picture he's painting is I understand that hope, that understanding is focused on a future hope before me. That transforms my life today. It gives me gratitude, it gives me a place for my desires, and if I walk away from that, I've walked away from the only road to life there is. So I think that's the context where he says, set your mind on the things above. If you want to know what's really important, it's not these rules and rituals, it's reaching that mature wisdom and understanding. Let me stop there and pray for us. Father, we just thank you that you did the unthinkable by sending your son to die in our place. And we take that so for granted because now we've heard it for thousands of years, and we've heard it maybe our whole lives. We just pray that we would not take that for granted. That we would realize how amazing grace is and how profound and deep and wonderful it is what you've done for us. And then, Paul, I pray that you would give us that spirit of wisdom and understanding. Open our eyes to the truth of your gospel so that it becomes not just theology on a page of verses we recite, but it becomes the focus and the hope of our lives and the same.