“If then you were raised together
with Messiah, seek the things that are above, where Messiah is, seated on the
right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the
things that are on the eretz; for you died, and your life is hidden with
Messiah in God. When Messiah, our life, is revealed, then you will also be
revealed with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4, HNV).
Paul’s letter to the Colossian believers was one of the four that the church refers to as the Prison Letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). It is believed he wrote these letters while under Roman house-arrest (Acts 28:16-31). The believers in Colossae were primarily Gentiles, and the gospel was brought to them by Epaphras (1:7-8) who was likely born in this once leading city (4:12) in Asia Minor which is now Turkey. There were false teachers in the Colossian church in Paul’s time just like there were in all the other churches, as you might see by the apostle’s arguments against some early gnostic[1] teachings (2:4, 8, 18, 21-23), and what we may consider ultra-Orthodox Judaic rituals (2:11, 16-17).
Paul, and Timothy (1:1), always thanked God the Father every time they prayed for the Colossian believers because of their faith in the Lord, and their love for the body of Christ (1:3-4). They would pray and ask the Holy Father to grant the Colossians knowledge of God’s will so they may walk in holiness in order to please their God, and so their work would be successful (1:9-10).
God has delivered every believer-in-Christ (Messiah used in the translation above) from the powers of the fallen angels and the evil spirits from the dead Nephilim (1:13a; Gen. 6:1-2, 4; 1st Enoch 15:1-12[2] ); for this world is ruled by these fallen ones. And Satan (2 Cor. 4:4), is the chief ruler who has power over all the other fallen angels and evil spirits (Eph. 2:2; Jn. 12:31; 16:11). The Father has transferred every believer from the rule of Satan into the rule or kingdom of the Christ (1:13b). For it is in the Christ the believer has vindication of his sins (1:14).
Jesus Christ is the image of God, his Father (1:15a). He is the perfect representation of his Father in heaven, and the brilliance of his glory (Heb. 1:3a). Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation” (1:15b, ASV). This does not mean that he was created as some insinuate. Rather it refers to his relationship with his earthly mother, Mary, he came into this world through her (Lk. 2:5-7), and it reveals his superiority over creation as is stated in (1:16-17): “For by him were all things created, in the heavens and on the eretz, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together” (HNV). Something to take note of: The Christ did not create the power structure of the demonic world. The fallen angels did that. He did not create the fallen angel’s hierarchy, Satan did that. He did not create evil spirits, the fallen angels that copulate with human women do that. Being the firstborn of all creation also refers to Jesus’ superiority over the church, he is the head of the church, and he was the beginning and the firstborn of the dead (1:18ab; 2:11-12). This refers to his earthly body being put to death for the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), it was then resurrected and will never die again. Jesus’ resurrection began the process where the new creation will be resurrected one day also, some have had their earthly body dead for a long time, like Paul, Peter, and John, but nevertheless, their earthly bodies will be raised to become spiritual bodies that will never die again.
You may be saying to yourself; but Lazarus passed away and Jesus resurrected him from the dead (Jn. 11:17, 43-44). You are right, because the Scriptures say so. But Lazarus’ earthly body died again. Elijah likewise prayed for a boy that had died from a sickness and Yahweh heard his voice and revived the boy (1 Kgs. 17:17-23), but that boy died again. We read of someone else that was resurrected from the dead, but he too passed away again (Lk. 7:11-15). Because Jesus was the first one to be born after death never to die again, he has superiority over the body of Christ who also will be raised from the dead into bodies that will never die again. His resurrection began the process. The fulness of God the Father dwells in God the Son (1:19; 2:9).
After Moses climbed to the summit (Pisgah) of Mount Nebo, from the plains of Moab (modern-day Jordan), beyond Jericho, Yahweh showed him the Promised Land, but Elohim did not allow him to enter it (Deut. 34:1-4). After seeing the Promised Land Moses died in the valley of Moab opposite Beth-Peor (where the tribe of Reuben settled—Josh. 13:15, 20), and he was buried there (Deut. 13:5-6a). At some point after this, Michael the archangel had an argument with Satan over the body of Moses (Jude 1:9a). I do not know for sure, but I assume the dispute was immediately or not too long after Moses was buried. Nobody knows but God, and the angels both holy and fallen, what the argument was about. Some of the speculation about the argument sounds reasonable,[3] but I assume it could have been that Satan wanted to desecrate the body of Moses; Satan wanted to take Moses body from his sepulcher and put it up as trophy. The Devil’s earthly adversary was now dead, so he may have wanted to showcase the dead body of Moses to the nations that are under his control. He may have wanted to showcase it before the fallen angels. But Yahweh would have none of that, and therefore Michael had a heated discussion with the chief fallen angel. The reason I presented the preceding assumption about what the argument was about is because of what I am about to postulate next. I believe that after the dispute between Michael and Satan, Yahweh raptured the dead body of Moses up into heaven. By rapturing his dead body out of this world Satan and the fallen angels could not desecrate it. The writer of Deuteronomy 34:6 does say that no one knew where the sepulcher of Moses was, but that would mean the people living at the time of his writing. Michael and Satan knew where his sepulcher was. Or why would they have been arguing over his body?
Why do I believe the dead body of Moses was raptured? I do because of the incident on top of the mountain where Jesus was transfigured (Lk. 9:28-36; Matt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8). I want you to read Luke’s version of the encounter because of the detail he provides about both Elijah and Moses. The Scripture says that both men appeared to Jesus in δοξη (glory); the NIV says they appeared in “glorious splendor” (Lk. 9:30)—other English translations say that Moses and Elijah appeared in doxa (Greek transliteration for the English word glory) in verse thirty-one. The Greek New Testament[4] translates Luke 9:31 like this: “οἳ ὀφθέντες ἐν δόξῃ ἔλεγον τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτοῦ ἣν ἤμελλεν πληροῦν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ.” The Concordant Literal Version translates the Greek text like this: “who, being seen in the glory, spoke of His exodus, which He was about to be completing in Jerusalem.” On, Google Translate, the Greek text above translates like this: “those who had arrived in glory told of his exodus, which they were about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” So, what the text is saying, is that both Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus in glorified bodies. We know that Elijah was raptured into heaven (2 Kgs. 2:11). Once his earthly body entered the eternal realm it would have been transformed into a glorious spiritual body because the human body cannot enter heaven without the transformation (1 Cor. 15:50, 53-54). Scripture gives the indication that Enoch was also raptured into heaven (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5). He right now would be in the eternal realm clothed with a glorified spiritual body, just like Elijah. For Moses to appear with Elijah on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, he too would have been in a glorified spiritual body just like Elijah, this is why I believe his body was raptured after his death.
Moses dead body was raptured into heaven something like how Paul, Peter, and John’s earthly bodies will be raptured into heaven at the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). The same way that all who are dead in Christ (passed away already) will go through metamorphosis when the rapture of the church occurs, having their earthly bodies supernaturally transfigured from earthly to heavenly bodies (1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-53). Enoch and Elijah’s rapture into heaven experience would have been like what the body of Christ will experience once the day and hour of the rapture occurs—caught away while still in earthly bodies.
I wonder; does Enoch, Elijah, and Moses, have the same glorified spiritual body as the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it the same type of spiritual body as the body of Christ will receive once the rapture of the church occurs? I am inclined to think they may not be. They would indeed have glorified spiritual bodies or, like I said above, their earthly bodies would not be able to enter the eternal realm. I think the way I do because, when Jesus was raptured into heaven (Acts 1:9-10a; Mk. 16:19; Lk. 24:51) he was immediately given a glorified spiritual body, the same type of body that his faithful followers will receive. Remember, Jesus is the beginning and the first born of the dead (1:1ab; 2:11-12), so I have the tendency to believe his glorified spiritual body is unique, not only special but exclusive to him and the body of Christ. The angels have a different type of heavenly body than the Lord God Almighty (Father God). I assume that the four living creatures, cherubim’s (Rev. 4:6b-8a; Ezek. 1:5-24; 10:1-22), have a different type of heavenly body than the other angels. Jesus now has a different type of heavenly body than his Father, the cherubim, and the angels. Before Jesus left heaven to became a man, he would have had the same type of heavenly body as his Father, but he willingly relinquished, or gave up, that body to take on human flesh (Phil. 2:6-8). Once he gave up his original heavenly body, he became lower than the angels while on Earth (Heb. 2:9a). The different types of heavenly bodies are obvious. Which makes me convinced that Enoch, Elijah, and Moses, have a different type of heavenly body than Jesus and what the body of Christ will receive. They would have a different type of heavenly body than the Holy Father, the cherubim, and the angels also.
One important consideration; Enoch and Elijah never died in their earthly bodies, and even though Moses died and then after a while his body was raptured, none of these saints of God were offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 Jn. 2:2; 1 Pet. 2:24). But Jesus was. This is why Jesus is the head of the church, and not Enoch, Elijah, or Moses. He is the beginning and first born of the dead of the new creation, the body of Christ. So, even though I will not know precisely until I am clothed with my glorified spiritual body, I presume the Christ has a different type of glorified spiritual body than all other heavenly beings; which means the body of Christ will too.
I kind of took you on the scenic tour to get you to the Scripture passage above, Colossians 3:1-4, but I think you will see that the above information was worth it. It is worth it so that you can see how important it is to “seek the things that are above” (3:1b), where the Christ is seated at the right hand of his Father and God (3:1c). The Scripture says that the follower of Christ has been raised up with him (3:1a). This refers to being dead to the worldly elemental forces (2:20), meaning cultic and pagan powers (2:4, 8, 18, 21-23), and ultra-Orthodox Judaic rituals (2:11, 16-17)—being buried with Christ in baptism and then being raised with the Lord because of our faith in the power of God (2:12; Rom. 6:4-5). Because the church has been raised from the dead with Christ, we need to seek the things that are above, in heaven. This is where Christ is seated. Right beside his God and Father, who is our God and Father. That is where the believer’s mind should be, not on earthly things, not on the things of this world (3:2).
Ezra commanded the Israelites to set their hearts and souls to seek after Yahweh their God (1 Chron. 22:19a). This is what the apostle Paul is commanding the church, to seek Christ and not the world. If a man says he loves Jesus but his mind is always on the world and the things in the world then it reveals he loves the world rather than Jesus, it reveals that his mind is not on the things of heaven but on the things of this world. It reveals that the love of God is not in that man, but his love is for this world (1 Jn. 2:15). A man that does not seek the place where God the Father and God the Son are, whose mind is not on the place where they reside, reveals that he loves the world rather than them. He lusts after his flesh (his earthly nature), his eyes are full of lust being sexually attracted to the sexually immoral things of this world; his heart is full of pride (1 Jn. 2:16)—these are not things above, but are things of the world.
Paul reminds the Colossian believer’s that they have died, or should be anyways (3:3a). Anyone that has died and has been raised with Christ is concealed with Christ in God the Father (3:3b). Jesus Christ should be everything to the believer, for he is the life of the body of Christ, and when he appears, or is made manifest, meaning at the rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4:16-17), then the church will be caught up and appear with him in doxa, glory (3:4). Glory here refers to the eternal realm. Once the rapture occurs the believer will be transformed from an earthly being into a heavenly being. Our earthly bodies will be transformed into a glorified spiritual body like the Lord Jesus Christ has now as I mentioned above. This is why the believer must get his mind off this world and seek the place where Christ is.
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[1] Gnosticism (Merriam-Webster)
“The thought and practice especially of various cults of late
pre-Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction
that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through, gnosis (esoteric
knowledge of spiritual truth held by the ancient Gnostics to be essential to
salvation).”
[2] The Book of Enoch by Andy McCracken – Chapter 15:1-12
(Pgs. 28-29)
[3] Why were Michael and Satan disputing over the body of
Moses (Jude 9)?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Michael-Satan-Moses.html
(Accessed 1/12/2023)
