Tag: Colossians 3:1-4

A New Years Resolution: How Does Your Relationship with God Shape Your Identity? Colossians 3:1-4

Colossians 3:1-4 Amplified Bible

Put On the New Self

3 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. 3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, [a]appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Knowing God and Knowing Ourselves

2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

What does it mean to be habitual?

1. : regularly or repeatedly doing or practicing something or acting in some manner : having the nature of a habit : customary. habitual candor. habitual behavior. habitual drug use.

What is the meaning of habitual behavior?

Habitual behavior is a form of automatic and routine behavior. It is behavior that people repeat, because this behavior is easy, comfortable or rewarding.

Habitual behavior’s automatic character is demonstrated by the fact that it is often started by a cue or a change in the situation.

What does habitual mean in humans?

If the same behavior is performed more frequently in response to specific situational cues, this may become more automatic, or quicker and easier. As a result, it may be experienced as “automatic” by those who perform it (Verplanken & Orbell, 2003), and categorized as “habitual” by researchers.

Examples https://www.merriam-webster.com/sentences/habitual

Augustine wisely, habitually prayed that he might know God and then himself.

Christ is your Maker. Therefore, to know Him is to know yourself: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)”

The better we know Him, the more we’ll grasp who and whose we are.

And the more we see who and whose we are, the more secure we are.

We all have fundamental personal worth needs: a need for security, a sense of unconditional love and acceptance by other people, and a sense of significance—the assurance that our lives absolutely matter. Finally, we need satisfaction and purpose. Is there anything we can accomplish for God that will endure?

Because God Himself endowed us with these needs, they cannot be satisfied in the temporal realm of this world.

People habitually turn to others for their sense of security and worth. But other people habitually let us down, and we, in turn, habitually let them down.

We habitually look to wealth and prosperity for our sense of significance, but soon, the hollowness of hoarding worldly possessions becomes all too real.

Luke 12:16-20 Amplified Bible

Parable of the Wealthy Fool

16 Then He told them a parable, saying, “There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive. 17 And he began thinking to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place [large enough in which] to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; now who will own all the things you have prepared?’

We often turn to performance, position, popularity, and prestige to gain a sense of true satisfaction in this world. Once again, these will all let us down. The only place where we can find those needs fully met is in our relationship with Christ.

Empowered to Love Others Compassionately 

Our relationship with Christ empowers us to love others compassionately.

Grasping our true identity in Christ is not a one-off once in a lifetime event but an ongoing journey of habitual discovery. But the more we come to grasp who and whose we are, the more we begin to realize that we are people who have a new identity and a new purpose. We’re no longer in Adam; we are in Christ. We have a new spiritual DNA, as it were. We have been adopted into His family.

We now have a foundation for understanding our true position in this world. At the beginning of the upper room discourse in John’s gospel, we get to listen to Jesus’s most intimate words to his disciples. Here, we discover that Jesus’s hour of departure was soon coming upon them, that He loved His own until the end. 

But the key verse to highlight, and one that’s often overlooked, is John 13:3, which tells us, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he’d come forth from God and that he was going back to God.”

That little verse is the basis for what he was actually able to do.

He performed a visual parable when his disciples were too busy jockeying for higher positions regarding who was going to be first in the heavenly kingdom.

As His disciples are bickering over who will sit at His right hand, Christ lays his garments aside, putting on the clothing of a servant, began to wash their feet.

Though this was an integral part of Oriental hospitality, it appears that there was no “lowest” servant on hand to perform the ritual during the Last Supper.

Certainly, none of the disciples were going to do it if they were arguing, fighting and debating over what they believed was coming: highest honors and prestige.

So Jesus, to humbly, quietly, decisively settle the matter, took up the towel and the basin and began to wash their feet, giving them their model of servanthood. 

Even today, too many of us are visibly repulsed, too much like Peter who was almost too embarrassed “no, not ever, my feet” to let Jesus wash his feet.

What gave Jesus the real security and the power to serve in this manner, even knowing that his arrest, humiliation and crucifixion was so very imminent?

My conviction is that Christ focused on these three things:

1) He knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and this was the true source of his dignity

2) He knew he’d come forth from God

3) He knew that he was going back to God.

This was His security.

Because of these three great truths, He was able to serve—to wash the disciples’ feet as they were fighting for their greatness and as he was awaiting crucifixion.

As Jesus shows, true greatness consists in service to others. Once again, the washing of the disciples’ feet is a visual parable of this astonishing insight. 

Mark 10:32-45 Amplified Bible

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

32 Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were perplexed [at what Jesus had said], and those who were following were alarmed and afraid. And again He took the twelve [disciples] aside and began telling them what was going to happen to Him,  33 saying, “Listen very carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed  and handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans). 34 They will mock and ridicule Him and spit on Him, and whip (scourge) Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise [from the dead].”

35 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He replied to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit [with You], one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory [Your majesty and splendor in Your kingdom].” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism [of suffering and death] with which I am baptized?” 39 And they replied to Him, “We are able.” Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 But to sit on My right or left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared [by My Father].”

41 Hearing this, the [other] ten became indignant with James and John.  42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. 43 But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first and most important among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a [a]ransom for many.”

Imagine if Jesus listened to what people said about him.

He would never have been secure enough to serve.

People would say, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners? The son of man came eating and drinking.” They went on, “Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Even His own siblings refused to believe in him. 

We Have the limitless Resources of Christ

Jesus was continually the subject of scorn, criticism, and abuse.

If He’d listened to what people said about Him, He would not have been secure enough to serve—to love others compassionately.

Instead, Jesus chose to allow His Father’s words to define Him.

His true dignity, His true security, and His true destiny then empowered Him to be a habitual servant of other people.

And He invites us to do the very same thing because, astonishingly, His resources have now become our resources. When we think about the fact that we’ve become children of God and have been given the security and destiny that comes along with this knowledge, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

If I had to stop and sum up the entire Bible in one word, it would be the word relationships. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture is all about relationships.

It’s about knowing the love of Christ that liberates us to love others. Once again, there’s a tremendous risk involved in this.

People can be habitually painful and we can be habitually painful to them, and yet, we are able to serve them because we know who we are and whose we are. 

The great American theologian Jonathan Edwards was profoundly right when he said that real wisdom is for us to treat things according to their true value.

The perennial human temptation is to mistake the temporal for the eternal.

We habitually seek fulfillment in human relationships, wealth, fame, and power, only to have our hopes habitually shattered again and then again.

True wisdom, however, involves the recognition that you’re going to give your life in exchange for something.

As Paul, the apostle, informs us in Galatians 2:20,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

If Christ authentically loves us and willingly, with no second thoughts, gave Himself for us, how can we not live for Him and for others? (Philippians 2:5-11)

5 Have this attitude [a]in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He  already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be [b]grasped, 7 but [c]emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and [d]being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death [e]on a cross.  9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

If we leverage the temporal for eternal gain, what we’re really doing is treating people according to their true value.

We are going to give our lives in exchange for something, and we’ll be wise if we give in exchange for something that’s never going to let us down in the end.

God will never fail us, Christ will never fail us. Holy Spirit will never fail us.

Embracing this crucial truth allows us to forgive others when we’ve been wronged. It liberates us to accept both the people who are gifts to us and those we find to be draining. If we’ve been forgiven all, we ought to forgive others. 

Christ invites us then to treat people with mercy, forgiveness and to relinquish the demand for ultimate justice. Justice is getting what we richly deserve. Never ask God for justice. Not a one of us could ever hope to endure God’s real justice.

Rather, ask Him for mercy—not getting what we deserve—and ask Him for grace. When this is our habitual posture, we are freed to be people who navigate through this brief earthbound sojourn with an habitually eternal perspective.

In the coming year of our Lord and Savior 2025, habitually take the time to pray about your relationship with God and honestly pray how it shapes your identity.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 19 New American Standard Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their expanse declares the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their [a]line has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.
6 Its rising is from [b]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the [c]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The Law of the Lord is [d]perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;
Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be innocent,
And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Living the Risen Life: Sharing God, Caring For Our Neighbors, Because God’s Heart Does Not Stop With Us. Colossians 3:1-4

Colossians 3:1-4 New Living Translation

Living the New Life

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your[a] life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

In the miracle of conversion, a number of things happen.

Our sins are forgiven, we are adopted into God’s family, and we are given the status of sons and daughters.

Not only that, but we are also given a new location with Christ in the heavenly places.

There is for the Christian a radical change in our spiritual environment as a result of our union with the risen Christ—and it is our place in Christ that securely establishes our priorities.

It is because we have been “raised with Christ” that we are to “seek the things that are above.”

This reality was important for the new followers of the Colossian church to try to grasp.

As Paul was writing to them, they were being influenced by deceptive doctrine.

False teachers were imposing man-made rules upon them, saying, “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (Colossians 2:21).

Yet these external rules, which were intended to improve their moral behavior, ironically were “of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh” (v 23).

The same remains true for us: even when we attempt to remove ourselves from sin, we will not ever be able to completely stop our own propensity towards that which is truly impure, unholy, and untrue.

This form of external religion was a bad virus that was threatening to embed itself within the Colossian church, combining doctrinal confusion with moral carelessness. (The two go hand in hand.)

So Paul addressed the issue by reminding his Colossian readers that the way to get to begin getting a grip with our behavior is by beginning to understand who and whose we are—what our lives have become through the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians, our lives are wrapped up in Jesus. We are in Him, and He is in us.

We have been raised to live outward with Christ, our lives are hidden in Him.

This fact alone is the only sure basis of our security—our confidence in the face of our own propensity to do wrong things.

Are are we trying to live the Christian life alone, the “shy Christian” the “best intentions Christian” by your own efforts and fight our sin in our own strength?

Are we seeking to be a better Christian and wondering why it is proving elusive—or, worse, are we beginning to wonder whether we are a Christian at all or whether it is worth the effort to share our Savior with another human being?

God’s Heart Does Not, Must Not, Ever Stop With Us

One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that with our Savior Jesus Christ living in and within us, we all have the heart of our heavenly Father.

We do not have to wonder how God feels about us.

We do not have to wonder if God will guide us.

We do not have to question whether God loves us or God cares for, about, us.

Through the Holy Spirit we have continual, free access to the heart of God.

By sharing God, and caring for our neighbors our relationship with God will grow deeper, become freer as we learn how to have God’s heart in this life.

1 John 4:7-10 Easy-to-Read Version

Love Comes From God

7 Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. 10 True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins.

As wonderful and life-giving as it is to access the heart of God for ourselves, having God’s heart beating within, is not, was not ever meant to stop with us.

His heart is meant to fill us, empower us, and transform us, pour forth from us unto our neighbors, to surely live in such a way we are “light in the darkness”.

Matthew 5:14-16 Easy-to-Read Version

14 “You are the light that shines for the world to see. You are like a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden. 15 People don’t hide a lamp under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand. Then the light shines for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

As a believer you and I can reveal the heart of God to others.

We’ve been given access to a deep, revelatory knowledge of God’s love that you might shine the light of God’s goodness to a world that only knows darkness.

You and I can reveal the heart of God through the very way you and I honor yours and mine neighbors rather than speaking ill intent of our neighbors.

You and I can represent the humility of Jesus by serving our neighbor rather than being self-seeking.

Lifting the basket off of ourselves, we can reveal the light of God’s grace in our lives by offering compassion when others treat you or your neighbor poorly.

And you can display the courage that comes from a true understanding of God’s unconditional love by living authentically rather than building up a false image.

You and I were made to share God’s heart.

You and I were made to reveal God’s heart.

You and I were made to co-labor with God, our Savior Jesus and the Holy Spirit in seeing the truth of the gospel proclaimed and bear fruit in the lives of others. 

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

God has critically important work prepared for you and me today.

Look for opportunities to share what God, through Christ is doing in our life.

Look continuously, constantly for ways we can be that more genuine reflection of the aspects of God’s heart He is revealing to you and me every single day.

Do not let the love of God be hidden with us, contained within us like a super top classified “eyes only” secret, but “blow all whistled,” unveil it, share it freely, knowing His love never runs out, is what every human heart, is searching for.

Make a Friend, Be a Friend, Bring a Friend to Christ

Have you ever had the joy of sharing Christ with someone and actually seeing that person sit beside you and come to know the Lord as their personal Savior?

There is nothing quite the same in this world like it!

We know that resurrected Jesus said, “ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8).

How do we do what Jesus said?

Colossians 3:1-4 The Message

He Is Your Life

3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

He is so much a complete part of my life, I need to constantly “pray it forward.”

I need to be constantly aware of that the basket over my life needs to be lifted.

I need to be living a life which is more “God forward” than it is “me behind.”

to just go ahead and unleash this thought and this prayer from within me …

Psalm 19:11-14 The Message

11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
    these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Getting to the Point of Asking: “Excuse Me, How is it With Your Soul?”

This is the sort of “self talk” which constantly runs through any too shy spirit:

“Everywhere I go people say to me, it is the old familiar story –

“I really want to bring someone to Christ, but I just don’t know where to start.”

I know it is true because I can confess my own guilty thoughts in this manner.

Please, Let me give you a few ideas that you may try to put into practice today…

  • Create a soul winning prayer list. Write down the names of those that you know need Christ and commit to pray for them every day. Ask the Lord to use you to personally reach them. Remember, we cannot pray if we are not willing to obey.
  • Commit gospel Scriptures to memory. We are to be ready always to give an explanation of the gospel (Ephesians 6:15; 1 Peter 3:15). The greatest thing you can give to others is God’s Word. Begin with John 3:16 and great salvation verses out of Romans. Memorize them. Meditate on them. Minister them to others.
  • Share your story. If you are a believer you have a story to tell! It is the story of how you came to know Christ and what He means to you. Next to the Scriptures it is the most powerful resource you have. Practice giving it to someone and prepare to give it to as many people as possible. Those who will never listen to a sermon will listen to your story.
  • Demonstrate the love of Christ. The gospel message begins with “For God so loved the world that He gave…” His love breaks down barriers and removes prejudices. Ask the Lord to help you show kindness to others. A little kindness may open a big door for the gospel.
  • Give gospel literature to others wherever you go. So many people I have met through the years were brought to Christ when reading a gospel tract. Never underestimate the power of the printed Word. As available, carry literature with you in a back pack. Accompany it with a personal word. God can use simple tools to accomplish His work.
  • Bring someone with you to a church service specifically to hear the gospel. Communicate to your pastor that you are prayerfully bringing someone with you who needs the Lord. Pray God will open their heart as they hear the truth.
  • Have a Bible study in your home or on the job. Starting, Inviting, Hosting an informal Bible study will give opportunities to get acquainted, discuss spiritual truths with neighbors and co-workers. Many people who would not “feel right” going to a church service or prayer meeting would come to a friend’s home.
  • Ask people to read the Gospel of John and to tell you what they think. I have had the greatest joy of seeing people come to faith in Christ through simply reading the Scriptures. At the very least, it opens the conversation about who Christ is. The Word of God for the Children of God is living, active, dynamic, powerful!
  • Pray daily, together as much as possible for divine appointments. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you both someone to talk to. That is a powerful prayer He will answer in His time! When answered, then the both of you live expectantly, looking everywhere for people that you can share the good news with.
  • Actually Begin. (Acts 2:37-47, Acts 3:1-10)No one becomes an effective witness by only reading about it. It is time to get off the pews, our couches, and get in the game! We all get nervous, but as we obey the Lord He has promised to help us.

Ask the Lord to prepare your heart and the the heart of some soul and give you a divine appointment today!

Some will respond positively.

Some will respond politely.

Some will respond politically.

Some will respond correctly.

Still more will respond out and out with vast amounts of negativity.

As we live, love and move and have our being in this world, don’t dwell upon your failures or look to your own performance as the basis of your security.

Be encouraged, keep trying as the Apostles did through out the Book of Acts.

Perhaps a study of the Book of Acts is the encouragement needed right now.

You have been raised with Christ.

He alone is your hope.

Make His glory, and not your own goodness, the focus of your days and you will find our behavior will certainly bear testimony to His life-transforming power.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit for as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be – risen lives, risen souls, worlds without end.

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the importance of sharing God’s heart with the world. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to be a reflection of God’s heart.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

2. What aspect of God’s heart can you share with someone today? What part of God’s character can you reflect to the world around you?

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to put a person or group of people on your heart that he wants you to love well today. Ask him how he wants to use you to reveal the heart of God.

An important aspect of sharing God’s heart is trusting in faith, remembering that God will surely, certainly use your heart beat to inspire other heart beats.

When you choose to live a life co-laboring with your heavenly Father you get to experience the supernatural.

It’s miraculous when people choose to accept Jesus.

It’s astounding when our service, compassion, and love tears down walls around people’s hearts that they might be more open to God.

Don’t just live a normal life today.

Live a “I Am risen in Christ life today.”

Allow God to use you by sharing his heart.

May your day be filled with an abundance of miracles, signs and wonder and a ceaseless unrelenting awe at your heavenly Father who will unhesitatingly use you, me, us, in mighty and powerful ways – to build up His Kingdom on Earth.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Truly Living For Jesus: What It Means that “Your Life Is Hidden with Christ.” Colossians 3:3-4

Colossians 3:1-4 Easy-to-Read Version

Your New Life

3 You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. 3 Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4 Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Colossians 3:3 Amplified Bible

3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.

Where is Jesus today?

That seems a good place to answer this question.

If a Christian’s life is hidden with Jesus Christ, we ought to want to know where that hiding place is.

We know that after Jesus died, He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven.

There He was seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33; Romans 8:34; 1 Peter 3:22).

Jesus is in heaven with the Father.

Yet we are told in Colossians 3:3 that our life is “hidden with Christ in God.”

How can our life be hidden with Jesus in heaven, whilst we carry on living here on the earth?

Moreover, believers are hidden in Jesus Himself.

We are in Him and He is in us (1 John 4:13).

We are united with Him by the Spirit He has given to us.

What does all of this mean?

Colossians 3:3-4 The Message

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

These beautiful verses are in a section of Scripture where Paul deals with one of the most basic aspects of the daily Christian life; believers are One in union with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to reiterate this – we are each one with Him.

Our Savior Jesus Christ, chose our life over our condemnation, died on the Cross and because we believe, we are His children (His seed), we also died with Him.

We were with Christ and we were in Him when He was nailed to the Cross, for we are His seed.

We died at the same time that Christ died on Calvary.

The deadly sin issue in our lives was a settled action at this point, for in Christ Jesus, our sins were forever forgiven and we were each eternally redeemed.

We were bought back by God with a great price – the precious blood of Christ.

As far as God is concerned, every sin you and I have ever committed, past, present, future, was directly, decisively dealt with at this point on the Cross.

Because the Lord Jesus died, we who are His seed also died and the sin issue in our lives was dealt with there and then.

Because of Christ’s finished work in the past, sin is no longer an issue in my life, in your life, now or forever.

But it is even better…

Because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we too share in the same “raised” life that He has.

We are in union with His life and our life is now and forever hidden in Christ.

The wonderful thing is, we not only live in the security of being in union with CHRIST and are hidden in HIM, but we have double security, for we are ALSO hidden WITH Christ IN GOD.

This position of safety, this safe haven, was secured in the past at the Cross of grace and the tomb or life and continues to be the case in our present life today.

And because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, because God does not change (Hebrews 13:8), this is an unchangeable fact in each of our lives.

And it is as if God has underlined this truth in His Word, for He has written this glorious truth in the past tense, to demonstrate that in His economy it is a done deal – a fait accompli – which literally translates into an accomplished FACT.

Being in union with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ means to us that the past, present, and future aspects of our life are now and forever tied up and remain in perfect union with Christ, and it all began at the Cross when we died with Him.

The unchanging condition of our sin lives may appear to contradict this truth, when difficulties uncountable, unmanageable, rain down upon us all, but no matter what life throws at all our souls, our union with Christ is 100% secure.

We are the possessors of eternal life because when the Lord Jesus was raised, we who are in our Savior Christ are all His seed, were all raised at the same time.

And in God’s economy – because our Savior Christ was raised from the dead, we were raised at the same time into an undeniable, unimaginable newness of life.

As far as God is concerned, our new life is already eternal because we are in union with Christ: “For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

A New Life in Christ Jesus

Followers of Jesus are given a new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We become united to Jesus in His death and resurrection.

Those desires that we used to have for earthly things are weakened as we set our minds on heavenly things (Colossians 3:2).

The following verse (Colossians 3:3) says that “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Our old, sinful nature was permanently crucified with Jesus on the cross.

Romans 6:6 says

“We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

If we belong to Jesus, we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).

We begin to walk in step with the Holy Spirit at work in us (Galatians 5:16-18).

As our new life begins by the power of the Holy Spirit working inside of us, we will subtly look at the world around us differently – “growing strangely dim.”

In turn, others may look at us differently too.

Those who do not yet know Jesus may wonder why our life is different.

They may see the love and grace of God at work in us and want to know more.

Then there are others who will look at us strangely.

After all, we are strangers, pilgrims, and temporary residents here (1 Peter 2:11).

It is when our lives conform to the world that we do not appear any different to those around us.

As Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit to be in us and with us, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

We can live for Jesus in this generation, empowered, inspired and strengthened by God, who lives with us and within us.

A Living Hope For A Living Future

When we are born, we enter a broken and fallen world, and we ourselves carry sin in our body that we have inherited from Adam.

We are dead in sin but ALIVE in Christ.

Yet, Jesus is the “last Adam,” and He gives new life where we are born again into a new and living hope.

Through one man, sin entered the world, and all died (Romans 5:12), yet through the one man Jesus, the gift of God’s grace abounds (Romans 5:15).

Christians become part of God’s family, adopted as sons and daughters, and have an “eternal unchanging inheritance” reserved for them in heaven.

Knowing that believers have died to sin should shift our gaze upwards to where Christ is enthroned.

As it says in 1 Peter 1:8:

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…”

He is the object of our faith, and our hope is based on the wonderful truth that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Peter says that Jesus

“has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

Christians are hidden with Christ where a future inheritance that cannot ever be taken away is waiting for them.

It is “reserved in heaven” where Jesus is.

This is something we can look forward to on earth now as we wait expectantly for what is to come.

But we can have access to God directly today because Jesus has reconciled us to Himself.

We can pray to our ABBA Father in heaven knowing that Jesus “is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Being hidden in Christ means we have eternal fellowship, eternal relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is a solid hope for today and forever.

A Blessed Assurance

Christians have not yet been raised to eternal life with Christ.

But God has awakened us to the truth.

He has “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5).

It was His forgiveness, His mercy, love and grace which saved us on the cross.

When we were given this new life, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

When the Father looks upon us now, He sees Jesus the Son and His perfect righteousness.

We are no longer separated from God because of our sin.

Our status has changed before God from guilty sinner to a free saint.

We are raised with Jesus, hidden with Him in heaven now “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7).

One day in the near or not too distant future, we will glorify God for eternity because of His loving-kindness towards us.

Yet, we do not need to wait until that glorious day when Savior Jesus calls us heavenward – each and everyone of us can glorify Him exactly today, right exactly and exactingly right now, where we are sitting, standing or reclining.

Being hidden with Him means there is a security about our life after death.

We have an eternal inheritance that will not spoil or fade.

There has been a deposit made into our account from the account of Christ.

He has emptied Himself completely on the cross, so that we may be filled with the Spirit to live as strangers on the earth, raised on the last day with Him in glory, and have everlasting security in the presence of our wonderful Savior.

With this eternal guarantee, we can eternally rejoice with great anticipation of our Savior Christ’s return and know that we are “hidden” and safe with Him.

An Impenetrable Refuge

We are precious to God.

He protects us from evil, hides us under the shadow of His wings, and He is described as a shield and a refuge (Psalm 91:4).

There is no safer place than being in and with Jesus.

Even if our souls and bodies came under attack, our soul is safe with Jesus.

We do not need to fear the one who can destroy the body, but not the soul (Matthew 10:28) for our Savior Jesus is the protector of our life for all eternity.

When we repent and place our faith in Christ’s saving work on the cross, we experience a new birth, a new life, and we are a new creation.

It is Christ’s work by the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in us.

Knowing how loved we are by God, that He sent His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16) frees us to not love the world, but to look to and adore Christ.

We can have close communion with Jesus, today and for all eternity.

Being hidden with Christ in His everlasting arms can give us confidence to live for Him in a fallen and perverse generation.

He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

A Heavenly Perspective

As our lives are hidden with Christ in God, we can keep our eyes fixed on Him in the heavenly place.

In the same letter to the Colossians, Paul says we are to “set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

It is because we are “hidden with Christ” that we are able to set our minds to where He is.

This perspective on looking to Christ because we are united to Christ is one which believers around the world need to be reminded of often.

Just like we hear the gospel and believe, it does not mean we need to stop hearing and believing the gospel.

We need the good news of Jesus every day of our life!

In the same way, just because we are secure and hidden in Jesus once for all, it does not mean we stop fixing our eyes on Him.

Being rescued from this present evil age by Jesus (Galatians 1:4), a heavenly perspective is still needed.

When Jesus prayed to His Father for His followers before His death, He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

As we live for Jesus in the world, we can know He is with us, has prayed for us and He will protect us. We can live boldly knowing our life is hidden with Him. 

As we reflect often on all Jesus has done, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live with Him and for Him on earth, as we wait with greatest expectation and joy-filled, thankful hearts for Him to come again from heaven.

As it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Being hidden with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ means we have a new life, a living hope, a blessed assurance, a secure refuge, and a heavenly perspective.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).

One day, what is hidden will be revealed as Jesus returns once again for His bride, His body, His people – the church.

May we all rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer until that glorious day (Romans 12:12). 

In the name of God, the Father and God, the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that my life is hid with Christ in You. As I die to self and live for Christ, may my life reflect Your love, gentleness, compassion, and truth. Dear Father, My God, I know that I have died and that my life is hid with Christ. He holds the outcome of my life wholly in his hands; He is my whole life. Grant that I may wait patiently yet expectantly, knowing that when He appears, I will also appear with him in His glory. Father, I thank you for this blessed hope. Let the true joy of it fill my life every day as I daily sojourn here on this earth. Let me put the things of this world in perspective through the victory that Christ brings. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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A New Position, A New Reality, A New Focus, A New Perspective – Heavens!!

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ are at the center of everything which we believe as Christians (1 Corinthians 15:1-5). Without this sacrificial example of life, death of Jesus and His victorious resurrection we have no hope.

As we come to Colossians 3 Paul is eager for the Colossians and all Christians to understand the correlation between the physical death and resurrection of Jesus and the spiritual realities we live and love into, experience as those who believe.

When we come to faith in Jesus our old nature, our old perceptions of self, is put to death. Just as Jesus lived and died, we live and die. In the same way, just as Jesus rose from the dead, we are raised with Him. Through faith we died and through faith we are raised to new life in Him (Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 2:12-13).

All that being said, in Colossians 3 Paul’s whole purpose goes beyond helping us come to understand our position in Christ; he desperately wants believers to understand how this new position should impact the way we live. As those who have a new position and a new reality, we should have a new focus. Our position in Christ as our Lord and Savior should change our affections and our desires.

Colossians 3:1-4The Message

He Is Your Life

3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Our Calling from the Throne Room of Creator God: A New Perspective (3:1-2)

As the passage begins Paul makes it clear who his audience is: He’s addressing those who have been raised to new life in Christ. With this established Paul describes the perspective or the focus of those who are in Christ.

Check Your Heart at the Gates of Heaven: What are you pursuing? (vs. 1)

  • Seek the Things– The call is to evaluate your affections. What do you long for, what are you pursuing, what do you desire?
  • That Are Above – Paul defines “above” as the place where Christ is, or more correctly, the position He holds. Savior Christ holds the position of all rule and authority (Ephesians 1:20-23).
  • To seek the things that are above is a call for the Colossians to set their hearts and to orient their minds in light of the ultimate and eternal rule of Christ. Pursue things that are eternal (Matthew 6:33; Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21; Ephesians 1:13-23; Philippians chapter 2; Philippians 3:12-16).

Check Your Mind at the Gates of Heaven: What are you focused on? (vs. 2)

  • How do we seek the things that are above? The next part of the passage gives the answer: it begins by setting our minds on eternal things. As we set our minds on eternal things our pursuits and desires and ambitions (what we seek) will follow.
  • If we are going to faithfully pursue eternal things, we must guard our hearts and our minds and our souls and fight to keep our attention on the things of Christ (Psalm 90:10-12; Proverbs 4:23, 15:11, 21:2; Ezekiel 36:25-28; Matthew 5:8, 6:19-22, Romans 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6; Philippians 3:17-4:1). 

The Reason for placing ourselves at Heaven’s gate: A New Position (3:3-4)

After explaining the call Paul returns to the reason for his admonition: our new perspective is a result of our new position.

  • Our Present Position (vs. 3) As those who are in Christ, we have been united with Him in His death and resurrection; we are “in Him.” Because of our union with Him Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:19-21). We have been crucified with Him and we have died with Him and now our whole lives are His, therefore everything we do and say should be impacted by our identity in Him.
  • Our Future Position (vs. 4) Even though we have been given a new position in Christ we are still constrained by the flesh, but this is only temporary. One day Christ will return, and we will join Him in glory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58).

We are Standing at Heaven’s Gate looking for our Direction and Application: 

  • When live in light of who we are in Christ and set our minds on things above it will keep us from loving the world too much and creating idols out of things that will ultimately let us down. (Matthew 5:1-12, 13-16, Mark 4:21-25)
  • When we live in light of who we are in Christ and set our minds on things above we will be guarded against despair when the pressures of life are hard to bear (John 16:29-33, John 17, John 21).
  • When we live in light of who we are in Christ and set our minds on things above we have an anchor for our souls secured in God’s throne room, have strength when the world opposes us and what we believe (Hebrews 6:13-20, 12:1-3.)
  • When we live in light of who we are in Christ and set our minds on things above it will motivate us in our fight against sin (1 John 3:1-3; Romans 6:1-12).
  • When we live in light of who we are in Christ and set our minds on things above we will be more ready and willing to tell others of the hope that we have in Him and of their need for Him (1 Peter 1:13-23).

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Holy God, I ask you to raise me. Teach me like a parent teaches a child. Open my eyes so I seek heavenly things, not earthly things. Change my focus so that I see Christ, and not sin. Love me and nurture me as I grow. Guide me through trials and temptation. In Jesus’ name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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