Colossians 3:1-4
As we continue through Colossians, seeking the beauty of Christ, we must slow down to smell all the roses of chapter 3. I hope, in joining in this search of the beauty of Christ, that you will spend several days meditating with me on this most excellent of chapters contained in Holy Writ.
I think Paul is making the case that "do's and don'ts" kind of Christianity is not what following Christ is about. Christ exchanged His life for ours that we might live the Kingdom life--hearts that are transformed in every single way. That's why we "put to death" certain things (3:5ff). It's not to check them off our list, but because Christ--"who is your life"--lives through you; we are Kingdom people who live focused on things above and therefore our minds and hearts are transformed and renewed (we're new people--Kingdom people). Some list of do's and don'ts is not where it ends; the Kingdom life affects EVERYTHING, which is why starting in 3:12 and going all the way to the closing of the book Paul starts meddling not just with a list of do's (3:12-16) but says "whatever you do, do in the name of the Lord Jesus"--wives, husbands, employers, employees, etc. More on that later.
Today, let's focus on 3:1-4.
"If then you have been raised with Christ..." Literally, co-resurrected. That's right. When we come to Christ in faith we have died and been born-again. We are new creatures. We are Kingdom creatures--transformed and renewed.
"...seek the things above...set your mind on things above...for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God..." Our life, having come to Christ in faith, is now bound up in Christ. We are Christians. We are Kingdom people. We're not church attenders. We're not pro-lifers. We're not a voting block. We're not anti-this or that. We are of Christ. We live on the earth now, but belong to the Kingdom, nonetheless, because are lives are hidden with Christ in God.
"When Christ who is your life..." Is your life bound up in Christ? Do you define your "Christianity" by the things you do or don't do, or is your life bound up in Christ? Do you see the difference? There may seem to be just a subtle difference to you, but I believe this to be a huge difference. This is where we have missed the boat in modern Amercian evangelicalism--in all of our comfort seeking, legalistic imposing, self-righteous judgmentalism, pious asceticism...--all while within us remains our own little Ted Haggard. Jesus did not die for a voting block. Jesus did not die for a denomination. Jesus did not die for a picket line. Jesus died that we might have life. Abundant life. Christ is life. Christ is our life. If our lives are bound up in Christ, everything is changed. Our lives are not dictated by our lists but by Christ.
The beauty of Christ is seen in this: Coming to Him in faith, my life was slain at the altar. Killed off. Sounds bad, doesn't it? But Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, laid His own life at the altar, also. At the altar an exchange took place--His life for mine. Now, Christ is my life. Christ stands in my stead in the face of sin's judgment. His righteousness has become mine. My sin has become His. His righteousness imputed to me means there is now no condemnation for me. My sin, placed upon Christ, has been vanquished because Christ had power over the curse of sin--death. And, so, now my resurrected Christ is alive. His life is my life because He is my Living Savior. What is earthly in me dies. What is heavenly in me lives. This changes everything. And in that context, Paul writes in verse 17: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." My life is not dictated by do's and don'ts--but by Christ who is my life. What say you?
