G’Day Dear Friends,
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your Life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is our Life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4 NKJV)
“If”- it can be such a BIG little word. As we see in the passage above, it poses what is for many a daunting question, and at the same time sets the place for Heaven’s demands upon all of those who have truly committed their lives to Christ. That’s right; like it or not, Almighty God does set demands upon His children. Paul challenges us first for an honest answer to a most difficult question. We must ask ourselves: “Have I truly been Saved by Christ and thus raised from death into Eternal Life in Him?” We should notice: the apostle doesn’t ask us if we’ve consistently warmed a pew in church every Sunday, or if we’ve given to worthy charities. No, the query in his “If” has everything to do with rebirth and adoption into the family of the Most High God. Most of us don’t like to think about it, much less concede it as Truth, but from our very first cry as newborns gasping for life, we begin our journey towards death and hell. And as Jesus says, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3) and our fall will be completed over the precipice of that eternal fiery lake.
Then, the evangelist, under the assumption that our answer to the Salvation question is a resounding “Yes”, hits us up with demands attached to that potent little Word “If.” He tells us that IF, or in this case, since we are raised in Christ, then we must seek things that are in Him and set our minds on Heaven’s demands, because our life is no longer our own… for we’ve been purchased by His Most Precious Blood. (Acts 20:28) Therefore, we must no longer be like the world, but separate from it, as we are sanctified through God’s Word and the Power of the Holy Spirit within us. New creations in Christ, being renewed and refined each day, for the purpose of Glorifying Heaven’s Beauty, by becoming more like the Image of Him Who created us.
“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth… Stop lying to one another, having stripped off and away from yourselves and for your own advantage, the old man with his wicked doings, and having clothed yourselves with the new man who is constantly being renewed, with a resulting full and perfect knowledge which is according to the image of the One Who created him… In this new Life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is All that matters, and He Lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:8 NKJV; 3:9-10 NT-Expanded Translation; 3:11 NLT)
How different would our lives be, IF each day we began by renewing our commitment of all our thoughts, all our words, and all our deeds to the Glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our God, our Saviour King? Jesus has paid our debt with His Blood. All our shortcomings, all our failings, all our sins against God are hidden in Him. He is our Life and we owe Him everything. “Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with Thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NASB)
You know what’s absolutely AWESOME about Salvation? Once the Power of Christ hits you, you can’t help but love Him and really want to Glorify Him. But with all that the enemy brings against us, we need God’s Power to live the Life that He calls us to, so let us pray. O Holy Spirit, renew us, lead us, and strengthen us that there may be no “If” about it; that we make our lives a sacrifice of Praise to our Lord forever, in Christ’s Name we pray,
AMEN
Tom
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17 NASB)
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God.” (1Corinthians 10:31 NKJV)
