Colossians 3:1-17 – Resurrection Life
There was a real danger that some in the Colossian church could be tempted to fall back into pagan practices ch.2:23, 3:5-9. Paul had been dealing with the wrong solution to this problem in the first two chapters. He showed them that there is no material or physical cure for what is essentially a spiritual problem. Abuse of the body will not heal the sickness of the soul but will merely aggravate it. Paul has already pointed out in both chapters one and two that Christ, in all the fullness of His love alone is the answer, and here in chapter three he sets it out with even greater clarity.
In this section Paul reminds the believers what their present condition really is, points them forward to the great hope that is theirs, and instructs them as to how they should live in the here and now. As far as the present condition of the believer is concerned, Paul had already told them that they had died with Christ and had been raised with him:
a. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ for his people was the climax of the work of redemption that began in eternity with God’s choice Eph. 1:4 (even then the believers were ‘in Christ’) – and was made real in their experience through faith Gal.2:20. From the God-ward perspective, the Christian is hidden in Christ. Through the death of Christ he died to his old self – he is a ‘new creature in Christ’.
b. Death to sin is necessarily linked to the resurrection life of godliness. Even now the believer has the life of Christ within as the motivating force for their lives. It is this resurrection life that is to transform their lives and enable them to live lives that will be more and more conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Questions
- What evidences of resurrection should be seen in our lives?
Prayer Points
- Pray that you would put sin to death in your life.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.