LIVE LIKE WE HAVE BEEN MADE ALIVE BY JESUS CHRIST!!
COLOSSIANS 3:1-4
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
3: 1– 4: 1 In Colossians 2, Paul exposed the wrong reasons for self-denial. In Colossians 3, he explains true Christian behavior— putting on the new self by accepting Christ and regarding the earthly nature as dead. We change our moral and ethical behavior by letting Christ live within us so that he can shape us into what he wants us to be.
3: 1-2 Paul shifts from the negative (what teachings to avoid) to the positive (what we should seek). Setting our hearts on things above means striving to put heaven’s priorities into daily practice. We are to get our directions from Christ, not the culture around us. Setting our minds on things above means concentrating on the eternal rather than the temporal. (For more on Christ’s rule in our hearts and minds, see Philippians 4: 7-8 and Colossians 3: 15.)
3: 2-3 “ For you died” means that we should have as little desire for improper worldly pleasures as a dead person would have. The Christian’s real home is where Christ lives (John 14: 2-3). Knowing our final destiny provides a different perspective on our earthly lives. To “set your minds on things above” means to look at life from God’s perspective and to seek what he desires. This provides the antidote to materialism; we gain the proper perspective on material goods when we take God’s view of them. It also provides the antidote to sensuality. By seeking what Christ desires, we have the power to break our obsession with pleasure and sensual experiences. But it also provides the antidote to empty religiosity because following Christ means loving and serving in this world. Regard the world around you as God does; then you will live in harmony with him and see others as he does.
3: 3 What does it mean that a believer’s life is “hidden with Christ”? Hidden means “concealed and safe.” This not only ensures our future hope but also gives us security right now. Our service and good works do not earn our salvation, but they flow out because of our salvation. This confidence helps us to not worry about ourselves and to be free to help others.
3: 4 In the rest of this chapter, Paul explains how Christians should act now in order to be prepared for Christ’s return. Christ gives us power to live for him today, and he gives us hope for the future, when we will all see him.Tyndale. NIV Life Application Study Bible.
ON THE WAY HOME WALK WITH JESUS and live your life like JESUS CHRIST is the only thing that has made you alive as we encounter earthly things that we would know to be impossible with out CHRIST IN OUR LIVES!!!
onthewayhomeministries.org by RICHARD DEAN BROOKS
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