Since, then, you have been raised with Christ …
Summary: Paul’s words in this passage are the culmination of the point he has been working up to — that we are transformed by knowing Jesus. Not just a minor change but a metamorphosis.
Paul begins Chapter Three of his letter to the Colossians with a simple statement: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ …”
The challenge with this statement is the same one we find in many of the Bible’s proclamations; we live in two realms simultaneously. We have bodies in the physical realm that are subject to the curses that fell on Adam and Eve when they first sinned. We also have spirits that exist in the invisible realm.
When Paul says we have been “raised with Christ,” he obviously is not talking about the physical realm. That means if anything is “raised with Christ,” it is our spirit.
And that makes me wonder … What about all the other things Paul tells us were done by or in Christ?
Let’s review:
- “in Christ you have been brought to fullness” (2:10)
- “you were circumcised by Christ” (2:11)
- “God made you alive with Christ” (2:13)
- “you died with Christ” (2:20)
We have been circumcised by Christ, brought to fullness, made alive, and died with Christ, and now we have been raised with Christ. It is understandable if this seems hard to comprehend.
We are used to operating in the flesh. Most of our reference points are in the natural world. To understand Jesus, we have to look inside ourselves and examine what Jesus does to our spiritual nature.
The first thing we discover, if our minds are ready to understand it, is that “reality … is found in Christ” (2:17). Even if we do not understand that concept intellectually, we can know it in our spirit. We sense that Jesus is the most real thing we have ever known.
Convinced that Jesus is real, we become convinced of our own sin. Knowing the reality of God in Jesus Christ, the truth of our failings becomes apparent. Like turning on the lights in a dark room and discovering rats or bugs on the floor, we discover our need for a savior. At this point, we realize we need to receive Christ Jesus as Lord (2:6).
When we accept Jesus as Lord, we receive him in his fullness. Circumcision cuts away past sin and makes us alive. When we die with Christ, we die to sin’s power in the present. When we are raised with Christ, we are allowed to share in the glory of the Father.
Application: Don’t fight the change.
Food for Thought: What are the benefits of being raised with Christ?
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What are the benefits of being raised with Christ?
Being raised with Christ provides believers with our source of hope and assurance of our eternal security and the promise of future glory. This new, “life” involves a continual process of sanctification, where believers submit and are increasingly empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome sin and grow in Christ.
The reality of being raised from the dead with Christ becomes our foundation, providing insights and security as we are called to a life of holiness, empowered by the resurrection power of Christ, and filled with the hope of eternal life by the power of the Holy Spirit. This “spiritual resurrection” is both a present reality and a future hope, as we look forward to the final resurrection of our bodies at Christ’s return.
Ephesians 2:4-6,”But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:4, We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body”.