died with Christ – Three Minute Bible

January 24, 2025January 24, 2025

Colossians 3:1a – Metamorphosis

Picture of man walking along road in a world half colorless and half color.

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.

January 14, 2025January 14, 2025

Colossians 2:20a – Signs of Life

Since you died with Christ …

Picture of a man standing in a doorway facing the light.

Summary: With five simple words, Paul opens the door to the mystery of salvation.

Is Paul writing his letter to dead people?

Considering the words Paul uses, you are right to wonder. To understand what Paul means by “Since you died with Christ,” we first have to understand life and death.

When I was a child, I thought “dead” meant you ceased to exist. It was a terrifying thought. I kept trying to measure how alive I was by how much “living” I could do. I discovered that my thirst for being alive was never satisfied by having “things” or doing “things.”