Perspectives

Colossians 3:1-4… 1) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3) For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (NIV)

Have you ever noticed how earthly minded we are? Most of the time, my attention is centred on things right around me. Perhaps that should not be a surprise. After all, we are earth dwellers. I sometimes wish I could go to another universe and if you would come with me, then I might just want to stay there. But earth is our home for now.

We are also physical beings in a physical world. It is natural for us to think about our surroundings, our finances, our health, and the people who are important to us. But we must be careful, even as Christians, we can lose our ability to see beyond the natural and into that which is still waiting for us. As Christians, I think we have been giving a certain insight into that which Christ has prepared for us… our heavenly home.

Now, for us to understand who we are in Christ must come from Scripture. The Bible says we are God’s Children. His word is the determining factor, not our feeling, or what someone else has said about us. We can now confidently say that our names are listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The text tells us that two important things happened to us… we died and rose from the dead. What does it exactly mean when he said that we died and are now raised with Christ? Exactly how did we die and precisely how are we raised?

Well according to the Scripture, when Christ died on the Cross for our sin, we died there with him in spiritual consciousness. Christ died as our substitute, in our place. But we entered that death… sharing in that experience on the cross. By faith, we believe that Christ died for our sins, by faith we too died to sin. We no longer need to fear the penalty or the power of sin.

Many times, I need to do a spiritual reality test. I need to have my eyes opened so that I can see. Even though I have the Holy Spirit in me, I still only see-through natural eyes most of the time. My heart’s desire is to see beyond this natural world and into that supernatural realm of the spirit and behold the wonderful powerful activity of God. Some Christian folks live their entire life without ever understanding who they are in Christ and what is the provision Christ has made for them.

When Christ rose from the dead, we rose with Him in a spiritual sense. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we by faith have been raised to a new Spiritual life. The Bible calls this born again. We have been born above by the power of the Spirit to live an abundant life in a new spiritual dimension. According to our text, we dwell spiritually with Christ in a heavenly kingdom.

This is a kind of loftier or higher devotion which we can only dimly understand and imperfectly express. We somehow cannot express that true inner feeling and assurance that comes from our newfound fellowship with Christ. Sometimes we say, “Music, sports, studying, our work that’s our life’s work.” And we live for the moment we can get back to our work. Our whole life is wrapped around our work. Our work gives meaning to our life… for the Christian all this is important, but now Christ is what gives meaning to our life… To God Be the Glory Great Things He Has Done.

Would you pray this prayer with me? “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I want that peace, joy and happiness that fulfills my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name. Amen”