PRAYER PRACTICE
SPOKEN PRAYER: Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.
REFLECTION
The Result of Being in Christ
by Pr. Dave Mann
The Apostle Paul has spent chapters 1-2 in his letter to the Colossians explaining what Christ has done to secure our salvation. In chapter 3, he pivots to focus on what the Christian life looks like because of the foundation laid and the structure established by Christ himself. But it is not as though we are in a relay race, in that, Christ gets us started and then passes the baton to us so that we can finish the race on our own. No, not at all. Christ is there throughout, from the start to the finish, just as we see in these eleven verses.
Verse 1: Since, then you have been raised with Christ…
Verse 10: … being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Verse 11: Christ is all, and is in all.
Every moment of our Christian lives is Christ’s work which strengthens us and motivates us to live a life that is consistent with the godly nature he instills in us. It is because of Christ that we can set our hearts on things above where Christ is. Our old nature has been dealt a death blow, and now we are alive in God. We have the confident hope of appearing with Christ in glory when he returns in power.
Yes, there are still temptations. Our earthly nature is still plaguing us with sinful possibilities. We continue to live in a world that is bent on promoting ungodly principles. (See verses 5-9.) But now, we have the presence of Christ in us, renewing us and strengthening us to make choices in line with new nature.
The battle continues. However, the band of soldiers that used to fight with their own strength and their own strategy is now emboldened by the confidence that the victory is already secured. So, whether I live to see God’s ultimate victory during my earthly life or I see it ushered in from the other side, it is certain. And that certainty of victory gives me joy and courage to continue, knowing that the battle is not in vain. (See also Philippians 1:20-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:56-58.)
Lord Jesus, thank you for winning the victory for me. I am eternally grateful that you have given me new life because of what you have accomplished through the cross and the empty tomb. Thank you that I can live a new life, certain of your victory. Amen.
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