After encountering the risen Lord, apostles Peter and John no longer measured anyone by money or repute- they had the life of Christ, and it was incomparable to anything that existed in the world. Jesus was all they had, and He was all anyone needed. (Acts 3:6) King David also described the resurrection life in Psalm 23. Although he predated Jesus’s life on earth, in the Spirit of the risen Lord, David wrote in verse 5, You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
How can we live the resurrection life in our daily, ordinary lives? Based on these verses in Colossians, we see three things that are necessary to the believer- faith, Christ in our actions, and Christ in our thinking. We will cover the first two here today.
Have faith. Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ…
Believers are one with Christ in His life, death, and resurrection. They live by faith in the risen Lord, knowing that sin is dead through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. His death accounted for every single one of our sins, satisfying God’s justice, and bringing us to peace with God. Only Christ alone can save. (Col 2:8) The only righteousness that God accepts is the righteousness of Jesus Christ- every other means that man comes up with to be right with God will fall short. (Phil 3:7-9) If you find in yourself anything else to be proud of, it is an idol. God has freely given us everything we need to be saved. Be sure that your faith is in Christ alone.
Not only must we be clear in our faith that our sin and selves have been crucified with Christ, but we must also be convinced that we have been raised with Him in order to live the resurrection life. In Christ, we can claim every promise of God, because we are God’s children and fellow heirs with Christ. We can be sure that God works all things together for good for His children, and that there is nothing that can ever separate us from His love. (Rom 8:16-17, 28, 31-35) Our death and resurrection with Christ is shown through the symbol of baptism. (Col 2:12-14) We must therefore no longer seek the world and our old lives, but we must have faith in Christ to walk with Him every day.
Seek the things above. Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…
At the moment of salvation, the believer sets his sight on heaven. Once an earthly man, he becomes a pilgrim who seeks the things above in heaven, where Christ is. Christ seated at the right hand of God denotes His equal position, honor, power, and authority with God. For us to seek God’s kingdom is to rigorously search out Jesus’s will in every area of our lives, even when it goes against our own will. His ways are always right, and even when we can’t understand them, we will trust in Him and obey. (Matt 6:10; Lk 5:4-5) In the will of God, the risen Lord is there. Only those who believe Jesus died for their sins and rose again from the dead can seek His will. The one with living faith will continue seeking Jesus, His kingdom, His will, and His righteousness. (Matt 6:33)
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