WISDOM WEDNESDAY

Vol. 1 Issue 15 - 7-20-22

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

- II Peter 3:18

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Greetings Church,

As we begin to consider the text of Colossians 3:1-4 we need first to understand Paul's shift in focus. He has been speaking against the false teachers in Colosse and giving wise counsel to the faithful to be aware and careful. In chapter three he moves toward the need for the believers to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. It is important that we understand this shift as it gives us insight in how to interpret and to apply the text to our hearts and lives.

Let us remind ourselves of the passage we are considering over the next few weeks, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4). I would encourage you to read this over and over. To pray over the words that you might see their glory. To let theme impact your thinking and daily life in such a way that your approach to life and your values would be shaped into godliness.

Our focus in this issue of Wisdom Wednesday will be the first phrase of verse one, "If then you have been raised with Christ."  Here we find the motivation for what Paul calls the Colossian believers to. This portion lays the foundation for all that follows as Paul calls them to a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Here in the ESV it is presented as a conditional phrase, "if then". Often when we see conditional phrases we shift our attention to ourselves as the point of the condition as if we had something to do. But here the condition is focused upon a truth revealed. As such we need to consider where this truth was revealed. We begin with the book in which the condition is presented. This process is that of letting scripture interpret scripture. When we consider what Paul has written in the book we find the answer to the condition of truth revealed in Colossians 2:11-15, "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."

There is much to consider in the passage as it demonstrates our unity with Christ and the victory that is secured by His work on the cross. We need only at this point to focus our attention upon verses 11,12. Paul takes the act of circumcision and makes it one in which it is more spiritual than physical. Ours is not a circumcision made by hands, in other words, just a physical act. Our circumcision is one of unity with Christ as it is His circumcision of our hearts that puts off the body of flesh. He continues to build upon this reality by bringing us to our baptism in Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism moves us to see our full identification with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. We identify with His death when we enter the water, identify with His burial as we go under the water and identify with His resurrection when we come up out of the water. Baptism then becomes the sign of our full identification with Christ. Paul speaks to this when he says, "in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead." This being raised from the dead is the same raised that Colossians 3:1 speaks about, "If then you have been raised with Christ". Christ's resurrection and our faith in its reality becomes an appropriation of faith as we demonstrate our full allegiance with Him in baptism.

The motivation is then set as we consider the condition. If you have been raised with Christ, if you share in the new life He has given and are fully aligned with Him, then you will long to live a life pleasing to Him. When we grasp the reality of what Christ has done for us, we long to give Him the fullness of our lives. We long to live in such a way that His Word is our priority, that His will is our will, that His glory is what we long to bring in our daily worship of Him.

The foundation is set in the work of Christ. We must remind ourselves constantly that it is His work not ours. This thought goes against all that we have been trained in concerning our living in this world. The curse of sin is hard work and at times we elevate the curse to be a mandate for picking ourselves up by our own boot straps, when in reality we work the work and give God the glory and the thanks for the strength to do the work. Scripture faithfully calls us to find our meaning, hope and perspective of life to be of the Father and not of this world. This calling is to prepare us for the joy of being eternally in His presence. So, Paul lays the foundation as a reminder of what Christ has done so that we would pursue that which is of Christ in a world that is destined for decay so that in it all Christ would be glorified.

Blessings,

PBS