THE STORY OF JESUS: Colossians 3-4
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
When we surrender our lives to Jesus, our identity is changed.
I am no longer Norm, I am Norm in Christ, and Christ in me.
The old me was cursed, doomed, defeated, trapped, hopeless, weak.
Because of Jesus, that me is gone – dead – as far as God is concerned.
This is the good news in Jesus described by Paul in the previous chapters.
Now he unpacks what this means for how we relate to God and each other.
Whenever signs of the old life appear, put them too death (3:5-11).
Instead, where the signs of new life like a new set of clothes (3:12-17).
This new life in Jesus should infect my whole life, including all relationships.
I am – and ought to be – a new kind of person in the world.
Is this real for me, do I feel like a different kind of person?
Do I march by the beat of a different drum – the drum of goodness and love?
Jesus has made all this possible, but I need to do something too.
Am I putting off the old ways of living, am I putting on the Jesus way of living?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I love the thought of this new me, but it is hard to fight the old me. Remind me again who I am, and who I can be. And help me to live like this new me!