You're Dead part 1
This is kind of a tricky subject, but sometimes I like to tackle tricky subjects. Rant about them for a few days. Really dig in and try to give (and get) some insights. So let's go. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3). And, from the title, you can probably guess where my focus is in these verses. I want to get to the "risen with Christ" part. I really do. Because that's awesome stuff. That's the Gospel. The good news. But before we get to the new life part we have to really understand the "for ye are dead" part. Look at John 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The new birth, right? Out of death and into life? Because, as God told Adam way back in Eden's misty garden. "The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall surely die." That might be a paraphrase, but you get the idea. Adam, who was standing in for humanity--meaning whatever happened to him happened to us--ate of that tree. And on that day he died. Spiritually. On that day all of humanity died. Spiritually. That's why God always seemed so distant in the Old Testament--Adam and Eve hid from his presence. They separated themselves from Him. Running FROM God instead of running TO Him. Let me hammer this home: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). Again, we'll get to that quickened part. Because its awesome. But let's get into this "dead in our trespasses and sins" part first. We needed a new birth because we were dead. But in order to get that new birth (because we were dead), we needed a second death. The death OF death. We were born, we died (Spiritually), we died, and we were born again. With me? I like all that stuff. Because BEING dead means we don't have to drag around all of that stuff that we accumulated WHEN we were dead. All of that stuff that seemed like such a good idea at the time... but really brought us nothing but pain and heartache... we can just let it go. As my brother once said, "That wasn't me. You've got the wrong guy." Because the guy who did all that stuff... is dead. Gone. We don't have to carry that corpse around anymore. We CAN set our affection on things above because even if things try to trip us up or drag us down, Jesus is holding us up. Our life is hid in Him. Just as He lives in us. We don't have to fight with the snakes at our ankles if we can look at the bronze serpent on the pole. Look and live. Leave behind all of that stuff that you don't need anymore. Bury it in the watery grave of baptism and have done with it. You're dead. Whatever happened in the past is just that--its in the past. Over and done with. So leave it in the past and rise to newness of life. Walk worthy of who you ARE, not who you've been. Start today and be who GOD says you are. Not who the world--and your past mistakes--say you are. You're dead. Now you can live!