THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE "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. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col 3:1-4) -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 16 of 25
" For ye are dead . . . "
Other versions read, "you died" (NKJV), "you have died" (NASB), "your life on earth is done" (BBE), and "for ye did die" (YLT).
This is a reference to the change that occurred when we were baptized into Christ. We were "buried with" Christ "in baptism" (Col 2:12). The book of Romans affirms that we were "baptized INTO His death" "buried with Him by baptism INTO death" (Rom 6:3-4). Again the Spirit affirms, "Now if we be dead WITH Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Rom 6:8).
Earlier in Colossians it was reasoned, "Wherefore if ye BE DEAD with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" (Col 2:20). This is not a goal for Christians, but a very real condition that takes place when we are in Christ Jesus. It is conceivable that some who are actually dead to sin and the world do not yet realize that fact – at least not cognitively. That is why the text speaks as it does: "For ye ARE dead!"
No one is "alive unto God" that is not "dead to sin" and "dead to the rudiments of this world" – NO ONE! A person cannot be in "the kingdom of God's dear Son" without being "translated out of the kingdom of darkness" (Col 1:13). However, because we cannot obtain the assurance of this condition through the process of human reasoning, the truth of it is affirmed with power in order that our faith might grasp it.
ALL ARE DEAD
There is a most arresting declaration made in Second Corinthians – one that is conducive to much contemplation: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Cor 5:14). Other versions read, "then ALL DIED" (NKJV), "THEREFORE all died" (NASB/NIV), "therefore all HAVE DIED" (NRSV), "then all HAVE UNDERGONE death" (BBE), and "we have all died to the old life we used to live" (NLT).
The expression "then were all dead," does not refer to our former state of being "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). This text is speaking of our identity with Christ, for it is the prelude to godly expressions of life. "And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2 Cor 5:15-16). In order to live toward the One who died for us, we must first die to self-centeredness and worldly-mindedness. That process is initiated when we die with Jesus.
That is precisely what happened when we were circumcised with "the circumcision of Christ." From one point of view, the whole body of the sins of the flesh was separated from us – the essential "us." From another point of view, we were separated from the sinful nature, thereby becoming "dead" to it.
The idea here is that we died to ourselves, to sin, and to the world. That is, we lost a primary interest in ourselves, a fundamental appetite for sin, and a prevailing interest in this world. We became "dead indeed unto sin," and are now to reckon, or reason, upon the basis of that fact. As it is written, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:11).
The experience of this text is confessed by Paul. He explains what it means to "be dead," in order that we might live toward Christ. "I AM crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20).
I want to emphasize that the death of reference is NOT a goal. It is something that actually occurred when we were baptized into Christ. At that point the "old man" was "crucified with Christ." As it is written, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom 6:6). The "new man" which is to be "put on" (Eph 4:24) is not on the cross! He is "made free" (John 8:32,36), and has been seated in the vast and unhindered realm of "the heavenly places" (Eph 2:6).
When our text says, "ye are dead," it is referring to the part of us that has been crucified, which experience constitutes being "dead to the Law by the body of Christ" (Rom 7:4). Rules and regulations are, at the best, an appeal to the "old man."
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the effectiveness of dying with Him.