Dying and rising again with Christ

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If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1

Christians are people with a new life. They have undergone a complete change at their conversion. 

They have died with Christ. They have thus put an end to their old life. Their identification with the death of the Lord Jesus has brought about a fundamental separation from sin and the world. Previously they were enslaved to sin and had to obey their own sinful desires. But now they are freed from the compulsion to sin. Formerly they belonged to the world that will have nothing to do with God. Now, however, they have been taken from the world and can keep aloof from its influence.

They have been raised with Christ. In this way a new sphere has opened up for them, in which Christ is the central point. They are indeed still living on earth, but their gaze is heavenward, where Christ is seated at God’s right hand.

This change brings consequences for everyday life. On the one hand, in the power of the Holy Spirit we are to refuse to submit to the wishes of our old nature and to whatever the world offers. On the other hand, we are called upon to look towards heaven by faith daily and occupy our minds with what is in heaven. In this way our affection for Christ, who is at God’s right hand, grows. And at the same time His wishes increasingly become the directives for our life.